After a week off, it was once again time to catch another Hawaii Five-0. This episode was the first of the last three of the season and it did not let us down. Susan is once again here with her recap so let’s dive in.
As the episode begins, we find Steve and Danny at Danny’s home redoing a bedroom for Charlie. The theme for the room is race cars. Steve is doing a great wall border at the top of the room and thinks it is going well. However, Danny is having trouble putting together a race car bed. It turns out he threw away the instructions because he thought it would be an easy job. To nobody’s surprise, this drives Steve crazy, right down to the point of Steve physically taking the drill away from Danny in a tug of war. These two are outstanding together and play off each other well. This was a very funny scene as the boys act like children in their disagreement and it is fun banter to watch.
Unfortunately for us, a knock at the door ends the fun. The person at the door is Danny’s old captain, Captain Tanaka. He is retired now from HPD but has come to inform Danny that a former drug deal case witness, Ahe’ahe Makino, who was thought to be dead, has been found in an assisted living facility. Apparently, he has been in a coma for the last seven years. It now seems he is showing signs of waking up and Tanaka has recognized him from his picture on the news. Tanaka thinks that if he was able to identify him from the story then the bad guys can, too. They will know where he is and will want him dead before he wakes up to talk. Cue the intro.
On the other side of the familiar theme song that we all like to bounce along to, Danny is arriving to the scene of the current case in a flashback to seven years ago. Here the body of a drug dealer was just found. We see the now coma victim (Makino) at the scene and Danny stops him with questions as to whether he saw anything. Makino says no but Danny gives him his card and asks him to call if he remembers seeing anything. The card said Donald Williams instead of Danny which is one of the first signs that Danny was having a rough time on the force as a Haole from the mainland.
Back to Makino’s room Danny and Tanaka are going over the things that Makino had on him when brought into the facility. Part of the card that Danny had given Makino was visible in one of the bags so they verify it is definitely him. Danny and Tanaka decide its best to move Makino to a safe place now that his picture has been on the news. Just at that time the fire alarm goes off and they do not think that is a coincidence.
Back at Danny’s house Steve is finishing up Charlie’s room when his phone rings. It is Danny who tells Steve he needs help and to get there as fast as he can because someone is trying to kill his witness. Danny also tells Steve to forget about all safe driving speeches he’s given him and to drive like a maniac but Steve seems to already be gone and does not hear him. Luckily Steve did not need Danny’s permission to do just that.
Next we see another flashback of Danny arguing with Rachel on the phone about Grace. During his call it’s revealed that Makino was calling Danny but it seemed he had hung up by the time he gets to the phone.
Danny’s thoughts are interrupted by a nurse who has come into the room with medication for Makino. It turns out she is not really a nurse and is about to give Makino something lethal when Danny realizes she had called Makino by his actual name instead of John Doe. When Danny calls her on it the fight is on, and what a fight it was. Danny barely won this one as she had him in a head lock that did not look too promising for him. However, he sees the syringe she was going to give Makino on the floor and he goes for it. Danny injects her to the neck causing her immediate demise.
Shortly after, Tanaka and another nurse Jenny Kitson enter the room. Danny pulls his gun on her as he does not trust anyone at this point. He asks Tanaka to check her ID before he feels safe enough to lower his weapon. After Danny’s sure of her being who she says she is, he also apologizes but explains the other “nurse” had just tried to kill him and Makino.
Tanaka checks out the woman who attacked Danny and she is for sure dead. She has no ID on her but she has a phone. The scene pans into another short flashback where Danny is entering Makino’s apartment after missing his phone call. He sees that is has been ransacked. Coming back to the present, Tanaka finds the dead woman has had incoming calls. Danny takes the phone, snapshots those call numbers to his phone, and sends them to Jerry to investigate to see if he can find out whom the numbers belong to. Tanaka interrupts Danny telling him the woman just got a text. Danny texts back all is good but the phone rings. Danny gets the nurse Jenny to say “we’re good, it’s done” when he answers the phone however he thinks that his trick did not work, They decide they must get Makino out of the building.
The next scene is another flashback of Danny and Tanaka at HPD. Tanaka is telling Danny he is taking him off the drug case because the investigation has stalled out with no leads. Danny protests and disagrees asking for more time as he tells Tanaka that Makino definitely knows something. However, Tanaka insists and tells him he is giving Danny a new case to investigate until the lead detective on that case returns to it. It turns out it is a homicide and to our surprise it’s the case of John McGarrett! Tanaka wants Danny to go to the crime scene and check it out.
Coming back from the flashback, in Makino’s room, Danny is on the phone to Steve telling him the killer nurse brought friends and they have to get out. He shares that they’re putting him in an ambulance and taking him to the nearest police station. Steve says he’ll meet them there. Before moving Makino, Danny and Jenny have a pretty funny argument about her not going with them as it is not safe, but Jenny wins this one. She has taken care of Makino for six years and it is her responsibility to make sure he lives and she is not staying if he is going.
Meanwhile back at HQ, Chin, Kono, and Lou are at the table with Jerry who has found out the name of the woman who tried to kill Danny and Makino. Her name is Laura Kendall who is, or was, a contract killer. He ran the numbers on her phone and one of them belongs to a man by the name of Dario Mendez who is the head of the Ochoa Cartel. They are big in the cocaine trade and the team had dealt with them before. (episode 1.8) The team decides to pay Mendez a visit to have him call off the hit on Makino and they head out.
There is another short flashback to where Danny is riding with his partner at the time, Meka, and they are discussing how everyone is treating him and how Meka thinks he is doing a good job. This is also a good tie in (pun intended) to the season one episode where Danny investigates his ex -partner’s death.
Back at the facility, Danny, Tanaka, and Jenny are moving Makino to the ambulance. Before leaving Danny kills one of the men sent to kill Makino. They make it to the ambulance and a hail of gunfire begins as they make their getaway. Once on the road the cartel’s men chase the three relentlessly putting so much gunfire and bullet holes in the ambulance, it’s hard to believe no one was hit. With a few smart maneuvers, curves, and turns Danny manages to get some headway and stops at a random house and knocks on the door. There is only a teenager home so Danny shows her his badge and tells her to go to a friend’s house and stay there. They have now successfully commandeered a house.
Once inside they lock up and Danny calls Steve telling him they got sidetracked and are not at the station. Danny doesn’t know the address where they are at, but wants Steve to hurry up and get there. As you can imagine this was a fun conversation to watch and Steve finally says he will take care of it. Steve then asks Jerry to track the phone but the signal isn’t strong enough and Danny is not near any cell towers. Jerry can only get a half mile radius, so he does and provides it to Steve who is in his truck trying to get to Danny.
We next see Chin, Kono, and Lou entering the residence of Mendez. They tell him they know everything and want the hit called off. They know he put the hit on Makino because he can identify him as the killer from seven years ago. Mendez refuses and at that point Chin tells Mendez they have a friend caught up in the situation and pulls out his weapon to an unarmed Mendez. Once again Chin shows his fierce side for his Ohana but Mendez is saved by the appearance of his son coming into the room.
Back with Danny, Tanaka and Jenny, Danny and Tanaka are rehashing the case as Danny looks for a hunter’s gun in the house. It seems each of them blame themselves for Makino being hurt and put in a coma. Danny admits that he did not get to Makino’s call in time and because of that Makino probably hung up. That is why he blames himself. That conversation is interrupted by a call from the cartel on the dead woman contract killer’s phone telling Danny they can give up Makino or they are coming in. Danny wishes them luck with that and hangs up.
At that point, the power is cut and Makino’s ventilator is also disabled. Jenny says he can only live for three minutes without it so Danny recalls there is a generator in the ambulance and goes and gets it. Tanaka has his back and protects him from the cartel that are on the outside watching the ambulance. He gets the generator and they save Makino just in time with a little flat lining drama in between.
Danny is preparing for the battle against the men that are about to enter the house when Steve calls Danny saying he needs help finding the house. Just then, the cartel starts shooting up the house. Danny tells Steve to follow the gunshots. Steve replies copy that. Once again there are so many shots to the house you can see daylight through walls and doors so how does anyone not get hit? (the miracle of television) The men come through the door ready to kill all of them when out of nowhere comes Steve plowing into the room with his truck. He runs over the men killing them flat.
Everyone is stunned. As Steve gets out and checks on them all, Tanaka walks up and says “you must be Steve.” (my goodness, his reputation really does precede him). Tanaka thanks Steve but Danny says don’t thank him as it could have just been an accident. The bromance lives to see another day.
Next we are taken to a medical facility where Makino is now safe. Danny informs Tanaka they got Mendez on conspiracy to commit murder. Before Tanaka leaves, Danny asks how he feels about retirement and Tanaka tells him it is great. He advises Danny that if he is thinking about it he should have a plan in advance and most of all he should also make sure he doesn’t open a restaurant. Tanaka had tried that and it went south fast eating up his pension. The writer’s sure have quite a sense of humor sometimes, as they bring episode 7.18 full circle with this short scene.
Our next scene is the one of the best of the night and in the category of Ohana kids, it is the best in a really long time. Steve is in Charlie’s newly renovated room where Charlie is play driving in his race car bed. Steve does a play by play of the race with sound effects included. When done, Steve says good night and tucks him in. While doing so, he tells Charlie that Danno built the bed just for him all by himself taking no credit at all for actually doing it. Charlie replies that Danno is the best and Steve agrees. Steve tells Charlie he loves him in a very sweet moment and Charlie says “ Goodnight Uncle Steve” to which Steve turns out the light. Steve is so adorable with Charlie and it’s nice to see the soft side of our rugged hero.
Going back to Danny who is with Makino, he is thanking Jenny for all she did. Then while sitting alone with Makino he tells him he is sorry for not answering his call sooner and begins to tell him about the whole Five-0 team. He says they are not just colleagues but they are his family. He goes through them one by one telling Makino what he feels for each. We even get confirmation that Danny had a crush on Kono when they first met. Danny thanks Makino because if it was not for him, he never would have met his extended family on the island he now calls home.
The last scene is that of a flashback to the pilot episode when Danny walks into Steve’s home of the crime scene where John McGarrett was shot. While looking around he hears something in the garage and of course we all know the famous scene of how Danny and Steve first met. Both yelling and both refusing to put down their guns, Steve had found something that had changed his mind, he will take the job, and the credits roll.
This was a good episode. It is nice to see each of the cast shine through the years and this was no exception. Scott did a great job with what was presented and the way it all tied into the past revealed more depth to the Ohana. The flashbacks were relevant in telling the full story of just what really happened before Danny met Steve and the team. It also had the fun side with the race car room and the sweet and endearing interactions around the same. I therefore, rate this one a 9.
That is another one down for what has been a stellar season, Only two more to go. Thanks to Susan for being so faithful with the recaps and see you for the next two which is usually the best of the season.
