Thanks again to our resident recapper, Susan Schoppe here is last night’s recap/review.
Last night’s episode was true Hawaii Five O at its best. As we open Alisha Brown, our FBI Profiler, awakes in her bed covered in blood with the dead body of a man next to her. We shortly realize this is a definite message from the Chess Piece Killer when the medical examiner pulls another chess piece from the dead man’s mouth. Standing on her balcony, Alisha is visibly shaken and clearly Steve is very concerned that the killer has added Alisha to his game plan…Steve’s protective instinct kicks in.
Meanwhile, some of the other members of the team are back at the beach where we see Kamekona & Flippa doing yoga discussing better health habits and Chin and Kono also doing yoga a few feet away. Flippa decides that he has done enough just walking to the beach and sits down leaving Kamekona standing alone, whereas Chin and Kono are discussing Sara and her best interests. Chin mentions that it’s for the best that Sara live with her Aunt and Uncle but also admits that he has thought about fighting the process and keeping her. Kono offers to help in a “Five O” way.
While on the beach, Kono receives a call from Duke which turns out to be about an old friend Rosey, that was on the surfing circuit with her. Rosey was brought in the night before on a D & D charge. Kono is surprised to learn that Rosey is a disabled military veteran whose legs were lost in an explosion. This heartwarming story develops further and is interwoven with the case of the week and the Chess Piece Killer but is done well in transition. Throughout the episode Kono reminisces with her friend and regains a connection they had in the days of their surfing tours and competitions but this time it isn’t one of a rival but that of a friend.
While Steve and Danny arrive at the scene of a homeowner’s murder, Grover explains that the homeowner was shot for what he believes to have witnessed a DEA agents murder on a plane. A few hours earlier the agent was thrown out of a plane at 10,000.00 feet and someone had parachuted out to his safety.
Back at HQ, Steve , Danny and Grover meet with a DEA Agent named Ben to discuss the parachuter’s information and name, Hector Frontera. Frontera is one of the drug cartel’s main representatives and it turns out that he has also taken with him 10 million of the Cartels money.
This information leads to a connection of a man named Sanchez who may have information on the whereabouts of Frontera which leads us to one of the funniest chase scene’s in the seven seasons. As Steve and Danny chase Sanchez running down a parking garage, the cars are coming up and they’re trying to catch Sanchez and dodging cars at the same time. While Sanchez climbs down pipes from one level to another, Steve proceeds to do the same when Danny stops him and suggests in his typical Danno way that it’s a bad idea to do that after a liver transplant. After some short McDanno banter, Steve does it anyway while Danny takes the elevator. We are taken from watching Danny calmly ride down in an elevator to watching Steve chasing Sanchez, who now has stolen a car with Steve still chasing behind. Danny exits the elevator just in time to see Sanchez drive by and Steve running behind. As they circle around, Danny steps out and shoots through the windshield and Sanchez is stopped in his tracks. Danny to the rescue and Steve out of breath who says nothing. Is this a first? Steve NOT having the last word!
Now in the rendition room with Sanchez, Steve and Danny do the good cop, bad cop routine and get the information on Frontera and the cartel. Any guesses on who the bad cop was?
With the new information Steve and the team along with the DEA agent arrive at the home of another DEA agent who has been leaking information to Frontera and the cartel. The team enter the home, find the agent shot in the head, and Fontara is on the run out the back with the bag containing the 10 million. As Steve gains on him, Frontera drops the bag and escapes on a motorcycle. There also seems to be a black vehicle at the scene which is noted by the team.
Switching back to Kono and Rosey, after finding out Rosey is homeless, Kono seeks out Roseys family to try to get answers. She learns that Rosey just was not the same since she came back from Iraq. Besides the obvious physical injury, emotionally she had been getting into trouble and even struck out at her father. Because of that, the family could not take it any longer and had to take a step back.
Meanwhile, Steve gets a message from Alisha Brown and he meets up with her in the medical examiner’s office. She tells Steve she had Detective Lau’s body exhumed and an autopsy showed the gunshot wound to his head was not self inflected. She believes the Chess Piece killer was afraid Detective Lau would discover his identity. Discussion surrounds the killer not treating him as a real player in his game and how Alicia who is a private citizen was able to exhume a body. She calmly shares she forged Steve’s signature for the release and being something that Steve would also probably do, he accepts it and moves on.
Another transition now brings us back to Kono and Rosey where Kono invites Rosey to stay with her but Rosey refuses telling Kono she has to make something of her life and must do it on her own. Although Kono mentions to Rosey that she is letting pride get in her way, Kono does understand and accepts her refusal. She also asks Rosey to do something for her.
Back at HQ Grover tells Danny they just received information on Frontera and the cartel who now have him minus their 10 million dollars. As Five O surround the building the cartel make their escape with Frontera in tow. While on their way back to HQ, Steve and Danny receive a call from the cartel wanting to make an exchange; Frontera for their 10 million. Steve agrees to the exchange and they set up a meet.
When they meet it is Steve alone (so we are made to believe) and four of the cartel. Steve disarms and they begin the negotiation. Steve wants to see Frontera and the cartel wants to see their money. They show Frontera and Steve goes to the back of his truck and carries out a large bag. Steve shows the money in the bag and the exchange is made. When the cartel unzip the bag to see the rest of the money, SURPRISE…….Kono is in the bag gunning out! Since she is an excellent marks woman, she takes out all four members of the cartel immediately. After which, she tells Steve never to ask her to do that again (get in a bag) but we all know she would if asked for the team or for the good of the Ohana.
Back at HQ in the rendition room with Frontera, accepting a congratulatory handshake from Ben, Steve gets a call from Alisha with new information on Detective Lau. Seems he had been talking to a HPD psycholgist about stress and his cases and that the woman may know something. While Alisha and Steve are waiting in her office, Alisha notices a book on the shelf with the title History of Medevil Chess and points it out to Steve, just as the psychologist enters the office and introduces herself…. Madison Gray……Uh Oh, trouble ahead!
The final scene brings us back to the where we see Kono and Rosey in the ocean on their boards once more. This is what Kono asked of Rosey at the homeless camp that day. In this beautiful scene, the two surf once again fading into their memories of their years not so long ago.
As for this episode rating, Well I know it’s gonna sound like I’m biased, (and I am to an extent) but this one for me, is a 10. It had every element in it that I fell in love with the show in the first place. Mystery, surprise, (car)-guments (in this case a garage-ument) with a comic tone between Steve & Danny, a soft spoken woman with intelligence that Steve could feel protective of, surfing, beautiful scenery, and a friendship that tugs at your heartstrings between Kono and Rosey. Not to mention they caught the bad guys at the end. For me, that’s perfection! This was beautifully written so my accolades to the writing team. Hope for many more this season.
Until next week when Susan is away until Monday so someone else might do the recap sooner…or look for it to be late.
