Here is the recap and review of the latest Hawaii Five O episode, translated as “House of Horrors”. As usual, Susan Schoppe did it for us all and it is very very detailed. Let’s jump right in as it is a little longer than usual.
The Halloween episode is one we all usually wait for, and for me this was one of the best. We begin with seeing the police arriving at a home in 1940. They knock at the door where a frightened woman answers not wanting to let them in. After insisting to enter, they observe the room in shambles. The woman’s small daughter was sitting on the floor also appearing to be afraid. Almost instantly, books start falling off shelves, the chandelier starts swinging, the lights start flickering, and the radio comes on. The woman begins saying the house is haunted. The officer tells his partner to get the woman out of the house. He then goes to get the little girl and as he’s about to pick her up, he is thrown back and held up against a wall. While being held there the little girl says “please stop, please stop hurting him.
We are then taken to present day where we see Steve and Danny getting out of the car. Steve tells Danny that this is the story about the house that he got from his father who got the story directly from the desk sergeant working the night that it happened. Danny tells Steve he knows what Steve is trying to do. He is trying to scare him with a ghost story while walking up to the same spooky house that a 1940 ghost haunted on Halloween. Steve insists he’s just telling him the story as he heard it.
As they walk up the drive Steve is really happy to see Max (so are we). Max is now sporting a beard and longer hair which is a new look for him. He is also wearing a wedding ring. Steve and Danny comment on the new look and Max tells them that the beard is actually part of his Halloween costume. (which we have all been waiting to see), and it is the caricature of John Rick his latest tribute to Keanu Reeves. The big reveal though is that Max is really married and the ring is not part of his costume. He and Sabrina tied the knot while overseas. Max tells Steve and Danny how wonderful it was to work with all the people and for all the good causes while working with Doctors Without Borders.
As Steve, Danny, Max and Chin enter the house Chin is giving them the rundown on their murder victim. She is a 64 year old woman (Marjorie Webb) who claimed to be a medium. Before retiring she did TV shows and had written books for her claim to fame. Chin explains that her death looks to be that of a home invasion. Lou enters the room telling everyone that he just got a copy of the 911 call the woman made before her death and they had to hear it. As they listen to the call, the woman sounds frantic. She’s saying that it’s in her house and begins screaming. Chin notes that if someone were in his house he wouldn’t be calling them an it. Max interrupts saying this is peculiar. When everyone asks what, his rough examination reveals the woman was literally “scared to death”.
Our next scene shows Danny talking to Grace on the phone telling her why she is not going to a Halloween party and that she is staying home with Charlie (last year she lied and went to a Halloween party without permission); Grace is not one bit happy about this and tells Danny this is cruel and unusual punishment. The doorbell rings and its Jerry, to babysit them both. This should be fun!
Back at the murder scene Steve is questioning Marjorie Webb’s assistant Nikki as to how long she has been with her. Nikki tells Steve and Danny that it’s been about two years but that her job was progressing to handling more personal thing and that Marjorie had wanted her to be there for the company because she was afraid of being alone in the house. When Steve and Danny asked what she was afraid of Nikki said it sounded crazy but that Marjorie was sure she was being haunted. Nikki explained that she too had heard and seen things that made her sure there was something wrong with the house. Chin and Lou call Steve and Danny into the next room where they discovered that Marjorie had installed 16 security cameras throughout the house and they have footage of Marjorie when she made the 911 call. Lou pulls up the video and everyone watches it. It reveals a dark figure coming down the hallway towards Marjorie when she screams and falls to the floor. (I would be out the door, not on the floor.)
Next enters Eric. He’s already talking about all the rumors about the house and its clear Eric is a bit uneasy about the stories. Seeing this, Danny tells Eric it’s haunted, which gives Danny some pleasure. Everyone seeing this so Lou asks Eric what’s wrong. Eric tells everyone Danny scared him for life when he was 10 when he and his friends went trick or treating, they went as the power rangers, Eric wasn’t happy about that because he ended up being the pink one. Anyway, a group of guys in masks and knives started following them and chasing them. When Eric was separated from his friends, he was so scared he lost control of his bodily functions, wet himself,and was forever known as Pee Pee Russo. Seems this name followed him through high school. After making a wry remark, Steve then tells Eric to tear the place apart to find out how anyone got in without tripping any alarms or getting caught on any cameras. Lou tells Eric not to pay any attention to Danny, but then calls him “Pee Pee”.
While trying to figure out why anyone would want Marjorie dead Chin comes in and announces that Marjorie made over 40 calls to one number, a priest! Steve leaves the room saying this just keeps getting better and better.
We next see Kono and Adam driving down the road which to no surprise in a Halloween episode is dark and secluded. Kono asks Adam aren’t you just a little curious as to where they are going to which he replies, No, that when my wife tells me she’s taking me on a weekend getaway, I don’t ask questions. Suddenly in the middle of the road Adam almost hits a young woman. He stops in time and he and Kono get out to help the girl. She tells them she’s been in an accident and her friend is still trapped in the car about a half mile down the road. They all get into the car and drive to the girl’s car to help her friend. When they get there the friend is gone.
Meanwhile back at Marjorie Webb’s home Eric is checking out the electrical system. Danny’s on the phone talking to Jerry about Grace’s attitude of not wanting to participate with anything Halloween with him and Charlie. Danny tells Jerry Grace is 14 and her moods are all over the place and she’s always on the phone and texting all the time. Jerry asks Danny if he’s considered that Grace may have a boyfriend. Danny says no, but thank you for that. Jerry tells Danny he hasn’t given up on getting Grace into the Halloween spirit.
While still checking out the electrical system Eric heads down to the basement and finds the circuit and breaker boxes. Dust covers his face as he blows off the boxes so he goes upstairs to wash up. When he looks down at the running water it appears to be blood coming out of the faucet. Eric screams which brings Danny in who asks what he’s yelling about. Eric points to the mirror which has the word “CONFESS” written on it. Eery music is played in the background.
Next we are taken to the rendition room where Chin and Lou are questioning an inmate (Nathan Betts) on how he ended up with a $5000.00 check from Marjorie Webb. They want to know why she gave him that kind of money. Nathan tells Chin and Lou that Marjorie wanted him to dig up a body out of the cemetery. It was some guy named Eli Jones and when he opened the coffin, there was no one in it. That wasn’t the weirdest part, as when Chin and Lou go out to the cemetery to verify the story, the name Marjorie Webb was scratched into the lid of the coffin.
Now back with Kono and Adam, we find them searching through the woods looking for the girl that was in the car. They find a woman tied up and gagged. That’s when suddenly from behind they are being attacked by strange men wearing white masks. What is up with white masked bad people bothering Kono again? Just as Adam and Kono get the advantage, the woman they almost hit with the car knocks Kono unconscious.
Back at HQ Steve, Chin, and Lou are watching a video of Marjorie Webb giving a reading of her psychic abilities to a family (the Jones) trying to find their missing son (Eli). Marjorie being the con that she was had the Jones family moving all over the place telling them their son was still alive as they paid tens of thousands of dollars to Marjorie to help find him. Chin tells Steve and Lou that in fact Eli was dead within the first 48 hours of him being reported missing. When Marjorie was exposed as a fraud, the Jones family moved to Canada out of embarrassment and to get away from it all.
While discussing possible suspects, Steve gets a text from Danny wanting them to meet him back at Marjorie’s house. When the team arrives no one is there. They call out to Danny with no answer. Suddenly the lights start to flash, books start falling off of shelves, cabinet doors start opening and closing, and the front door slams shut. Steve reaches for his gun, and while all of this is going on is Lou says “Oh Hell No” (it’s official, I love Lou). Soon everyone hears laughter and Steve tells Danny to come out now, to which Danny says how did you know it was me? Now who else would it be?
Back at Danny’s house with Jerry, Charlie and Grace, Jerry and Charlie are carving pumpkins. Jerry tells Grace she should start carving her pumpkin as he and Charlie are almost done. Grace’s reply, “I’ll pass. Jerry explains to Charlie what they are doing next. To try to engage Grace in the activities, Jerry pretends to hack off a finger, with the fake blood and all. Grace jumps up with a towel and discovers it’s a joke. (Well that didn’t work.)
Back at the house with Steve, Eric and the team, Eric has all the gadgets, wires, and devices that made all the strange happenings laid out on the table. He explains how it all worked and that the guy behind all this was good and knew what he was doing. Eric tells them he was able to get finger prints and some DNA. Chin also comes in and tells Steve they just finished processing Marjorie’s phone and they found spyware so someone had been listening in on it. The IP address came back listed as a Charles Michael Triblaine better known as “Triblaine the Great” who is an illusionist.
Meanwhile Kono, Adam, and the woman from the car are waking up as they’re being driven down the road in the bed of a pickup truck. As they arrive they see a group of people wearing white masks that looks like a cult. They are all taken into a large garage type building where they are shackled to poles. Once again this is not looking good for the couple.
Now switching back to the rendition room, Steve and Danny are questioning Triblaine. They tell Triblaine that they suspect him as Marjorie’s killer and they found out that he spent years trying to expose her as a fraud and ruin her career. They know he was so obsessed with her and that he offered her $500,000 if she could prove her abilities in a controlled setting. They know he has the expert abilities to rig up her house. Triblaine tells them that yes he wanted her exposed as a con and fraud but that he didn’t want her dead and didn’t kill her. Triblaine offers to help Steve and Danny find the killer by giving them information on where to find the kind of things found in the rigged house and providing them the extensive records on all the private readings she did for people who may have wanted revenge.
Back at Danny’s house it’s now time to go out trick or treating. Jerry’s ready, Charlie’s ready but Grace says she’s not going. When Jerry asks why not, Grace tells Jerry she’s missing an epic Halloween party and she is not dressing up in a stupid costume and begging for candy. Jerry tries to get through to Grace for Charlie’s sake and when it looks like he did, she still says no, and Jerry and Charlie leave without her.
Back to Kono and Adam who are still shackled to the poles. Adam is looking at Kono and begins to laugh. Kono asks him what’s so funny. Adam says he’s starting to think trouble follows her around.” To which Kono smiles and says ” oh really” and another good come back, Adam says nothing like this ever happened to me before I met you. (I love these two.) Kono tells Adam she could say the same thing about him but on the other hand it’s never boring.
The cult guys interrupt their sweet banter as they enter the barn and walk over to take off the shackles. When doing so Kono bites the guy’s ear and delivers a hard kick to his stomach. He drops the key, she grabs it with her feet (good McGarrett move), and throws it to Adam who frees himself and then Kono. Now with both free, they take out the bad guys, free the girl still shackled, and make a run for it.
Back at HQ, Steve, Chin, and Lou clear Triblaine while Chin gets a new lead from a magic shop on the island. The purchases for the items in the house were made by a guy named Elan Miller, who is dead. He was stabbed in the neck about two hours before. Steve concludes that he was the one who spooked Marjorie to death and after going back to his own house a few hours later, he is murdered. Now the team believes there is another person who’s behind Marjorie’s murder that wanted to shut Elan up. Max found a hair on Elan’s body and ran a DNA check which got an interesting hit. The DNA came from an old archive in a missing person’s case. The name that came up was Julie Hillman. She was reported missing in 2010 when she ran away from home and then reported alive and well four months later. When the picture comes up Steve and Danny recognize her as Nikki, Marjorie’s assistant.
Another switch back to Kono, Adam and the girl… as they run through the woods the cult discover they’re gone and start a search. The three come upon a house and go to the door for help. They ask the homeowner to use his phone to call the police. He tells Kono the phone is in the kitchen, but of course it isn’t, and you guessed it, they are in the home of one of the cult guys. (Footnote, when escaping from crazy people, never go to the neighbors for help) The guy holds a gun on them and calls the cult to come get them. He looks away for a second and Kono gets the drop on him. Adam takes the guy’s phone and calls HPD for help.
Switching back to the rendition room, Steve and Danny have Julie Hillman aka Nikki in the infamous chair. Steve and Danny determine that Nikki’s parents went to Marjorie when she went missing for help in finding her. Marjorie told Nikki’s parents that she was dead and because of that, Nikki’s father killed himself. When Nikki found this out, she plotted revenge against Marjorie. She explains she wanted Marjorie to suffer and to be driven to a mental institution talking about ghost for the rest of her life but she never wanted her dead. Danny tells her that she has also now stabbed a man in the neck so she’s looking at a murder charge in addition to the manslaughter charges she is already facing.
Steve stays behind and in another clue that he has not forgiven himself for his own father’s death, he tell Nikki he lost his father, too. He understands how her running away must haunt her with the way it affected her dad but if she had just gone home her dad might still be alive right now. If she just had gone home is a significant line as Steve must also feel that if he had just gone home instead of chasing the Hess brothers, his father would also be alive. It is a good family foreshadow for the upcoming 150th episode.
When Steve walks out of the room, Lou tells him and Danny that Kono is in trouble and that they are, as back at the cult house, Kono and Adam are looking for weapons to hold off the large approaching cult group. Kono has the man’s gun but it only has three shells. Adam says they will have to improvise. As he looks around, Kono hands the girl a golf club.
The cult is then at the door and as they break in, Kono shoots one, the girl clubs one and Adam throws a boiling pot of water on another. Kono uses her last two shots and grabs the dead man’s guns and they all run to the bedroom for safety. A gun fight ensues. Just as Kono and Adam run out of ammunition they hear sirens and the cavalry have arrived. Everyone is safe.
Once outside while Chin is checking in on Kono’s well-being, Lou comes up and tells them HPD searched the entire compound and found two shallow graves with human remains, and video tapes dating back three years of the murders. It seems Kono and Adam stumbled into a death cult, who on Halloween was making their own horror movies. The looks on everyone’s faces after hearing this is scary in itself.
The final scene brings us back to Jerry and Charlie. We see Charlie isn’t doing well with his haul of candy. As they head for the next house, Grace walks up wearing her princess costume. (maybe one year the writers will let her be a monkey) Charlie is really happy to see her and she tells Charlie she knows a street where they have a lot of good candy. Jerry stands back looking quite pleased that Grace showed up and says “my work here is done” What a sweet scene.
The Halloween shows are my favorite and this one for me was better than some in the past. I would rate this a 7 though because of the storyline for Adam and Kono! They need a break from the all the bad guys. Also, although fun, the haunted house was a little predictable.
Until next week when many questions are due to be answered in the show’s 150th milestone episode.
