H50 3.01
Okay, wow, that was a whole lot going on in one ep. There were serious problems with pacing and cramming too much in, but there was a lot I liked about the ep too. And also, just so good to see the show again! I really did miss the team of awesomeness.
Things I did not like:
I'm still pissed about Malia. I got spoiled and figured it out a while back, and I'm glad I did because the anger has faded enough by now that I was able to move on and actually watch the show. It was just such a pointless death, and a cheap, trite way to give Chin some manpain. That said, DDK rocked it. I sometimes forget how damn talented he is since he's not usually given anything to sink his teeth into acting-wise. But he played it perfectly here, broken and detached and yet focused on getting Delano. I wish it all hadn't been crammed into an ep with everything else going on.
Wo Fat's escape. Okay, I kind of enjoyed it in a hilarious, over-the-top kind of way. Delano is clearly a Bond villian, and I was kind of sorry to see him killed.
The tedious highway shootout that went on WAY too long. I did like Kono's bad ass moment there, killing Toothpick (although again, I was sorry to see him killed off so quickly) and of course, Chin's deadly stoic moment of revenge, but for the most part, the shoot 'em up stuff doesn't thrill me. I do like when it's tense, like in the season finale when they took down Fryer's killer. That took some awesome teamwork and McGarrett style craziness and Danny going on about Steve's face and that was all really well done. This, not so much.
Rachel being the villian in Danny's life again. Granted, their relationship has always been pretty volatile, so I expect this to be resolved fairly quickly, but it shows a lack of imagination on the writer's part. Plus, I like her.
Onto the good things:
Doris McGarrett. OMG I think she's awesome, and I want her to join Five-0 and drive around with Steve and Danny and argue with them and then go back to HQ and do all the interrogations. I also love that for a change someone actually has Mommy Issues, as opposed to constantly seeing shows where the hero has Daddy Issues and their mother is just a shadow figure of no importance in their lives. Doris is complex and interesting and prickly and strong. It's wonderful to see. Also very wonderful--that first scene between her and Steve. Powerful and moving, in a way I don't usually expect from this show. Very well done. AOL rocked that scene. I love his understated pain and emotion and that we could clearly see how hard he was trying to hold it all together.
Danny's face. Because Danny's face is always a good thing, especially when he's arguing with Doris. And, apparently, when he's called "Boo Boo". Oh, Steve. Seriously? And "bear"? Just where were you going with that? :D And while we didn't get a whole lot of Steve/Danny time, I did love that he was the one who picked up Steve and Doris at the airport, and that the show ended with the two of them together seeing her off. Poor Danny though, his job in this ep was to be the bearer of bad news. Constantly.
Also, my girl crush on Michelle Borth continues to grow. I adore her. I think she's going to be a great addition to the show. Loved her scenes with Doris. Also, speaking of pretty, Adam Noshimori continues to be very, very handsome. I had figured Chin would call him regarding Kono, and I loved that he was waiting on the steps for Kono at the end of the show. He's totally smushy with her and it's very sweet. No wonder his father was intent on keeping him from the 'family business'. He's really not cut out for it.
I'm intrigued by this connection between Doris and Wo Fat. I hope it doesn't take until the season finale to resolve it. There's a difference between dramatic tension and tedium. But on the whole, it was a decent ep, considering everything that had to get wrapped up in it. And I still have high hopes for the season!