444 Post: Recap/Picspam, Ha'alele (Abandoned)
There is a giant, McG-shaped hole in this episode! Sniff. But out of respect for everyone who was in this episode, and honestly, out of respect for Alex, it’s important to accept and review this one at face value. I think it devalues Alex’s personal challenges to look at this episode (or the next) with a predetermined negative view because of his absence. But we do miss him.
I always try to avoid reading anything online until after I’ve written my recap, so I’m not influenced by others’ opinions. I have a feeling, though, that there are many people who have thoughts they want to share, so please chime in with comments if you want to.
We started off with a creepy and dark scene. A young woman, Angela, is stranded because of a flat tire. Not a good sign on a crime show. She gets rid of the first scary guy who stops to help by claiming that a tow truck has arrived (Note: even I could tell that wasn’t a tow truck, and I am not smart). Unfortunately, the second scary guy (the one in the fake tow truck) is a very bad guy who abducts her.
The flat tire makes me think of Fat Tire, but I really shouldn’t have any beer right now. Drinking and blogging: Never a good idea. But maybe a Longboard…
We move to Five-0 HQ, where Danny arrives to find an envelope on his desk addressed to “Danno.”
It’s a letter from Steve. He has ventured off to look for Joe and find out the truth about Shelburne. He needs Danno to “hold down the fort.” As fprintmoon pointed out yesterday, Steve wrote to Danno, not the team. That says so much, doesn’t it?
Then Kamekona bursts in, wanting help from Five-0 because his shrimp truck is missing. I had to laugh at Danny’s question, “Is this no-knock policy some kind of an island thing?” Um, Danny, aren’t you the one who always enters Steve’s house without knocking? To quote you to you, “It got played out with the high five and the bro-hug.” Just sayin’.
Danny’s reserved and almost polite (for Danny) response to Kamekona was significant. A normal Danny reaction would have been heavy with ranting, accompanied by plenty of hand-waving. But Danny had just read a letter from his BFF that said he was trotting off to parts unknown to pursue Joe and the truth. We must assume, as I’m sure Danny did, that this means “Danger, Steve McGarrett. Danger!” Danny tried to cover his emotions with his usual irreverent humor, but his heart wasn’t in it. He smiled, he joked, he called Kamekona “Orville Redenbacher,” but he was subdued, probably deeply affected by Steve’s departure. And I wonder, was Danny also upset that Steve went alone and didn’t ask his BFF for help?
Off we go to a pineapple field, where Max is examining a dead body. First, there’s a short conversation between Danny and Chin Ho, in which Danny explains that Steve is looking for Shelburne again.
Max is obviously upset by this murder, and Danny is restrained. He simply asks, “You ok, buddy?” Max tells us how the woman died, then runs off, saying that he needs to get the body to the morgue.
This picture is about Max. Do not focus on any other asspects of the photo.
After a stop to investigate Angela’s car and then to inform her mother, they go to the HPD garage, where we find Charlie Fong! Hi, Charlie! Chin discovers a GPS unit in the victim’s car. I have two questions: Why is there always a jet at the HPD garage? Ok, one question and one plea: I hope Charlie is not actually wearing a t-shirt that says HPD Police. There must be more. Otherwise, it would pretty much say Honolulu Police Department Police!
Danny and Chin go to question the boyfriend who placed the GPS on Angela’s car. He was jealous, but he didn’t kill her.
Socks! Check out the socks!
Even when he is threatening suspects, Danny refers to food. “I’m gonna put you in a mayonnaise jar.”
As they are leaving the beach, Kamekona calls and wants to know the status of his shrimp truck. Ooops, Danny didn’t tell Kono or Chin about this! Danny behaves a little more like himself, telling Kamekona that Kono has “a nose for shrimp trucks” and calling Chin “Babe” and “Don Ho.” (Clearly, this was meant to be a Steve and Danny bantering session.)
Did you catch the reference to Metallica? Alex is a Metallica fan! They did that on purpose, I’m sure of it! When he watches this episode, he will feel all warm and fuzzy inside!
Now we hear the heart of the case. Max has determined that this murder is similar to those committed by the Trashman, a serial killer. There’s a problem, though. The Trashman is in prison! Max is adamant that this is the same killer, but Danny and Chin think it could be a copycat. After a heated argument refereed by Chin, they decide to meet Richard Branch, the alleged Trashman. Seems that Max knows him, and they both like acrostic puzzles.
After the meeting with Richard Branch, they stop at Kamekona’s for lunch.
Max makes a heartfelt plea for Five-0 to reopen the case of the Trashman. “Five-0 once asked me to reopen an investigation. Now, I’m asking the same.” He still hasn’t told them about his connection to the case. Oh, Max, I want to give you a hug!
Finally, Max tells his story. The fact that he held back for so long illustrates how difficult this must be for him. He was left at a church when he was a baby, and he was subsequently adopted by the Bergman family. His birth mother was the Trashman’s second victim, but he didn’t know that she was his mother until after her death. He might have been able to meet her, had this man not killed her. (I’m in tears at this point. Family stuff makes me sad.) This revelation leads the team to figure out a connection among several of the victims, including Angela. The women left babies at the same church!
The team suspects the caretaker at this church, since he is generally the one who receives the babies when they are left there. The caretaker, of course, lives and works in a creepy basement that apparently can only be reached by way of intricate corridors, given how long it takes people to reach his office. Every time they go there, they walk and walk and walk! It is a big church, I guess.
BTW, I must be a better detective than I thought. The assistant who takes them to the basement says, “It’s about those girls, isn’t it?” and I am the only person who thinks that is suspicious! No one on the team is apparently phased by this. They only mentioned Angela, but he knows about “girls”?
They arrest the caretaker, but Max stays behind at the church. He wants to see the caretaker’s office. In the process, he realizes that this could not be the Trashman because his arthritis would have prevented him from tying the knots.
The deacon is the Trashman! He ties Max up and tells his story. The first victim was his birth mother who abandoned him to a series of horrible foster homes. Some great lines in this powerful scene, as the Trashman tells Max that he was there when Max’s birth mother left him. She came back years later to find out how Max was, and that lead to her death.
“She didn’t want you, Max. Don’t you understand that? You’re just like me.”
“No, I’m not. I’m normal. You’re mentally ill.”
Cheers to Max for this line! Max is smart and quirky and unique, but he has the self-confidence to realize that he’s still normal! You don’t have to be a cookie-cutter image of everyone else to be okay.
The Trashman leaves the room when he hears Kono and Chin coming, and Max uses this time to knock his chair over and free himself by cutting through the ropes with a piece of broken glass. Awesome, Max! He then stabs the Trashman with the broken glass.
I think Max’s mother would have been proud, just as the Five-0 team should be. Max has turned out to be an incredible guy this season.
We go back to Kamekona’s with Danny and Chin. Steve won’t answer Danny’s phone calls.
“He’s got to do it himself, otherwise he would’ve asked us for help, right?”
“He’s probably just trying to protect us,. Make sure we don’t get hurt.”
Kono arrives with the shrimp truck! Seems that Kamekona didn’t pay for his vendor license. I am shaking my head. Max was supposed to join them, but no one knows where he is!
Max has gone to the prison to pick up Richard Branch, who has finally been proved innocent.
The final scene. Steve is in Tokyo but seems to be leaving. Sad.
I’m left with two questions and a comment: Did anyone ever explain why the young woman was up on the North Shore? Why does Max have an accent? He was apparently born and raised in Hawaii?
The final scenes with Steve were actually taken from the season 1 episode Ho'apono (Accept). They were recolored a little. Maybe I’ll post them on my journal, if no one else has posted them already.
~Aloha Au Ia 'Oe~