Hawaii Five-0 (S07E05) “Ke Ku ‘Ana” (The Stand)

Alooooha my Five 0 enthusiast friends 🙂 How did you like episode 7.05?

Well, after the emotions of a new season beginning, the thrill of a serial killer hunt, the excitement of next week’s Halloween episode and the hype for the very much talked about 150th episode (7.07) I thought that episode 7.05 would be one of those filler eps that are still enjoyable but rarely memorable.

Boy was I wrong. I’ll as far as saying that this was my favourite episode of the season so far. It made me smile, hope but more importantly it made me incredibly emotional. I was on the verge of tears at least three times.

First of all we had Kodam back, Adam and Kono finally reunited with Adam being released from prison after serving about 12  of his supposed to be 18 months sentence.

I have to commend the choice of the music in this episode, which contributed enormously to create the right mood for the right scene. Kono getting ready to meet Adam, with the lyrics in the background saying “All the roads that lead you far away bring you back eventually” was an incredibly sweet moment. Loved her kissing the ring that she has worn for 12 months, just waiting for the moment to put it back on his finger, forever hopefully this time. Even the way she let go of the bun, letting her hair fall free on her shoulders was meaningful. Adam didn’t need a fancy version of Kono, but just the naturally beautiful wife that he fell in love with so may years ago. Kono has always been able to be herself with Adam and that’s why their love is so sincere and strong.

The meeting between the two was the first time in the episode that nearly drove me to tears. Last time we saw Adam he was sporting an uncultivated beard, prison garments and a less than happy expression of his face. Now we see him clean shaved, in his civilian clothes and with the sweetest smile and loving eyes when he takes Kono into his arms. I have always been a Kodam shipper and will always be. No matter how many obstacles and challenges life has thrown to them Adam and Kono never gave up on each other. Did they have doubts and uncertainty? Yes of course. They had to learn to trust each other and to be there for each other but at the end nothing else came before their love. Work, duty, mistrust. Nothing was, and is more important than their love. Call me a soppy romantic fool but I believe tat’s how it should be, real life or fiction it doesn’t matter, that’s how true love should feel and be portrayed.

Kono and Adam’s reunion gifted us with another adorable Ohana scene at Kamekona’s truck. Even businessman Kame turns into a sweetheart in this occasion and lets Adam have his “welcome back” meal for free. Cousin Flippa serenades the love birds with his wonderful voice hinting that they finally deserve to have some quality time together. Time that gets nearly cut short when Steve’s phone rings calling everybody back to their crime fighting duties but our Commander is the best boss ever and forbids Kono from joining them, in favour of her staying with her husband. “We’ll call you if we need you” and “enjoy your quality time” come also from Lou and Danny.

Another cute moment in this scene is Steve realising immediately that there is something wrong when Chin’s phone rings. Alex’s usual talent in conveying 100 words in one glance never ceases to amaze me. “I’m right here” says Steve to Chin when he finds out about possible trouble connected with Sarah’s adoptive family in Mexico. The big Kahuna is always the first in line to support his Ohana. No doubt at all that despite his doubts due to his near death experience and recent uncertain mood Steve McGarrett always makes a difference in people’s life.

Getting back to our love birds we have another lovely scene with them in bed, having just done the only thing that Adam wanted to do after coming out of prison. The scene is very sweet but sexy at the same time, Grace and Ian have an incredible chemistry when on screen together.

We also find out that Adam has in fact something else that he would like to achieve, and it is trying to reconnect a father, Louis, whom he met in prison and has saved his life numerous time and his estranged daughter. Emily Kingston even changed her name in order to loose any link to her father, which, as we find out when Adam visits her, has ruined not only hers but also her mother’s life. Adam tries to explain to her that Louis is now a changed man, who teaches other inmates to read and to not commit the same mistakes that cost him his freedom and his family. On top of that Louis has cancer and this could be his daughter’s last opportunity to reconnect with him.

Opportunity that she takes eventually, as we see in the final scene of the episode Emily visiting her father together with Adam. This was the third time I became emotional, and gladly so.

Of course the episode also had a crime of the week, which to be honestly, initially I thought would be the least interesting part . I was proved wrong once again. The case was quite linear and rather easy to solve for the team but it had little twists and turns that kept interesting and made our opinion of the “villain” change back and forward more than once.

Initially we have a cold an powerful bullet-proof bulldozer smashing into a guns club and injuring a few customers, not to mention stealing a number of very expensive guns. We are lead to believe that the purpose of the robbery is to extract money from Matty MacConnell, a guns enthusiast guy with more money than sense.

When MacConnell is found shot to death with the very gun that he had just bought it becomes evident that there is more than greed behind the perpetrators actions. Marvin Osweiler turns out to be a anti-gun vigilante who has allegedly lost a family member and is now hell bent to raise awareness against the sale and use of guns and against the Government inability to stop the violence.

When we see Marvin looking at pictures of a young boy we immediately believe that his son must have been a victim of gun violence. A clever twist in the plot shocks us a little letting us know that he was in fact the shooter. A boy that was bullied at school and one day “lost it” and tried to solve the problem killing 8 people with a rifle gun. This is the first controversial aspect of the episode. Was he a victim or a villain. He was both. But I believe we can all feel at least a bit sympathetic with someone that was make to suffer with no valid reason whatsoever and eventually snapped. Violence is never the answer but how far did things go before that final desperate act? We will never know.

But the boy was definitely neither a victim nor a villain to his dad. He was just his son. A son that Marvin felt he had let down, that he had failed to protect. And that lead him to become a perpetrator of his own.

I am always ore than happy to see Danny back, especially after a Danno-less episode and in this occasion his presence made a lot of difference.

His cargument with Steve can be the second controversial moment of the episode. We hear two completely different opinions about guns and guns control. Steve the Navy SEAL, the military man is convinced that used by the right people and regulated correctly guns can help the innocent to defend themselves and their loved ones.

Danno the father ad the “non-military” cop thinks that if the bad guys didn’t have guns at all the good guys wouldn’t need them either.

Who is right and who is wrong? I think they both are. Of course they both make a valid point but unfortunately we don’t live in either of theirs ideal worlds so it is down to people to do the right or the wrong thing and very often it is a grey area.

But aside from philosophical debates I am glad that the show talked about such an important and sensitive topic.

I am especially happy that Marvin was “won over” not with violence but with rationality and sensitivity. Danny the dad was the perfect person to talk him down. His reasoning about parents not been completely responsible for their children’s actions was very true and persuasive. At the end of the day we make our choices and we shouldn’t blame anybody else for taking them.

The third scene that made me cry was when Marvin surrendered and there was a flash back of his happy memories with his son. Once again the music was a perfect complement to the images. The cold blooded killer is also a loving and caring father, the shooter is also a happy and hopeful child. Heart breaking that life turned them into something that they would never had thought possible at that time of happiness.

I was ever so glad that Marvin didn’t die. Hope is more powerful than death.

A very good episode. Thumbs up to everyone involved.

And next week the Halloween episode. I am always eager for them. I love Halloween and I’m looking forward to see what they come up with this year. Looking forward to see Max back too.

Until then my friends have a very happy weekend and an even better week ahead.

Credit for the pictures goes to Monika, Surfbelle, Lisa (Alohaspaceman), Sonja, H50 on twitter and Alex O’Loughlin Fan (AOLO on twitter)

Thank you for reading.