Hawaii Five- (S07E19) “Puka ‘ana” (Exodus)

Aloooha fellow Five 0 fans, after a Friday without a new episode of our favourite show, meaning two long weeks of hiatus for us, we finally got to see episode 7.19, and what a good one it was.

Sometimes Five 0 episodes are good because they are funny, full of action, because they wrap up or start interesting story lines, and sometimes, like in the case of last night’s episode, because they deal with very delicate, sensitive and important topics.

Last night’s episode raised awareness about the issue of sex trafficking, problem that unfortunately affects every country in the world and ruins a lot of innocent lives. And when minors are involved it feels even more poignant and meaningful to talk about it. If a T.V. show can in any ways help tackling such an important issue and the people that are involved with it I say it’s a very good thing.

In our modern world not only people with high risk lives and behaviours can be affected by this kind of tragedies but now, with the raise of digital communication, social media and easy access to the internet for everybody it doesn’t feel safe anymore to even be in one own house, behind close doors but right in front of a screen that can expose us to unexpected threats.

I have personally met wonderful people on line, some of whom have become friends for life, but i have also had to deal with my share of weirdos and individuals ready to take advantage of my trust or gullibility, had I given them the opportunity.

This week’s episode starts with the scene of an “uncle” and “niece” in the E.R. of an hospital, the girl, about 15 years old for what we can see with broken ribs due allegedly to a fall from the stairs.

From the behaviour of both individuals involved a very perceptive nurse, which we’ll find out later in the show being a friend of our new M.E. Noelani, starts suspecting that the girl might have been abused and alerts security to call social services, just to find out when she goes back that the pair have gone away before undergoing treatment or further examination.

After the credits sequence we are treated to a rare, and lovely scene, between Kono and Steve, who has invited his friend and coworker for coffee in order to make sure that her and her husband Adam are doing OK. Typical of our Commander to act like the father/big brother figure of the Five 0 Ohana and one of the many reasons why we love him so much. During this scene we have also a funny reference to the episode of MacGyver that starred Kono and Chin too (I don’t like calling it a proper crossover because it was just one sided) and we are remembered that Jack Dalton and Steve McGarrett know each other, which makes us hope in a future episode with more of the cast of both shows involved in two interconnected episodes.

Kono and Steve’s conversation, in which Kono admits that Adam is struggling in finding work after his stint in prison and that could be the cause of them delaying starting a family, is interrupted by Kamekona and Sara, Chin’s adorable niece, knocking at the door to sell cookies for charity. Soft hearted Steve agrees to buy four boxes, one of each delicious flavour, number that increases to eight when Sara, instructed by entrepreneur Kame, pulls her cutest puppy face and goes up to thirteen when Sara admits that Danno has bought twelve. Steve can’t resist beating his friend to the number and also lets us know that he is currently not around because visiting his sister on the mainland.

Shortly after Kono receives a telephone call from Noelani, to start the investigation related to the suspicious events at the hospital from the night before. Kono and Steve, with Jerry’s help, discover that the girl is “runaway” Moani Amosa.

In the meantime, in a different location, Lou Grover and Chin are involved in another case, related to the murder of three recovering drug addicts. Always happy to see Duke involved in this scene, in which we have another reference to the MacGyver “crossover” with Chin telling Lou about his interesting encounter with Jack Dalton and Angus MacGyver.

To be perfectly honest I didn’t feel the need for a second crime of the week in this episode, I would have preferred for the full team to focus on the disappearance of Moani, especially as the resolution of this second case, with the girlfriend of one of the victims being the guilty party together with her new boyfriend was a bit simplistic and predictable.

One little thing I found amusing about this case and the interaction between Lou and one of the suspects was Lou’s reference to a triple Lutz when talking about skate boarding. Being a long time fan of figure skating it didn’t go unnoticed.

With the help of Danno’s nephew Eric and his computer skills Steve and Kono find the location where Moani and many other girls were held captive, but unfortunately they manage to recover only one of the kids, Kelsey.

Kono is most definitely the one who shines in this episode. We see her in many different lights and emotional statuses and we once again are shown how thoughtful, strong and determined our lady cop is.

First, we have her explaining to McGarrett how vulnerable a young girl can be, even if being smart and belonging to a well adjusted family. Still at fifteen a girl can feel not good enough, not pretty enough and not popular enough and fall prey of someone that pays her compliments and attention either on line or meeting in person, as it happened to Moani ad Kelsey with Emilio.

After that we see how sensitive Kono can be when dealing with traumatised Kelsey and retrieving vital information from her still showing her respect and making her feel safe and understood.

We also see a wild and emotional Kono when after being harassed by an impatient driver for failing to move at a green traffic light because she was thinking about the ordeal that Kelsey had been through, she punches the window of his car and throws away his keys. Probably not an exemplary behaviour, as she admits to Steve, but he reassures her that it’s OK to be angry about such important topics.

Once again we see enraged Kono coming out when her and McGarrett find a regular client of Kelsey, family man and high school teacher, to whom she reminds that the girls he likes to abuse and humiliate are not much older than his students, right after punching him in the stomach.

Finally, when the time to arrest Emilio comes she makes good use of her fighting skills to give him a good beating, including a satisfactory kick in the family jewels explaining to Steve that she “had to” because he had a knife (which she asked him to pick up after he had dropped it to the floor and after giving up her own gun).

At the end of the episode we see another glimpse of maternal Kono when she accompanies Moani to the Ho’ola Na Pua Pearl Haven Facility, a non profit organisation that helps girls that have been affected by the issues shown in the episode.

All together another very enjoyable one that make us proud and happy to be supporters of the show.

And now we have another long hiatus before next new episode, until then have a good weekend and even better weeks ahead.

Thank you for reading, Manu

Pictures courtesy of Sonni, Monika, Hawaii Five 0 on twitter, Belle and Lisa