Hawaii Five-0 (S07E25) “Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono”

Aloooha fellow Five 0 fans and welcome to the last episode of Season 7.

Last week many of us thought that we would have liked 7.24 to be the finale, so good that episode was in many ways but now that I have seen 7.25 I understand why it was chosen to close the season.

The two episodes are very different from each other, both excellent in different ways.

7.25 has all the ingredients that make us love the show, for 7 long years now and will continue to bring us back to watch it, support it and care for the characters we have come to know.

One of the things that the show has not always been good at is continuity. But in this season we have seen more of it than ever before and I’m truly grateful for that.

For example in 7.25 the case of the week is connected and directly related to the case of the underage girls sex trafficking issue that we saw in 7.19.

The episode starts in fact with many girls being suddenly awaken from their sleep to be moved, like cattle, in a truck and be transported somewhere else.

The full length of the episode is dedicated to getting the girls back, safely, thanks to the joint efforts of the Five 0 task force and the Honolulu Police Department, which gave us the opportunity to welcome back two favourite characters like Duke Lukela (Dennis Chun) and Abby Dunn (Julie Benz).

Of course eventually, especially thanks to the heroic and fearless acts of our Commander justice will be done and the girls will be back with their families.

The episode was packed with intense action and thrilling car chases, which are always very spectacular but that’s not what impressed me the most.

My favourite part was that parallel to the journey in order to rescue the girls we saw glimpses of the journeys that all our favourite characters are starting or going through and that left us, with many different emotional cliffhangers, wanting for Season 8 to be here already.

First we see Danno’s journey towards being a better father and being more involved in his kids lives. As we know Danno’s ex wife Rachel is going through her second divorce and Danny has to take his son Charlie to Five 0’s H.Q. while she is in a meeting. Danno’s and Rachel’s relationship has always been difficult and bumpy but they both have always tried to be good parents to Gracie and Charlie.

Steve, right or not, in a cargument in 7.25 tries to get Danny to admit that he is still in love with his ex wife. Personally I don’t think Steve is happy about the idea as Rachel has brought a lot of pain to Danno’s life and he is mostly trying to make his partner snap out of his delusion that his family can get happily back together. I believe that Danno is more in love with the idea that getting back with Rachel would fix all his family’s problems than with the woman herself. I think at this moment in time Danny is very confused about his love life and the best way to be a good father to his children.

Secondly we finally see that Chin and Abby’s journey as a couple is still going strong and they are still in love now more than ever. In 7.25, after a 23 episodes absence Abby is back and we are treated to a rare, and wonderful love scene between the love birds. Both Daniel and Julie are gorgeous and have always been able, in my opinion, to make Chin and Abby’s love scenes hot and very believable at the same time. I have always been a huge Chibby fan and I’m hoping them, together with cute little Sara, will become a family and that Chin will propose to Abby in Season 8. But will their personal journey turn into a real one too? In 7.24 we saw Coughlin offering Chin the job opportunity of a life time, leading his own task force in San Francisco, but after talking to Abby will he accept the proposal or will he (and hopefully both of them) stay in Hawaii? We know what our favourite answer would be.

Another touching and important journey this season is Kono’s. The only girl in the Five 0 task force has been severely affected by the sex trafficking case, we saw her in 7.19 being truly upset by it, being angry at the unscrupulous people involved in it and being frustrated at the idea of not being able to do more to bring all of them to justice and to save all the girls she can. All these emotions suddenly came back flooding through Kono when Moani called her to reveal important information about one of her kidnapper’s accomplices, Deon Miller, the guy that Five 0 would chase for the full length of the episode. We see a very emotional Kono that even after the “happy ending” for this case can’t be at peace knowing that the same tragic events are happening all over the United States and that so much more could and should be done about it. As we see in the very last scene she is actually on a plane going to Carson City. We don’t know why and to what end.

But what we know, from the cute scene of Kono and Sara shopping together is that another part of Kono’s life might be heading in a brand new direction. She bought a pregnancy test. Is there a little Kodam baby going to arrive soon? That would be wonderful for one the most loved couples on the show but is Kono in the right frame of mind for it right now? Does she believe that this world is good enough to bring a new life in it and keep him/her safe? How is she going to make it a better place for them? A lot of questions which might (or might not) be answered in season 8.

Lou Grover, trying to reassure Kono, reveals that has being trying to separate being a parent from being a cop all his life but he is struggling to do that. His personal journey as a father and a cop has been developing during this season too. We know that his daughter Samantha has been accepted in a university in Chicago but Lou is worried not only about letting his little girl fly out of the family nest alone but also in a town where his former colleagues don’t see him as a friend anymore. Once again, negative consequences for just trying to do the right thing.

Luckily, someone else’s journey is instead going in the right direction and has arrived to the line of achievement that he has always hoped for. Jerry has finally obtained an official Five 0 batch and the full Ohana gets together to celebrate his success. Jerry’s happiness when he looks at his badge is contagious and heart warming.

And of course I haven’t forgotten my two favourite characters, they are like the chocolate fudge cake at the end of a succulent meal. Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams are still, in my opinion, the heart and soul of the show.

Say what you will about the bickering and the arguing but those two are best friends and brothers. They understand, see and confide things about each other that nobody else can. They argue and say nasty things to each other but at the end of the day they are there for one another when no-one else is. The bickering is irrelevant. I love my colleague and friend at work to bits and we bicker and take the mick out of each other all the time. It helps to release stress and gives us a laugh. As long as we know that there is no malice in the sarcasm and that we are there for each other that’s all that matters.

And the same goes for Steve and Danno.

How cute is Steve buying a chef hat for his partner (with Danny written on it) even if he doesn’t agree with the fact that he wants to retire to open a restaurant? Adorable.

An Danno’s shouting and name calling and opposing Steve’s plans is all about trying to protect his best friend, partner and brother from himself.

All Danno wants is for Steve not to die. Not today, not tomorrow, not in the long term. Because they need and love each other. Danno doesn’t want Steve to jump from a bridge onto a running lorry because it’s dangerous. It’s as simple as that. And Steve knows it.

He might pretend that his feelings are hurt by Danno’s words but deep inside he knows that Danno is nothing but proud about him and wants him to be around for much longer. I love all the ways that Steve refers to Danny in this episode: brother and partner just to mention two of them.

And finally they get the words out to substantiate even more their feelings. Danny finally says to Steve that he is proud of him and Steve answers with an overdue “I love you”. We have missed those words and even if we know that the feelings are there it’s always heart warming to hear them saying out loud.

So McDanno’s journey continues, together as always, as they should be.

And could I possibly forget Steve? Never 🙂

The Commander’s journey has been a long, difficult, painful one. And it’s still uncertain. He started (and is) as the fearless, brave, superhero-like Navy SEAL that we know and love but on the way we see very well that he is a vulnerable and sensitive human being.

We knew that already from an emotional point of view but last year ad now once again we see it from a physical side too. He was shot at the end of season 6 and needed a liver transplant.

In season 7 he strapped a dirty bomb to his chest and now we find out he is suffering of radiation poisoning. I didn’t see it coming. It hit me as hard as it hit Danno when a visibly tired Steve admitted to having spells and having to take drugs to counteract the effects of the poisoning.

Of course he puts on a brave face and minimises the consequences but we are all worried sick about him. And I bet quite a few of us were in tears at the end of the episode. I know I was.

So who will be back in season 8?

We already know that Steve and Danno will, thank God for that. And Jerry and Lou. And Duke.

But what about Chin and Abby? What about Kono (and Adam)?

Episode 7.25 reminded me how much, after 7 long years I love the show and the characters involved with it. I care about the and their lives.

And now we’ll have to wait for months before knowing.

Well I’ll be back for sure for season 8.

And hope you will be too.

For now thank you for taking this journey together with me and for reading.

Have a good hiatus and keep loving our favourite show.

Mahalo,

Manu

Pictures courtesy of my friends Moni, Janno, Sonni and Hawaii Five 0 on twitter.