“E Uhi Ana Ka Wa I Hala I Na Mea I Hala” made a smashing entrance for a third episode. Flashbacks to the 1980s, conspiracy theories, surprise twists, explosions – nothing’s off limits in this week’s Hawaii Five-0. Every minute was riveting and revealing.
The flashback to the plane crash taking place in 1983 was an interesting start. I had to appreciate the humor of a certain aspect of it – instead of rebuking a passenger for getting out a cigarette, the flight attendant lights it for him. Times really have changed since the days of smoking on planes being the norm.
The choice of music to accompany the plane crash was another compelling aspect. “Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran was one of the top songs of 1983 (the year the plane crash occurred), that’s a given. Still, it seems grisly. Diane Downs used the song as a motivator to shoot her children in 1983: perhaps the song has since become associated with macabre events, like the plane crash?
The manner in which the plane crash is addressed is thought-provoking. A salvage company finds a fresh body inside the nearly-forty-year-old wreckage. That’s definitely unexpected. That said, there are far more twists and turns in this episode than its predecessors.
Conspiracy theories are presented as one of the main subject matters. It addresses the various theories that people come up with to explain tragedy, some more realistic than others. Anything from mechanical failure to government cover-ups are presented as the reason for the plane’s demise, and I was dying to know the cause of the crash just because of the hype and conspiracy theories surrounding it.
Jerry’s absence was deeply felt in this episode of Hawaii Five-0. Conspiracy theories are his bread and butter, so it’s a shame they didn’t call in Jerry to consult on this particular case. After all, the show did leave the door open for Jerry to return. Perhaps it’s too soon (we saw Jerry in the season premiere), but it would’ve been a perfect addition that would have surely added some humor. They did make a joke out of Adam acting like Jerry as he dug into the conspiracy theories – still, there’s only one Jerry.
Meanwhile, Steve and Quinn track down the man – Wes Cullen – that they believe was behind the bomb planted in Steve’s house, discovered and diffused in the previous episode. I got the sense that they were developing a sort of banter between the two. Almost like Steve was intentionally grooming her to be his protégé. Danno wasn’t in this episode, so was Quinn’s banter with Steve filling in the void? Is she supposed to be the younger version of Danno? Her budding friendship with Steve echoes his early days of getting to know Danno. That, or they have an aspiring will-they or won’t-they element. Considering we’ve already got Tani and Junior owning that, another will-they or won’t-they would be a touch much.
Steve listens in on one of her conversations. Even if he doesn’t understand the language, it doesn’t stop him from running a trace and butting into a piece of her past. As predicted, some of Quinn’s past is already bubbling to the surface, but I rather liked this piece of information: for some time, Quinn has been helping out a widow she feels responsible for. It shows a new depth of her character.
Instead of being annoyed at Steve, Quinn seems fine with it. Especially when Steve (finally) officially gives her a badge, offering her a position with the Five-0. The meaningful moment is broken by a group of military police crashing the party, which I’ll honestly confess that I thought were there for Steve. He was the primary one in pursuit of Cullen, but Cullen turned the tables around to go after Quinn instead. Interesting indeed.
Quinn should really watch whose breakfast she crashes, as it seems that was the catalyst in placing her name on Cullen’s revenge list. Luckily Steve’s connected enough to get his new employee out (straight out of jail, a good way to start a professional relationship by Five-0 standards). If you come after one of his teammates, Steve comes back at you ten times harder. Cullen is desperate, stupid or overly confident. Plus, he obviously hasn’t done his homework on the island’s members of law enforcement.
Tani and Junior have very little time together, which in comparison to last week’s episode seems unbelievable. They were having a real moment in the collapsed tunnel. Yet, they’ve gone back to being all good and fine. No repercussions of trauma or the bringing up of Tani’s obvious feelings for him. Granted, with everything going on in this episode, there wasn’t much time leftover for Tani and Junior to address their stuff. Maybe that’s meant to happen down the line? I hope so, because straightforward declarations or at least a solid direction of where they’re heading would be nice to know.
However, it looks like those answers will have to wait. With the explosive death of Cullen, it’s clear there’s a bigger enemy that was pulling the strings and will likely duke things out with Steve. There’s something bigger and more heinous going on that Steve will be taking the time to dig into. Whoever Steve’s tangling with this time may make Wo Fat look like nothing. So who is the real villain, and just what do they have planned? Time will tell.
Poetic justice was an engrossing component of the plane crash as well. One of the passengers aboard was carrying money obtained from a robbery in which he murdered a socialite. Dying in a plane crash mere hours later is karma in its most severe form, and his brother, still living, is nearly murdered by the person he hired to obtain that money. Oh, the irony.
Not to mention that this week’s murderer stands out among the sometimes ubiquitous criminals that the Five-0 usually apprehend. A woman that does underwater welding for a living. Like Tani said, a niche within a niche. The murderer’s background matches the fascinating case of the plane crash and the current case of the murdered diver found inside. It did not disappoint.
Beyond new and mysterious villains, it looks like the conspiracy theory isn’t quite solved, either. No one will be getting their answers anytime soon as to what caused the plane crash as its black box was wiped. How will this be reintroduced in the future, and when? Does this tie in to the criminal that blew up Cullen? Who was responsible, and how will the Five-0 track them down? The possibilities are endless.
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