Wednesday, May 25, 2011

BOOB TUBE REVIEW: Hawaii Five-O "Ua Hiki Mai Kapalena Pau" (Season 1, Episode 23)

SOURCE:  CBS
This is the episode leading up to the Season One Finale, so I was excited to see how the action was going to unfold, especially with respect to Wo Fat and solving the Champ toolbox mystery.  The toolbox first appeared in the pilot episode and has remained a centerpiece throughout the entire season.  However, I am going to have to wait for the season finale because except for the receipt of another envelop, the toolbox wasn't emphasized very much in this episode.  Instead, the Five-O team encounters a familiar criminal face while Danny's life is placed in jeopardy.
 
While staging an assault on a safe-house the Five-O team and CIA analyst Jenna Kaye believe Wo Fat is using, the team finds Sang Min instead.  As the rest of the team chases after, but lose Sang Min, Danny goes into the house and finds a dead body lying in the kitchen with a open carton of milk on the floor.  Shortly after leaving the house, he has trouble breathing and then goes into convulsions.  Jenna assesses that Danny and the victim were probably exposed to the neurotoxin, Sarin and saves Danny's life by identifying the antidote needed to counteract the toxin.
 
Gracie keeps Danny company as he recovers in the hospital (how come Danny doesn't have to wear a hospital gown?) while the rest of the team tries to figure out who and why Sarin was used to lace the milk.  They identify the victim as a homeless man, Amoko who was given permission to squat in the house by its caretaker, Gabriel.  The house is owned by Jeff and Sheila Fallon who own a container manufacturing company in California and visit Hawaii infrequently.  In anticipation of their visit to Hawaii, the Fallons gave Gabriel access to their checkbook to help cover household expenses.  However, they cancelled their plans and fired Gabriel when they found out that he was stealing money from their checking account; thus, making the Fallons intended victims of the laced milk.
 
Kono and Chin Ho track down Gabriel (at the Downbeat Diner in Chinatown) and brings him in for questioning.  Gabriel admits that he stole money from the Fallons, but only to pay for his son's mounting medical expenses.  He adamantly denies trying to kill the Fallons.  Instead, he explains that he knew Amoko from the shelter Gabriel takes his son to for the free medical clinic.  He admitted that he told Amoko to use the spare key hidden on the property if he needed place to stay.  Kono verifies Gabriel's story when she finds the hidden spare key; thus, exonerating Gabriel.
 
Kono runs prints on the key and identifies the finger prints of Elliot Conner who is Jeff Fallon's brother-in-law.  Elliot runs the Hawaii operations and the team figures out that he has been using the house for romantic liaisons with his secretary, Chloe Ballantine.  The team also runs a trace on the Sarin and discovers it’s from a batch connected to a Russian group with the arms dealer is on the island.  Turns out the arms dealer purchased containers to hold the Sarin, which lead back to Elliot.  However, when they question him, McGarrett and Chin Ho realize he didn't do it, but his secretary did.

Chin Ho admits to Kono that he returned the money to Internal Affairs (IA) in order to keep Uncle Keako out of prison.  When Kono asks how he was able to get his hands on $200,000, Chin Ho explains that he got a loan from Marcum by using his house as collateral.  Despite Kono's warnings that IA could compare the serial numbers with the asset forfeiture locker money, Chin Ho assures her that the inventory logs are missing.  Kono still encourages Chin Ho to come clean.  Later, IA visits Chin Ho and returns the money to him after running serial numbers.  The agency spread the rumor shortly after the money went missing in hopes to catch Chin Ho when he finally spent it.  The IA agent tells Chin Ho that he won't be facing any obstruction of justice charges because the act was done to protect his family.  McGarrett orders Chin Ho to return the money to Marcum and get the deed back to his house.
 
As Danny recovers, Rachel cuts her Maui vacation short to rush to his hospital bedside.  Although once enemies, they seem very close to McGarrett when he finds Rachel sleeping in Danny's arms in his hospital room.  Rachel tells Danny that Stan planned the trip to Maui to see if they could save their marriage, but admits that she doesn't think it can be.  Later, Danny returns to work and specially thanks Jenna for saving his life with a big hug.  He tells McGarrett that he and Rachel are very close.  However, their conversation is cut short when Sang Min walks into the Five-O headquarters pleading to be placed in protective custody.
 
Next episode, the team faces being split apart.

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