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.

BOOB TUBE REVIEW: Hawaii Five-O "Ho'ohuli Na'au" (Season 1, Episode 22)

SOURCE:  CBS

I am getting caught up with my Hawaii Five-O write-ups just in the nick of time as another new episode airs tonight.  ARGH!  Completing these reviews are tougher than originally thought, but I am glad that I am doing it.  In this episode, the famous "Jesse's Girl" singer, Rick Springfield makes a cameo appearance as a famous photographer and my favorite local bruddah, Kamakona is back!

The Five-O team is on the case when the world-famous photographer, Renny Sinclair (Rick Springfield) is killed in a trailer explosion while on a swimsuit photo shoot in Hawaii.  At first it seems like Renny's womanizing past might have gotten him killed when his current girlfriend (who is pregnant with his child), accuses his old girlfriend (star model on the shoot) of still having feelings and killing him in a jealous rage.  However, the team also suspects Renny's huge gambling debts could have led to his death.  In order to track down his bookie, McGarrett and Danno ask for Kamekona's assistance after seeing his name on the list of gamblers calling in their debts to the same phone number that Renny used.  After convincing Kamekona to place a call to lure the henchmen to Kamekona's shave ice stand, Kamekona and Danno deliver the best lines of the episode:

Kamekona:  "Lesson learned.  If I live through this, I never going to gamble again."
Danno:  "Yeah, right."
Kamekona:  "How much you like bet?"

The team busts into Derek Marcum's gambling house, but Marcum reminds them that he'll make bail in a matter of hours, so the team's efforts are pretty futile.  Besides, the team has nothing on him that they can pin successfully in court.

Meanwhile, Kono makes a new (and long lost) connection with Honolulu crime lab analyst, Charlie Fong.  The two crome solvers put together their technology know-how to figure out how Renny's trailer exploded.  They identify that the explosion was caused by a special lighter.

Finally, the team discovers that Renny recently changed his will, leaving a large sum of money to a woman unknown to the investigation.  Turns out, in the photographer’s earlier years, he got a model pregnant and he left money to the child he never wanted.  Unfortunately, that daughter didn’t know his change of heart and got a job as a PA on the set of his shoot and killed him.

Also, Chin Ho tells the police board that his Uncle Keako is lying about the money and that he stole it.  When they say “prove it” by showing them the money, Chin Ho goes to borrow the money from Marcum.

Next episode, as the team gets closer to Wo Fat, Danno collapses.

BOOB TUBE REVIEW: Hawaii Five-O "Ho'opa'i" (Season 1, Episode 21)

SOURCE:  CBS

This episode with Sean Combs (he uses his real name, Sean Combs for acting and his other persona, P. Diddy for rapping) was publicized with much fanfare for weeks.  In fact, P. Diddy's new song "Coming Home" was featured prevalently in this episode.  I was impressed with Sean Comb's performance in Monster's Ball with Halle Berry, so it is good to see the dramatic thespian side of Sean Combs again.  Before this episode began, I wrongly predicted that it was going to be corny, so I was pleasantly pleased that the episode exceeded my expectations.

On "Ho'opa'i," Sean Combs plays Reggie Cole, an undercover New York police officer who runs security for the infamous mob boss, Cannon.  His time undercover means separation from his wife and young son living in Hawaii in order to protect them.  After squeezing in a brief reunion with his family, his FBI security detail and wife are gun downed.  The Five-O team arrive to the house and find Reggie's son unharmed and hiding in a closet and Reggie injured with a gunshot wound.  McGarrett and Danno immediately suspect the very elusive mob boss Cannon.

While the team visits Cannon who is in Hawaii visiting his son not in the mob business, Reggie escapes the hospital to conduct his own investigation with Cannon as his prime suspect.  Kono and Chin Ho figure out the identities of one of the gunmen and rush to Waipahu to arrest him.  However, the arrest is cut short when the team finds the gunman already dead in his vehicle.  The team starts to suspect Reggie as the killer, seeking revenge for his wife's death.  Since Reggie is in a stolen squad car with access to police radio signals, the team lure him into a trap.  However, Reggie insists that he isn't the man the team is looking for and to concentrate on someone else instead.  With help from Reggie, the team track down the second gunman who confesses the identify of the man who hired him.  The McGarrett and Reggie storm into Cannon's vacation compound and arrest the real culprit--Cannon's son.  Worried about losing the lifestyle that he has grown accustomed to due his dad's "business," Cannon's son went after Reggie who threatened his inheritance.

With the case solved, Reggis reunites with his son and together they decide to return to the mainland.  However, the Five-O team gives their new friend an open invitation to be part of their crew if he ever decides to raise his son in Hawaii instead.

Next episode, Chin Ho must account for the money his Uncle stole and the murder of a famous photographer keeps the rest of the team busy.

BOOB TUBE REVIEW: Hawaii Five-O "Ma Ke Kahakai" (Season 1, Episode 20)

Source: CBS

I was waiting with anticipation for the premier of this episode after weeks of sitting through reruns and because this episode includes the acting debut of Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.  The local news station here was able to interview Chef Morimoto about this cameo appearance on Hawaii Five-O.  Apparently, after years of Iron Chef challenges in Japan and New York, Chef Morimoto has grown quite comfortable in front of the camera and it was a pleasure to see him outside of the kitchen.  He is quite fond of the show and loves Hawaii, so this opportunity (as well as great publicity for his new restaurant) was welcomed by the master chef.

This episode starts with McGarrett taking Danny hiking near Kualoa to see the ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs.  Their recreational and cultural activity soon turns into a homicide investigation when they spot a body on a ledge.  McGarrett almost faces death when he falls down the side of the mountain and a boulder knocks him out.  Danny quickly calls for assistance and McGarrett is airlifted out of the mountain.  McGarrett suffers a sore body and a broken arm.

Meanwhile, back at Five-O headquarters, Kono and Chin Ho are busy trying to identify the body and piece together the puzzle pieces.  From the body, Danny collects fish scales and pays a visit to the fish docks.  After some creative coercing with a notorious drug pusher, Danny and McGarrett trace a sale of ehu fish to Morimoto in Waikiki.  At the restaurant, the "dynamic duo" finds Chef Morimoto testing out his new karaoke machine for the restaurant.  Chef allows the two in his kitchen to look at his shipment of fresh fish for his sushi restaurant, and the two find a bullet lodged in one of the fishes.

The team uses forensics, and other information to identify the body as Jack Nahm, a fisherman who took a second job at a small airfield to make ends meet.  They also learn that Nahm was searching online about a recent crime where a wealthy teenaged boy raped and killed a young woman and disappeared; thus, managing to evade the police.  Piecing together this information and other clues, the team figures out that Nahm was killed because he saw the boy being put on a private plane thanks to his father to escape the authorities.  The team arrests the boy’s father for harboring a fugitive and track down and arrest the boy.

Also, Kono and Chin Ho visit their Auntie Emele on her deathbed.  Kono figures out that Uncle Keako stole the money Chin Ho was accused of stealing in order to save his wife by acquiring a donor kidney from the black market.  As a result of Chin Ho protecting his uncle, he took the fall and was kicked off the force.  Uncle Keako wants to come clean, but Chin Ho insists that what's done is done and he is better off now that he is part of Five-O.

All in all, I liked this episode because we are finally provided a piece of the puzzle to figure out the source and reasons for Chin Ho being kicked off the force.  However, it was kind of difficult to recall plot lines from previous episodes, which caused the present storyline to lose a little of its luster.  While the show writers are clearly trying to provide a continous storyline (i.e., Wo Fat), the connection is a little tenuous, especially as it juggles the main weekly storyline.

Next episode:  Sean Combs guests stars on the show to provide a sample of his growing acting chops!

RAVE FAVE: Boutique 9 "Kyle" Pump

SOURCE:  Nordstrom

By looking at my previous Rave Fave posts on shoes, I noticed that I have many pairs of black pumps, but honestly, I don't think a gal can have too many.  My Boutique 9 "Kyle" pumps in black suede are one of my all-time favorite black pumps.

These are dressy pumps with a pointed closed toe and all over diamond-shaped quilting detail, which make them perfect for day or evening.  Each shoes has a corset-laced side decoration with grommet accents that add a twist to this otherwise basic pump.  The lower cut vamp allows for a more comfortable fit, especially if you have a wider foot like mine.  I also appreciate the soft faux leather lining that cushions the faux leather topped insole for further comfort.  This pump has a 3-1/2 inch matching leather wrapped high heel with stitching accents.

I found these pumps a couple of years ago while browsing around the shoe racks at Nordstrom Rack.  Doesn't that always happen when you aren't looking for anything in particular?  It was like finding a pot of gold.  These shoes fit me perfectly and were the right price, so how could I refuse?  I wear these pumps usually for work and they match well with skirts, dresses, and pants.  They are very versatile, which is a great and valuable feature.  Thus, my Boutique 9 "Kyle" pumps are my Rave Fave!

RAMBLE: Seriously, Leave the Man Alone!

SOURCE: People

I honestly don't know why I am bothering to write another post about Charlie Sheen, but here I am, doing exactly what I said I wouldn't do, which is give Charlie Sheen more publicity that is detrimental than beneficial or therapeutic.  But, as I chew on my foot and go back on my word, I am compelled to write something about the latest Charlie Sheen news.

This past weekend, Charlie Sheen opened his one man show, "My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option" in Detroit.  Apparently, the show was so awful that the Detroit audience booed him off the stage and demanded a refund.  Excuse, but what kind of show did they expect?  They essentially paid money to see a very mentally sick man to perform!

According to People, an audience member stated, "I thought he was pretending he was crazy until tonight.  It was all crap.  We'd rather lose money at the casino than come to another one of his shows."  I guess in this day and age with celebrities playing games with the paparazzi for publicity, pretending to act crazy is an option, but was it really an option for a celebrity like Charlie Sheen?  Does it seem plausible for someone who is in a number one television sitcom to play crazy in front of the cameras, get publicly fired in front of the world while drinking a bottle of "tiger's blood," and have CPS remove his children from his house all for the sake of added publicity?  I don't buy that his behavior and actions are just a mere publicity stunt.

I have some sympathy (albeit not much) for the audience members who paid money to see Charlie Sheen and didn't get the type of show they were expecting, but like any show you buy a ticket for, don't you take a risk that you might not like it?  How many times have we gone to a movie because it received rave reviews or you thought the previews for the movie looked good, only to be severely disappointed in the end?  Although I am sure there are some people who will go to the box office to demand their ticket money back, most will not and simply shrug it off to taking a risk that they might not like the movie.  Same thing with Charlie Sheen's one man show.  These people took the risk that they would be spending their money for a show that they might end up not liking.  They still got a show though and got something they paid for...Charlie Sheen showed up, but the audience booed him off stage.  If I were the show producers, I wouldn't refund their money.  The producers promised a show, but didn't promise the audience they would like it.

Seriously, the man needs help and giving him an opportunity to take his mental instability on the road really doesn't help him at all.  Enough said.

BEAUTY REVIEW: Goody "Spin Pin"

SOURCE: Amazon

I heard so many rave reviews from YouTube gurus about the Goody "Spin Pins," so you can imagine how eager I was to get my hands on these simple little wire tools.  Fortunately, Longs Drugs was having a 50% off sale on selected Goody products a couple of months ago, so I was able to find this hot ticket product.  In fact, I got the last box for brunettes.

The box contains two spin pins with instructions on how to use these pins to create a bun.  The spin pin is essentially a metal wire shaped into a cork screw with a open bottom and closed off top.  You create a bun by twisting the each spin pin starting with the open side on the top of the bun and from the bottom of the bun.  Just two spin pins will hold your bun together.  The instructions say for best results to use the pins without an elastic hair tie.  Just two spin pins are supposed to hold your bun securely.

For context, I have medium to long hair (my hair falls is just below my shoulder blades) with gradual (not chunky) layers.  The pins are relatively easy to insert into your bun, but you do need to be careful that the two do not become twisted and caught in each other (as cautioned in the instructions).  I tried a bun with and without a hair elastic.  I found that while my bun held more securely with an elastic tie, the spin pin can easily get caught in the hair tie.

If you are expecting to create a tight and perfect bun out of this product, then this is the wrong product for you.  These spin pins create a loose bun, and, due to the layers in my hair, created a ton of loose strands poking out of my bun.  While I liked the loose bun look, I didn't feel like these would hold my bun securely throughout the day and ended up placing a few extra bobby pins for some added insurance.

All in all, I thought these pins created a good look for me for the weekend or evening look (with a few extra bobby pins and lots of hair spray), but not so much for work.  My office enforces a strict dress code and a loose bun doesn't quite measure up to my office's standards as the donut bun would.  Thus, I am glad that I bought it, but can't totally rave about it either.  It all depends on the kind of look you are going for.