Hawaii Five-0: Season 5, Episode 23 Review (S05E23) -- Mo‘o ‘ōlelo pū (Sharing Traditions)

(S05E23) Mo‘o ‘ōlelo pū (Sharing Traditions)
RATING: 3 stars

Original air date: 05/01/15

In this show, Kono goes on a symbolic outrigger voyage to complete something her mother wanted to do before she was stricken by an aneurysm. This part of the show was very good, and featured Grace Park's most dramatic performance of the entire series so far, despite the fact it had little to do with Five-0, other than the heavy "ohana" angle.

All the major characters for the show assembled on the beach at the beginning to wish Kono well, including her mother (Catherine Haena Kim), pushed across the sand in a wheelchair by her father (Ken Narasaki). Kono's mother was seen with her in numerous flashbacks to her childhood, where she was played by Miya Cech and her mother seemingly taught Kono everything she knew about surfing.

Of course, on Kono's journey, things go horribly wrong. The weather takes a change for the worse, and Kono ends up in more peril than any human being can possibly endure. First she loses her outrigger, then she has to stay on her surfboard despite a deluge straight out of The Perfect Storm. Chin Ho is constantly freaking out about Kono, despite having to work on the crime of the week.

That part of the show, unfortunately, was not particularly interesting.

The most recent of several drugstore robberies has resulted in the death of a pharmacist. What was stolen were decongestants containing pseudoephedrine to be used in the manufacture of meth.

Reviewing security footage, Chin Ho recognizes the tattoo of Makai Akana (Philip Moon), a meth cook who Chin sent to prison some time before. Five-0 goes to Akana's house, but his son Carter (Jordan Rodrigues) doesn't know where his father is and doesn't want to know.

With no explanation as to how they track Akana down, Five-0 locates him in the middle of nowhere, specifically the Kawaiunui Marsh, described by Wikipedia as "the largest wetlands in the Hawaiian Islands." There Akana is producing meth, but when arrested, he says that he is being forced to do this by a guy named Willie Moon who is threatening to kill his son. But when they return to this location to pick up Moon, after busting him, it turns out that the big brains behind the robberies was none other than Carter, who said that his father "owed him" for ruining his life.

Seriously, this show would have been a lot better if the Kono story had taken up the whole hour.

MORE TRIVIA:

• Kono's parents' grey hair was not particularly convincing at the beginning of the show. No doubt much of the budget was spent on the very impressive special effects and/or CGI for the storm scenes. But where did they do the "tank" sequences? Is there such a facility in Hawaii, sort of like those huge tanks they used to have to film pirate movies in Hollywood in the 1940s? (SurfBelle2 via Twitter reports there is filming of this scene on Facebook (Facebook login not required to view).
• Willie Moon's driver's license was #423Y872, he is 5'10", 170 pounds, and was born 03/04/1991. His address is 762 Pumua Street, Honolulu 96816.
• When Kono's satellite phone gets waterlogged, she uses the same technique as Chin Ho in an earlier episode (S01E12, actually), putting it in a bag of rice to dry it out.
• Each section of the show was prefaced by some Hawaiian saying or proverb, including a quote from legendary surfer Duke Kahanamoku.
• Hopefully the fish that Kono kills and eats was already dead, otherwise the SPCA will be bitchin'.
• When Five-0 visits Akana's house, finding his son Carter, McGarrett and some other cops go inside behind Carter, who turns and yells "Thank you for violating my civil rights." Chin Ho, apologizes, saying "We're sorry about that," a first for the show, if I am not mistaken.
• The drugstore where the pharmacist is killed at the beginning of the show, Waipahu Drug, is a real location at 94-748 Hikimoe St # A, Waipahu 96797.