Hawaii Five-O - The Fourth Season
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 Hawaii Five-O Love the scenery of Hawaii - Jack Lord was great - all good looks and very professional and those great famous words - "Book him Danno - Murder 1" Also, the theme music is terrific - these shows were like a mini-trip to Hawaii - I watch them over and over and never tire of them - the slang, and dress is so typical of late 60's early 70's it is like a great trip down memory lane. It is a terrific encapsulated review of life at that time! Bravo!! Hawaii Five-O fourth season I loved this show from the beginning. It was filmed in Hawaii which brought many tourists here - and Jack Lord was perfect for the part of Steve McGarrett. I don't know how many seasons it ran, but I hope to own all of them. Just keeps getting better and better! McGarret and his crew are back and the bad guys in the Aloha State had better beware! Season 4 roars right back with more great crime drama in the tropical paradise of Hawaii. All the original cast is still here (Kono would leave after this season) and the stories are all great action-packed adventures. Fans of Five-O won't be disappointed! And yes, McGarret's arch-nemesis Wo Fat makes an appearance is an exciting two part episode. There are some continuity flubs with McGarret's big Mercury - he's seen driving off in a 2 door hardtop and arriving on the scene in a 4 door hardtop! Ditto for the ambulance used in several episodes - it magically transforms from a Cadillac into a Pontiac! Overall, this a well made set with terrific video/audio quality. Book 'em, Danno! Five-O Fever Hawaii Five-O The Fourth Season rides the same wave of excellence that carried the series through seasons one, two and three. Season three in particular marked the onset of the show's glory years, and this season picks up where the last one left off. I admit, I might be a bit prejudiced when I say that the fourth season is probably my favorite, since it does feature my all-time favorite episode, Cloth of Gold, in which a group of wealthy and decadent real estate scammers are knocked off one by one via one of the most unusual murder weapons in television history, but, really, there are plenty of reasons to love and recommend this set. For one thing, it is more consistent than past seasons, with only one truly lame episode, Two Doves and Mr. Heron... even that provides the joy of watching John Ritter play a poetry-spouting vagrant-slash-hippie whose high-sounding morality suddenly disappears once he has a chance to abscond with fifty-thousand dollars. Five-O seems to have gotten a little edgier in season four, most notably in the increased level of violence. I don't know if it was just a matter of network standards relaxing, or the exposure to the Vietnam War on the news every night, but the violence in these episodes is generally more hard-hitting and disturbing, particularly in the classic episode ...And I Want Some Candy and a Gun That Shoots, which features a crazed Vietnam veteran who holes up in a roadside bunker with a rifle and takes pot shots at police officers. In fact, several of the culprits in these episodes are troubled vets just back from their tours of duty, which puts Five-O clearly ahead of its time in dealing with issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition to being more violent, the episodes are also more lurid. Which is fine, I always enjoyed a little bit of sleaze with my Five-O. Wednesday Ladies Free and the previously mentioned Cloth of Gold are classic episodes that imbue their nightmarish murder stories with elements of kink and sensationalism. But Skinhead ups the ante even further, brutally, and rather bluntly, dealing with the issues of racism and rape in a way that must have been pretty daring for its time. For example, an Asian woman assaulted by a white soldier is questioned on the witness stand about the irrelevant details of her sexual history, and is made to look like an instigator rather than a victim by the defendant's unctuous attorney. I wonder if any TV show prior to this dealt with as many peripheral issues involved in the difficult matter of rape as this episode does. It's a powerful show, and one of the season's best. So is Nine Ten, You're Dead, which uses one of Five-O's patented mainland syndicate storylines to comment on the damaging side effects of boxing. But Five-O is just as notable for the fun and ingenious schemes it depicts as it is for its fearlessness in dealing with contemporary issues, and season four is no exception. 3.000 Crooked Miles to Honolulu, Didn't We Meet at a Murder, Odd Man In, Bait Once Bait Twice, While You're At It Bring In the Moon, Good Night Baby Time to Die, Rest in Peace Somebody and For a Million Why Not all have well-plotted stories that keep the viewer guessing, and completely enthralled. Wo Fat makes a welcome appearance. In one especially haunting episode, the usually staunch McGarrett falls in love with a painting. In addition, the camerawork is as gritty, the music as flashy, the perps as ruthless and clever(just not as clever as McGarrett), the scenery as lush, and McGarrett as hard-boiled and unflinching as ever. Thanks to CBS, the early '70's live again, in all their gritty and entertaining glory, and with hardly any signs of rust. Be there. Aloha. | |||||||||||
