What can you possibly say about an episode that’s near-perfect? Although few of us watch the show for its case of the week, this time Five-0′s investigation made the most of the much-publicized guest star’s presence. (The last time that happened was with Sean Combs.)
Heavy on the comedy element, Lapa’au gave everyone sufficient screen time and if it doesn’t register on me that our #1 on the call sheet may be on less often, then this show is definitely doing things right!
Much of this episode was very clever, and the dialogue was definitely fast moving and quite funny, all expertly crafted by writer Joe Halpin. Max showing up to eat lunch and deliver a report to McG and Danno at Kamekona’s shrimp truck was hilarious. The look on Danno’s face at the sight of Max’s new “Warp 9″ yellow Camaro was priceless. And McG being regulated to the backseat because of Danno’s new best friend, as well as the enemy mine scene on the couch, were some of the better comedy bits we’ve seen all season. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Kono calling a very pleased Charlie Fong, played by Brian Yang, a “Geek God,” as one of my favorite moments of the evening.
Dare I say that for the first time this season, the Five-0 team is back to their old form? McGarrett has been cleared of the Governor’s murder, Kono is no longer undercover nor under Captain Fry’s thumb, Chin isn’t begging Kono to resist the Dark Side, and Danny is no longer mopey about Rachel. This is episode eight and I finally got the vibe from last night’s show that things were back to normal.
Bear bile, exotic birds, puffer fish, a dog and Louis Gossett, Jr. as a pregnant alien made this a fantastic, albeit absurd episode of “Hawaii Five-0.” ‘Lapa’au’ was a comical zoo of random gags, pop culture references, guest stars, animals and a few nice action sequences thrown in for good measure. Please do this every week, “Hawaii Five-0″ and I promise I’ll never talk sh*t about “Enemy Mine” or “Heroes” ever again.
This outing clicked on nearly every level. Let’s break down the parts that really worked.
Opened with the bromance: Danny and Steve’s dialogue while watching Enemy Mine will go down as some of their best exchanges. It’s hard to have a bad episode when you start with the boys doing what they do best.
A guest star who actually starred: Greg Grunberg, as agent Jeff Morrison, enjoyed more screen time that all of the guest stars this season combined. I LOVED IT. I hope we get to see Agent Morrison again, he was a good fit for the show. Mr. Kurtzman, please take a note, this is how we want to see guest stars when you advertise them as a featured in an episode.
Good balance of team exposure: Everyone got some good screen time: Kono shined in the smoke shop, Chin shined with his knowledge of motorcycles and my new heart-throb Lori even shined working with Morrison. It was good to see everyone getting some face time and contributing. Yes, Lori haters, even Lori!
Fun with animals: Who didn’t immediately love the dog? From seeing Danny’s softer side to watching Steve ride in the backseat so the dog could stick his head out the window, it was all fun. The only disappointment for me was that Danny gave the dog to Grace, so we won’t see him much in the future.
Nod to the geeks: For all of us former Heroes fans, Max and Morrison’s meeting was great, with Max swearing he knew him from somewhere. Had they worked in Max accidentally calling him Matt, it would have sealed the deal. However, seeing the Warp 9 license plate on the bright yellow Camaro totally made up for it!
More recaps & reviews:
I thought this was an excellent episode and really enjoyed Greg guest starring on the show as well as all of the team being involved.
I’m also loving the “Max moments” in each episode. He really cracks me up! 
Thanks Mizz for all these reviews and recaps for episode 208. It is always fun reading them.
I wonder if Scott ever calls Alex “Alexander ” when he is annoyed or pissed off at him (like Danny calling Steve “Steven”. It really sounds like something Scott started and then the writers began using it more and more). Not that I think they would clash a lot in real life, because I think in real life they see more eye to eye than Steve and Danno does.