Customer Reviews

Hawaii Five-O - The Complete Sixth Season

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hawaii Five O Seasons 1-5 are simply superb. There aren't too many people in my generation who were not glued to the family TV at 7:30pm on Tuesdays of regular season TV. It's hard to describe what this show did in Hawaii; however at 7:30pm each Tuesday the city of Honolulu stopped and people were glued to their sets at home, shopping, or in a retail store with a TV. The show was shot on location, used many local walkons and featured local actors/personalities/celebs. The first 5 seasons were especially good in that the show was written by innovators and not imitators. It lasted an amazing 12 seasons in a highly competitive and forever changing market. The actors were all immortalized and idolized after the show was taken off the air. The Jack Lord family gave their $40 million estate to the state of Hawaii for philanthropic use. Guaranteed to keep you guessing, laughing and booking your next flight to Hawaii. Remember Che Fong was doing science 30 years before CSI, Cold Case Files, Forensic Files, etc! The phrase "Book'em Dano" is used fluidly in most Police Departments throughout this country.

Great cover, but I wonder if they'll put Doug
Mossman on the Seventh season cover since he
was in more episodes, by a whisker then than
the (then) fired Al Harrington?! Season six
has some of the very best episodes and some
of my favourites of the 12 year series as well,

such as: Hookman, and of course: 30,000 Rooms
and I have a Key. Pick Up On It! - R.A.S

I think Season 5 was Hawaii Five 0's best. Season six starts strongly, Hookman, Draw me a Killer, and One Big Happy Family are three of the first four episodes. The last two are in my top ten.

After that the episodes are good, with no total clunkers, but not on a par with season 5 or the three episodes I cite above.

Season six has lots of stories involving serial killers, psychopaths, rather than the previous season's array of organized crime figures. Organized crime relies heavily on bribery, blackmail and murder to avoid authorities. The psychotic criminal is more concerned with some personal motive rather than a quick profit. The same crime often nearly identical is repeated until with little or no concern for any existence of others as though the villain were isolated in some other world. The problem is that the viewers know the specifics of the crime and it is sometimes difficult to wait for the police to gather evidence.

Hookman
This episode is a personal favorite and according to the web also a favorite of many fans. The story is of a cop killer with artificial hands out for revenge against those he blames for his handicap. His "handicap" works to his advantage at first as he leaves no finger prints. His own personal trademark gives him away. This episode features some above average car chases and shootouts.

Draw Me A Killer
In keeping with the tradition of serial killers, this one seems to be unaware or indifferent that anything outside of his own little world exists as he stalks victims in public places, like the courthouse. The profile reads: loner, uneducated, works in menial labor jobs, lacks a father figure, rebels against authority figures (such as cops and parents) lacks self-confidence especially around women so naturally he kills people to build self-esteem.
The killer sees himself as the guardian of comic strip character Judy Moon and when he`s not killing for her, spends his spare time talking to her. (No social life?) The victims resemble those in the comic which are out to get Judy. The clues put together by the H50 seem almost as weird as the crimes themselves. This just seemed kind of slow and nonsensical. At one point even Chin Ho seems to smirk at the clues they placed before them. You know something is wrong when the cops are laughing at you.
The way this killer is nailed in the end seems highly unlikely to ever happen in reality. Since the sketchec likenesses in the comic only vaguely resemble those in reality, it seems hard to make the connection nor hard to believe that the police are able to connect all of this.
There are also a couple of scenes where the killer walks right into the courthouse without being frisked or even getting a single strnge look from anyone. He decides moments after peering into a courtroom where an attorney with a beard matches the crooked attorney with the penciled beard in the comic strip and therefore deserves to die. The killer is actually apprehended in the courthouse parking lot and alley after Danno has been written into a storyline and the killer decides that is more than enough for him to carry through with this plane for murder.

Charter For Death
A gangster, his daughter and son in law arrive in Hawaii infected by the plague and the island is sealed off to prevent an outbreak. The son in law apparently sees this as his chance to disappear with the loot but is chased down by H50, while McGarrett, fearing he may have been infected, quarantines himself and monitors the case from behind closed doors. A long drawn-out, boring episode if you ask me. No comment.

One Big Happy Family
Bo Hopkins and Slim Pickens guest star in a bizarre story about a family of serial killers. The episodic promo has Jack Lord introducing the episode as an "extraordinary fact - fiction story that will strike terror". There was speculation that this story was based loosely on the real-life "McCrarey" family who indulged in a similar bizarre crime spree. One of the "Ferguson" family begins a menial job and within a week the management is brutally slaughtered for relatively small amounts of cash on hand. The killers clean out the register and make no attempt to hide their weapons or wipe the prints. The prints left on the weapons come back as non existent. This is never explained.
After reading the report on the Fergusons from the mainland detailing over a hundred other similar cases, McGarrett tells Danny, "If I saw that in a movie I'd walk out in the middle."
Danny ("Danno") replies, "I wouldn't go in."

The Sunday Torch
A young man with a history of pyromania is the prime suspect in a case or serial arson. Since this episode is rather predictable I won't give away the ending.

Murder is A Taxing Affair
Internal Revenue Service investigator Jonathan Cavel (Don Porter), traveling under the alias of Henry Marsh, wants to grab $600,000 from a guy he is following to Hawaii, but the money goes astray, picked off the airport baggage carousel by two tourists, and the guy ends up dead in the airplane washroom. Not one of my favorites but ok.

Tricks Are Not Treats
Gregory Sierra (Sanford and Son, Barney Miller) stars as a pimp charging higher commissions and McGarrett is trying to avoid a war between pimps. Ron Glass (Barney Miller) also appears as a pimp caught in the crossfire. The show has an interesting twist near the end.

Why Wait Until Uncle Kevin Dies?
In this episode, Five-O has to deal with yet another high-tech outfit, Reversions, Inc. This inheritance discount firm's racket is to provide money to heirs before their (very rich) benefactors die. The heirs sign over the inheritance to the company and the company collects on the benefactor's death, taking a few bucks for their services. When several rich people (all of whose heirs signed deals with Reversions) suddenly die within a short time frame, Five-O is suspicious, especially considering the company is planning to leave town shortly. Interesting story but seems a bit unrealistic.

Flash of Color, Flash of Death
Don Knight (Dylan Heywood, the hitman hired to kill McGarrett in part 2 of the Vashon Trilogy in season 5) stars as the Australian opal courier Hobbs, who winds up in a mess of trouble when the highly-regulated shipment of stones he is bringing to Hawaii (along with some unauthorized ones) gets stolen almost as soon as he steps off the plane.

A Bullet For El Diablo
The daughter of dictator is kidnapped and then released. After a private reunion with her father, she kills him and then disappears making her the prime suspect. This is kind of a weak episode in my book. Enjoyable to some degree but the resolution seems a little contrived.

The Finishing Touch
This is a story about counterfeit bonds that has sort of a twist to it. Not one of my favorites but still worth checking out. If I tell you anymore I would be giving it away.

Anybody Can Build A Bomb
This is one of my least favorites from this season. The whole storyline about building an atom bomb is interesting in a comic book sort of way but not very realistic. You keep waiting for someone to claim they are going to take over the world.

Try To Die On Time
I copied and pasted this from a H50 site because it sort of coincided with my own conclusions about this episode. This show has a plot which is so complicated, it almost gave me an aneurysm -- I had to watch it three times!
This is from IMDB and explains this mess of an episode better than I:

A chronic gambler, pretending he has cancer, sells chances on the hour of the day he will die at $10,000 apiece. The winner gets all 24 tickets. The gambler actually doesn't have cancer (he has Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS, instead), and plans to commit suicide at an appointed time so that a specific person will get the money. But as the gambler talks to his doctor outside a party, the doctor is gunned down and the gambler is forced to take this fatal drug. The gambler's corpse is then placed in a car and driven to a remote location, where the hot sun makes it impossible to tell the exact time of his death. The killer then works on eliminating the others who bought a chance, and figuring out to whom the gambler planned to leave the money.

I actually keep this site open for just those episodes which don't' seem to make sense.

The $100,000 Nickel
This episode combines the "item passes from one person to another" plot device. The nickel gets misplaced enroute to some collector or something but you get the idea. This seems more ridiculous by the moment when at one point a theif is actually trying to retrieve the coin from a vending machine.

The Flip Side of Death
Four men, posing as Army specialists whose Jeep overturned and blew out canisters of deadly poison gas, evacuate a small town on Oahu's remote north coast. That evacuation includes the bank, which the criminals knock over. McGarrett immediately orders a roadblock on the only highway up that side of the island, stranding the bank robbers far from any point of escape. The two mainland "haoles," a music-company owner and his buddy, have prepared for this by breaking down hundreds of old 8-track cassettes, stuffing the money inside them and giving them, a few at a time, to one of the locals, a driver for the resort hotel where they are staying, who can take them out in his van on supply runs and stash them elsewhere. A good shootout at the end.

The Banzai Pipeline
Rick McDivitt, an aspiring filmmaker, and his buddy Roger, a champion surfer, hope to make a killing by showing Roger ride breathtaking waves on Oahu's North Beach and the Banzai Pipeline. When Rick runs out of film for the day, he goes back toward his car, and finds another unlocked car nearby with a businessman's jacket draped over the front seat. Rick reaches inside and lifts the wallet from the jacket, then drives to pick up Roger, evading a runaway car driven by a thug named Koa on the way. What Rick and Roger don't know is that Koa has just killed the businessman, who was involved with a crooked real-estate deal. Rick and Roger plan to use the businessman's credit cards to finance the rest of the movie, unaware that he's dead and that Koa has seen Rick. When Rick starts purchasing camera equipment with the credit cards, Five-O realizes he may be a murder witness without even knowing it. So do the real-estate developer and his henchman, who go after Rick and Roger themselves.

One Born Every Minute
Con-artists arrive in Hawaii and meet up with local thieves to plan a phony diamond con. When a wealthy tourist devastated by the con leaps to his death, McGarrett discovers he (the tourist) is one of many victims.

Secret Witness
Five-O races to find the witness to a hit on a bagman of a local mob. The witness, who narrowly escaped being killed himself, had dropped a library book with his library card inside, providing the hit man with his name. The witness's wife doesn't want him to go to the police. Five-O's main clue is a letter the witness wrote to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin's "Secret Witness" feature that seeks tips for unsolved crimes.

Death With Father
McGarrett joins a group of operatives trying to take down a major drug lab in the hills. The raid succeeds, but a young man escapes. Word of the raid soon reaches a retired HPD cop, who realizes the escapee is his own son. The cop starts sneaking into evidence rooms and destroying or stealing anything which can implicate the son. Meanwhile, the son is still working as a drug dealer and holes up in another lab used to make methamphetamine. The title of this show is to be taken literally.

Murder With A Golden Touch
A private detective, and former HPD officer, turns up dead. Following his trail, Five-O discovers the private detective was investigating whether a businessman's son-in-law was being faithful in his marriage. It turns out the son-in-law is up to his neck in a scheme to steal gold from the businessman, melt it and recast it and make it appear to be a treasure find. Things will turn more deadly before Five-O can crack the case.



Nightmare in Blue
One of the best "contemporary issue" shows. Walter Stark (John Beck), a cop who didn't make the grade at the academy, cruises in a cop's uniform and car, finds his victims in women alone at home or stranded, then brutally rapes and murders them. The survivor of an attack and her husband are at odds with McGarrett over the difficulty in proving that the encounter was forced rather than consensual. This is complicated by the victim's assumption that her attacker, a uniformed officer, will be protected by McGarrett and HPD who will lie to protect one of their own. McGarrett argues with the victim and her husband to this effect. The victim heavliy influenced by her husband hesitates to cooperate at first, then changes her mind and notifies McGarrett. As McGarrett leans of the balcony looking down at the dead body of the serial rapist, he replies exhausted, to HQ to tell her "it won't be necessary."
John Beck, better known (and better liked) as millionaire Mark Graison and Pam Ewing's fiance on "Dallas" (it was a dream, get it?)plays the part of the serial rapist/strangler, in an eerily convincing manner, that is genuinely creepy. This is merely givng credit to his acting skills by the way.

Mother's Deadly Helper
A vigilante lunatic becomes inflamed by various thugs getting off the hook in court on technicalities. Using an alias, the man sends a letter to McGarrett promising to blow away the next criminal who takes a walk. The criminal walks and is killed right in front of the courthouse. As a public debate rages on vigilante "justice," the killer sends McGarrett another note, expanding his hate list to the judges who order charges quashed on technicalities. A judge (Frank Cady of Hooterville fame in a very rare serious role) does just that and is promptly kidnapped from the courthouse by the vigilante. The ending is a bit far fetched as we have another case solved by this machine that isolates background sounds on a ransom tape but all in all still a good episode. As for this machine seen in several episodes, I question its very existence.
As a footnote: this episode to me has one of the dumbest villains in H50 history. Sending McGarrett fan mail that you have already killed and intend to do so again is just dimwitted by any stretch. A humorous note has McGarrett noticing the fan's terrible sentence structure and remarking, "When I read phrases like that I get scared" to a smirking Danny and Chin. Obviously, the killer's not very well educated as his grammar would make Jethro Bodine blush.
The part of this episode where McGarret goes on a local talk show to argue the point of criminals undeservingly recieving paroled vs those who do deserve seems completely contrived. In other words, this fan of McGarret's can't possibly so dumb that he can't figure out this his hero is setting him up. The only point argued here isn't even a good facade of a real talk show, because it is never established just how anyone can tell the difference between a repentant rapist and one who feels no guilt.

Killer At Sea
A business manager is forced to withdraw money from his clients' accounts, which causes one of the banks in Honolulu to get suspicious. When shots are fired as he escapes from the bank, a congressman gets killed. He then escapes from his kidnappers' clutches and the driver of the car escapes onto an ocean liner which is sailing for San Francisco. McGarrett and Danno join the businessman on the ship as they attempt to track down the driver of the car and the loot.

30,000 Rooms and I Have The Key
David Wayne ("Digger" Barnes on "Dallas") plays an elderly crook who is a master of disguise. The thief has information on guests with valuables and how they try to hide them in their rooms. The thief signs into the same hotel in several different disguises and aliases (and rooms) and even sends invitations to the police. A little contrived but all in all still a good episode. Semi-humorous but not much in the suspsnce department.
The thief is such a master of disguise that no one can he is able to change before and after each robbery with no one noticing.

Another fine season - perhaps slightly inferior to season 5, but that was a tough act to follow - For me, this is the last of the outstanding Five-0 seasons and yet we're only half way through the twelve year run!

Crime dramas today may be more realistic and better acted, but none are anywhere near as entertaining as this show when it was at its peak.

So, we've a good selection of engaging episodes with notable mentions for `Hookman'; `Draw Me A Killer'; `One Big Happy Family' and `The Sunday Torch'.

Now, I've seen only a handful of episodes on this set thus far and therefore, with regards to the re-mastering, all I can say is that the majority of viewers are unlikely to find fault with it. However, it isn't up to the standard of the re-mastering on, for example, the 1st 3 James Bond movies on ultimate edition dvds or Blu-Ray or other major projects afforded a make-over. However, it is, in comparison to episodes I've watched recorded from live broadcasts on tv, significantly better. That said, `Try to Die On Time' contains a scene where, for a brief few seconds, vertical lines appear over Jack Lord's face - granted, the image is nice and clear with vibrant colours, but the fact the lines haven't been cleaned up is testament to the lack of the highest quality re-mastering. Audio wise, again, for the episodes I've seen, there seems to be much more bass than in previous season - Hookman almost vibrated the ornaments of the mantel piece!

Have the shows been edited - yes - will this bother most people, frankly no - testament to this is the continuing high sales of these DVDs despite the disclaimer on the outside of the box. The edits are, in the main, innocuous - in fact nobody can provide a definitive list of what has or hasn't been included. That said, we know that any edits which may have occurred to be minor, the run time of 50 to 51 minutes demonstrates this. When all said and done, these are good value for money considering what you get. If you want totally unabridged episodes with the highest standard of re-mastering and maybe the option of a 5.1 soundtrack, I suggest you wait or lobby Paramount for a definitive collection that will please the purest of perfectionists. In the meantime, enjoy one of the greatest and entertaining police dramas from stateside.

Nothing lasts 12 years without having something going for it. In the case of Hawaii Five-O, it easy to dismiss it as a typically television crime drama that got lucky by finding its audience and keeping it. The same could be said for Law and Order. Except, in television years, luck usually runs out after two or three years. Gimmicks get old, the formula is figured out, and sharks are jumped so often they don't even complain.

But shows that last five years, much less 12, have to have something besides luck, gimmicks, and great scheduling. Hawaii Five-O had a number of things going for it. First of all, let's be honest. The setting was, and still is so lush and exotic that it is easily intoxicating. Hawaii is beautiful, and most people either live there or want to live there. Filming on location has always been a blessing when it's been done, and probably no more so than on this series.

Next, Jack Lord, playing Five-O chief Steve McGarrett, was one of a long line of no-nonsense law enforcement figures. The strength, integrity, and dedication of these kinds of characters cannot be overstated, and these characters will always have lots of fans rooting them on, not unlike Law and Order's Jack McCoy.

Finally, watching shows like this is always a treat because you see so many stars that were either big stars enjoying a working Hawaiian vacation, or lots of up and coming stars before they got their big break. Hawaii Five-O was a natural draw for both categories, and it's fun to watch them and remember when.

It's also fun to remember when you could look forward to hearing one of the best and most recognizable theme songs in television history. Not a small thing when you add it with the other factors. Hawaii Five-O had a lot going for it then, and it has a lot going for it now.

After completing five powerful seasons, "Hawaii 5-0" had set a precedent with a great lead in the form of Jack Lord, fine supporting actors and outstanding guest stars, great writing, outstanding cinematography, and award-worthy scores. The sixth season, which ran from 1973-74 was no different, featuring some of the best stories in the show's twelve-year run.

The best and their merits are:

"Hookman" - the season premier with an engaging story about an assassin with hooks for hands. Jay J. Armes, an actual "handicapped" actor is fine in the part with no dialogue, "speaking" by his actions. The installment won an Emmy for composer Morton Stevens.

"Draw Me a Killer" - a thriller with Elliott Street as a disturbed young man with a fixation for a comic book character who he perceives to be constantly in danger. He eliminates those who he feels is a threat to her. The installment features another fine score from Stevens.

"One Big Happy Family" - Slim Pickens heads a murderous quintet who when down on funds resorts to deceit and murder. Stevens scores again, in more ways than one.

"Murder is a Taxing Affair" - Don Porter is a tax man who resorts to murder to get his "return."

"The Finishing Touch" - George Voskovec as police ally who hides the fact the he is behind the forging of some bank certificates. The episode has a great score from Bruce Broughton.

"Bonzai Pipeline" - A tale of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and the ensuing tragedy that befalls the innocent, the episode stars future "Riptide" star Perry King and future TV Spiderman Nicholas Hammond as brothers.

"Secret Witness" - Similar in theme as "Bonzai," Mark Jenkins witnesses a mob hit, placing him and his family in jeopardy with the criminals. A pre-"Laverne and Shirley" Cindy Williams plays the wife.

"One Born Every Minute" - Ed Flanders is a con man with no sympathy for his victims and Michael Stong guests as one the "marks."

"Nightmare in Blue" - Future "Dallas" star John Beck is a former cop with serious mental issues, resorting to rape and murder.

"Death with Father" - A young Peter Strauss plays the criminal son of police veteran Andrew Duggan. This show demonstrates to what lengths a "good" man will go to protect his "bad" son.

These ten and eight others demonstrate why the show was so popular in its heyday.

The season is 3/4 strong with the following six being the weakest:

"Tricks Are Not Treats" - a really dated episode and an embarrassment to guests Glynn Turman, Gregory Sierra, Ron Glass, and Pat Morita, all playing blatant stereotypes

"Anybody Can Build a Bomb" - slow-moving and uneventful story with former screen "Dr. Kildare" Lew Ayers as the guest.

"Try to Die on Time" - Good thing guest star Jack Carter left this one early. It goes nowhere fast.

"The Flip Side of Death" and "Killer at Sea" are possibly two of the weakest in the series history at this point. Not even the usually good William Devane can save the latter.


The compilation has no extras other than promos for each episode.

McGarrett's back, and he's in top form. Some superb episodes here, including the first of seven that Jack Lord directed (one each season, Seasons 6-12). Someone else wrote that Jack Lord IS Steve McGarrett. I agree. It is very difficult to detect where the actor leaves off and the character begins, and that is a sign of some VERY good acting. Season 6 is a winner!

The first five episodes are among the best EVER, with tight tense story lines and great acting! Most of the remaining episodes are also excellent-a couple of weaker ones but absolutely no dogs this season. The brothers' fates in Banzai Pipeline is shocking and moving; great Danny episode in Draw Me a Killer; fantastic smart villain in Murder is a Taxing Affair; tragedy and horror in Secret Witness. Many of the episodes feature more team work and interaction among the Five-0 men, which is great to see. There is a lot of fresh original music this season, wonderful scores that really stand out. This is the best season yet for writing, music and acting, even more than season 5.

One disappointment is that the remastering of the Wave, which leads into commercial breaks, is really poor. It's very dark and muddy, a real surprise given how clean and bright the earlier seasons have been. But I'm in it for the stories, the music and Danny's dazzling blue eyes, so I can live with a murky Wave. Aloha, mahalo, and P'mount, I'm ready for the next season when you are!

I was a huge fan of this show when it aired. I spent many a night watching with my grandmother, as it was her favorite show, too. I have purchased the first six seasons, and while they are all good, the show really hit its stride in the sixth season. The writing is superb, the action is crisp, the acting is some of the best ever in the history of dramatic television. The guest stars are great. It would have been easy in this series for the actors to "overact," but when you watch Hawaii Five-0, you feel you are watching a true story. Another important note, Hawaii Five-0 used forensics and labs long before the current wave of cop shows like CSI and Cold Case. In season six, forensics plays a key role in the writing and plots. Jack Lord absolutely mastered the character of McGarrett. It makes you wonder how he ever got out of character when they were done filming for the day. It is a pleasure getting to revisit all these shows, one at a time.