H50 Ep: Pu'olo

[the_other_sandy]

Seriously? Another rerun next week? I wish the show had come back from break later to a straight run of new episodes rather than only giving us a new episode every other week.

So apparently "pu'olo" is Hawai'ian for "dads lie to their kids for their own protection." Steve's dad lied to him, and apparently also made Joe lie to him, to keep him out of the whole yakuza/Wo Fat thing, and Adam's dad faked his own death to protect his son. And what have we learned? IT DOESN'T WORK. Steve has not been kept safe from Wo Fat, and Adam nearly murdered two people to avenge his father's non-existent death. The truth will set you free. Or at least make sure your kids shoot the right people.

I'm not sorry to see the back of Joe, but since he's not dead, I now get to dread his eventual return. I feel sorry for Steve losing another important person in his life, but I hope that Joe being gone means that Steve will go back to working on the Wo Fat thing with his ohana (you know, the people who have always had his back) like he should have been all along. I'm incredibly curious as to how much Danny knows about the whole protracted Shelburne MacGuffin at this point. Steve has mostly confided in Joe and a little bit in Chin on screen, but what about the rest of his team?

And Joe couldn't leave without annoying me one more time. Yes, Joe, you and Steve are no longer in the same chain of command in the Navy, but you know what? Steve has police powers and you don't, so that means you do have to take orders from him while you're running around the island consorting with criminals and getting in shootouts.

I'm sorry Danny was separated from the rest of the team for most of the episode, but it was great to see Caretaker!Danny again, the guy who puts on a brave face and does what's best for other people even when it hurts him to do so. I miss that side of him. We haven't seen much of it lately what with Joe getting to be Steve's chief caretaker and confidant this season. The phone call and that last scene between Steve and Danny just makes me long for season one when we got at least one scene like those in almost every episode. I do not understand why TPTB have been wasting Alex and Scott's screen chemistry so much this season.

You know what? Show has never exactly been subtle, but I got hit over the head so hard by that Subway product placement that I think I got a grade 3 concussion.

Comments

[huntress69.livejournal.com]

I wanted Rachel in actual labor, and she was too well coiffed, believe me. We haven't seen the last of Joe, and part of me hopes not the end of Shellburn - it's like a gyp and it can't be the end. Scott was amazing as always. And yes, that Subway placement made me want to shoot the TV. At least make it subtle. IMO, the entire scene at the shrimp stand was worthless. And on a humorous note, I am sure at some future time Danny will open the Camaro's trunk and find the flamethrower in there.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I was kind of hoping that Danny would have to deliver Rachel's baby himself for some reason. Yeah, it's soapy, but I'm just that desperate for Danny to do something awesomely Jersey cop-like this season.

Actually, Lori will probably pull the flamethrower out of Danny's trunk and be all, "What? How could you not know you had a flamethrower in here?"

[and-ed.livejournal.com]

Like you, I wish we knew/saw Danny in on the whole Joe and Shelbourne debacle. You have to think, given how they portray Steve and Danny, that Steve would confide in him or at least that Danny would badger it out of him - I feel ripped off that we never got to see any of that.

Your last line made me LOL. No shit, huh? That was awful. I shudder to think what's next.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

That's been one of my main objections to Joe. He was there for all the Shelburne stuff, he was following Steve out into the field for no discernible reason, he was there for emotional support...all the things Danny would have been doing last season. Danny's barely had anything to do at all this season, and there's been very little of Danny and Steve's friendship.

I feel like I've been sold a bill of goods. "Have an awesomely bromantic buddy cop show!...Psych!"

[seesmooshrun.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of you and your review when Joe was saying goodbye to Steve. Thinking about whether you were jumping up&down for joy higher than I was... ;)

Pretty much agree with all your comments. And yoiks, that Subway shtick went beyond "product placement". It was a full-blown commercial about the weight-loss possibilities, the menu items, the spokesperson, the yummness... with the lame comic-relief caution that eating 5 feet of diet sandwiches probably won't promote weight loss. Oh, well, cost of living in Hawaii is high, so maybe they had to offset their catering costs, eh? Lame.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I wasn't jumping up and down as high as I would've liked, because Joe is still alive and will therefore be back at some point. Maybe he'll be better in small doses than he was in his eps where he basically took over the show. I just hope Joe's absence means that Steve will actually talk to Danny now.

At least before when Show did its anvilicious product placements, they were mostly for Hawai'ian businesses. I'm pretty sure Subway is not based in Hawai'i. I could cry over all the different character moments we could have had in place of an in-show Subway commercial.

[verasteine.livejournal.com]

And what have we learned? IT DOESN'T WORK. Steve has not been kept safe from Wo Fat, and Adam nearly murdered two people to avenge his father's non-existent death. The truth will set you free. Or at least make sure your kids shoot the right people.

That is hilarious. And true. OMG.

Interesting point about the power balance between Steve & Joe, also amusing to me because they have the same Navy rank by now as well. Never did get Joe's pulling rank thing there.

...and yeah, Subway, wow, way to make me wince.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I'm no great expert on the military, but I'm given to understand that when two officers have the same rank, whichever one has been that rank longer outranks the other. That said, having Steve and Joe be the same rank when Joe is so much older and was still in active service was kind of ridiculous.

[verasteine.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's a good point.

...is it bad of me that I'm wondering what the hell Joe did that meant he didn't get promoted? :D

[bookwurm.livejournal.com]

This episode completely destroyed what little sympathy/respect/interest I had left in Joe. Joe was surprised that the yakuza were willing to gun down innocent bystanders on the sidewalk to get somebody who hurt their boss. Has he been living under a rock when it comes to organized crime? Ok, they probably weren't people he worked against directly while in the Navy, but hasn't he at least heard about the group? They have something of a reputation for being not-nice people.

The big Shelburne Reveal was a massive let-down for me. Joe and Jack made up an identity, and Joe was using it when he killed Wo Fat's father. That's it?! That was the huge thing Joe was "protecting" Steve by not telling him?

I was disappointed that Steve didn't toss in his two cents when Joe was telling Adam that he thinks it's better to lie to your kids and keep them safe. Steve definitely had a Face, but he kept his mouth shut. Actually, both Steve and Adam seemed to be good examples of why that was a Bad Idea(TM). (Also, I hope Adam really trusts his bodyguards. They could make a lot of money betraying him and his dad to Wo Fat right now.)

On the plus side, I loved Danny being incredibly selfless in this episode. It must have been killing him to have everyone assuming that he was the father. Scott did a great job with the mixed-emotions expressions -- "He's a beautiful, perfect, marvelous baby boy. And he's not mine." The last scene with Danny and Steve was just ... yeah, that's why I watch the show. "If you say he has my nose, I'll break yours," and Steve just gets it, all the stuff that Danny isn't saying and why he's doing it.

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

Gah, the expression on Danny's face when the doctor handed the baby to Rachel... He was feeling so much a part of the whole experience, and then suddenly he remembered, "Oh right, not my kid."

I can only hope that Joe's absence means we'll more Steve and Danny scenes now.