H50 Ep: Akanahe

[the_other_sandy]

I really need to start watching H50 live on Fridays. I've been watching Grimm instead because I really enjoy Grimm, but I'm having an increasingly difficult time motivating myself to watch H50 later.

And apparently I also need an icon that doesn't have Danny in it.

That thing with Sato at the beginning seemed really tacked on. Last week, Five-0 had no idea where Kono even was, but now all of a sudden the entire task force (except for Danny who was apparently in New Jersey) just popped over to Japan to help Kono kidnap and interrogate someone and then popped back home again, leaving the Five-0 offices completely unmanned for who knows how long. Of course, with the way this show thinks time works, the whole trip and interrogation probably took place overnight.

Is it just me, or did TPTB make Grover as season-one-Danny-like as possible? Here he is, transplanted from the mainland and not terribly happy about it, being a strict but loving dad to his daughter, bantering with Steve, and ranting about how Steve does things. It's like TPTB are going out of their way to tell Scott that if he doesn't want to be on the show anymore, they can totally live without him.

I really liked Grover and seeing what Five-0 looked like from HPD's point of view, but it only took one episode for Grover to see the error of his ways, which was exactly what I was afraid was going to happen. It's just like Lori all over again, where the governor assigned her to rein in Five-0, but she never did and it never came up again until the episode where she quit because she said she couldn't do the thing she hadn't been doing all along anyway without anyone seeming to notice.

Despite what it must sound like, I actually really liked this episode, and I loved Denning for treating Steve and Grover like squabbling kindergartners, but I think this storyline with Steve and Grover coming to grudgingly respect one another would've worked better in the second half of the season, especially now that Grover is going to be a regular and we're going to be seeing more of him.

Meanwhile, I hope we see Ian again (and that tangling with Ian again provides an excuse for Five-0 to work with Toast). I like the baddies that are smarter than the average bear, and there haven't really been that many.

Comments

[and-ed.livejournal.com]

I'm fully in agreement with you here. I did like Grover but I had a hard time getting past all the Danny parallels. And really, he only works as an addition to the cast if he's still butting heads with Five-0 - having him as a happy ally is boring. Conflict is more fun. And yeah, taking several episodes to to get to grudging respect would have been better.

The Denning treating them like children scene was a highlight of the ep - all three of the actors did a great job with that.

I feel like I should have been watching Grimm, but honestly, my allotted TV viewing time is pretty full and I do have a tendancy to become obsesses...as you have seen. ;) I will probably watch on DVD at some point. But I hope you'll keep posting your Five-0 thoughts, whenever you get around to watching. =)

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I'll keep posting as long as I keep watching, however long that turns out to be. I keep hoping that H50 will turn out like SPN, where if I just stick with it long enough it'll get good again.

[and-ed.livejournal.com]

...if I just stick with it long enough it'll get good again.

Oooh...I like that idea. I had a couple of iffy SPN seasons but now I'm totally loving it again so maybe there's hope for H50, too. =)

[bookwurm.livejournal.com]

This episode definitely had good bits -- the way Denning treated Steve and Grover, Steve asking Danny if he missed him (even if it turned out to be Denning), a really tricky bad guy, and some pretty good action and banter. However, having Grover become Danny's clone, doing a lot of the buddy stuff that TPTB haven't been letting Danny do lately, was frustrating. I'm glad that they're fleshing out his character, and I'm looking forward to learning his backstory. It would be nice if he got his own character though, instead of just recycling Danny's.

I also didn't like that "solution" to Steve and Grover butting heads was for Grover to just stop standing up to Steve. In particular, the scene where Steve hits Ian several times, basically trying to beat the information they need out of him, in full view of a bunch of cops/SWAT and probably some airport personnel -- I just couldn't believe that Grover didn't call him on that. Yes, they needed that information. Yes, lives were at risk. However, there is a big difference between quietly leaning on a guy in interrogation and police brutality with at least a dozen witnesses.

Also, I would have loved to hear M's reaction to the horseback riding scene. Let's take a couple of horses we don't know, ride them over rough terrain in an unfamiliar area, and shoot at people! What could go wrong?

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

It would be nice if he got his own character though, instead of just recycling Danny's.

That was the same problem I had with Lori. They just made her a Steve clone instead of making her her own character.

I also didn't like that "solution" to Steve and Grover butting heads was for Grover to just stop standing up to Steve.

I didn't either, but I wasn't surprised. This season, even more than the previous two, no one is allowed to be right about anything except Steve. It's getting old.

Let's take a couple of horses we don't know, ride them over rough terrain in an unfamiliar area, and shoot at people!

OMG, the green screen in that scene was so bad! Chi McBride wasn't even pretending he was on a moving horse. The horse was galloping, but he looked like he was riding in a car.

[bookwurm.livejournal.com]

no one is allowed to be right about anything except Steve

Sigh. I like Steve, but I agree that they need to balance it out more. Grover would have been a good way to do that -- especially if he and Danny teamed up on something. I don't think even Steve could stand in their way if those two joined forces.

Hey, remember that ohana thing they used to have? They found some for this week's episode!

[the-other-sandy.livejournal.com]

I would love to see the look on Steve's face if Danny and Grover ganged up on him. Alternatively, I would love to see Danny caught between 'Grover is right' and 'but Steve is my friend'.