Hawaii Five-O Review--Thanksgiving With the McGarretts

Last night's show featured Carol Burnett as Steve McGarrett's Aunt Deb and she did a fantastic job. It ended up being a really sweet holiday episode and I was so glad we were together.  (Love Carol!)

Let's start with the "family" football game at the beginning.  It was adorable and everyone was having fun.  It did seem a little odd for Grover to be there, but Steve explained to Danny that Grover's family was out of town so that's why he was invited.  Aww, Steve is such a nice guy.  He has to leave, though, just as the game is tied to go put the turkey in the oven.

He goes home to find Mary blow-drying the turkey because she forgot to defrost it.  She looks a bit frazzled and Steve is regretting making her his prep cook.  The doorbell rings and it's Aunt Deb. Surprise!  Steve gets a phone call and has to go into work and Aunt Deb assures him she'll take care of the turkey.  She has a fun scene with Mary and the baby at the butcher's trying to get a turkey. Mary admits she feels overwhelmed and Aunt Deb assures her every caregiver feels that way---she did when she first had Mary to take care of, too.  It was a sweet moment.

Steve and Danny arrive at the crime scene where a Secret Service officer's body has been found in a barrel filled with lye. Ew.  They start investigating and realize the president is on his way to Hawaii and his itinerary etc. may have been compromised.  The team starts to retrace the Secret Service guy's steps and find an assassin for hire has been on the island and that's who the Secret Service guy was on to.

Steve has to stop in the middle of the investigation to go get Aunt Deb out of jail because she got caught trying to get some marijuana.  She then tells Steve she has a medical marijuana card for her brain cancer and isn't going to get chemo or radiation treatment because it won't help.  Her and Steve have a very tender moment filled with tears and it was so heartbreaking to watch.  Steve has lost so much and I don't understand why the show would bring on another family member that is going to die on Steve.  I mean, the man has lost his father, thought he lost his mother, lost most of his friends, (like Freddie and the bad SEAL friend whose name I can't remember and Jenna Kaye who helped him escape North Korea before she died) and now Aunt Deb.  Really? That seems excessive for any one man.  Anyhow, after a nice family moment Steve goes back to the case, but not before confiding in Danny about Aunt Deb.  I love the close friendship Steve and Danny share and that Danny gives good advice sometimes.  He is really there for Steve.

Catherine goes to take Aunt Deb home and she introduces herself as Steve's "friend." That was so odd to me because in earlier episodes Danny has referred to Steve as her "boyfriend," so I thought we'd moved past that. Just odd.  Anyway,  Aunt Deb and Catherine do have a nice talk about how Catherine should help Steve and Mary stay close because Aunt Deb knows Catherine will be sticking around.  At least Steve's mom and aunt both like Catherine.

The case goes on to find an Algerian cleaner who gets shot and Grover gives the line of the night when he leans over the guy and saying, "oh did somebody shoot you? You've got a nasty booboo." Haha.  They figure out the assassin isn't after the president but the nosy neighbor's daughter they talked to earlier (who happened to witness a Russian mob murder) and so they take off.  The nosy neighbor's daughter is an idiot however, and runs to the beach where the assassin has a clear shot.  Stay in the trees! Double back and get in a car! Thankfully she lives when Chin saves the day and takes down the assassin.

We all go back to McGarrett's house and Aunt Deb has told Mary she's dying. Steve goes out on the porch to console Mary and there is a tender moment with the siblings.  No, no, I wasn't crying, that was dust in my eye!  They vow to keep Aunt Deb's memory alive for Mary's baby and Steve tells Mary they'll get through this.  Sniff.

Aunt Deb hasn't been able to get a turkey big enough for the crowd so they all go to a tiki bar that we've seen in a past episode.  Aunt Deb is invited on stage to sing (she gave up her big break and a singing career to take care of Mary.)  She gives a very moving tribute to everyone with a song about being all right and counting her blessings.  What a tear jerker!  A great way to end the show and start the holiday season.

Sadly, we don't get a new episode until mid-December.  So, until then, I'll be tuning in to TNT to watch past episodes.