Hawaii Five-O Recap & Review: So Many Whys

This episode wore a lot of hats, so let's get to it.

We start off with two tourists going early morning surfing (in the cold and dark!) and getting pulled over. (I would totally be like the not-a-morning-person passenger whining about why anyone would be up at five in the morning. That seems crazy for surfing, but what do I know?) The passenger guy can actually think coherent thoughts at that early hour, however, and starts recording the officer who pulled them over. They both repeatedly ask Officer Mathis why they were pulled over. He just keeps asking for license and registration then finally shoots them both. Sort of setting the theme for this whole episode of WHY SHOW? WHY?

But let's take a step back and watch Steve swimming with Eddie. They are so cute together! I love Steve and his dog. They get out (was his liver scar gone? Hmm...) and Danny is waiting for them on shore. Eddie shakes all over him. (Good dog.) Danny claims he came to hang out with his BFF (do forty-year-old men say BFF?) but that's a lie. Steve starts to put his shoes on to go running, but Danny protests since he brought Steve coffee and pastries and wants to visit. He's just acting weird and trying to lure him into the house because . .  Danny has invited a bunch of people over for an intervention. (Yeah, you read that right. Why, show?)

Danny, Lou, Junior, Dog, Tani, Jerry, and Kamekona are all there because they are concerned about Steve's health since he was diagnosed with radiation poisoning and they want him to take his health seriously. (I don't get it. He's exercising, healthy, not showing any symptoms of illness. Usually interventions are for people with no self-awareness or who are out of control. Why show? Why?) Danny has been researching and found out that there's a link between cancer and stress, so Steve should eliminate all psychological stress. (Um, what? All of them on an ELITE TASK FORCE have that sort of stress, not just Steve. And I don't see anyone else swimming, running, etc. Oy.) Steve is polite and thanks him, but doesn't see why everyone had to be there for it. Danny says they're his backup and everyone gets to share their feelings. *bangs head on desk* WHY SHOW? WHY?

And this is where it got even more strange. Jerry gives him platitudes like an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure. Lou says there is anecdotal evidence that supports the link between stress and cancer. (There's anecdotal evidence for everything online and stress is a catch all that can lead to anything! Your hair falling out. Ulcers. A Loch Ness monster sighting. A sudden craving for pineapple on pizza. Overuse of the word seriously. Seriously!)

But we continue on with the feelings-sharing of the people in Steve's living room. Dog was only there to deliver one joke that he didn't agree with ambushing a guy in his home and ganging up on him. Which is what he does for a living. *pity chuckle* Tani was also invited, even though she barely knows McG, he's her boss, and her knowing his personal medical business seems wrong. She didn't have anything to add anyway and should have stayed home. Kamekona throws in that he'll charge Steve 20% more if he won't take this seriously. (Really? That's his punishment solution? Why?)

Anyway, Steve handles it all with class, says he's truly touched, but Danny has gone down a WebMD rabbit hole. (*nods head* That's exactly what I thought.) Junior chimes in and says that McG is handling things just fine, but Danny takes exception to anyone who disagrees with him and informs Junior that he knows Steve better than Junior. Junior doesn't back down, though, and is still respectful, but points out that McG served in combat and lived in the crosshairs of his enemy for years, and has been able to handle civilian life with great success. (THANK YOU! The voice of reason. Steve is a highly trained SEAL who has dealt with the highest stress imaginable and he's able to balance his life and stress level.) None of that matters apparently, because his "friends" have already hired a stress management consultant and she's hiding in the kitchen! Chloe is a little giggly and sort of fangirly around McG (not that I'm judging, since I probably would be, too, but she's supposed to be a professional in this instance) Even though he thought it was a joke at first, Steve greets her cordially and since she's already been paid for the day, lets her shadow him. (Aw, always the gentleman) Mercifully, he gets the call about the double murder and has to go.

StressManagerChloe tags along to the crime scene and reminds Steve to say "please" since positive gestures bring positive results. *rolls eyes* Thankfully she gets one look at the dead bodies and runs away to puke. McG gets down to work and finds the phone still recording on the floor. They play back the murder and hear the victim call the cop Officer Mathis. Duke is shocked and says Officer Mathis died three years ago. The plot thickens!

Tani is the Designated Infodumper for this ep and she's back at the Chatting Table to tell them that Officer Patrick Mathis is definitely dead and he was abusive, charged with using excessive force and served eighteen months. And he had an ex-wife and son so she sends over their address. While they're driving, Chloe is in the back seat, still giggly and unsure sounding, but she wants to ask McG personal questions. (This is not going to go well, I can already tell.) She wants him to talk about how crime scenes make him feel. (Really? Who did she want him to talk to? Danny? Dog? Eddie? Oy. That's silly for a man with his job.) Steve feels the same way as the audience and says he'd never get any work done. It's part of his job. (I mean, maybe she could have suggested a counselor or something, that would make more sense.) She moves along to what he does in his spare time (he swims, cooks, and tinkers with his dad's car, awww) Does he have a girlfriend that he has regular sex with? Chloe asks with a few giggles. This is so awkward and ridiculous and not funny. Steve is clearly uncomfortable, but says yes, five times a week. Danny LAUGHS and contradicts him because apparently Steve's girlfriend blabs to Danny's girlfriend about their sex life like a teenager and then they all talk about it. (SO SQUICKY and wrong!) Steve is rightfully annoyed that his girlfriend has talked to Danny's girlfriend about it and tells Danny not to talk about that anymore. Because he's a mature adult man and knows that's not cool. (Hopefully he mentions something to Lynn as well. Privacy matters.)

Anyway, they get to Officer Mathis' ex-wife's home (and they even have a tac vest for Chloe! I'm impressed they pulled that one off) and the ex-wife is dead in her bed upstairs, apparently of natural causes. Oliver, their son, has psych meds on the counter and a couple of days worth haven't been touched. That can't be good.

We cut to a scene of some random sweaty guy coming home to find Officer Mathis eating cereal in his living room and watching TV. Officer Mathis now talks like he's a kid and says his name is Ollie and his mom told him he could watch TV. SweatyGuy says to get out or he'll call the cops. Like an idiot, he turns his back and calls the cops while "Ollie" comes up behind him and says he should have left the kid alone and then beats the crap out of him. (Here's a life tip for you: don't turn your back on someone who broke into your house.)

Steve and Danny go to the hospital to question the SweatyBeatUpGuy and he talks about how Ollie changed in the blink of an eye. Steve immediately consults Alicia who makes a diagnosis of Ollie having DID (multiple personalities) and gives a long explanation that---long story short---DID is generally caused by an extreme trauma.

Back at the Chatting Table the infodump is that the house Ollie broke into belonged to his family a long time ago, so it wasn't random. Also, Ollie is using his dad's old unmarked PD car and the gun he used to kill the tourists matched slugs with an organized crime hit from thirty years ago. (Does that mean his dad was involved in organized crime? Or he just took the gun from the hit? We never hear anything else about that, so it's a weird loose thread.)

Danny gets distracted from the Chatting Table InfoDump by Chloe talking to Junior in Steve's office. We don't find out what they talked about, but I'm sure Junior stuck up for McG again. At least I hope he did. Chloe wants to know if Danny thinks McG will consider a snake plant and a treadmill desk. (Both of those sound terrible, actually.) She maintains that making adjustments to work space can bring stress relief. (Plants stress me out because I kill them. No matter what I do!) Anyway, Danny tells Chloe that McG is stubborn, pig-headed, and like a child, and won't make changes. (Hmm...methinks the gentleman doth protest too much.) Chloe points out that Danny is also a source of McG's stress with his behavior and their arguments. (Thank you, Chloe! At last someone points out the obvious.) She wants him to keep their conversations civil and centered around work. Of course Danny brings up their upcoming restaurant, and Chloe says that would be a big source of stress since so many fail. That sets Danny off and he whines about people telling him how so many restaurants fail and he doesn't need to know that and then he goes on and on about how it's always him who has to change and compromise, never Steve (is he serious? Haha) and goes so far as to say being less negative and more agreeable will make him want to kill himself, but he'll give it a shot. (Wow. I just have no words for that whinefest. Trying to be agreeable will make him suicidal? I had such hope for Danny being less negative this season!)

McG comes in and introduces Chloe to Alicia and they chitchat for a second before Chloe leaves and they all watch therapist vids of Ollie and his alters. He's got seven and Mom dying brought Patrick the dangerous one out. While they're discussing it all, Steve gets a call from Ollie, who is crying, and asking for help because he thinks his daddy did something bad. Pull back and he's holding a gun on a man who's been shot and looks dead. That can't be good. Jerry traces the call and they race to the scene. McG is driving fast, like usual, and Chloe wants to know if he has to drive that fast. (It's the most serious she's looked all day.) Danny isn't saying anything and Steve asks him what's wrong, then realizes that Chloe told Danny he's part of the problem. Interestingly enough, Steve agrees his stress sits shotgun next to him. (Hmmm....sarcasm or truth-telling?) Ollie is on the move and they trace him to HPD. He's back to being Officer Mathis and sits down at a desk to look at files like he belongs there. Duke lures him to the captain's office and locks him in until Steve can get there. It seems like a good plan, but when they burst in, Officer Mathis has escaped through the ceiling and is running away. (Why does no one ever think of a ceiling escape?) They get everyone out of the building, (which made no sense since it's a police station! With trained police officers! But whatever, I guess. They can go to safety while Five-0 does everything themselves) Five-0 starts clearing room to room and finds Officer Mathis, but he gets away in a car and heads to his house. (Maybe if the cops had been helping to find him . . .) Threatening suicide, Mathis barricades himself inside and starts looking for his wife.

Meanwhile, Alicia has been watching videos of Oliver and all his alters and getting some insights, like a good consultant. She then heads to the scene and tells Steve she needs to go in and save the "child." Steve says no at first, but quickly changes his mind, since he has snipers in place. (Hopefully Officer Mathis is in the line of sight for the snipers or Alicia is going to end up like the tourists!) She dresses in one of the mom's dresses (hopefully not the one she died in, but I think it is. Ew.) and goes in to make Mathis a tuna sandwich with milk. (Which he talked about on his counseling vids.) She's chatting him up and telling him he's had a hard day and how he must feel so trapped and scared. Mathis pulls a gun on her, but she appeals to Ollie, telling him not to be scared, that she loves Ollie as big as the sky and always and forever. Ollie comes out and hugs her and she takes the gun away.  It was actually a really intense scene and well-acted.

We end at Kamekona's to hear the results of the evaluation. Chloe says she'd like Steve to quit his job and take up gardening. (She doesn't actually give a reason for this. I mean, if everyone with a stressful job quit to avoid stress and took up gardening, well, we'd have a lot of gardens, no police, doctors, nurses, you name it and that's just silly.) Anyway, she doesn't see that happening anytime soon, but tells Steve to create a to do list and stay organized. She'll have a full written report tomorrow including a personalized daily plan, dietary guidelines, and a bunch of other stuff that sounded made up. (Can I be a stress management consultant and get paid to tell people to make a to do list and say please? I mean, that sounds like a stress free job for sure.) Steve listens, but gets up to go get more drinks and Danny follows.

Steve tells Danny he thinks this whole thing is ridiculous and it comes out that Danny is the one stressed, and he's scared Steve isn't taking this seriously since he only casually mentioned the radiation poisoning and didn't follow post op for his donated liver. And now Danny's wasted his money, and Chloe's time, but he can't sleep for worrying about Steve's health. Steve admits he's scared, too. He wants to get married and have his own kids. (That made me sad to hear. I want that for him, too, with a woman he loves. *sniff*) But Steve has a healthy outlook on it, as he does most things, really, and he's not going to obsess over something that *might* happen. (Which is good advice, actually, for anyone. We could get hit by a truck tomorrow!) He also tells Danny not to change because they are BFFs and he wants it to stay that way.

So, a good intense end to the case of the week and a silly intervention thread that made me say Why? several times. Out loud. To the TV.

Did you watch? What did you think?