Hawaii Five-O Recap & Review: Another Ho-Hum Kidnapping

Well, the previews for this one looked interesting, but once again it was another kidnapping. My husband and I were trying to count up how many times people on the task force have been kidnapped as well as people associated with the task force. It's definitely one of the most overused storylines on the show, but, here we go.

The previouslies remind us that Tani's bro is a drug addict that nearly OD'd and had to go to rehab.

We start with Jerry in a mental health facility dispensing meds as an orderly named Hector. A really gross scene of a resident stabbing himself with a fork and making his arm bloody greets "Hector" on his rounds. When Jerry tries to intervene, the resident attacks him, so Jerry has to hold him down and yell for help. Poor HectorJerry.

Steve meets up with Jerry who looks fairly verklempt. Steve gives him an out, that field work isn't for everyone, but Jerry says he volunteered and doesn't want to let Steve down. They show a flashback to the Chatting Table where Junior and Tani really didn't want the undercover op and were trying to foist it on each other before Jerry volunteered. It seems a resident of the facility was found murdered and dumped in a ravine with a skull fracture. Staff have circled the wagons and just say he wandered away, but the guy hadn't wandered in all eight years he lived there. The HopelessHPD didn't get anywhere with their interviews and search of the victim's room (do they ever?) and since there's an opening for an orderly, someone can get on the inside. Back to the present where Steve tells Jerry to be resourceful and starting thinking like him. Evidence is degrading and people's recollection can get hazy. They need intel, but hey, HectorJerry, just call if you need something.

Tani visits her bro in rehab thinking he's coming home, but he's decided to be a counselor there now. *yawn*

Duke is in the evidence room heading to look at a box from an open murder case. He's shooting the breeze with another officer when he suddenly tazes the guy and walks down the aisle with a determined and cranky look on his face. Cut to the team trying to track Duke down, but he's turned off his phone so they get things going by ordering the HopelessHPD to dust for fingerprints and look at security footage. Because no one at HPD knows how to run an investigation.

Jerry borrows some empty boxes from a dumpster so he can look the part when he tells the receptionist that he's supposed to pack up Ben Pollack, the murder victim's, room. He finds a chess clock and asks the receptionist who played with Ben and heads over to that guy's room.

Back to trying to find Duke. HPD is sitting on Duke's house and his financials are clear. Tani says his wife and daughter claim they haven't spoken to him, but the phone records show he talked to his daughter several times that morning. They bring her in and she lies again while she's trying to cover bruises on her wrist. They finally tell her that they know she talked to her dad three times. Steve appeals to her to let him help her and for her to tell them what she knows. He's really convincing here, reminding her that she knows him and can trust him. She finally caves and says that men burst in and snatched her daughter, Akela. (We also see a flashback of it.) They contacted Duke and said if he got anyone else involved they'd kill her. Oh, and they'll be in touch soon. They even sent him a burner phone in a package at work! So efficient. They called Duke while he was at his daughter's house and said they wanted him to get a certain key. He told her to stay home and act like everything's okay so she did. But she's sorry she lied. Steve brushes that away and tells her to forget about it, she was doing what her father wanted. But if Duke calls, tell him to call one of us, you're ohana and we look after each other. Awww. Steve goes into action, telling her they'll process her house discreetly with plainclothes officers coming through the back door. Then they'll go through the evidence locker and try to figure out what the key was for. Oh and he'll tell everyone else to stand down that Duke is no longer a person of interest. Tani seems surprised at McG's reaction, but Lou tells her that McG will never turn his back on family no matter what.

Jerry talks to Harris, Ben's chess pal and he tells Jerry their routine. Chess every day for two hours, then lunch, then watch game shows, then group, dinner, and lights out. Only, one day, Ben didn't show up for group after lunch. Jerry asks the receptionist about where Ben's TV went and apparently the TV broke and Ben had to watch his shows in the common room. Jerry goes there and tries to change the channel, but a resident changes it back. He warns Jerry not to change the channel since he doesn't want to make Kusaki angry. They pan over to him and that guy already looks angry. It comes out that Ben put on the Price is Right and Kusaki got mad and pushed him. Ben got upset and was going to call the doctors or the police. Kusaki got angry, but then the orderlies came and said to stop fighting. Ben left, but hasn't been back since. Dun, dun, dun. Jerry follows Kusaki down some stairs and the guy turns and confronts him. He gets in Jerry's face and tells him to mind his own business.

Junior got a lock on Duke's phone and Steve and Danny head to the location. They find his car, but no one is inside. They hear banging from the trunk and Duke is gagged and zip-tied. Lucky they found him when they did! He's sorry, had felt like he no other choice. The key he took was to one of the lockers behind them (who has lockers in an alley?) He opened the locker and there was a bag inside with a million dollars, but when he took it to the car and was putting it in the trunk, he got jumped. The kidnappers call just then and Duke tries to keep them on the line so they can get a trace. No dice. He has an hour to get them the money. That he no longer has. Well, who else knew there was money in that locker? They got the key from a drug dealer that was picked up on a hit and run. Duke went to talk to him first thing, but he said he didn't know anything. Well, obviously Duke tipped the drug dealer off so someone else knew there was money in the locker. Who did the drug dealer call?

They bring his lawyer to the Blue Room of Doom and explain the situation. He's pretty arrogant and goes with the "I don't know what you're talking about, you can't prove anything" spiel. Lou gets in his face that a cop's granddaughter has been kidnapped and he'll be an accessory to whatever happens to the girl. The lawyer must have caved because Lou and Tani go to some guy's house where he jumps out the window. Tani punches him out and finds the money.

Jerry uses a tutorial to pick the lock to the records room and finds out that Kusaki is actually dead and the guy impersonating him is Dylan Shu. He calls Lou and tells him Dylan Shu is a fugitive hiding out in the mental hospital and the guy is bad news. Lou sends units down, but before Jerry can leave the records room another orderly catches him. Jerry confesses he's actually with Five-O and found out that Shu is a fugitive. The other orderly pulls out a gun and says he's going to stay that way. (Oh Jerry. Never blow your cover!) He forces Jerry into a van and FakeKusaki is in the back seat. Jerry buckles up and starts rambling about how clever it was to hide out in mental hospital and how it must have happened when Ben said he might report FakeKusaki. Since they cracked Ben on the head, is that what they're going to do to Jerry? FakeKusaki says this time they won't find body, so Jerry guns it and rams into a dumpster. He's bleeding and gets out of the van. A worried Lou calls since no one can find him, but he says he's good. (I'm guessing the EvilOrderly and FakeKusaki are knocked out? We never really see.)

Junior and Steve are set in sniper positions as Duke pulls up to the meeting place with the money duffel. Three masked men ask if he came alone and they're pointing their guns at Duke. It doesn't seem to faze him and Duke asks where his granddaughter is.  He's walking toward them, his voice raised, so one of the masked men shoots him. Junior shoots two of them, then the next thing we know Steve and Junior must have teleported or something and are there near Duke, joined by Lou and Tani. There's a good gun fight inside and we find out that Duke was only shot in the shoulder. Tani finds the little girl and she's okay and she brings her outside. Duke's daughter comes in to hug him and then runs to her daughter. It's another slo-mo scene where everyone is smiling and happy. (Which we also saw with the kidnapped college kids, kidnapped SEAL's daughter, you get the picture.)

Back in Jerry's hospital room the team is chatting with him and catching him up that Duke will be fine and his wound was a through and through. HPD might fire him, though, since stealing evidence and assaulting a fellow officer has consequences. McG says they'll explain the extenuating circumstances to everybody, though. Awww. The receptionist comes in with HarristheChessPlayer and the team leaves. Oddly, Danny hugs the receptionist he was just introduced to before he goes. Hmm. Weird.

The ep ends with Koa's group talking about change and having someone who sticks by you. Koa has Tani stand up and say a few words. She starts with, "I'm a sister of an addict." She didn't give up or turn her back and there's someone out there that loves and supports you, too. They show Akela and her mom in Duke's hospital room, while Jerry plays chess in his room with Harris, and Steve and Danny are staining the restaurant counter. We end with Tani's words of "you have my bro, and he's special. Mahalo."

The kidnapping part was a little boring because we've done that story so many times. Jerry's arc had a few twists and turns so that kept it interesting for me. Did you watch? What did you think?