Hawaii Five-0 Recap & Review---Catherine Returns

Photo courtesy of CBS

Cath is back in this episode and I will warn you, I loved their scenes and my recap is long with a lot of the dialogue. What a fun show! Spies, SEALs, revenge, and reaching out. This episode had it all!

We start out with the previouslies of Joe's death and Greer's involvement in it. We also see how the team back in Hawaii got the name of the lawyer from Denmark who set up the hits that took out most of the Moroccan SEAL team that Steve and Joe were on.

Then we go to the ranch in Montana where Steve is filling a bucket of water from a trough. He has a pretty good grief beard going on. He sees a car approaching and warily watches it with his gun drawn. It's Danny. Steve says he didn't need to come out, but Danny tells him that's what family does and Steve wouldn't leave him alone after his brother died so . . . Steve says he's glad to see him and they hug. Danny says that since it's been over a month, is Steve ready to come home now? But a door opens behind them and he sees Catherine and says. Aaha. (Like, oh NOW I see why you've been gone for a month. *grin*)  Danny says he didn't mean to interrupt, but Cath answers with what exactly did you think you were interrupting? (Apparently not what I wanted him to be interrupting. LOL) Danny says the grieving process, but DeadSeriousSteve walks into the barn and says, "That's not what this is." (He ain't playing right now.) They have a badly beaten man in there and Danny looks shocked and says he liked it better when he thought Cath and Steve were playing house. Who is the guy? It's Omar Hassan's lawyer Gregors Thompson. Cath and Steve catch Danny up that Greer gave up the names of the SEALs on the Moroccan mission, but Gregors executed Hassan's plan to kill them, including Joe, by hiring the hitters. Steve says Gregors was just about to tell Hassan's location, and then he pulls a gun. He says "Catherine" and she closes the door to leave those two alone in the room.

Cue music. (Whew! So many questions already! Like, did Steve call Catherine? If so, what did he say? And did she bring Gregors to him? It doesn't look like he's left the ranch so that would be a logical conclusion. Has Catherine been there the whole month? Will we ever know?)

Back on the island there's a storage locker auction that two guys win. They open it to see what they bought and it's a bunch of junk. They open a box of books and DVDs, then a duffel bag with human remains on it.  They call Noelani because they don't want to waste time calling the police (seriously!) and tell her they found the skeleton, text her a pic, and she tells them she'll be right there, don't touch anything. When she gets there, however, the guys aren't around and when she calls them, the phone rings inside the storage unit. She opens the door and both guys are there, shot dead.

Back at the ranch, Cath and Danny watch Steve wash his bloody hands in the bucket. Danny tells him the mountain air is difficult to take in with the screaming and crying. Steve got the location he wanted, though. Hassan is in Laos. Danny is all, good, just tell the CIA and let's go. But Cath and Steve are all, nope, we're going to Laos. Danny isn't too jazzed about that since it's ten thousand miles away, Hassan has a security team and there's only three of them. Oh and he doesn't have a passport. (Wow. He really doesn't want to go.) But Cath says they're not flying commercial and Steve adds that there's more than three of them, shooting a look to Cath. She nods. (I love the silent communication between them. They just get each other without any words needed, especially on ops.) And guess who's at the airport? Junior! He's loading up and hugs Steve and Cath. Wade Gutches is also joining them and even though he's retired, he's still got game. He gives Cath a big hug and Steve introduces him to Junior. Steve takes Gutches aside to ask if he's okay with this (because Steve is ALWAYS thinking about his team) and Wade tells him that going after the guy who killed Joe was the only thing that could have pulled him out of retirement. Frank Bama's daughter, Lucia, is piloting the plane and it is fueled and ready to fly.

Back on the island Grover and Tani are at the storage unit. Adam meets them, gives them the rundown with flashbacks of what we've already seen of Noelani finding the bodies. (Oy! Did they think we forgot or something?) Lou and Tani are spitballing as to motive, but thankfully Adam, (the ex-con) knows how to work a case and already ran the name on the contract. It was an alias and the contract was prepaid for a year. They're going to go through the junk for clues. (Back to Beginning Detective School for the others!)

Gutches is telling old stories on the plane about Joe. Steve is thinking about Greer, flashing back to their hookup in Morocco. Greer told him that being with him was the best bad decision she's made in a long time and he says that was stress relief. Therapy, really. She goes on with since they were using each other for selfish purposes, it might be good to have that therapy available to her again. So, maybe since someone with Steve's experience would be good in the CIA, if he joined, they could then be stationed together and she'd have access to very regular therapy. (It's all very playful for Steve, but Greer seems to have a serious undertone.) Steve says he's not CIA material, but he does put his noodles away that he's eating and kisses her again. Then we come back to present day and Lucia saying it was going to be a bumpy landing. Cath, who is sitting next to him, asks Steve where he went. He says, "I don't know, I'm just thinking that we're doing all this stuff to get Hassan for good reason but at the end of the day I get it, I understand why he did what he did. He's avenging his father's death---I would have done the same thing. But Hassan wouldn't have been able to do that without Greer. Greer's the one who sold out her country and turned on her people." Steve has this intense look on his face and Cath assures him that they'll find her. Hassan worked with Greer and he might be able to tell them what rock she's under, but if he can't, then we'll just keep looking. "We owe Joe that much and I'm in this with you until the end." We get another look between them and a Steve nod.

Back at the Chatting Table for the Storage Murders, there were no matches on fingerprints, but some high school love letters give up the name Woody. Oh, and the lipstick on the letters also had DNA and the name Carol Buckley shows up from that. She died in a car accident and grew up in Ohio. There was also a bowling trophy in the unit that connects to Canton, Ohio so they're going to look for a record.

Steve meets Harry in a bar. The cocktails are supposedly terrible so Steve orders a beer. Harry has been prepping the op and secured a conveniently located safehouse, identified Hassan's contact, Dmitri, and met a lovely lady named Oksana? (It was hard to hear her name, but that's what it sounded like.) He even pulled a few favors and traced an eight million dollar wire that Hassan made to the Mandarin Club, an exclusive members only club that features a high rollers game room. They think that's how Hassan is laundering money since Dmitri makes a large withdrawal of chips, loses a hundred grand, and doesn't hang around, but cashes out right away. He also has lots of security. Harry says he knows Dmitri will be there tonight, but it might be the last night.

Back at the safehouse, Cath is setting up a laptop and showing surveillance photos. Harry is explaining why they haven't been able to track Dmitri to this point. He's a pro. No phone. And he even managed to lose Harry when he tried to tail him. Dmitri has a tight security detail and it's next to impossible to keep eyes on him. Well, why don't they put a tracker on him? Because he changes vehicles, has security and his driver never leaves his post, so traditional tracking doesn't work. Gutches wants to know how they'll paint the target and Harry pulls out a small vial of a radioactive solution they need to get him to drink. Once it's ingested they can track him. So the plan is, Catherine and Steve are going to go to the club together and head straight to the high roller table. Cath is all in, except she hates to be that girl, but she doesn't have anything to wear. Steve motions to Harry with a half-smile. Harry took the liberty of purchasing something suitable earlier today. (Was that after he met Steve in the bar? Did he get her sizes from Steve? Did Steve help?) Oh and for the purposes of this operation Harry tells them that "you two are married" and pulls out two wedding rings. Gutches reaction is "isn't that sweet." Danny says Mazel Tov. Steve says "I do," but he's in focused mission mode, while Harry and Cath are smiling. (Like me!) But before they get all cleaned up, Harry wants to brief them on the finer points of baccarat. (Good idea!)

Steve and Catherine go to the club looking fine in a tux and fancy evening gown. (Did they need to be married to get in? Or did Harry just do that because he figured out Cath is the only one Steve ever let in? Oh well, for whatever reason, I still like that part.) Harry is running point through hacked CCTV. They are all on comms and Harry says, "Steven you look absolutely magnificent in a tux." Cath comes back with, "He's spoken for cowboy." (Yes, yes, he is. Sigh.) Dmitri has pulled his chips and is at the high roller table. Steve pulls out a chair right next to Dmitri for Catherine (always the gentleman) and they are greeted with a bon soir from the dealer so Steve says bon soir as well. *swoon* Cath takes half the chips and Steve plays his part with "Don't you want to wait for the divorce before you take half." Cath tells him, "Don't be a caveman darling." Steve orders a Vodka martini, (007 reference?) then switches to a local beer. Dmitri orders as well and Cath has same thing as him. Steve gives her a look and she returns it. Now that the drink order has gone out, can the team get the radioactive mixture in it? Gutches corners a waiter at gunpoint and they steal his uniform for Junior, but it's ill-fitting. Oh well. Junior puts the solution in the drink and he brings it out and puts it on the table. But Dmitri is ending his night and hasn't touched his drink! Better do something! Cath stands up with her hand on his arm and says leaving so soon? She wanted to play with him a little longer. She suggests a toast to knowing when to walk away, and Dmitri does, drinking the solution. Yay! He walks away and Harry tells Cath that was a nice save. Steve and Cath are right behind Dmitri in their car, and thankfully the solution is working so they can track him. (Although with all the surveillance they ultimately had, I'm really surprised Harry couldn't track him earlier, but whatever.) They track him to a high rise and Steve screeches up behind him. (Because that won't alert anyone to a tail. LOL) Dmitri is walking inside and Harry is able to see that he went to floor 28 from his CCTV feed. Wow. Unfortunately, while they've located Hassan, there are cameras, biometrics, and armed guards. The place will a hard nut to crack.

Back on the island and the Chatting table, Adam heard back from the bowling alley and they had a photo of BowlingChampWoody with his bowling team. The guy was renting an apartment in Hawaii up until 18 months ago, but moved without any notice, paid off his lease with cash. Nothing on him since then. Grover says maybe Alex is no longer alive. Then with no other explanation we jump to the Blue Room of Doom with some ex-con. They ask him about BowlingChampWoody, his former partner in a bait and tackle shop. With his partner out of picture, he closed the business and got back most of what he put in. (Why did his partner have to be out of the way? I'm confused. Doesn't sound like he made a lot of money on it, either. Not enough to kill someone.) But apparently, ExConPartner couldn't pay the storage locker rent because he was in prison, then when he found out it was being auctioned he killed the two guys and stole the duffel. But he idiotically rented a boat with a GPS and HPD divers found it with a bullet fragment in it that will match ExConPartner's illegal gun. Busted.

The team is getting ready to go to the high rise. Cath is beside Steve, asking him how it's going. He talks about how if the map they have of the high rise is accurate, there are lots of infil and exfil spots. She says, no, I mean how are you doing? (I love that she is so concerned for him, like he's always concerned for everyone else.) Steve stops for a second then says, "Joe's dead, it's my fault." Cath tells him not to do that. Steve goes on to say, "You asked, I'm telling you. He took a bullet for me. I couldn't save him." Cath points out that, "Had it been the other way around you would have taken that bullet for him. That's what we do for the people we love. It was Joe's choice, he wouldn't want you feeling responsible." But Steve is still feeling a lot of guilt. "If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be dead. If I could have seen Greer for the threat she was, Joe wouldn't be dead. I couldn't see that because I had a blind spot for her." He stops, looks away, then says, "Catherine there's something you need to know. Before you and I started dating, Greer and I--" Cath cuts him off. "I know. I know." He isn't so sure. "What do you know?" She fills him in that years ago she was at the Pentagon doing an intel briefing. Greer came in and said that she heard Cath was dating Commander McGarrett and, though she was happy for her, she wanted Cath to temper her expectations because "as much as everyone wants him to be, Steve isn't the type to settle down." Steve seems really surprised by this information, that Cath knew all this time about him and Greer and didn't tell him. She explains that it was before they started dating and she didn't believe anything Greer said about him. (Smart woman.) Gutches tells them this thing's a go and they head out. (I did think it was interesting that Steve felt it necessary to confess to Cath about Greer now and not back then. Soooo interesting.)

Cath is in a car hacking the high rise security system. She's making a video loop so they can bypass security. Gutches creates a distraction in the front parking/lobby and Cath uploads and inserts the video feed while they're dealing with him. The rest of the team pulls up while Gutches holds the guards at gunpoint. Steve, Junior, and Harry all go upstairs to the 28th floor armed and ready. Steve says they'll be back in a jif and Danny reminds him they've got eight minutes. (What happens in eight minutes? Why only eight?) They throw a flashbang and kill all the guards. Hassan is hiding upstairs with his wife and child, but the team easily finds him and he's shot in the shoulder. Hassan dares Steve to kill him. He's prepared to die since he avenged his father's death. They put him on the floor and Steve tells him that he didn't really avenge his father's death because he had five of the six SEALs murdered that were on that raid, but he missed the one that took the shot that killed his father. Harry chimes in with that's a juicy piece of irony. Catherine's voice comes over the comms with "guys, we've got a problem." The downstairs team is being held at gunpoint. Uh oh.

Everyone can hear Hassan's goons say to tell their friends to surrender or they'll be killed. Steve tells Hassan to have his men stand down, but he doesn't want to give up his leverage. Luckily Harry has a backup plan and calls in his lady friend, who apparently leads a police force in Laos. He's going to owe her. Cath says they're all good and the hostiles are taken down, so there goes Hassan's leverage. Hassan is still defiant, though, and tells Steve not to make the same mistake as Commander White and leave him alive because he'll regret it. Steve hunches down and says is that what Hassan wants for his son? (The boy is cowering with his mother on the other side of the bed.) The mom covers the boys eyes as Steve goes on about why would Hassan want that for his boy and to have him relive the same cycle? Hassan doesn't care and dares Steve to do it, but Steve refuses. He wants something else from Hassan.

We jump to China where we see Greer going into a house. She takes off her hat and Steve walks in, surprising her. She pulls a gun, but Cath backs him up. Greer knows she's cornered, but is still snarky and says, "Finally, we're all together again." Cath tells her not for long and Greer is all, "after all that great advice I gave you." Steve wants answers, to try to understand, and asks Greer what amount of money would be worth giving up names of men and women you served with knowing full well they would die? She says maybe it wasn't just about the money, maybe there were other factors. She goes for her gun and Steve tells her not to do it, but Cath doesn't take any chances and Greer is shot in the back. (I was really surprised they killed her off so quickly, but she had to have known what would happen when she went for the gun.) (Also, did only Cath and Steve go to China together for Steve's most personal mission of bringing down Greer? Hmmm...)

It's all over and we're back at the Montana airfield. Steve thanks Gutches for everything. "That was fun. Mostly," Gutches says. He tells Steve that he should find a good woman, a boring hobby, and the first chance he gets, retire. Steve says he'll give it some thought and Gutches replies with a no you won't. He goes on to say, "Joe would have been proud of you, kid. I know I am." Awww.

Steve thanks him again and watches him leave before Cath comes over. He gives her a "Hey. What's next for you?" She says it's back to the grind, protecting the homeland, chasing bad guys. He says "thank you so much, Catherine, we couldn't have pulled this off without you." She tells him, "Joe was a great man, Steve, we both owe him a lot." (That's the second time she's mentioned that they both owe Joe. What does she owe him for?) Steve replies with, "You still don't know? Joe wasn't just my mentor, father figure, he brought you into my life, Catherine." She seems surprised. "How's that?" Then we get the flashback of that long-ago mission going bad where it's Steve and Joe against twenty others and Steve is sure they're going to be dead in a couple of minutes. Joe says they're not dying today and makes Steve promise that he'll ask Catherine out when they get back. "That woman's a keeper Steve. I don't want to hear you say no. That's how you pay me back for this." *sniffle* Steve agrees, then we see Cath answering a phone on a ship. Steve is calling her on a secured line, getting access because he told her CO he was gravely wounded in battle. Cath is immediately concerned, but Steve assures her he's okay. The reason he's calling is that he was invited to the Army Navy gala at West Point next month and presuming he can get stateside in time, he's wondering if she'd like to be his plus one? She says that depends on if he's able-bodied enough to dance with her. He tells her that he'd hit that dance floor on crutches if he had to. (Aww.) And to eliminate any confusion, he tells her that they wouldn't be going as friends, "this is me asking you out on a date." There is silence on the other line for a minute, with Steve says "Hello? Catherine? Hello?" She's still there and asks him "What took you so long?" Steve replies with "Let's just say I took some good advice from an old friend."

Back to present day, where Cath is a little weepy after hearing that story. She says, "I'm really glad you took his advice." Steve hugs her and says, "I am, too." They hug each other so close. *le sigh* She tells him to take care of himself, and he says, "you, too, kid," then watches her walk away. She turns back and says, "until next time," and they give each other the shaka before she gets in the car and drives away. (Steve watches her the whole time and I wish he would have called her back! Sigh. I love them.)

They seemed to have moved forward in their relationship. The communication is there, the feelings are there. I really was happy to see them in such a good place.

Did you watch? What did you think?