Hawaii Five-0 Recap & Review: The One With The Author

We start out with previouslies of the Big Bad Tokyo guy telling Adam to be his eyes and ears on Five-0, then Adam coming back to the task force and giving info, burying bodies with Endo, and his Yakuza contact Huru tells him to watch his back.

Then we're in a hotel room in 1920 and a bellboy is heading back to work after a liaison with an author named Maureen Townsend. Before he leaves, he says he's a big fan of her work and wants an autograph. Maureen is annoyed, at first, but signs it and tells him she threw her newest manuscript in the trash. He's shocked and takes it out. She tells him that sometimes you have to know when to let things die. (So true. But hard when it's a manuscript you've poured your heart and soul into!) Then we switch back to present day at a high school when a janitor sees a pool of blood coming from under a door and opens it to see a dead teacher with his throat slit.

Cue music.

Junior is home and Tani is waiting for him. They hug. She's trying to make small talk in the car, when he asks her to pull over. She picks a place overlooking a beach and he kisses her. (Duck lips!) She quickly gets on board and things progress with a fade to the ocean and when we see them again they're in the back seat. She tells him that was nice and they laugh. (Poor Junior. That was nice is all he gets? LOL For me, with all the buildup we've had with those two, the backseat was kind of a letdown.)

Steve and Danny are meeting Harry Langford at a literary festival! Love Harry. Steve tells Danny that he likes to read and has a Tom Clancy novel on his nightstand right now. (*swoon*) Danny doesn't believe Steve has time to read, but really, the man has to have some down time and I love that he reads. They meet up with Harry who tells them that he wrote a book in two weeks based on his experiences, and adding some artistic license. He sent it to his friend in the publishing business and got a seven figure book deal. (I really wish it happened like that for everyone. *sigh*) Suddenly, Harry zones out and starts talking about a dead drop, and it turns out he's talking to his literary alter-ego in an earpiece. He hired an actor to play him at the festival since MI6 regulations say he can't appear at events like that. He doesn't want a target on his back and Gabe, the actor he hired, is totally safe because he's got his eye on him. Steve says it's very Cyrano and leans in for Danny's benefit to say "de Bergerac." LOL

Steve's phone rings and it's Lou, telling him about two linked murders. We have the teacher we saw earlier who was garroted with an antique ukulele string. He also had a note pinned to his chest. Now there's been a bookstore own stabbed in the chest with a vintage letter opener who also had a note pinned to her chest. Both notes were handwritten quotes and mention the name Deirdre Naismith, a fictional crime writer who appeared in crime novels by author Maureen Townsend. Steve ominously says the murders are just beginning.  (It reminds me of the Castle pilot where someone was copycatting the murders in Castle's books. I miss that show!)

Steve has Adam in his office, talking about how HPD can't find Endo anywhere, even though they locked down the island. Adam is Mr. Obvious and is all, yeah, the Yakuza don't want Endo in Five-0's hands because of all he knows. Steve tells him to get back out there and lean on his connections to find out if Endo is still on the island so they can bring him in. He also assures Adam he trusts him. Adam thanks him and leaves. Poor guilty Adam.

Danny calls Steve to the Chatting Table to tell him that this is like a vintage murder art project since both victims had ether in their system. Junior comes in and gives Steve and Lou a hug while Danny awkwardly announces he's been sleeping in Junior's bed. Alrighty then. Back to the case. The ink from the notes pinned to the victim's chest is from the 1920s and were written by Maureen Townsend. However, none of the sentences were found in any of her published novels. Luckily, a Maureen Townsend expert, Suzanne Ridge, is on the island at the literary fair!

Steve and Danny head back to the fair to talk to Suzanne and she's definitely a ball of energy! She  shows them Maureen's journal entries---which do match the handwritten notes---and the quotations are word for word copies of passages taken from an unpublished manuscript. She tells them the whole story about how she had access to Maureen's diaries and read about the tryst with the bellman and since there were rumors about an unpublished manuscript, Suzanne contacted the bellman's descendants and found the handwritten manuscript in a box in the attic. (So, the bellman from the first scene got to keep it? Hmmm...) It was a complete first draft and in good condition, so since Suzanne has exclusive rights, she's going to unveil Maureen's plans for her last installment in the Deirdre Naismith series. Steve tells her that what she just said makes her a person of interest and Suzanne seems giddy at the idea of being incriminated in a real life murder investigation. Woot! Danny asks her where she was between six and eight, but she was having breakfast with her assistant Kevin. Since the killer is using the books as a blueprint Steve asks her what they can expect next and it's a butler poisoned with arsenic at a colonial mansion and then Deirdre herself is the last victim and she's tossed off a sailboat with an anchor around her foot. Poor Maureen felt imprisoned by her Deirdre character and wanted to kill her off and write something new, but in the end, she couldn't do it. (I'm curious, though, what did she give her publisher instead?)

Suzanne could be the fourth victim since she's going to publish the work, but Suzanne won't cancel the event since it's been planned for months to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Maureen throwing the manuscript away. (That's a weird anniversary!) She won't let a psychopath steal the moment from her and will avoid sailboats. Kevin comes in and she introduces him. He needs some book dedications for the VIP guests and Suzanne pulls out a pen that actually belonged to Maureen that a fan gave Suzanne at a book signing. Steve looks at it and when it rattles he takes it apart and finds a transmitter. Uh oh. If the pen was in close proximity to a laptop, whoever was on the other end would have access to hard drive and Suzanne would have no idea, so that's how the killer would have gotten their hands on the manuscript. The lab confirms that opinion and Junior tells Steve that Suzanne and Kevin's alibi checks out, so now they're going to try and ID the guy who gave her the pen and get closer to finding the killer.

A suspicious looking guy heads into a hotel the back way and Gabe, the actor playing Harry at the festival is in the bathroom pretending to be 007. He hears the door open and thinks it's Harry, but it's the suspicious looking guy who injects him in the neck. Tunior come into the lobby to meet Harry who was worried about Gabe when the earpiece wasn't transmitting, but now it's turned back on and Gabe is in the trunk of a car somewhere. Yeah, he's in trouble since the kidnappers think he's Harry and will interrogate him. Tani traces the signal off the comms link to some swelling, patriotic-type music. (And I'm disappointed Harry doesn't get to work with Steve!)

Lou tracked down the four people who went to the book signing where Suzanne got the pen and traced them in Hawaii. He texted Suzanne the four pictures and she ID'd Collin Hansen, an unmarried mechanic. Steve wants to go pick him up before he drops another body.

Adam goes to Kenji to ask about Endo and Haru. Kenji is cagey and says he sent them both to Japan. (Uh huh. Sure you did.)  Kenji says if Adam is feeling the pressure, he can put Adam on a plane, too. (Where's Tamiko? So weird we haven't even had a mention of her for so long.)

Junior is driving Harry's rental car to chase down Gabe and Harry tells him to drive it like he stole it. (Haha!) They end up at a warehouse and will notify HPD to set up a perimeter. (*zips lips) Gabe is inside trying to convince the kidnappers he really is just an actor, but they're aren't buying it. They've read his book and know he has bank accounts all over the world, so they're going to take all his money. They drag Gabe's chair over to the laptop to start the transfers. Harry calmly gives Gabe all the info he'll need to make the $10 million transfer (His password is Lan6f0rd, and Tani mentions that for a spy he should have a stronger password, ha!) Gabe messes up and talks out loud to Harry so the kidnappers know he has an earpiece and before they step on it, they tell whoever is on the other end that they'll spare him hearing his friend die. Tunior is outside the warehouse with Harry and he's going in unarmed. If he needs a gun, he'll just borrow one from the kidnappers. (So 007) Harry walks in, assures them he's unarmed and just wants to make sure they get their money. All they have to do is stay calm and make sure no one gets hurt and since they've read his book---a big thanks by the way since publishing is a brutal business---(and it totally is!) but they know it's not an idle threat that if they become unreasonable he'll put them down. He sits down at the laptop and makes the transfer, then tries to leave with Gabe, but they won't let them go anywhere until the transfer is verified.

Steve and the gang are at Collin Hansen's place, but no one is there. They do find photocopies of the manuscript pages that appeared on the murder notes. Noelani checks in because she has another body at a private residence that also had a handwritten note. He was Joel Butler and a vintage bottle of arsenic was placed deliberately by his body, but there was also a human hair that didn't match the victim and his DNA isn't in the system. Danny finds some surveillance pics of Suzanne and they all realize she's next and needs to cancel her talk.

Adam is out in the forest, grabbing an SD card from a camera he had hidden there in the trees.

Kevin is walking down the hotel hall with Steve and Danny, saying that Suzanne is headstrong, but they can try to convince her to cancel the talk. The officer outside the door says no one has gone in or out, but Suzanne isn't answering their knock. Kevin unlocks it and Steve and Danny go in guns drawn. Water is coming out from under the bathroom door. Suzanne! She's in the bathtub unconscious, a little red and white boat floating on top of the water, and tied to her ankle. Steve gets her out while Danny calls for the paramedics. Steve wills her to breathe and she magically does, spitting out water. She's out of it, so Steve thinks she's had ether, like the others. The last page of the novel was on the bathroom counter and the air duct vent open so Steve has the hotel locked down and every cop on the island looking for Collin Hansen.

The kidnappers are happy the money came through and their friend in the Caymans is cashing it out. They leave and Gabe mocks Harry's plan. Watching him just roll over and give those guys $10 million was the least James Bond thing he's ever done. Harry tells him to calm down, he's got it handled. Down in the Caymans the kidnappers' friend is approached by a woman with a gun and she takes the duffel full of money.  When she's on the phone with Harry, he is happy he could count on her and since they didn't discuss terms, will she be taking a cut? She says since he didn't call when they were stationed in Athens, she's taking it all. Live and learn, right darling? Poor Harry. Tunior is there handcuffing the kidnappers, staring sadly at Harry. They all heard what happened since Harry was on speakerphone.

Back at the literary festival, Steve, Danny, and Lou approach Suzanne who is about to go on stage. She asks if they've made any progress on the maniac who tried to kill her and Steve sits down to tell her the news. They traced that air duct to an access point to see if they could get any security cam footage, but the duct has been blocked for some time for air conditioning repairs. Which means whoever is behind this was inside the room this whole time. She staged it almost perfectly, knowing they'd rush in to save her and her acting all drowned in the bathroom, but she couldn't have known about the sealed off air duct. She tells them that's crazy, but, Lou points out it did give a steroid boost to the new book and it's standing room only for her speech. The investigation ended up as publicity some writers would kill for! Lou accuses Kevin of leaking to the news media about the investigation and his only response is that they can't prove that, but what they can prove is that Kevin's alibi didn't hold up. There was blood in the trunk of Kevin's rental car that matched the hair near the arsenic bottle left at the third crime scene. It was a perfect DNA match. Kevin killed Collin Hansen, put him in the trunk of the car, and then planted his hair at the scene to set him up. So now they're going to sit in some uncomfortable chairs until they tell what they did with the body of poor Mr. Hansen. Lou pulls out handcuffs and tells Suzanne, "Look, bracelets to go with your outfit." LOL

Harry is in his hotel room saying goodbye to Gabe, and Gabe is wondering why he has this expensive suite when he lost all his money. Harry tells him he hasn't lost his taste for the finer things in life and this is his happy place. Gabe heads out for a boring deoderant commercial and Tani, Danny, Junior, and Steve show up with beer. They open the bottles and commiserate with Harry losing all that money. Harry says he was getting bored with retirement anyway and so maybe he'll go back to work. Steve offers him a spot on Five-0, but Harry doesn't want that much work. They all go out on the balcony to watch fireworks and Tunior hold pinky fingers. Awww.

We end with Adam looking over the footage from the jungle camera and it first shows Endo's murder, then has Kenji shooting Huru on it. Adam says, "Gotcha" just as some masked men with guns roll up to his building. Uh oh.

So, a lot of storylines packed into this ep. My favorite was the author storyline though, and finding out Steve likes Tom Clancy. :)

What did you think? Did you watch?

Did you miss my review from last week? You can read it HERE