Well, the promo pics for this one looked very interesting. I was excited to watch!
First we get previouslies of Tamiko wanting to be free of Yakuza ties, while her head-of-Yakuza-dad Masuda, tells Adam he should accept who he is and who he will always be. Back to the present where Adam and Tamiko are in the shower, when all of the sudden masked men break in and attack Adam and drag Tamiko off. (Did Daddy not pay his protection bills this month? Anyone ever heard of a security system? Bodyguards?) Adam fights back and is nearly stabbed, but ends up stabbing the guy instead before he loses consciousness. Honestly, that was an impressive fight scene and not only because Adam was naked. (I've got to feel sorry for the guy though. Remember his honeymoon with Kono when they were kidnapped and tortured? The guy just can't catch a break when it comes to his love life and people wanting to kill him.)
Cue music
When Adam comes to, things are hazy and DaddyYakuza is not happy for a couple of reasons. First of all, he has to have his crew clean up the dead bodies and bloody mess in his daughter's apartment, so he's probably a little cranky about that, but naked Adam in his baby girl's apartment was probably unexpected as well. Adam is trying to tell Masuda that Tamiko was taken and what he remembers, but DaddyYakuza is looking at him like, you think I don't know that? Daddy already got a ransom call and Adam is not wanted or needed. But, but, but, Adam has access to resources and will leave Five-0 out of it! Daddy is not impressed and has a guy throw Adam some pants before he sends him along home. Someone got dismissed!
After all that excitement, we go with Tunior to Lou's packed garage. They're going to help him clean it out in exchange for dinner. (Yawn.) Lou thinks he can throw everything in the dumpster, but when Junior pulls out Samantha's bike and talks about his mom throwing out all his pro wrestling action figures without consulting him, Lou decides to call Samantha tonight and see if she wants to keep it. Tani mercifully gets a call and they caught three cases.
Steve and Quinn are at the Chatting Table while Lou and Tunior join them remotely to run down the three male victims who were apparently all in their early 40s. Steve comments that they were in the prime of their lives to which Quinn snarkily says guys in their 40s love saying that. (I wonder how old she is?) The first victim was a chef who owned a trendy new restaurant. He'd come in early to prep for the dinner rush, but a gas line was tampered with and killed him. The second victim ran a fleet of charter fishing boats, but the brakes failed in his car and he went over an embankment. The third victim was a photographer who came home from his normal run and went for a swim, but someone had played with the pool light wiring, so the pool was a death trap. They have three homicides designed to look like accidents and since they can't connect the killer to the victims, they're going to connect the victims to each other, but none of the wives or business partners recognize the pictures of the other victims. What connects a chef, boat captain and a photographer?
Quinn and Steve come out of the elevator and she asks Steve if he's okay. He tells her that some bloodwork came back and his doctor says his cholesterol is getting up there. She once again references his age and says they have old man drugs for him to take. (What are the writers trying to say with this? Steve's old? He's also suffered radiation poisoning and a liver transplant, so high cholesterol should be the least of his worries.) Steve tells her he has to change his diet, so no more rich foods or steak. She sarcastically says, "what else are you going to eat?" And he smiles and says, "That's a cave man joke. I see what you did there." (Was that a Cath reference with the caveman mention? Hmm...) In the middle of it all, Adam calls in sick instead of calling in the team. (Oh, Adam, did you learn nothing from your time with Kono?)
Everyone is gathered around the Chatting Table to report. Junior says the photographer placed a phone call to the other two victims, even though there's no history of them calling each other before that. The calls lasted a couple of minutes, just long enough to set up a meet at a dive bar. The bartender confirmed they sat at a table for a few rounds. Lou reports that they have a suspect for one of the victims. DeadCaptain's fishing boat business was struggling and he had a lawsuit against his main competitor and even sent over thugs to sabotage the competition. So, they get the CompetitionCaptain (some guy who really doesn't look like boat captain material) in the Blue Room of Doom. He says DeadCaptain was making his life miserable, but CompetitionCaptain claims he has an alibi with his girlfriend. As Lou is walking away, CompetitionCaptain says he gave the DeadCaptain a job while he was struggling ten years ago, letting him sleep on his boat and work it off as a deckhand. When DeadCaptain came into money ten years ago, he bought his own boat business and wouldn't say where he got the money. The team figures out that all three men came into money ten years ago. They must have gotten the cash illegally and whatever they were involved in caught up with them.
Adam heads over to an informant wanting to know about Filipino gangs who have a beef with the Yakuza. He's in luck! One showed up a few months ago looking to get a piece of the fentanyl trade, but the Yakuza have that locked up. Oh, and Masuda's thugs probably burned down a Filipino warehouse, but that's all he's got. Adam gets all fierce and throws him against the wall. He better talk or he'll tattle to the Filipinos on him! The informant tells him about a bar and so Adam goes there in his highly recognizable muscle car, with a ski mask, a duffel bag, and a gun. He bursts in and the Filipinos guard is easily taken down (was he new?) and Adam takes their main guy hostage. Some girl is putting all their cash in the duffel, (Christmas bonus for Adam!) then Adam leaves and puts his hostage in the trunk. He takes the guy to Masuda who doesn't appreciate all of Adam's efforts and isn't happy to see him or his hostage! Even after all the trouble Adam went to. Sheesh. The guy probably knows where they're keeping Tamiko, but DaddyYakuza is already taking care of things and Tamiko will be returned tonight! Yay! (They still take the hostage in the back, though.) Adam is a little leery of DaddyYakuza's plans and doesn't think they'll return Tamiko unharmed (he's probably remembering when Kono was kidnapped and they took some of her teeth), when he sees a transfer of power ceremony all laid out and Kenji standing there. DaddyYakuza is going to give his life for hers and when Adam says there must be another way, Daddy's all zen about it and says this is a sacrifice he's willing to make. Well, okay then! He's a goner for sure.
Back to the three murder victims. None of them were criminals, but JohnthePhotographer had an interest in prisoner advocacy and backed an organization like the Innocence Project. He wanted all his donations to go to an inmate named Roger Malia who is serving time for murder of investment banker. And guess what? The murder happened ten years ago! Steve and Quinn are in the truck on their way to go talk to Roger (where is Danny by the way?) Quinn is rudely eating malasadas in front of Steve and won't give him one because of his new diet. She's moaning and going on about how great they are and he should get used to people eating stuff like this in front of him. He's swerving in traffic and demanding a donut. They do make it to the prison unharmed (did Steve get a donut?) and Roger is angry no one has helped him for ten years! He didn't know JohnthePhotographer was trying to get him out. Apparently, Roger did landscaping for the dead investment banker and when the guy didn't pay up, Roger put his hands on him. His DNA was all over the crime scene, but since the dead investment banker was having a fancy party that night, there was no way Roger could have moved in and out without anyone seeing him! And Roger's final appeal was denied last week, so now he won't get to see his little girl again. (I liked that actor. Very believable.)
Back in the truck, Quinn didn't get a guilty read off the guy and Steve is throwing out theories that maybe JohnthePhotographer knows Roger is innocent because he's the killer himself! Lou calls in to say that he pulled the file from the investment banker's old murder case and all three vics were working at the fancy party and gave statements that they didn't see a thing. So maybe someone paid them for their silence and that's where they got the cash! Maybe Roger's final appeal being denied was the thing that tipped them over the edge and so JohnthePhotographer called the other two to tell them that it's time to come clean and name the real guilty party. Then the killer finds out about the plan and silences them all.
A detective strolls into Duke's office at HPD with evidence from the Filipino bar robbery. Some guy tangled with their inept "muscle" (the one that folded like a deck of cards in a windstorm) and a watch came off. (Really? His "fight" with Adam didn't take long). The fingerprint on it matched to Adam. Uh oh.
Masuda lets Adam drive him to the exchange (I guess they called a truce) and wants Adam to promise him that if/when they get Tamiko back, he'll protect her. Adam says he will. (Yeah, that's not going to go well.) Duke calls Adam, but he's too busy to answer.
Steve and Quinn bring in a well-dressed woman and show her pics of the three vics. She claims she hasn't seen them before, but they were all doing service jobs at a fundraiser she attended ten years ago! And when they cross-referenced them against the guest list, she was the only one who had a connection. Uh oh. Three nights ago DeadCaptain took a ride share to her house and probably wanted to talk about the murder they witnessed ten years ago---that she bought their silence for---and how JohnthePhotographer wanted to come clean and tell who the real murderer was. So she had the three of them killed. But wait, that's crazy! The investment banker was her dear friend! Well, he was also her stock broker and cost her five million dollars. Steve lays it out that she waited until the guests left and then bashed in the investment banker's head, but there were three staff members there wrapping up and maybe they saw her do it or could place her at the scene of the crime, so the best option was to pay them to keep their mouths shut. Since they were working class guys, they couldn't turn down the money. They don't actually have any evidence yet, but since she doesn't have a skillset for hiring contract killers, they subpoenaed her bank records, phone logs and text transcripts. If there's even a trace of any contact between her and whoever killed those men, they'll find it and then the contract killer will roll on her, unless she gives them a name right now. (Steve is always so authoritative. I'd cave if I were her.)
Adam and Masuda make it to the exchange spot and the Filipinos roll up. Their men are on the perimeter with guns. Everyone looks tense. Masuda gets out and there are lots of guns cocking. Tamiko is there and they both walk to the middle very slowly and just stand there hugging. (Get her to safety, man!) Adam gives the signal and Yakuza men take out the perimeter guards. The headlights come on and Masuda and Tamiko drop to the ground as the shootout begins. When it's over, Adam holds a crying Tamiko who has blood on her shirt. It's not hers, though. Masuda is hit. Tamiko holds him in the backseat while Adam drives to the hospital with Kenji riding shotgun. Kenji says to take Masuda to a Yakuza doctor, and pulls a gun on Adam to do what he says. But it's all fine, no one gets shot because Masuda uses his last breath to tell Tamiko she's his greatest joy and then dies before he gets close to any doctors anywhere. Poor Tamiko.
Quinn tells Roger they found his daughter, her school, and where she's living. Now he can write to her! But Steve adds that Roger can deliver that letter in person since they have the real killer in custody. He's about to be a free man after ten years of being wrongfully convicted and in prison.
Lou is at a restaurant talking to his daughter while he waits for Tunior. Apparently Samantha is going to think about keeping the bike. Lou rambles on about missing his kids and not being needed anymore so he's decided to keep all their stuff and protect their childhood memories. (I don't even know what to say about this storyline.)
Adam takes a clearly in-shock Tamiko back to the house where some women are there to take care of her. He tells her he's going to go get some of her things from the apartment, but as soon as she's gone, he goes out to talk to Kenji. Something has been bugging him ever since Kenji pulled the gun on him in the car. Kenji is all, hey, there Adam, we don't do hospitals---discretion is the Yakuza way. The look on Adam's face was priceless. "I know all about the way, thank you." And he truly does. (I guess Kenji doesn't know Adam's history?) Anyway, Adam points out that at the end of this mess, Kenji was the guy who came out on top. Kenji is immediately offended at the implication he was involved in Masuda's death, but he doesn't deny it. Adam runs it down for him that if they'd gone to the Yakuza doctor, he wouldn't check the slugs that killed Masuda, but a hospital would and maybe they would have found that the slugs matched Kenji's gun. But Kenji pushes a few of Adam's buttons and says that next Adam will say he coordinated Tamiko's kidnapping and Adam gets in his face with a "did you?" because that's what got Masuda to hand over the keys to the Yakuza. Also, everyone who could confirm that is dead. Kenji changes the subject and says they should finish their business before he has to go and they walk out into the back where a severely beaten man is kneeling on the grass. Kenji puts a silencer on while Adam starts telling him not to do it. Kenji reminds him that he's the one who abducted the guy, brought him here and traded off beating him for the details of the drop. But Adam was trying to save Tamiko, so it's different. If Kenji kills him it's cold-blooded murder. Kenji won't let Adam turn the guy over to the authorities and he'll use everything that happened tonight as leverage against Adam if he causes trouble for Kenji. His career with Five-0 will be over! Don't mess with Kenji! He puts his stone-face on and kills the guy, then walks away. Adam squats down by the body, when his phone rings. It's Steve, asking about his health and if he can come in to HQ right now. Adam says okay and we close in on Duke sitting across from Steve in his office with the evidence file open on the desk. Uh oh.
I am actually excited about the turn Adam's story is taking. He's fine on the task force, but his role is pretty much standing at the Chatting Table or a crime scene running down the crime. This might give his character back some meatier stuff, but I hope it won't be another recycled storyline, since we've already seen Kono on Five-0 feeling the conflict because she's in love with Adam who was the son of the Yakuza boss back in the day. Obviously we now have Adam who is Five-0 feeling the conflict because he's in love with Tamiko, the daughter of the Yakuza boss. And both of their dads died. Hmm.. My fingers are crossed for a good story.
What did you think? Did you watch?
)
I also want to tell you about the new Christmas movie that just came out, Christmas Jars. We watched it as a family and it was amazing! It's based on the book by New York Times Bestselling author Jason Wright and it is perfect for this holiday season.