Monday, September 30, 2019

Hawaii Five-0---Season Premiere Monster Truck Edition

I've been really excited for the start of Hawaii Five-0's tenth season and we are finally back! Woohoo!

We left on a pretty big cliffhanger, with a gunshot ringing out after Hassan's wife came to Steve's office. The Hassan storyline was such a great Steve-centric one, I really thought there might be some fallout to that for Steve! But there wasn't. In the first few seconds of the premiere we see Steve with Jerry who was the one shot, telling him to hang in there. Hassan's wife is on the floor in the background, but we don't hear about her again the entire episode. Sigh. Oh well. Moving right along . . .

We flash forward two weeks and Jerry is in the hospital playing Battleship with Junior and winning. Jerry waxes philosophical that when he was shot, he didn't have a life-flash-before-his-eyes moment and only thought about his D&D buddies, so he thinks he hasn't lived enough. Tani shows up then, dressed for the opera. Apparently, Junior got the tickets for his parents, but his dad didn't want to go, so Junior took them back and invited Tani, who also hates opera, but thought it would be a good time to nap. (Poor Junior. Everyone he knows hates opera.)


Steve (oddly with super dark, but thankfully longer, hair) is on a date with a woman named Brooke. It seems first-date awkward as they're looking at the menu. She asks him what he's thinking and he says he's thinking about a friend of his that got shot. He's going to be okay, but it's crazy the things that happen at work. (Haha! Yeah, HIS work. It's always crazy.) She's giving him a strange look and says she was really asking about what he was going to order. Danny calls and Steve takes it. Danny wants to see how the date it going and freaks when Steve says they're not off to the best start. Danny is asking if he has any game, has called him twice and is annoyed Steve won't answer his texts while he's ON HIS DATE. Sigh. Thankfully Steve just hangs up on him and goes back to Brooke. They agree to start over.

At the opera, there's a sniper setting up while the singing is going on. He shoots a guy sitting in his seat. Oddly, both of the victim's security guards just kind of look at the guy slumped over and bleeding and go into the hall. No one calls for an ambulance or doctor or anything. Tunior notice a problem in one of the boxes and go to investigate. Once in the hall, shots ring out and Tunior runs for cover while the shooter runs for the stairwell. Dun, dun, dun.

*cue music*

Steve is on scene with Danny who is still bugging him about the date, telling him he was blowing it, but, in fact, Steve got a second date. Steve cuts off any more questions and they get the lowdown on the situation. Billy Sato, head of the Traids, was the victim and conveniently, the shooter is probably still in stairwell. Steve heads up the stairs and finds the sniper. There is a really awesome chase scene and Steve is right behind him. Our sniper makes an incredible leap between buildings, which Steve also makes! Unfortunately, Steve is barely hanging on to the metal pipe and can't seem to quickly get his footing so the sniper gets away. (There is a nice shot of Steve's sneakers, though, and I'm a fan.) Danny comes up to the roof to watch and get off a few shots before he tells Steve the guy got away. (Yeah. He knows. Haha!)

Back at the office, Danny is telling Steve that this is a young man's game and Steve's 40 year old self was barely hanging on to that pipe by his fingertips when ten years ago he would have made the jump. Steve cuts that off with, "How about next time you get in the game? Less chatting, more chasing." (Ha! It's about time he shuts down some of that ridiculous criticism. Honestly, I hope Danny gets more positive energy to work with this season.) Adam is at the Chatting Table showing them the composite of the shooter and saying that he was driving a stolen car. They recovered the shooter's rifle and a shell casing and since the rifle configuration is rare, the sniper might be military trained and this was a paid hit.

Lou is interviewing the stolen car owner, Wes Cullen. The guy is no help, but I'm calling it right now. He's the criminal mastermind. Lou also says he's in the market for an apartment since they're thinking of downsizing, so maybe Cullen has something in his real estate portfolio? Cullen is going to take care of him. (Uh huh. Sure he will.)

Adam comes in to tell Steve about a veteran's bar and how a woman came in two days before the murder looking for a veteran. She had a picture and it looks just like their shooter! She left a number, but it's a burner. Apparently they can trace that, though, so Steve and Danny chase her SUV down. She stops and gets out, gun drawn. Steve and Danny draw theirs. Everyone wants ID. (Totally reminiscent of first ep with Steve and Danny meeting) The woman is Quinn Liu, and she's so snarky to Steve. I really liked that. Steve finally shows her his credentials, but he didn't throw them far enough for her. Ha! Danny does the countdown to put the guns away, but nobody moves. Quinn finally stands down and Steve asks her why she's looking for the shooter. They guy's a veteran named Tom Kendall. She booked him for assault a few months ago and he hasn't checked in. Steve informs her he's a suspect in a murder investigation and Quinn is worried since he's the second vet to go MIA recently. What if it's a pattern? Tani calls and it looks like the suspect kidnapped a doctor in the parking lot of a hospital. Luckily, the car had vehicle recovery system and HPD is en route. Steve leaves so he can be part of that, too. Cut to the doctor patching up the shooter when they hear the police. Everyone outside is ready to breach, when they hear gunshots. They rush in with Steve on point. The shooter killed himself, but the doctor is okay. (And probably sad that all his hard work was for nothing!)

Back in the parking lot, Steve shows Danny the shooter's burner. There was a text on it that said, "911 need extraction." He definitely had an accomplice. In the interest of time, Steve texts from the burner phone, but Danny is right at his side, once again telling him it's a terrible idea. (Sigh. Someone should do a drinking game of Danny saying that to Steve.) They get a text back that the schedule stays the same and to proceed with remaining targets. Uh oh. Steve remembers Quinn saying there were two vets, so Danny says he'll call her. She ignores his call, because she's headed into a very nice house at the moment. With a bullet-proof vest on.

Adam's girlfriend's dad, Masudo, sets up a Yakuza meeting, but before Adam can go in, Dad asks what his intentions are toward his daughter. Adam says he's just close friends with Tamiko. (Uh huh. Sure.)  They go into the meeting, but all the Yakuza people are like, Nope, we didn't kill anyone and the Triads don't think it was an internal hit to their organization either! So who did it? Well, the doorbell rings and the WorstBodyguardsOnThePlanet just let Quinn breeze by them. She pulls a gun out to say head Yakuza guy Masudo is coming with her! Everyone pulls a gun after that, though, and Adam quickly calms the situation down by showing his credentials. She tells them all that she's been tracking the shooters and went to the second guy's apartment and he had a bunch of reconnaissance photos of Masudo. Adam gets a call and Five-0 is tracking the shooter and he's at Kahala Beach. Which is right in front of Masudo's house.

Gunfire breaks out and the sniper moves in pretty easily. Adam and Quinn are hiding with Masudo in the kitchen. Apparently these are all newbie bodyguards and they're falling like flies. Quinn tells them that SanderstheSniper is Special Forces and he's getting in here. Masudo seems to have confidence in his inept bodyguards and sticks up for them, but SanderstheSniper is just killing them all. Adam and Quinn finally move down the hall, but the sniper sees them and wings Quinn. She takes Masuda out a window (maybe, we actually never seen Masudo again after she opens the window) while Adam holds off SanderstheSniper. The cops get there and so SanderstheSniper takes a monster truck that is just randomly in the driveway. With keys in it. Quinn stands in front of it shooting, not at the tires mind you, but the windshield. All the cops do. Not surprisingly, they don't hit anything and the monster truck just drives away. Everybody starts chasing him, but when a long line of cars is stopped in a construction zone the monster truck just drives over the top of them. The cops and Five-0 are out of luck. (And we now know that the bodyguards, as well as Quinn and HPD all need some long practice sessions at the shooting range.)

Back at HQ, Quinn is patching herself up in front of the ammo stash. Everyone's telling her she needs a doctor and to be checked out, but she calls them wimps and says it's just a graze. She doesn't need a doctor, she needs answers! Well, the autopsy results are already back and there were psychedelic drugs in the sniper's bloodstream. Hey, that's the same chemical they're using in a clinical trial for vets who have PTSD at the VA hospital! That can't be a coincidence. Someone is recruiting snipers. But who has access? Steve comes in and sees her wound and asks her if she's shot, but she says it's fine. He looks at the wound and disagrees, but she tells him it looks better than her last one. Haha! Steve goes to the Chatting Table and tells everyone that the whole time they thought it was about organized crime, but it was personal! Back in the day, Sato and Masuda worked for a local loan shark as enforcers with Michael Lee. They collected debts by any means necessary and this is a revenge case. But wait, the timing doesn't make sense. Well, Michael Lee had been in prison for 15 years and recently got out, but as soon as he did he was tortured and murdered. Someone who borrowed money years ago wants revenge. Lee was the face of operation so they only knew him, but once he was out, they tortured him to find out the names of his accomplices. So, that means the loan shark guy is the next target.

Cut to LoanSharkGuy. He's watching the news. Someone shoots his incompetent guard and is headed inside. Well, Quinn is in the car with Steve asking if he can go any faster. Steve is so surprised and mentions he hasn't heard that complaint before. Ha! Well,  LoanSharkGuy is armed, but Sandersthe Sniper is walking through the house killing everyone. Steve and Quinn join the fray and Steve finds SanderstheSniper first. There's some awesome hand-to-hand, Steve and Sanders go over the balcony and land on a table, but Sanders gets the gun first. Quinn appears and tells him to drop it, but he doesn't and she shoots him. While they're wheeling the body away in a bodybag, Quinn is pensive and Steve tells her it doesn't make it easier, but he didn't give you much choice. She still looks sad and says he's right, it doesn't make it any easier. She was supposed to be watching out for these guys and now they're both dead. Hey, Quinn, why are they dead? Steve reminds her that those guys agreed to take part in a murder-for-hire plot. It's not her fault. Jerry calls and says that the PTSD study came up with a name of a guy who is financing it and it's someone they've already talked to. We cut to Wes Cullen, the real estate guy, having dinner with a judge. (I called it!) Steve and Quinn are there and they tell Cullen they looked into him and guess what? In early 90s he was starting his business and needed money so he borrowed from Lee. When he didn't pay, LoanSharkGuy had his car blown up with his wife and daughter inside. He's been planning his revenge for fifteen years. Wes denies everything and says it's just a theory. They arrest him.

Back at the shrimp truck, Kame is trying to get the bill for Jerry's Welcome Back party settled so it's not awkward when the party is going on. In the parking lot, Quinn shows up on her motorcycle and meets with McG to tell him thank you. He called her former supervisor and put in a good word for her. Steve was curious how a staff sergeant got knocked down to military police and it was because she broke into barracks, disregarded direct orders, and forged a sergeant major's signature. But she closed the case. Big smiles all around On a more serious note, the prosecutor doesn't have enough evidence to charge Cullen so they're going to keep working on it to make the case. That is, if she's interested in still being included, which she is. He invites her to stick around and they all go over to the table. Danny is telling Steve that Brooke won't text him back and Steve says they're breaking up with him and he's on radio silence from now on. No texts, calls, or pestering. And it was Brooke's idea. (Haha. Good for them.) Jerry, Adam, and Tunior, show up all grateful to have Jerry back. Jerry tells them that this job was the best thing that happened to him because Five-0 gave him an ohana, but he's stepping away to focus on writing a book about the connection between the Federal Reserve and the sinking of the Titanic. He'll still be around to hang and consult, though. Then they all come in for a group hug and include Quinn. Awww

It's not over yet, though. Back at McG's house someone is in his garage. They take out the Champ toolbox and put a bomb inside. Noooo! Not the Champ box! (And seriously, Steve needs a security system. Stat.)

I really enjoyed this premiere and I'm cautiously optimistic about Quinn. It had action, snark, and was very entertaining. What did you think? Did you watch?

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