Up until a few years ago, I thought I'd seen every episode of "Hawaii Five-O". However, when my wife and I were talking about the show some time back, she mentioned that she really hated seeing Chin Ho get murdered on the show. Get murdered?! I'd never heard about that and no idea that they'd killed him off in the series. Because I loved the show and his character, I really did NOT look forward to seeing "A Death in the Family"--even if it would help me to finish seeing every episode of the show. Sadly, the episode turned out to be a rather weak one--at least if you are a huge fan, like me.
The show begins with some Five-O raids on various mob (the 'Kumu') activities on the islands. While the boss of the Kumu insists that everyone lie low while the crack downs occur, his hot-headed (and rather stupid) soon-to-be son-in-law, Jimmy Rego, decides to do things his way. Instead of backing down, he ramps up his protection racket and even has the nerve to murder Chin Ho (who is on an undercover investigation). Then, he rubs it in McGarrett's face by dumping the body on the palace steps! Not surprisingly, McGarrett is determined to get the killer--and when the head of the Kumu finds out, he's more than happy to give the jerk to the police!
While the general plot is pretty good and I like the idea of killing off a main character (it does add realism that is lacking in most cop shows), the finished product left a bit to be desired. For a purist like myself, I was surprised at the lack of continuity in this episode. In earlier shows, Chin Ho had a HUGE brood of kids. Here, they only talk about his daughter! What about her sibs?! To make matters worse, she was a super-annoying character! She decided, against McGarrett's advice, to investigate the case herself and nearly gets herself killed. I HATE the 'dumb woman investigator' plot--and it seemed like a big cliché--a big dumb cliché. Had they eliminated her character completely, the show would have been a heck of a lot better--even if I did hate to see Chin Ho die.
The show begins with some Five-O raids on various mob (the 'Kumu') activities on the islands. While the boss of the Kumu insists that everyone lie low while the crack downs occur, his hot-headed (and rather stupid) soon-to-be son-in-law, Jimmy Rego, decides to do things his way. Instead of backing down, he ramps up his protection racket and even has the nerve to murder Chin Ho (who is on an undercover investigation). Then, he rubs it in McGarrett's face by dumping the body on the palace steps! Not surprisingly, McGarrett is determined to get the killer--and when the head of the Kumu finds out, he's more than happy to give the jerk to the police!
While the general plot is pretty good and I like the idea of killing off a main character (it does add realism that is lacking in most cop shows), the finished product left a bit to be desired. For a purist like myself, I was surprised at the lack of continuity in this episode. In earlier shows, Chin Ho had a HUGE brood of kids. Here, they only talk about his daughter! What about her sibs?! To make matters worse, she was a super-annoying character! She decided, against McGarrett's advice, to investigate the case herself and nearly gets herself killed. I HATE the 'dumb woman investigator' plot--and it seemed like a big cliché--a big dumb cliché. Had they eliminated her character completely, the show would have been a heck of a lot better--even if I did hate to see Chin Ho die.