Hawaii Five-0 – “Powa Maka Moana” – review

Masked pirates with automatic weapons attack a pleasure craft, killing the captain. The first mate (Vanessa Minnillo) survives by slipping below deck, but by the time Five-0 arrives, the pirates are gone and twelve spring-breakers are missing.

One of the pirates was apparently killed in the attack as well. Five-0 followed that lead to a pirate hideout and arrested several suspects, but the leader (Branscombe Richmond), cousin to the dead pirate, claimed not to be involved. He stole from rich people, yes, but he didn’t hurt them. A newly stolen watch he was wearing proved his group wasn’t in the area at the time of the attack.

Comparing the dead pirate’s body to the captain’s, Five-0 found the pirate was killed by the same weapon about twenty-four hours earlier. So the culprits had framed real pirates for their actions. By this time, the spring-breakers’ parents had received a $20 million ransom demand. Instead of letting Five-0 handle it, one father (Ray Wise) tried to pay part of the ransom, and the kidnappers killed his son. Nothing I haven’t seen before.

Five-0 also uncovered how the spring-breakers were lured to the pleasure cruise, but I already suspected the main culprit was the first mate’s fiance (Nick Lachey). He used a mask and phone voice-changer, but there were some shots of him with the hostages where he simply lowered his voice. McGarrett was similarly tipped off when the culprit used the first mate’s name when demanding that she drop off the ransom. The first mate’s name was never released by the press.

This was one of the season’s more predictable endings. The mystery could have been maintained if the culprit’s real voice was never heard–if the hostages were shown, but the culprit’s voice remained as McGarrett heard it over the phone.