Hawaii Five-0 – “Oai’i'o” – review

Looking into the car bomb death of governor’s aide Laura Hills (Kelly Hu), McGarrett discovers Laura was the one who had anonymously sent him pieces of evidence from his father’s toolbox, which was stolen earlier this season. The last item Laura sent was the key to an antique bureau in the governor’s office. This led Steve to believe the governor (Jean Smart) not only had Laura killed but was also the target of John McGarrett’s last investigation.

Steve and the team determined the car bomb contained parts from a claymore mine, but when they found the seller, he claimed the buyer was Steve McGarrett. When Steve and Danno checked Laura’s apartment, they found it had been searched. A fingerprint sweep of the apartment turned up Steve’s prints, though he had never been there before.

The finale wrapped up the season-long mystery nicely. I never suspected the governor. Even as the evidence began to point to her, I wondered if it were all in Steve’s head, if his drive to get to the bottom of things colored his judgment.

As usual, Danno was the voice of reason, pointing out that Five-0 would need a rock-solid case to accuse the governor. Against Danno’s advice, though, Steve broke into the governor’s mansion to confirm the key fit the bureau. Later, Steve fled from Five-0 headquarters as HPD showed up to arrest him. On the run, he acquired a gun and again broke into the governor’s mansion to confront her. These were monumentally stupid actions given that Steve was already a suspect. The show has asked viewers to adopt maverick cop suspension-of-disbelief several times before, though.

Meanwhile, Kono was rightfully arrested for her role in Five-0′s theft of money from an HPD asset forfeiture locker. The original money was burned by John McGarrett’s killer but mysteriously replaced (by the governor, as it turned out). The governor admitted everything to Steve in their final confrontation, but Wo Fat then hit Steve with a taser and killed the governor with Steve’s gun.

In the final moments, Chin Ho, reinstated and promoted to lieutenant with the HPD, arrested Steve for the governor’s murder. Danno and Jenna Kaye were the only ones free to work on exonerating Steve. As I’ve been saying for the past three episodes, it’ll be tough for the writers to resolve all this next season, but I’m curious to see how they do it.