HAWAII FIVE-0 Welcomes Back Kono

University of Hawaii women’s volleyball coach Brian Scartelli is robbed and beaten to death after a match. Five-0′s investigation of Scartelli’s murder runs across Kono’s work for corrupt ex-cop Frank Delano (BIlly Baldwin).

For the most part, I’ve enjoyed this season’s increased emphasis on discernible procedure, but “Ma’ema’e” struck me as too procedural in the negative sense, a by-the-numbers conclusion to the season-long arc wherein Kono has been under Internal Affairs investigation and hanging around with a ring of corrupt cops. From the beginning of the arc, many viewers guessed that Kono was working undercover for Capt. Fryer (Tom Sizemore) to take down Fryer’s ex-HPD partner, Frank Delano (Billy Baldwin). The arc and its conclusion never did much of anything to make viewers doubt that guess.

I liked the way Five-0′s investigation of Scartelli’s murder linked to Frank Delano’s activities, but once that connection was made, the Scartelli investigation was almost steamrolled by the momentum of Kono’s arc. That might have been fine if the arc held any surprises in store: Say Kono weren’t working for Fryer, or Kono were killed in the course of events. Neither happened.

“Ma’ema’e” had the potential to throw viewers these curveballs, but ultimately it backed off, too concerned with clearing Kono’s name and reuniting her with the team. I can’t come down very hard on the writers; the arc has gone on long enough. It was time to pay it off, even if the payoff was predictable. I hope to look back on this arc as the last remnant of Season 1′s cliffhanging team break-up. Season 1 was too early for a break-up to have much emotional power, but Season 2′s writers had to make the best of the bad cliffhanger.

I look forward to seeing whether Kono and Lori Weston get along. Also, next week, a character visits Hawaii Five-0 from NCIS: Los Angeles, another show I cover for Boomtron.