Hawaii 5-0 – Why are the women so weak?

“I have a number. A therapist….” – Danno (to McGarrett)

If you have read ANY of my Hawaii 5-0 posts in the past four months, I’ve basically used 40% to heckle, ridicule, and utterly mock Castle‘s slow descent in the ratings against Hawaii 5-0.  Well, three weeks ago, Carla took up the gauntlet then slapped it back while Michael fanned the flames. I was too tired to respond during the hiatus. But, Hawaii 5-0 is back, bitches, so let the battle royale begin again.

This week featured a return to the overarching mystery catalyzed by Mary Ann’s kidnapping. After I realized I didn’t care about Mary Ann’s disappearance, I found myself wondering why the female characters/actresses  (excluding Kelly Hu/Jean Smart) weren’t as strong as the male cast. Until recently, Kono primarily rocked a bikini; McGarrett’s GPS girlfriend did nothing but swoon; and Mary Ann seemed like a rebel without a cause. Although “Ke Kinohi” changed all that, why did it take the writing staff so long to make the female characters three-dimensional? Honestly, Danno, McG and Chin Ho rock the hotness like nobody’s business; but, I buy them as uber-intelligent, uber-observant task force members and, most of the time, their acting impresses me.

Luckily, replacing Mary Ann’s useless defiance with mad awareness skills made me (almost) like her, even if I haven’t warmed to Taryn Manning‘s babyish lisp. Plus, FINALLY, we see Kono looking awesome and not annoying. Thumbs up to her contributing to team debriefings, manhandling three “gangstas” (without the “look how hot she is” camera work), and overseeing the HPD investigation.

Other things I liked included a continued shake up of the formula. I LOVED the opening scene which equally featured all four cast members and *gasp* maintained it throughout the episode including the Chin Ho-McGarrett team up reviewing Mary Ann’s call logs and the Kono-Danno-McG team up later on. Plus, I LOVED the moment between Steve and the governor. I reveled in their anger, her acquiescence, her honesty, her continuing faith in Steve, and her beer request. It was a great scene reflected through their mutual candidness and covert bond. What happens when she discovers his crime?

This episode is the second time I saw McGarrett look outclassed and lost. In terms of brute torture, there’s no one better. But, in upper level finesse\cunning, McGarrett’s icy blue steel can’t compete. He foolishly trusted Hesse by giving him the cash outright. Plus, he seemed like an innocent little boy upon discovering the governor’s lunch partner and meeting his mother’s killer. He almost reminds me of the CW’s Nikita. Like the lead character, despite his hard exterior, he’s very fragile on the inside and almost naively believes right and wrong will always prevail.

Overall, this was a good return from the mid-season hiatus. The writing seemed better and more cohesive. Getting rid of Mary Ann’s bad girl persona (while making her smarter), believably boosting Kono’s team contribution (without the hot girl fireworks), switching up the cast interactions while balancing Chin Ho, and FINALLY letting us know about the connection between the Champ box, the overarching murder mystery, and the death of McGarrett’s mom all worked well. My hat is off to Nicole Ranadive for doing a better job in the writing of female characters than others. I really hope that continues. I’d hate to trade in my anti-Castle campaign for one against Hawaii 5-0’s female actresses/characters. While I’d like to believe Hawaii 5-0 is still on top, only next week’s ratings will tell.

Notes and quotes:

• Is anyone surprised Commander McGarrett doesn’t sleep commando?
• When did Mary Ann move out? Also, could she really afford a rental house without a job?
• “I have never liked you more than in this moment right now.” – Danno (to McGarrett)

Clacked by An Nicholson
on Jan 04, 2011 @ 08:24 EST5EDT