Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. Jack Lord portrayed Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s. The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Many episodes would end with McGarrett instructing his subordinate to "Book 'em, Danno!", sometimes specifying a charge such as "murder one".
The peaks and the valleys. Find the essential episodes — and the ones to skip.
Lewis Avery Filer had been an insurance investigator forced to retire when his company was taken over by a conglomerate. The wily Filer is now pulling daring robberies at businesses either owned or insured by the conglomerate. He utilizes a variety of tactics, including disguises. Filer also is gaining publicity as he outwits the police.
The Vashons are planning to go after Steve for killing Chris Vashon. His grandfather wants to send Steve a message that he's going to die. Honore, Chris' father, objects, unsuccessfully. Steve gets the message and goes to see Honore Vashon, who denies having anything to do with it. Chris's grandfather then hires someone to kill Steve but the attempt fails. Steve then has Honore placed under surveillance which the latter discovers and becomes very careful. He stops using his phone. Eventually he arranges a secluded meeting with his father who tells Honore they need to find someone outside the islands to take care of Steve. Eventually Honore evades the surveillance long enough to meet with the assassin. Steve knows there's someone out there with orders to kill him so he needs to find the assassin first rather than vice versa.
Dominick Vashon, the patriarch of the crime family, seeks revenge on McGarrett for killing his grandson, Chris, and sending his son, Honore, to prison. With help from his incarcerated son, he finds a man who has a grudge against McGarrett and asks him to kill McGarrett. He agrees and tries but McGarrett kills him first. When McGarrett goes to the body the gun the man had with him is gone and there are no signs of any bullets. John Manicote charges McGarrett with murder in the second degree. McGarrett hopes Harvey Drew, a lawyer who was with him, will testify to the shots that were fired. But he testifies that what he heard might not have been gun shots so Steve is indicted. Steve sees Dominick Vashon in the gallery and goes to talk to him. Afterward, McGarrett deduces Vashon sent the man to kill him. He needs to prove how the gun disappeared and why Harvey Drew lied.
Steve is approached by an astrologer who tells him that a boxer who has a bout on the island will die if he goes through with the fight. But Steve is incredulous.
Each point is an episode, plotted in order. Colored bands mark season boundaries. Look for the rise, the plateau, or the decline.
High votes + high rating = beloved classic. High votes + low rating = notorious stinker. Low votes + high rating = hidden gem.
One point per season. Smooths out the episode-to-episode noise to reveal the bigger arc.
Did each season build or fizzle? Green means the finale outscored the premiere. Red means the opposite. Longer arrows, bigger swings.
How steady is each season? Tightly clustered dots mean reliable quality. Scattered dots mean a wild ride.
Connection lost
