Recently in Hawaii Five-0 Category

Today's cuppa: Barry's Classic Blend tea

I'm sitting here playing last night's season premiere of CBS' "Hawaii Five-0" on my DVR, and it just hit me again how straight-up bold this little show is.

At the end of last season, the Hawaii governor (Jean Smart) was murdered, and the killing was pinned on her hand-picked crimefighter, former Navy SEAL Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin).

And why was the governor murdered?

Because she was in bed with international criminal Wo Fat (Mark Dacascos) -- oh, and she ordered the murder of her aide (Kelly Wu), and the whole thing is mixed up with the death of McGarrett's father.

Now, when "Hawaii Five-0" was being developed, and when it premiered in the fall of 2010, Hawaii had a female governor, Linda Lingle, the first Republican in the office since the first guy, who took office when Hawaii became a state in 1959.

At first, Jean Smart's character, Gov. Jameson, looked like a hero, recruiting McGarrett and putting Five-0 together -- answerable to her alone -- to combat crime. Now, it turns out she was the criminal.

And a Navy man was intent on taking her down, not only for justice but for some very personal reasons.

It's a pretty interesting stew -- as I noted previously here at HCTV.

You might think I'm accusing the "H50" producers of political bias, but I have no direct evidence of that. They may have given the show a female governor because the state had one -- or they thought casting Jean Smart was a neat idea, which it was -- and Jameson's political affiliation was never mentioned.

Also, it's not a new idea that a governor could have dirty hands -- witness what's happened recently to former Illinois Gov. Rod "Blago" Blagojevich -- but the idea that one would be hand in glove with an international gangster takes "Hawaii Five-0" to another level.

The show could quite easily have simply aspired to be a competent action-thriller/crime-drama and run for years with its original premise, but in blowing that up, it's now passed into "24" territory.

But I did have a couple of twinges.

After McGarrett's arch-nemesis Victor Hesse (James Marsters, reprising his role from the pilot) gives him an intentionally non-fatal shanking in prison, McGarrett is able to escape from an ambulance and go on the run to prove his innocence.

But, along the way, he beat the crap out of some innocent EMTs and a cop who was just doing his job. I know you're not supposed to think about things like that in a thriller, but I do. One hopes McGarrett apologized and sent flowers, but you know that, in the real world, there would be lawsuits.

As for the explosive ending of the premiere, I'll leave that out in case you haven't seen it, but it looks like Wo Fat is all up in McGarrett's business, in a whole bunch of ways.

I wondered at the end of last season how "H50" would put the pieces back together after tearing its premise apart. Adding Terry O'Quinn -- joining fellow "Lost" cast member Daniel Dae Kim, who is one of the show's stars -- in a recurring role as McGarrett's mentor was a step in the right direction.

Now, there's a new boss in town, Lt. Governor Sam Denning (Richard T. Jones, at left).

As you can see, he doesn't much look like Hawaii's current leader, Governor Neil Abercrombie (at right).

Denning has revived the Five-0 team, but with a few new restrictions (yeah, we'll see how long that lasts).

But one team member, Honolulu PD rookie Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park) is still under investigation by Internal Affairs -- in the person of Capt. Vince Fryer, played by "Celebrity Rehab" alumnus Tom Sizemore.

Now, that's some risky casting, and we're wondering how many papers the talented but troubled Sizemore had to sign to assure the producers that there wouldn't be any issues during his tenure.

(UPDATE: Oh, dear, it looks like Sizemore just got arrested.)

(UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: Luckily for Sizemore, it looks like it was a misunderstanding.)

With big action sequences, interesting casting, explosive plot twists and O'Loughlin looking better than ever, this is one remake that's already living up to the legend.

I don't, however, hold out much hope for ABC's new "Charlie's Angels" -- but I'm always willing to be surprised.

Today's cuppa: Irish breakfast tea

It's not uncommon for a show on the bubble, facing the risk of cancellation, to throw a big cliffhanger in the season finale, in hopes of teasing the network into giving it a renewal (or at least to fork over for a two-hour movie to wrap it all up).

But in the event the show does get renewed, there's the problem of digging out of the hole one has put oneself in.

On Monday night, NBC's spy romp "Chuck," which has hovered on the edge of cancellation every spring, did what the producers had good reason to fear was a series finale, but which wound up being just the finale of its penultimate season.

(R-L: Adam Baldwin, Yvonne Strahovski, Zachary Levi)

Next year, the show's fifth, has been announced as its last, so expect a season pointing almost entirely toward a big finish.

In the season finale, "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger," after four years carrying a super-computer in his head, big-box electronics-store geek turned spy Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) finally wed his lady love, fellow spy Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), but had the Intersect computer forcibly removed from his head and lost his CIA gig.

But, the newlywed Bartowskis wound up in possession of a repentant arms dealer's fortune and decided to go into the freelance espionage business.

Then, because he just couldn't resist putting on a cool pair of shades -- left for Chuck by his former spy boss, Gen. Beckman (Bonita Friedericy) -- Chuck's goofy best pal, uber-geek Morgan Grimes (Joshua E. Gomez), now has the Intersect in HIS head.

Whether or not this maneuver encouraged NBC honchos to give "Chuck" one more run, now the producers have the challenge of making this big twist work. Sometimes the only thing more challenging than not getting your wish is getting your wish.

Later that same night, CBS' "Hawaii Five-0," its reboot of the Jack Lord vehicle that ran from 1968 to 1980 -- threw a bomb (literally and figuratively) into the middle of its format, something the original didn't even do in 12 seasons.

About as reality-based as "Chuck" -- which is to say, not very -- "Hawaii Five-0" is a weekly Michael Bay movie, light on grimy detective work and heavy on scenery, explosions and car chases (which, by their nature, go round and round the same island and, if they went on long enough, would inevitably wind up back where they started), interrupted by manly hugs, doses of Hawaiian shave ice and chicks in bikinis.

It focuses on former military officer Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin), who returns to Oahu to find his father's killer. The Aloha State's governor (Jean Smart) recruits him to form a task force to combat evil and corruption, providing authority, support and immunity. Thus the sturdy premise for a long-running procedural was born.

Later on, producers even tossed in a fresh version of the original McGarrett's traditional nemesis, gangster and international terrorist Wo Fat (played this time by Mark Dacascos).

(R-L: Scott Caan, Alex O'Loughlin, Grace Park, Daniel Dae Kim)

But "Hawaii Five-0" decided not to get in bed with the enemy, plot-wise. Rather than functioning as a reliable menace always hovering at the edges but never quite in McGarrett's grasp (until the series finale of the original, that is), Wo Fat became the man behind the deaths of McGarrett's parents, and as we found out last night, he was entangled with the duplicitous governor as well.

As the episode ended. McGarrett had gone rogue and was framed for Wo Fat's murder of the governor. Also, "Five-0" team member Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park) was arrested for shenanigans from earlier in the season.

That leaves remaining team members Jenna Kaye (Larisa Oleynik) and McGarrett's best bud, Danny "Danno" Williams (Scott Caan) -- who has problems of his own, since he's reconciled with his ex-wife, who is still somebody else's wife and is now pregnant, but wants to go back home to New Jersey (whatever, she's English) -- to somehow make it all right again.

As of this moment in time, "Hawaii Five-0" has yet to be renewed, but reports suggest that it's a foregone conclusion. CBS presents its new fall schedule tomorrow, which means it will likely leak out later on today.

With "Chuck's" new season assured, and another looking good for "Hawaii Five-0" (but in the TV biz, counting chickens before hatching can leave you with egg on your face), there could be some very busy writers' rooms this June.