Hawaii Five-0 (TV Series) Ike Hanau (2015) User Reviews

***

[edwagreen · 8/10 · 6 April 2015]

The sub-story of Danno and the other personnel member getting stuck in the elevator with the dead corpse was ridiculous at best. At no time, were they really in any danger and this part of the episode was totally devoid of any excitement whatsoever.

The much better segment dealt with Lou's accurate suspicion about the tragic death of his long-time friend's wife while vacationing in Hawaii. Lou showed the right amount of emotion to be shown, but quickly realizes that this death was not ordinary. He traces everything down.

Just proves that a friend is a friend up until a certain point. Just shows that perseverance and intuition both pay off.

How not to make a show

[tenshi_ippikiookami · 1/10 · 20 September 2017]

"Ike Hanau" is a clear example of a show without ideas. It is normal for a show to have some filler episodes, episodes that do not advance the plot or even the character's relationships but are there to fill a quota. "Lost" had them, "The X-Files" had them... It happens even in the good families. However, there are filler episodes and filler episodes. "Ike Hanau" is an example on what not to do.

We have a couple of story-lines: Danny and Dr. Mindy Shaw (a character with no clear purpose) stuck in an elevator with a cadaver, and Lou (and here it when the episode loses it) investigating his best friend's wife death.

Let's start with the elevator part. It is just there to fill time. We don't really know much about Dr. Mindy Shaw, or even the dead body, and the story, with both of them stuck with Danny in the elevator, is really lame. There is no tension, no interest, no twist, nothing, so it will be easy to disconnect from it.

However, the episode centers on Lou going paranoid on his best friend. The best friend's wife dies after falling from a cliff, and, for no apparent reason, Lou decides to follow his 'gut' and decides that the best friend is a killer. Two things here: one, this is your best friend, a person that you are supposed to know well; well, OK, let's accept that you may have a best friend that you also know has a really mean streak. Worse, though, is the reasoning behind it: Lou just feels his best friend is a killer. For no particular reason. He feels it, his instincts tell him he is guilty. Now, instincts are important, and they may be telling us something we just don't see or notice consciously. However, here, it is just Lou going nuts and deciding the friend is guilty. Because HE-IS-GUILTY. It just reeks of lazy writing and makes Lou appear more crazy and paranoid than normally.

At least, some tension, some mystery, some shady action or behavior by the 'best' friend would have justified Lou's actions. As it is, it comes out as if Lou has a grudge against his friend and just wants to throw him into prison. And Chi McBride completely and absolutely fails to give some life to his character's motivations. Horrible.