Some of the most enjoyable episodes of "Hawaii Five-O" are completely ridiculous if you think about them. However, if you turn off the questioning part of your brain, you'll have a great time watching them. This is true of the Wo Fat episodes. Think about it...the most dangerous and brilliant Chinese Communist agent on the planet comes again and again to the state of Hawaii for his machinations. And, again and again, he's thwarted by McGarrett! Ridiculous...but also among the most enjoyable episodes.
This one is a bit different because it's a two-part episode--and a particularly good one. The show begins with a man who appears to be a US serviceman returning from Vietnam. He checks into a hotel and when he leaves the elevator, he's dead--shot in the head by assassins! Obviously there's a lot more to the story than this!! Eventually, McGarrett learns that the dead man was killed in a quest to recover some stolen plates of a US $20 note--one that the Chinese had created in order to wreck the American economy. Apparently, though, this was not a normal set of counterfeit plates--these ones were so perfect that they were indistinguishable from real $20 bills! And, since they were first stolen from the Chinese, they've passed from one person to another to another--each person being killed for the plates. You'd think that NO ONE would want to get near them at this point, as to possess them is to die! But, agents from China (Wo Fat) and the USSR ("Misha the Bear") want the plates and come to the islands to meet an evil women who DOES know where the plates are now (Nicole Fleming)--and will sell to the highest bidder. Some wild cards in the mix are the weasel-like Tony Madrid and an insider--someone the US government would not suspect. In fact, as episode one ends, this double-agent betrays his country and takes the plates.
Here in episode two, the plates have been recovered by the double-agent and his accomplice. However, instead of just selling them, they set up a bidding war between the three super-powers. And, naturally, Five-O is more involved in cracking the case in this episode. My favorite things about this particular episode are Tony Madrid's character as well as a screw-up I noticed. In a scene, McGarrett handles a $20 that was made using the plates. It had all zeros for the serial number. BUT, thanks to the miracle of a DVD player, I watched it slowly and could clearly see that this was just an ordinary $20--with a serial number ending in 74. You can't blame the producers or director, as back in 1971 they would not have anticipated someone being able to watch the show on digital disk and being able to see the bill by pausing the scene.
Overall, it's a very good second part--every bit as good as the first. Enjoyable from start to finish.
This one is a bit different because it's a two-part episode--and a particularly good one. The show begins with a man who appears to be a US serviceman returning from Vietnam. He checks into a hotel and when he leaves the elevator, he's dead--shot in the head by assassins! Obviously there's a lot more to the story than this!! Eventually, McGarrett learns that the dead man was killed in a quest to recover some stolen plates of a US $20 note--one that the Chinese had created in order to wreck the American economy. Apparently, though, this was not a normal set of counterfeit plates--these ones were so perfect that they were indistinguishable from real $20 bills! And, since they were first stolen from the Chinese, they've passed from one person to another to another--each person being killed for the plates. You'd think that NO ONE would want to get near them at this point, as to possess them is to die! But, agents from China (Wo Fat) and the USSR ("Misha the Bear") want the plates and come to the islands to meet an evil women who DOES know where the plates are now (Nicole Fleming)--and will sell to the highest bidder. Some wild cards in the mix are the weasel-like Tony Madrid and an insider--someone the US government would not suspect. In fact, as episode one ends, this double-agent betrays his country and takes the plates.
Here in episode two, the plates have been recovered by the double-agent and his accomplice. However, instead of just selling them, they set up a bidding war between the three super-powers. And, naturally, Five-O is more involved in cracking the case in this episode. My favorite things about this particular episode are Tony Madrid's character as well as a screw-up I noticed. In a scene, McGarrett handles a $20 that was made using the plates. It had all zeros for the serial number. BUT, thanks to the miracle of a DVD player, I watched it slowly and could clearly see that this was just an ordinary $20--with a serial number ending in 74. You can't blame the producers or director, as back in 1971 they would not have anticipated someone being able to watch the show on digital disk and being able to see the bill by pausing the scene.
Overall, it's a very good second part--every bit as good as the first. Enjoyable from start to finish.
