My favorite episodes of Hawaii Five-O (Seasons 1-9)
I purchased Seasons 1-9 of this classic series on DVD. The general consensus is the show "jumped the shark" (went downhill) starting in Season 10. Here are my favorite episodes from the first nine seasons in chronological order. My descriptions are pretty much spoiler-free.
List activity
11K views
• 16 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
26 titles
- CreatorLeonard FreemanStarsJack LordJames MacArthurKam FongThe investigations of Hawaii Five-0, an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police answerable only to the governor and headed by stalwart Steve McGarrett.The first entry is for the Hawaii Five-O series, so this list will appear on the main details page for the show. What follows are my favorite episodes.
- DirectorMichael CaffeyStarsJack LordJames MacArthurZuluMcGarrett's sister, whose infant son is dying of cancer, has fallen under the sway of a medical quack. Her husband is afraid to confront her. Instead, he summons McGarrett to their home in Los Angeles. McGarrett enlists the aid of U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials in prosecuting the quack. However, McGarrett's sister refuses to believe her big brother. When the child dies, the sister turns against McGarrett. As the trial begins, it is disrupted by followers of the quack.Season 1. A standout episode, even if much of it doesn't take place in Hawaii.
- DirectorAbner BibermanMichael CaffeyStarsJack LordJames MacArthurZuluMcGarrett, desperate to convict medical quack C.L. Fremont, seeks evidence where she can be prosecuted for a more serious charge. Facing extremely long odds, he convinces the family of a former Fremont patient to have the body exhumed. However, the casket wasn't airtight. McGarrett and Zipser, an attorney for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, instead manage to trip up Fremont in court. The maneuver causes McGarrett's sister to realize her brother had been right all along.Season 1. A standout episode, even if much of it doesn't take place in Hawaii.
- DirectorBob SweeneyStarsJack LordJames MacArthurZuluLewis 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.Season 3. Hume Cronyn was so good in this one you were almost sorry when he got caught.
- DirectorAnton LeaderStarsJack LordJames MacArthurZuluTwo women are strangled and portions of a poem are written, in lipstick, on their legs. The second is the girlfriend of Dan Williams. He is on edge, wanting to work on the case "or else it's going to work on me." Danno, however, beats up a person who knew his girlfriend before Kono and Chin Ho can stop him. It turns out the real killer is Walter Gregson, who really wants to kill his wife (a friend of the two dead women) and make it appear all the deaths were committed by a psychopath.Season 3. James MacArthur gives an outstanding performance in this one.
- DirectorPaul StanleyStarsJack LordJames MacArthurZuluMcGarrett receives a telephone call when he arrives at his office. The caller says that he intends to kill someone. The caller has also sent the lawman a key that will identity the intended victim. The other Five-0 detectives have received taunts and clues from the caller, including a photograph of Chin Ho's garage, and a note in the trunk of Danno's car. The caller continues to taunt McGarrett, who is desperate to learn the identity of the caller, and the identity of the intended victim.Season 4. My nickname for this episode is 'He Wore a Vest'. This one is so memorable I recalled the plot in detail two decades after I last saw it in syndication.
- DirectorAllen ReisnerStarsJack LordJames MacArthurZuluA young woman is savagely beaten and raped outside a bar. The prime suspect is a bald headed soldier, with whom she was seen arguing inside the bar. The jury eventually convicts him based on the eyewitness testimony of a young mechanic who was at the bar that night. However, when his medical report comes back McGarrett begins to have doubts about whether or not he did it.Season 4. A truly disturbing episode, even now. I can't imagine what the reaction was back in 1972. The slimy lawyer Tosaki (Kwan Hi Lim) returns in the 'Vashon' trilogy.
- DirectorHarry FalkStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonOperatives working for Wo Fat steal a device from a U.S. military base in Hawaii. Wo Fat is also manipulating a young Maoist into helping him smuggle the device to China. McGarrett and Five-O race to keep the device from leaving the islands. They capture Wo Fat at the last minute. But McGarrett receives a shock courtesy of U.S. spymaster Jonathan Kaye.Season 5. This one has it all. Tight plotting, great performances all around, and what may be the finest finale in the entire series.
- DirectorCharles S. DubinStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonChris Vashon is male heir to the Vashon crime family, which now has considerable legitimate business holdings. The young Vashon, a rebellious sort, has been conducting robberies with friends. McGarrett sees the development as a way of striking back at the Vashons. However, Five-O discovers that's easier said than done, when Honare Vashon, Chris's father, bribes witnesses and Chris Vashon beats the rap in court. McGarrett doesn't give up and attempts to trap Chris Vashon again.Season 5. Part I of an undisputed classic. The confrontation between Honore and McGarrett at the end is fantastic.
- DirectorCharles S. DubinStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonThe 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.Season 5. Part II of an undisputed classic.
- 1968–198050mNot Rated8.6 (191)TV EpisodeDirectorCharles S. DubinStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonDominick 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.Season 5. Part III of an undisputed classic.
- 1968–198050mNot Rated7.9 (176)TV EpisodeDirectorBob SweeneyStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonThe Lovejoys, a family of grifters, make a bigger score than they ever imagined. The problem is they've ripped off a mobster who wants his money back -- and will gladly kill to do so.Season 5. A highly entertaining episode about a con artist family that gets in over their heads when they inadvertently steal from the mob.
- DirectorMichael O'HerlihyStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonFive-O seeks to bust a family-run protection racket. But the investigation turns personal for Five-O stalwart Chin Ho Kelly because his daughter is in love with the son of the racket's patriarch. The probe intensifies after a policeman and the best friend of Chin Ho's daughter are killed. On top of that, the lovers wed.Season 5. Kam Fong's performance in this one is excellent throughout. The part where he loses it in McGarrett's office is particularly memorable.
- DirectorAllen ReisnerStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonAn off-duty police officer is shot and killed by a sniper while moonlighting as a funeral escort. The next day, another officer is shot and killed during a police standoff, but the bullets taken from his body and the body of the other murdered officer don't match the gun the suspect used. Another link between the two murders is a metallic plate with both officers' names engraved on it. A few days later someone takes a shot at McGarrett and during a high speed chase the suspect's car crashes into the harbor and he manages to escape and leaves behind a prosthetic hook. McGarrett soon realizes that the suspect in both murders as well as the attempt on his life is Curt Stoner, a bank robber who blamed them for the loss of his arms in a failed bank robbery attempt several years earlier. McGarrett then tries to warn another officer before he is killed but is too late. Now it is a race against time to find the killer before he completes his vendetta and kills McGarrett.Season 6. A gripping tale of revenge enhanced by an Emmy award winning musical score.
- DirectorCharles S. DubinStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonA psychotic young man is obsessed with the comic strip character "Judy Moon" and as a result of that obsession he murders three men who are dead ringers for villains that threaten "Judy" in the comic strip. Danny is then chosen to act as bait to flush the killer out. However, things become complicated when a young woman who resembles "Judy" is being stalked by the killer.Season 6. My nickname for this episode is 'Judy Moon'. That's the name of the fictional damsel in distress who has a real life protector. This is quite possibly my favorite Five-O episode of all time.
- DirectorAlf KjellinStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonA somewhat odd family comes to Hawaii and embarks on a criminal rampage. McGarrett can find no pattern to their activities until information from the mainland shows they rob and kill random targets without a second thought.Season 6. My nickname for this episode is 'Redneck Rampage'. This one is almost a counterpoint to 'Family Crook', only this time the family is pure evil. Very disturbing.
- DirectorMichael O'HerlihyStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonFive-O races to find the witness to a hit on a bagman of a local mob. The witness, who narrowly escaped being killed himself, had dropped a library book with his library card inside, providing the hitman with the name of the witness. The witness's wife doesn't want him to go to the police. Five-O's main clue is a letter the witness wrote to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin's "Secret Witness" feature that seeks tips for unsolved crimes.Season 6. Great detective work by the team, and one of the most evil villains in Five-O history - he puts a gun to a baby's head! Furthermore, Mr. Spock's TV dad (Mark Lenard) is great as a gangster.
- DirectorJack LordStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonMcGarrett joins a group of operatives trying to take down a major drug lab in the hills. The raid succeeds, but a young man smashes through a cordon in a truck and escapes. Word of the raid soon reaches a retired HPD cop, who realizes the escapee is his own son. The cop starts sneaking into evidence rooms and destroying or stealing anything which can implicate the son. Meanwhile, the son is still working as a drug dealer and holes up in another lab used to make methamphetamine. The title of this show is to be taken literally.Season 6. A great directorial debut by Jack Lord, with a stunning finale.
- DirectorCharles S. DubinStarsJack LordJames MacArthurAl HarringtonA nerdy bookstore clerk with an obsession for McGarrett turns deadly as he re-creates some of Five-O's most famous cases that were covered in a series of magazine articles. He is so brazen that he even calls McGarrett to brag about his crimes and sends him notes. Now McGarrett and the rest of the Five-O team must find the killer before he strikes again.Season 7. Almost a counterpoint to 'Draw Me a Killer', with the guy who works the menial job deliberately assuming the role of murderer instead of being a misguided protector.
- DirectorJack LordStarsJack LordJames MacArthurKam FongThugs break into the heavily-guarded art room of a multimillionaire and steal a Gauguin painting worth a fortune. When Five-O comes to investigate, the millionaire, his secretary and his grandson (who are the only inhabitants of the mansion) are surprisingly uncooperative. It turns out that the old man had been planning to sell the painting and had hired two art appraisers to market it. Soon, the group receives a ransom demand. The grandson figures out a way to pay the ransom despite intense Five-O surveillance -- with grandfather, grandson and secretary all leaving to "drop off" the $250,000, leading Five-O members on a wild goose chase, and arriving at the Iolani Palace at the exact same moment. The art appraiser, who wasn't under surveillance, paid the money and got the painting back himself. This bit of mass nose-thumbing really doesn't go over well with McGarrett, who suspects the grandson of stealing the painting to get the ransom money for his own lavish lifestyle. All is not what it seems, however. When the appraisers look over the returned painting and pronounce it genuine, the grandson promptly says it's a fake. How does he know? In a roughhousing bout with a buddy, he fell onto the real painting and damaged it. That means the real painting was stolen long before; the burglary was an elaborate scheme to steal a forgery. The grandson figures out immediately who was behind the theft of the painting (and the ransom money, presumably split among the thieves and their hired burglars), but is murdered before he can tell Five-O. McGarrett knows the appraisers did the dirty work, but has no way of charging them unless somehow he can find the real painting in their hands.Season 7. A well constructed episode with red herrings that keep you guessing.
- DirectorCharles S. DubinStarsJack LordJames MacArthurKam FongAfter being denied parole from prison, crime lord Honore Vashon comes up with a twisted scheme to exact revenge on McGarrett for the deaths of his son Chris and his father Dominick by taking a group of prison officials hostage. He then exchanges the officials for McGarrett and then places McGarrett on a mock trial for the alleged crimes he committed against the Vaschon family. Can Danny and the rest of the Five-O team save Steve before Vaschon sentences McGarrett?Season 8. IMHO, the first outstanding episode of the eighth season. But with the writer and director of the original 'Vashon' trilogy both back for this sequel, I didn't expect anything less and I was not disappointed!
- 1968–198051mNot Rated8.5 (139)TV EpisodeDirectorBruce BilsonStarsJack LordJames MacArthurKam FongDan Williams welcomes his Aunt Clara to Hawaii for a visit. On the flight over, she got to know Edgar Miller, an elderly man on the same flight. Once he checks into his hotel room, Miller encounters two attackers but not before he makes a telephone call to Clara. Five-O's Duke, investigating Clara's call, is initially taken in by an impostor pretending to be Miller. But Five-O, after the real Miller's body is discovered, begins an investigation. McGarrett & Co. utilize Clara as part of a con to bring the conspirators to justice.Season 8. A delightful light-hearted episode that is as good as 'Over Fifty? Steal!'. Nice little twist at the end.
- DirectorJack LordStarsJack LordJames MacArthurKam FongEgotistical author Travis Marshall discovers the unmarked grave of heir Brian Henderson. Marshall is promoting his find to the media, much to the annoyance of McGarrett & Co., who have re-opened an investigation. Brian Marshall has been missing for seven years. Five-O has to reconstruct what happened to the heir, with no help from Marshall or Agatha Henderson, the wealthy grandmother of the dead man. The case turns out to be an elaborate jigsaw puzzle for McGarrett, which is further complicated when Marshall turns up dead.Season 8. I was thoroughly impressed by this episode. Features the beautiful Elissa Dulce in one of her largest roles and most effective performances.
- DirectorBruce BilsonStarsJack LordJames MacArthurKam FongAlex Kelsey, a lawyer involved with mobster Din Lee, kills a dying Japanese man. The dead man had been a Japanese operative at the time of Pearl Harbor. Kelsey believes the dead man had a secret stash of gold. Kazuo Tahashi, the dead man's son, arrives from San Francisco. But Tahashi isn't all what he appears to be, either. Meanwhile, in the background is retired U.S. Navy Commander Reginald Blackwell, who had been an operative in Naval intelligence. McGarrett & Co. must try to put the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle together.Season 8. This is a terrific episode, full of surprises.
- DirectorMichael O'HerlihyStarsJack LordJames MacArthurKam FongWo Fat, disguised as an academic from Hong Kong, organizes the theft of deadly toxins on loan to the University of Hawaii for medical experiments. McGarrett travels to Hong Kong in pursuit of Wo Fat but is captured.Season 9. The creators apparently went all out to do something special for the ninth season opener and the result is one of the best episodes of the series. Five-O has never looked so cinematic or seemed so epic.
- 1968–198050mNot Rated8.3 (99)TV EpisodeDirectorPhilip LeacockStarsJack LordJames MacArthurKam FongSomeone breaks into Five-O's temporary offices at the Territorial Building and, for the most part, manages to avoid the burglar alarms. When the alarm is triggered, the guard who responds is decoyed by a small music-playing souvenir doll long enough for the burglar to escape. The next day, however, Five-O's staff can find nothing missing, even though there is evidence that the lock to one of the cabinets was picked. What was taken they only learn later -- a single sheet official requisition form that is used to steal about $14,000 in state money -- the first step in an elaborate scheme by a check forger whom McGarrett once helped put in jail.Season 9. Another delightful light-hearted episode. Hunter R. Hickey (H.R.H.) was Five-O's best 'gentleman crook' since Lewis Avery Filer from 'Over Fifty? Steal!'.