Hawaii Five-O! The premiere episode was a two-hour show. The Producers edited it into two parts and replayed it again, six months later.
To gain some insight into this Cold War Spy Era plot, one must be aware of the enormous influence of the James Bond movies that dominated the Big Screen in the 1960's. Numerous spin-offs and copycats (Our Man Flint, Matt Helm, etc.) hit not only the theaters, they influenced quite a few 1960's TV shows. The Wild Wild West, The Man from UNCLE, and more. So this introductory episode to Hawaii Five-O plays much like a James Bond spy movie. Only the spy in Hawaii is not Agent 007/James Bond, it is Detective Steve McGarrett.
To spike interest in the opener, the Producers brought in a number of A-List actors and actresses, including Nancy Kwan ("Suzy Wong"), Leslie Nielsen ("I am serious, and don't call me Shirley!)", James Gregory, Khigh Dieh, and Andrew Duggan.
There is plenty of action and intrigue in "Cocoon". McGarrett is as cool as James Bond. He gets the girl, he walks into the Governor's office uninvited, he outshoots and outsmarts all of the bad guys, he undergoes 8 hours of the ultimate Chinese water torture, and he does everything else that James Bond would do to solve the crime.
"Cocoon" has survived the test of time. I am watching this show in year 2023, some 55 years after it aired, and it is still very watchable (as are most of the Hawaii Five-O episodes).
This premiere episode has to develop the characters, from McGarrett to his sidekicks. We get the backstory on McGarrett; we see enough of the other regulars to become familiar with them (the only one who didn't make it to Episode 2 was actor Tim O'Kelly as character "Danny Williams". He was replaced by actor James MacArthur, who lasted for the remaining 12 seasons).
Cocoon is a great start for Hawaii Five-O, and of course we will see more of the evil Chinese agent "Wo Fat" in the coming years.
I rate "Cocoon" 9 Stars!