Like many episodes of "Five-O," "Bait Once, Bait Twice" begins with a marvelous premise that unfolds slowly, and is fascinating to watch -- but unfortunately, as the show moves forward, the logic behind the story slowly slips away, too. It begins with a lengthy "teaser" as a hit man slips into a hotel room and meticulously sets up not just a tripod and a rifle with a silencer, but even special stabilizers for the tripod legs! He also hooks up a do-it-yourself speaker to the telephone -- this was filmed back in 1971, after all -- so that a mysterious voice on the phone can "listen in."
These two characters clearly know that distraught Loretta Swit will soon be edging onto a high window ledge on the Ilikai Hotel across the way, and why; and they even know that McGarrett will respond (because he's having his hair cut nearby). It sets up an intriguing mystery -- who is the voice on the phone? How do they know that a woman will be going out on the ledge? And who is the target of the hit man (because he hardly seems in a hurry to pick off any of the characters who appear right away -- including Steve McGarrett himself)?
The person with the motive to set these events in motion is apparently gambling kingpin Bonamo (Malachi Throne), but even early-on there are clues that Bonamo might not be the one behind this set-up. And indeed, about three-fourths of the way through the episode, the viewer's expectations begin to shift, and an entirely different motivation seems to be behind these events.
"Bait Once, Bait Twice" marked the fourth and last appearance of Loretta Swit on the show; she had a small, relatively thankless role in her first appearance in the premier episode of the second season, and a more unconventional (and larger) part as a soft-hearted telephone operator in the two-parter "Three Dead Cows at Makapuu"; and here, despite having to spend most of the first part of the show pinned to the wall of the ledge on the 18th floor of the Ilikai, the balance of the episode offers her some meatier chances to perform. Swit's last episode is also the first of five appearances by tightly-wrapped character actor James Olson (for not the last time as a lawyer), who manages to convey sleaziness even without having much to do.
Still, despite a good supporting cast and the aforementioned attention-grabbing premise, the episode has a number of oddities that don't seem to add up even after the closing credits have wrapped, including:
-- Swit's character claims that she went onto the ledge because her kidnapped daughter was threatened. McGarrett seems utterly unconcerned about the kidnapping, even though many other episodes have been built entirely around such cases. Later on, the daughter's return -- off-screen -- is mentioned casually and used as merely a plot point.
-- Swit's fiancé is being held by John Manicote (Glenn Cannon) (another recurring character who appears for the first time in this episode) in protective custody in a jail cell. Manicote refers to him as the key witness in a year-and-a-half effort to "get" Bonamo -- yet McGarrett seems to know nothing about this witness, including his name. Wouldn't McGarrett have been involved in this kind of case (after all, Five-O frequently went after gambling) -- or at least know about Manicote's ongoing investigation?
-- Swit's fiancé is being held in a jail cell (in fact, other cells are shown in close proximity). Why, then, does he have what look like hippie posters adorning his cell wall?
-- Che Fong makes the dubious assertion that fingerprints could be found all over a briefcase and some currency despite both being found after some period of time in a submerged vehicle. Olson's character makes a similarly questionable claim that a contract wouldn't be valid unless there were two copies of it.
Some other noteworthy points:
-- The hit man (Ric Marlow) is referred to several times by his character's real name, 'Johnny Froman,' after his identity is discovered -- yet he's referred to only as "The Pro" in the closing credits, and as "Hit Man" in IMDb's credits.
-- This episode marks a rare instance of both medical examiner Doc Bergman (Al Eben) and forensic scientist Che Fong (Harry Endo) being on-screen together, in McGarrett's office. The two actors each played a variety of different characters (and their characters were also played by a variety of different actors) in the early years of the show; but once they were established in those roles, McGarrett almost always dealt with them individually, never together.
-- The episode's promo from the original broadcast in 1972 didn't really play fair with the audience; through careful editing, the promo made it appear that the hit man's target was McGarrett -- a premise sure to bring viewers back the following week!
These two characters clearly know that distraught Loretta Swit will soon be edging onto a high window ledge on the Ilikai Hotel across the way, and why; and they even know that McGarrett will respond (because he's having his hair cut nearby). It sets up an intriguing mystery -- who is the voice on the phone? How do they know that a woman will be going out on the ledge? And who is the target of the hit man (because he hardly seems in a hurry to pick off any of the characters who appear right away -- including Steve McGarrett himself)?
The person with the motive to set these events in motion is apparently gambling kingpin Bonamo (Malachi Throne), but even early-on there are clues that Bonamo might not be the one behind this set-up. And indeed, about three-fourths of the way through the episode, the viewer's expectations begin to shift, and an entirely different motivation seems to be behind these events.
"Bait Once, Bait Twice" marked the fourth and last appearance of Loretta Swit on the show; she had a small, relatively thankless role in her first appearance in the premier episode of the second season, and a more unconventional (and larger) part as a soft-hearted telephone operator in the two-parter "Three Dead Cows at Makapuu"; and here, despite having to spend most of the first part of the show pinned to the wall of the ledge on the 18th floor of the Ilikai, the balance of the episode offers her some meatier chances to perform. Swit's last episode is also the first of five appearances by tightly-wrapped character actor James Olson (for not the last time as a lawyer), who manages to convey sleaziness even without having much to do.
Still, despite a good supporting cast and the aforementioned attention-grabbing premise, the episode has a number of oddities that don't seem to add up even after the closing credits have wrapped, including:
-- Swit's character claims that she went onto the ledge because her kidnapped daughter was threatened. McGarrett seems utterly unconcerned about the kidnapping, even though many other episodes have been built entirely around such cases. Later on, the daughter's return -- off-screen -- is mentioned casually and used as merely a plot point.
-- Swit's fiancé is being held by John Manicote (Glenn Cannon) (another recurring character who appears for the first time in this episode) in protective custody in a jail cell. Manicote refers to him as the key witness in a year-and-a-half effort to "get" Bonamo -- yet McGarrett seems to know nothing about this witness, including his name. Wouldn't McGarrett have been involved in this kind of case (after all, Five-O frequently went after gambling) -- or at least know about Manicote's ongoing investigation?
-- Swit's fiancé is being held in a jail cell (in fact, other cells are shown in close proximity). Why, then, does he have what look like hippie posters adorning his cell wall?
-- Che Fong makes the dubious assertion that fingerprints could be found all over a briefcase and some currency despite both being found after some period of time in a submerged vehicle. Olson's character makes a similarly questionable claim that a contract wouldn't be valid unless there were two copies of it.
Some other noteworthy points:
-- The hit man (Ric Marlow) is referred to several times by his character's real name, 'Johnny Froman,' after his identity is discovered -- yet he's referred to only as "The Pro" in the closing credits, and as "Hit Man" in IMDb's credits.
-- This episode marks a rare instance of both medical examiner Doc Bergman (Al Eben) and forensic scientist Che Fong (Harry Endo) being on-screen together, in McGarrett's office. The two actors each played a variety of different characters (and their characters were also played by a variety of different actors) in the early years of the show; but once they were established in those roles, McGarrett almost always dealt with them individually, never together.
-- The episode's promo from the original broadcast in 1972 didn't really play fair with the audience; through careful editing, the promo made it appear that the hit man's target was McGarrett -- a premise sure to bring viewers back the following week!
