Out of the long run of "Hawaii Five-O," this episode features what is likely Jack Lord's briefest screen time as McGarrett. It's not clear if this was an idea dreamed up by screenwriter Jerome Coopersmith or -- for unexplained reasons -- Lord really had to skip most of this episode. But McGarrett is stuck on the Big Island for the trial of Johnny Oporta (the character played by Henry Darrow in "No Bottles . . . No Cans . . . No People" from just a few weeks earlier). So, instead it's Danny Williams, Chin Ho, and Kono to "hold the fort" in McGarrett's absence. Apart from a couple of shots of McGarrett in a phone booth and one brief scene in which he seeks -- and is denied -- permission from the judge to return to Honolulu for one day, Lord is missing in action for this episode, which deals with an intricate bank heist.
The bank robbery itself is worthy of something out of "Mission: Impossible," complete with a phony "attempted robbery" at the outset, a bank employee who's in on the scheme, and key contributions by two employees of a company that makes and ships "tiki gods" -- small wooden figurines depicting ancient Hawaiian deities. This setting allows for some of the show's better character-driven moments -- burly character actor Jack Kruschen plays the company's front-line manager whose expertise is largely unappreciated by the son of the former owner, who had a much more personal relationship with Kruschen's character. One telling scene has the new boss in his office practicing golf putts as Kruschen looks on in disgust -- an important moment even though it only indirectly advances the plot.
This episode also includes the last of three appearances by reliable tough-guy Sam Melville as the gang's ringleader. Melville's acting is fine, but his role as an embittered Vietnam vet, unfortunately, is less successful as a revelation of character than Kruschen's moments, coming off as clichéd and unnecessary. Particularly annoying are throwaway comments that Melville's character makes about being against "peace and poetry" and "setting things right in this country," which ring completely hollow considering that he's shown ruthlessly killing three people.
Oddly compelling, however, is an unintentional reunion -- no, make that a "pre-union" -- of future regular Al Harrington and future semi-regular Glenn Cannon. Harrington makes his last appearance in the role of a heavy, and Cannon (who gets gunned down as an unwitting accomplice shortly into this episode) would begin his 7-year run as District Attorney John Manicote later this season. The following season's opener would showcase both Cannon and Harrington, playing Five-O agent Ben Kokua for the first time (replacing "Zulu as Kono" whose departure was never satisfactorily explained). So here we have Cannon in his last pre-Manicote role, and Harrington for the last time playing opposite Zulu, whom he would replace. There's also a delightful sequence in which Che Fong shows the value of persistence as he and his technicians find an important clue by painstakingly examining each piece of movable type found on the floor in Manicote's print shop to look for fresh ink on the letters and numbers.
Perhaps most noteworthy, however, is Danny Williams' comment in the closing scene that's placed in ironic contrast with the plans of the conspirators to score $1 million apiece. Echoing Jack Kruschen's line that was lifted for the title, Danny comments that, for $182.50 a week take-home, "Why Not?" -- suggesting that a member of an elite unit like Five-O was probably paid (gross) only about $15,000 a year. Even for 1971, that seems like paltry pay for the second in command of an outfit like Five-O . . . especially in an expensive locale like Hawaii!
The bank robbery itself is worthy of something out of "Mission: Impossible," complete with a phony "attempted robbery" at the outset, a bank employee who's in on the scheme, and key contributions by two employees of a company that makes and ships "tiki gods" -- small wooden figurines depicting ancient Hawaiian deities. This setting allows for some of the show's better character-driven moments -- burly character actor Jack Kruschen plays the company's front-line manager whose expertise is largely unappreciated by the son of the former owner, who had a much more personal relationship with Kruschen's character. One telling scene has the new boss in his office practicing golf putts as Kruschen looks on in disgust -- an important moment even though it only indirectly advances the plot.
This episode also includes the last of three appearances by reliable tough-guy Sam Melville as the gang's ringleader. Melville's acting is fine, but his role as an embittered Vietnam vet, unfortunately, is less successful as a revelation of character than Kruschen's moments, coming off as clichéd and unnecessary. Particularly annoying are throwaway comments that Melville's character makes about being against "peace and poetry" and "setting things right in this country," which ring completely hollow considering that he's shown ruthlessly killing three people.
Oddly compelling, however, is an unintentional reunion -- no, make that a "pre-union" -- of future regular Al Harrington and future semi-regular Glenn Cannon. Harrington makes his last appearance in the role of a heavy, and Cannon (who gets gunned down as an unwitting accomplice shortly into this episode) would begin his 7-year run as District Attorney John Manicote later this season. The following season's opener would showcase both Cannon and Harrington, playing Five-O agent Ben Kokua for the first time (replacing "Zulu as Kono" whose departure was never satisfactorily explained). So here we have Cannon in his last pre-Manicote role, and Harrington for the last time playing opposite Zulu, whom he would replace. There's also a delightful sequence in which Che Fong shows the value of persistence as he and his technicians find an important clue by painstakingly examining each piece of movable type found on the floor in Manicote's print shop to look for fresh ink on the letters and numbers.
Perhaps most noteworthy, however, is Danny Williams' comment in the closing scene that's placed in ironic contrast with the plans of the conspirators to score $1 million apiece. Echoing Jack Kruschen's line that was lifted for the title, Danny comments that, for $182.50 a week take-home, "Why Not?" -- suggesting that a member of an elite unit like Five-O was probably paid (gross) only about $15,000 a year. Even for 1971, that seems like paltry pay for the second in command of an outfit like Five-O . . . especially in an expensive locale like Hawaii!
