No Sunset on the Beach? Fear not, we have Sunset at Steve’s!

UPDATE:  THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED SINCE CBS ANNOUNCED SUNSET ON THE BEACH ON SEPTEMBER 23RD!  SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE!

Well Agents, it’s getting closer to the Hawaii Five-0 Season 3 premiere, and we still have no official word on a Sunset on the Beach.  Bruce Fisher (@AlohaBruce of Hawaii Vacations) and I decided to take matters into our own hands to bring you a memorable night to start the new Hawaii Five-0 season.  We are bringing to you a viewing of the Hawaii Five-0 Season 3 premiere at Steve’s on-screen house!

“Sunset at Steve’s”  at the Bayer Estate
Presented by: Hawaii Five-0 Undercover & Hawaii Aloha Travel

This is a free event, open to the public, and is based on first come first serve, with very limited seating. The evening begins at 5:00pm, just as the sun begins casting its golden light on the land. Tour through the estate and mingle with other guests, network and connect with fellow Hawaii Five-0 fans !

My night with Michelle Borth (and 50 other Hawaii Five-0 fans) – Part 2

More of Michelle Borth’s Q&A from last weeks tweetup!

Are we going to see a back story of how Steve and Cat got together this season? (@WendieJoy)
Good question! I don’t know…

Do you have back story that you created for that? (@WendieJoy)
I have lots of different stories for that, but what I’ve learned is that I try not to get stuck into one because the writers will write something outside of my idea…I’d say that I had a mother, but they’ll say, “Oh no, your mother died five years ago”. So you don’t get stuck into one back story that you created, and you have to be flexible for TV, because they’re constantly rewriting you. You kind of have to go where the writers guide you.  Sometimes you’re on the same page and often times, you’re not.

Michelle Borth in "Combat Hospital" (ABC)

Can you tell us a little bit about the difference between your characters in “Combat Hospital” and “Hawaii Five-0″, and the preparation for the two? (@WendieJoy)
It’s completely different, like apples and oranges. In “Combat Hospital”, I put a lot of hard work and my heart and soul into that because it was my first swing at bat with my own show. So that was weeks and weeks of preparation, sitting with the writers, and really being on the same page…making [Major Rebecca Gordon] vulnerable but not too girly, but still making her feminine.  Not really like Catherine who’s a little more tough, but making her have thin skin where she’s sensitive, but still be tough when she’s there in the operating room.

To be honest, my story [in Hawaii Five-0] is never going to be as important or developed as that.  This is more McGarrett’s story, more Danno’s story, it’s the four. So for me, I’m happy to come on board and join on it. Where I’m going to go and where they’re going to take me with the four I could not tell you right now. I only hope it turns into something much bigger.

Have they ever asked you for feedback or what you want to see in your character? (@WendieJoy)
Peter is fantastic like that. We sat down and talked about doing this. I was actually a little hesitant because I kind of considered Catherine similar to a long distance relationship.  The audience loves her because they never see her, and when they do it’s like a honeymoon.  I didn’t want to ruin that by having her around all the time.  But the way that we’re doing it and the way that we’re going about it is really smart so we’re not going to shove her down your throat.  She’s gonna be around but not gonna be around all the time…it’s not gonna be lovey-dovey between them all the time.  The integrity of the show will still be what it is, which is a cop procedural, but it will have a little bit more of character development, with me coming in.

How much freedom do you have with ad-libbing and expression? (@RobChiong)
I’ve been on certain sets where anything goes and you can kind of make it up as you go, and I’ve been on other sets where I’ve had to sign releases where I have to go word for word.  I’d say this is down the middle…they enjoy our creativity and input, but they also would like it by the book. So we’ll do a shot where it’s word for word, and then they’ll say to do a shot that feels more natural to you.  Alex is really good at that, doing one for the team, then doing one for himself.

Do you watch the final product when it’s done? (@RobChiong)
I actually do.  I know a lot of actors don’t watch their stuff cause it makes them puke, but I don’t feel that way!  I like to watch them, and I enjoy it, and I watch them on purpose to catch myself doing habits. I like to correct myself…I’m my own worst critic.

Did you audition or were you offered this part? (@LisaLisa98)
Good question!

Read more of Michelle’s Q&A coming up!

My night with Michelle Borth (and 50 other Hawaii Five-0 fans)

It was like prom night, circa 1992

I knew it was going to be a big night, so I had to be ready.  I drove down to Celebrity Tuxedos, and picked out the nicest double breasted one, making sure I got the $49 Weekday Rental Special.  Then stopped by Longs Drugs to pick up the nicest plumeria corsage that $1.99 can buy.  Popped in my mixtape with Glenn Medeiros (“Nothing’s Gonna Change My Love For You”) in the player to get in the mood, and made the drive over to Big City Diner.   It was a big night, because I was going to meet Hawaii Five-0 star Michelle Borth.

Well, me and fifty other fans.

The talented and gorgeous Michelle Borth generously spent time at a fan organized tweetup at Big City Diner in Pearlridge last Thursday.  Amy Bakari of @TeamH50 and @LisaLisa98 of @H50Hana rallied up local fans to meet and greet Michelle Borth, whose credits include “Tell Me You Love Me”, “Combat Hospital”, and currently “Hawaii Five-0″.

Michelle arrived early in the evening, with local Hawaii Five-0 publicist Erika Kauffman and was immediately greeted with warm aloha from the fans.  She spent a few minutes with everyone there, taking photos and talking to the fans.  @LisaLisa98 presented Michelle with a cake that she made, depicting the memorable bedroom scene from season one- which Michelle loved.  I suppose that could have very well been a “Tell Me You Love Me Cake (rated Pg-13)” but since this was a Hawaii Five-0 party, I’m pretty sure that was Cat and Steve depicted in the bed.

The gracious Dennis Chun also stopped by to meet and greet fans as well (more on Dennis in an upcoming post).

After meeting everyone present, Michelle took a seat and fielded questions from the fans for a very informal “talk story” session.  Over the next few days, I’ll be transcribing the conversation, so enjoy!

What was the most challenging role that you’ve had so far?

The most challenging role…if any of you have seen it before, was way back in 2007, a show called “Tell Me You Love Me”.  For those of you who haven’t seen it, you’re going to get a shock when you look it up.  It dealt with stuff of a… graphic nature.  As an actress and as a young one and a green one, it was difficult to overcome.  But I’m so grateful because it was one of the best experiences that I’ve ever had on the set, and the most creative and liberating one.  My hardest role was one of my favorite ones, and that was playing Jaime on “Tell Me You Love Me”.

Do you deliberately mess love scenes up so that you can do it over again with Alex?

The lack of TicTacs on the set made this scene work.

[Laughs]  Unfortunately, no.  We’re so time crunched shooting in a day.  Alex and I [had to] make things not so serious, because we had just met each other, and we were half naked…it was awkward!  When you first meet someone, it’s like “Hi, I’m Michelle”, “Hi, I’m Alex”  …and then “Let’s make out”.  It’s really like that!  It’s no secret, we meet and then we had to make out.  He ate a tuna fish sandwich, and I smoked a cigarette, because I hate tuna and he hates the smell of smoke.  So it was an awesome combination when we then made out, ’cause it had made everything funny and very light and we could do it over and over again, and it wasn’t weird, or awkward, at all!   I’m sorry it’s always weird and awkward, but we have a lot of fun doing it.   We genuinely do have that connection that people see that Alex and I we really do work like that , we get  along really well, we have a kindred spirit.  I’m grateful for that, and I think it shows when we work together.

So that’s your favorite scene then?

Oh God, yes!  Coming up we have a lot more,  but I really haven’t done that much.   I think I’ve only done six episodes.  The scenes where  I work with Alex are my favorite because he’s a really funny Australian man, and it’s much more fun than the scenes where I’m by myself.  That racy one?  That was probably the most fun ’cause they let us ad-lib…the scene where the phone is vibrating?  That was all ad-lib.   It was a little more sexual than I thought it was going to be.  But it’s all fun cause we work on the fly.

Tell us about shooting that scene on the beach, with the sunset. (@WendieJoy)

Oh by the way, that scene on the beach started at 4 AM.  It was not sunset, it was sunrise, it was freezing.  Oh my God it was so early, we had to get it right when the sun’s touching the ocean, the steaks had to be on the grill, and everything had to be just right.  And every plane that was flying to Hawaii was flying into the island at that moment.  It was one of those things where it was “rush, rush, rush, hurry up, shoot!”  because you have a window of only ten minutes to get it all in.  It looks super romantic  and glamorous when you see it, but it wasn’t at the time…it wasn’t as romantic as you think.

Can you guys tell when we shoot a sunset and it’s not a sunset?  [The fans chimed in that they could]  Interesting…

That’s good to know.  I’m gonna tell them that!  It’s not worth the 4 AM call!

You play a lieutenant on screen.  How do you prep for that?  (@NeilYamamoto)

Thankfully the way that the show aligned for me, I was shooting another show called “Combat Hospital” where I played a major in the Canadian army, so I had a one on one crash course about being in the military.  And what we also do on Five-0 is have military experts.  We have a couple of ex-Navy SEALS on set.  We try, but we’ve been told there are certain things that are not so accurate, but we do make a valiant effort in trying.  So to answer your question, we just have a conversation with someone who actually was a navy SEAL, about certain protocols and procedures about how you would speak to someone higher, or lower…everything from how you would wear your uniform properly to how I would wear my hair, because it’s really specific.

I think both you and Alex pull it off very well. (@NeilYamamoto)

Thank you very much, we do want to pay homage and respect.  It means a lot to us when we get it right, and when we do get it wrong, tell us, because I want to be as respectful as possible and I do want to get it right.

So along those lines what skill set does LT Rollins bring to the show? (Officer 808)

Her badass-ness!

[I have to pause right here to let you know that my inner voice man-squeed when she said that.]

Well, she has the background of intelligence, so when it comes to digging up information, or getting some undercover scoop other than means that McGarrett can use, that’s where I come into play, ’cause I have all the fancy ways of getting information.  So I can help him out with my spy intelligence.

So, basically she’s good at google searches? (Officer 808)

I can google really well!  She does bring a certain spy intelligence that he doesn’t have access to.  I think also you’re going to see a physical side of her.  You’ve never really  seen her in combat or in action, there’s going to be another badass side of her that you’re going to see.  So you’ll see she’s tough in action.  You’re going to see a side of her you haven’t seen yet, that is kind of comparable to a female McGarrett, which is why you can kind of see why they’re together, that they’re similar.

Are we going to see their back story, about how they got together, this season…? (@WendieJoy)

See Michelle’s answer in tomorrow’s post!

The thought of having no Hawaii Five-0 Season 3 Sunset on the Beach…

…makes me want to bury my head in my pillow and weep softly.  I can’t even bring my face up to look at the Kono Kalakaua posters I have above my bed.  It hurts too much inside.

All joking aside, CBS has still remained mum about any announcement of a Hawaii Five-0 Season 3 Sunset on the Beach event.  We can only speculate as to why it hasn’t been announced yet, but one thing is for sure: fans near and far are heavily anticipating Hawaii’s one night in the Hollywood spotlight.  Our beautiful Waikiki beach borrows the glitz and glamour of Hollywood as the red carpet is rolled out on to the sand, and stars of our favorite show smile for the paparazzi.  They walk down the media line to answer questions for the local, national and world media, and for one night, the eyes of the world are on Hawaii.

Photo: Officer 808

One of the highlights of the night is that fans who are lucky and close enough to the stars can actually meet, shake hands and take photos with the stars who are gracious enough to step off the red carpet.  I know a lot of friends and followers of this blog who were lucky enough to have an opportunity with a photo with Alex and Scott,  a short chat with Mark Dacascos, or to be  near Daniela Ruah .   Being that close to the stars made thousands of people happy.  And I know all of the fans can’t jump on a plane and fly down, but thanks to the internet and television coverage everyone across the world can still “be” there to share in the experience.

The best part of the night for me was being invited by the show’s local publicist Erika Kauffman to be on the red carpet to cover the event for the blog.  I spent all week thinking of questions for the actors, for Peter Lenkov and Bob Orci.  It was an incredible experience to be in the media line with the rest of the local media to ask the pressing questions that we fans want to know (for a good laugh read my questions to Alex)!  I even asked a few of your questions that you relayed to me to the cast and crew of the show.

Alex O'Loughlin (Photo: Officer 808)

But this global experience for Hawaii may not be this year.  The powers that be are going through the decision making process and trying to figure out if it is going to happen or not.

So to all my Undercover Special Agents out there, I put the discussion to you:

The thought of having no Hawaii Five-0 Season 3 Sunset on the Beach…

Answer in the comments below, and begin your response with the above statement.  PLEASE be courteous and respectful, this is not a place to vent anger.   This is a chance to show CBS how much we fans would love to have the event and how disappointed we are at the prospect of no Sunset on the Beach.

Hawaii News Now to cover Hawaii Five-0 season 3 blessing ceremony

From our friend Tannya Joaquin at Hawaii News Now:

HAWAII FIVE-O SEASON 3 BLESSING LIVE ON MONDAY

Plus, I’m happy to share that Hawaii News Now Sunrise has been invited on set to cover the blessing to start filming for Season 3 of Hawaii Five-O. It will be bright and early on Monday morning. Catch our live coverage on KGMB, KHNL and KFVE starting at 5AM. We’ll stream it all live for you. We expect the blessing to happen sometime between 6:15 and 7 AM.

Tannya and Alex at the Season 2 blessing last year. (Photo: Tannya Joaquin).

And the winner for the 50undercover.com “Show us your shrine” contest is…

Well Agents, there were a lot of great entries gathered this past month on Facebook.  A lot of you are really die hard fans and have covered your walls with photos and posters.  A lot of others have personal talents in art, jewelry making, quilting and other creative endeavors.  Everyone’s idea of a “fan shrine” was unique and creative, and that’s exactly what we hear at the blog expected.  And yes, even Toothpick the Assassin (Karl Herlinger) had an entry as well.  Hands down, I’m impressed by the amount of love and dedication you all have for our favorite TV show!

And the winner is…

As you know, the contest winner will be awarded a cool Hawaii Five-0 badge that Executive Producer Peter Lenkov had graciously gifted to the fans.  You also know that we here at the blog encouraged you fans to vote for your favorite Hawaii Five-0 Fan Shrine.  So the winner of the “Show Us Your Shrine” contest, who garnered a total of 194 votes at the closing of the polls at midnight, June 22nd is Marie W. of Paris with her extensive Hawaii Five-0 collection of souvenirs, autographs and photos!

Marie's Hawaii Five-0 shrine!

But wait!

After careful consideration, we decided that one badge to give away was not enough.  There were so many great entries, we at the blog decided to award one more badge to someone who captured the true meaning of dedication.   This one goes out to a special fan, coincidentally another Marie, who’s daughter’s favorite character is Kono.  This little gal was just totally adorable with her Five-0 themed party and her Halloween “Kono” costume.  So congrats to Marie and her daughter for taking away the second badge!

Too cute!

MAHALO

To everyone for participating- entrants and voting fans alike!

By the way, stay tuned.  Perhaps there’s another badge lying around here somewhere…

Contest time! Show us your shrine to Hawaii Five-0!

Terry, Mel and yours truly, Officer 808 here at the 50undercover.com want to know how big a fan of Hawaii Five-0 you are!  Do you have a photo collage of Steve up on your wall?  Do you have a tiki bar in your house festooned with Hawaii Five-0 memorabilia?  Do you stitch together huge pillows in the form of Kamekona’s shave ice?  Do you doodle “Kono 4 eva” with hearts in your notebook like I do?

Take a photo or your most extraordinary fan made art, creation or devotional shrine to our favorite show to demonstrate how dedicated a fan you are!  There is no limitation but your creativity.  Take a photo of your work and send it to me at officer808@yahoo.com.  Your photos will appear in the Facebook album “Show us your shrine” for all of the fandom to enjoy.   Other fans will vote by submitting “Likes” to your photo, and the person with the most “Likes” at the end of the contest time will win…

Win this cool Hawaii Five-0 badge!

Yes, this is *the* official Season 2 badge keychains that Executive Producer Peter Lenkov  made for the crew.  He has generously given us a few of these to inspire you fans!  The badge measure about two inches high, it’s in shiny gold, with the classic Five-0 symbol embossed on the front.  On the rear it reads, “Season 2, 2011-2012″ with a unique number stamped on it.

Here are the official rules:

1)  CREATE a Hawaii Five-0 inspired creation.  It can be anything: a photo collage, a decorated corner of your house or workspace, a Hawaiian themed room in your house, a homemade craft or shirt…anything that you’ve made yourself.  Please don’t submit any photoshopped images of things you “could” or “would” make, we want to see things you’ve actually created!

2)  SUBMIT your  photo entry via email to officer808@yahoo.com.  I will screen entries for suitability.  I will upload into the Facebook folder “Show us your shrine”.  Enter multiple times if you’d like.

3)  VOTE for your favorite submissions via the Facebook “Like” button.  Only votes in this album will be counted!  If you don’t have Facebook, email me your vote and I will count it manually.

4)  ENCOURAGE your friends on the social networks to vote for your photo by sharing your photo on your own wall or twitter feed.

5) Vote counting will close at Friday, June 22, 2012 at midnight Hawaii Standard Time, and the official winner announced that weekend.

GOOD LUCK!

Legal disclaimer:  please don’t break any laws in showing your devotion.  Spray painting “I LOVE YOU ALEX” across a highway overpass sign will get you arrested, killed and most importantly disqualified from this contest.  Don’t harm any animals either.  Do not tattoo your significant other while they sleep.  This list is not inclusive of all disqualifying acts.

"I have to use this ID until Peter issues me my badge keychain." (Photo CBS)

Talking Story with Mike Buck on AM 690 KHNR for “Ua Hala” (Hawaii Five-0 podcast)

Photo Norman Shapiro/CBS

Well, Undercover Special Agents, here is the final podcast with myself and Mike Buck this past Tuesday.  We talk about the finale, behind the scenes stuff, Shelburne, Kono going overboard, Chin’s problems, local boy Karl Herlinger, and where things are going for season 3.   Sit, download and enjoy!

Officer 808 on the Mike Buck Show, May 14 2012

Things We Learned About Hawaii From Hawaii Five-0, Episode 223, “Ua Hala”

O.M.G.

I’m sure you’ll all  agree that last night’s Hawaii Five-0 episode was a thrill a minute ride, and not just because the episode opened up with bikinis, which was a nice bonus.  The team won some, and lost some; one great mystery was solved, but more questions arose.

Goodbye Captain Fryer

Love him or hate him, Captain Fryer (Tom Sizemore) was an intriguing character.  He was a tough as nails cop bent on rooting out corruption in the HPD, and he didn’t care if he was going to step on any toes along the way.  His shotgun approach to solving  HPD’s problems didn’t win him friends, but deep down you could see he was trying to do the right thing.  Or was he?  Through the story and plot twists, we saw some moral ambiguity in the character with possible shades of corruption.   Thankfully Captain Fryer died the way a tough cop should die.  He wasn’t shot in the back…it took four bullets in the chest to take him down, but not before he managed to get a shot off to wound his assailant.

All this is thanks to the fine acting of  Tom Sizemore, who had stumbled recently in the past with addiction problems, but seemed to gain traction in acting again on Hawaii Five-0.  Personally, I loved the character because he brought an edge to the Five-0 team from within HPD, which kept Steve on his toes.  So mahalo, and aloha to you Tom!

Hello Toothpick

Hawaiian expat Karl Herlinger @regnilreh) played the elusive Toothpick, a throwback reference to a character from the original Five-0 series.  A man of few words but having the ability to bore a hole through you with his menacing stare, Toothpick was there at every turn, harassing the team.  He’s definitely a guy you’d love to hate…every time he came on screen you know something bad was about to happen.  His final act of letting Kono impersonate an anchor will definitely cement his place in Five-0 history as a really bad dude.  We’ll certainly see him in season 3, and see how much more mayhem he can create.  With him and Delano on the loose, Honolulu is wide open…

And if that wasn’t enough

The team was methodically torn apart, one by one.  Max took a shot to the gut, HPD was blown to smithereens (which was pretty epic if you were there to see it in person), Danny’s got custody problems, and Chin had a tough decision to make.  With bullets flying, cars speeding around downtown Honolulu, HPD headquarters up in smoke, and a relentless assassin, this episode harkened back to the pilot in the scope of action.

Photo E-PR

Regarding Danny, he’s in an ironic situation from a season ago.  Last season, he was on the verge of dropping everything to return back to New jersey with Rachel, but now we see him at odds with her over Grace’s custody.  While an unhappy Danny is always an interesting Danny, his unresolved problem that leads to season 3 surely can’t play out that long.  And what ever happened to his brother (played by Dane Cook)?

Taylor Cole who played the assassin Hilary Chaver was especially fearsome.  Leaving a trail of bodies in ruthless fashion behind her, she was absolutely brutal.  Thankfully, no puppies or kitties were harmed by her.

Damn you Channing Tatum

Ok, so did I miss something? Bad guy Toothpick is munching on his toothpick, when he should really be using dental floss, while stalking an unsuspecting Kono, who has happily forgiven Adam for duct taping her a few days ago.  We cut to commercials, and then my senses were assaulted with this:

If the new "Footloose" wasn't enough, here's "Flashdance" for the new millenium!

So I endured the squeeing emanating from Mrs. Officer 808 beside me, as well as the bicep flexing and chair leaping in front of me for what seemed like an eternity, before we finally cut back to Chin Ho arriving at a darkened Halawa prison.

Wait, what?  Did Channing Tater’s wiggling short something in my brain?  Did I miss something?

After lengthy dialog between Delano and Chin from the prison down to the dock, we learned that Toothpick had stealthily subdued and kidnapped Kono (with more duct tape, no doubt).  Delano then used this as a bargaining chip at an unseen negotiation to compel Chin to release him.  Chin presumed he’d be taken to Kono, but alas, Delano has something more sinister planned.  Ripping a page right out of the Riddler’s playbook from Batman Forever, Chin had to choose between saving his wife or his cousin.

Ok…now I get it.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the episode, I know that a lot of armchair critics are going to take issue with the huge leap in the story that was sacrificed for the sake of Channing Totem’s pecs.  I personally would have loved to see Toothpick go head to head with Kono, because we know Kono can fend for herself.  I would have loved to see the drama unfold as Delano summons Chin to Halawa to break to him the news of Kono’s capture.  But I know in the story writer’s defense that one can’t fit everything into a 42 minute episode (which of course would have made for a great excuse to do a two hour finale) so we’ll have to be content with Chin and Delano talking through the events.

I do give credit to the writers for bringing Delano back into the story. Bent on vengeance, he played the Five-0 team all along by taking out Fryer, and then exacting his revenge on Kono  and Chin.  With that, the story played out perfectly.  Delano’s motivation for singling out Chin as the “crooked cop who got away” was an ironic twist that opened up a wound Chin had thought healed long ago.

Photo Norman Shapiro/CBS

I thought Daniel Dae Kim nailed the whole episode perfectly.  We saw Chin’s soft side with Malia, we saw him doing his Five-0 thing with the shotgun, and we saw him as the conflicted target of Delano’s schemes.

And go see Magic Mike in theaters, Channing Tummytum’s chiseled pecs paid a lot of money for that air time.

The real Shelburne

So as most of us speculated earlier in the season, Joe lied about Shelburne’s identity.  I gave a quick run down of the possible candidates for Shelburne  a few months back, and a few of you gave your guesses, and a lot of us were correct in saying Doris McGarrett is the real Shelburne!

"I am *not* crying, Mom! There's wasabi in my eye!" (Vidcap: CBS)

But what does it all mean?  Wo Fat is locked up, Joe is gone, and Steve is left with his mother.  Are they going to catch up on old times?  Peter Lenkov  promised us that we get to see the whole reunion between mother and son.  But how much deeper does the international intrigue go?  One big answer is solved, and we have to see how Danny, Kono and Chin resolve their problems but it seems that the Wo Fat story has come to a halt…for now.  We’ll have to wait and see what season 3 brings us.

And now, Things We Learned About Hawaii From Hawaii Five-0, Episode 223, “Ua Hala”

1)  Steve and Joe earned a total of 19,250 frequent flier miles from Hawaiian Air, going back and forth between Hawaii and Japan.  Joe didn’t disappear on Steve to be mysterious- he was trying to beat Steve to the airport to cash in on the free ticket!

Did you notice…?

Kamekona walked in with a balloon that said “Live long and prosper”, a hat tip to Max’s love for Star Trek.

How many of you women had to reach for the kleenex, when a concerned Joe White held pressure on Max’s wound, while sweet, charming Max looked up to him and breathed, “Am I going to die?”

I spent some time on a sunny afternoon watching Steve and Danny chase the HPD car out of the back alley.  Some of you may remember some of my “spoilers”.  I credit the Five-0 crew with spending an hour filming a shot that lasted all of seven seconds.  A lot of work goes into filming an episode.

And on that note, the spectacular pyrotechnics of HPD blowing up was something to see (check out the BTS from yesterday), but with great stunt work, good editing, and sound effects, that explosion is a hell of a lot more spectacular on screen.

Kono will be underwater for three months.  Thanks a long time to wait to see what happens!

From Hawaii Five-0 Guru Mr. Mike: “Ua Hala,” the title of the show, is Hawaiian for “Death in the Family.” This is virtually the same title as the last show of season 10 of the original series. In that show, Chin Ho was murdered and his body dumped in front of the Iolani Palace where the Five-O office was located.

More from Mr. Mike:  Karl Herlinger, the guy who plays “Toothpick,” the nasty villain of the finale, appeared [as a child]  in the 2-hour 12th-season opener from the original show, A Lion in the Streets. As pointed out by a contributor to my site, the son of union organizer Andy Kamoku  is walking home from school with his friends (including Herlinger). They part at a corner, and the son continues on, alone.  Some kumu gangsters drive up…It turns out to be a kidnapping.

Grace Park, President Obama in attendance for the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies

From the Honolulu Star-Advertiser:

Grace Park meets President Obama. (Photo: AP)

Obama greets ‘Five-0′ star and speaks about Hawaii connections
by Star-Advertiser Staff

President Barack Obama spoke about growing up in Hawaii and his connection to Asian and Pacific Americans during a speech in Washington tonight.

He also greeted “Hawaii Five-0″ star Grace Park, who attended the dinner of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, a national group dedicated to promoting Asian Pacific American participation and representation in community service and politics.

In his speech, the president mentioned former Hawaii congresswoman Patsy Mink as a pioneer in politics, “who was not only the first Asian American woman elected to Congress but the author of Title IX, which has changed the playing field for all our girls.”

He also praised Hawaii U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, whom he said “kept fighting for America.” He quipped that Inouye “was my senator most of my life.”

Also attending the dinner from Hawaii was the president’s sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and brother-in-law Konrad Ng.

“When I think about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, I think about my family — my sister, Maya, my brother-in-law, Konrad, who’s in the house somewhere…  My nieces Suhaila and Savita.  I think about all the folks I grew up with in Honolulu, as part of the Hawaiian ohana,” Obama said.

“Your heritage spans the world.  But what unites everyone is that in all of your families you have stories of perseverance that are uniquely American.  Some of you, those from Hawaii or the Pacific Islands, live where your family has lived for generations and your story is, in part, about keeping alive treasured native traditions.  But for others, your story starts with ancestors who, at some point, left behind everything they knew to seek the promise of a new land.”

People from Hawaii in the audience were vocal, interrupting the president with applause, cheers and shouts of ‘Aloha,” whenever he mentioned the state.

“These Hawaiians here, what’s up with that?” the president said to more applause and shouts of “Aloha.”