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‘Hawaii’ captivates
with tight writing
Portraying Honolulu as a real city in which people live, work, play and struggle has been difficult for Hollywood to capture. Studios and networks have preferred to perpetuate the fantasy of a mostly trouble-free tropical paradise.
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"Hawaii" premieres at 7 p.m. Sept. 1 on KHNL/NBC
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Now comes "Hawaii," NBC's entry into the police drama genre, which falls stylishly and dramatically between "Five-0," "Lethal Weapon" and "CSI."
An advance copy of the first episode, "Hawaiian Justice," indicates the new series matches "Five-0's" quality of acting with a quintet of seasoned pros -- Michael Biehn, Sharif Atkins, Eric Balfour, Ivan Sergei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa -- and tight writing, with storylines bound to keep an audience's attention.
"Hawaiian Justice" introduces us to four main characters, police officers diverse in attitude and intention, with back stories that develop slowly to challenge our immediate perceptions.
Max Harrison (Biehn) is the top cop, who is good-looking, soft-spoken, emotionally cool and terse. It seems his wife or girlfriend has just left him, leaving all the television sets but taking the remote controls.
John Decian (Atkins), a newcomer from Chicago, is playful and flirtatious, but a serious crime fighter.
Two 20-something detectives, Danny Edwards and Chris Gaines, played respectively by Sergei and Balfour, are rough around the edges, often doing things their way just to get the job done. They're perpetually in the precinct dog house.
Edwards is surly, sexist and disliked by several of his fellow officers. Gaines is quick-tempered and has a chip on his shoulder, but respects the rules and loves being a cop. Nevertheless, the two, in true Hollywood buddies tradition -- think Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the "Lethal Weapon" films -- are fun to watch, and are as likely to turn their sarcasm toward victims as well as the perps. Advice: Pick up the volume, guys, because some of your best lines are hard to hear.
Police officer Linh Dias (Aya Sumika), who, to the production's credit, keeps her good looks mostly hidden behind her uniform, is superb in her first major role as an ambitious cop trying to maintain her professionalism in the Metro bullpen. Expect Dias to get a detective promotion so she can go one on one with the bulls.
The episode's plot is built on the discovery of a decapitated torso in an East Oahu lava flow -- a special effects shot at Lanai Lookout.
Meanwhile, a police chase is underway down Kalakaua Avenue with detectives Decian and Harrison in a red Cadillac convertible.
The chase ends on the Windward side, and the police discover four more severed heads in the trunk. In the process, Decian tries to jump into a boat stolen by one of the thieves but misses and nearly drowns until the car thief jumps in to save him. It makes Atkins the laughing stock of Metro and puts him on the front page of the Honolulu Daily.
Back at Metro, Gaines and Edwards want the severed heads case, but Capt. Terry Harada (Tagawa) won't hear of it because of complaints against the pair by victims and other cops. They're sent instead to investigate a suspicious case of fish poisoning.
The duo isn't happy about the assignment. When they arrive at the beach house (the Paul Mitchell estate in Lanikai) the female resident is hallucinating and Edwards explodes.
"We get fish and a coke whore!" he yells to his stunned partner.
A moment later, the woman's husband collapses.
"Hmmm, maybe it is the fish," Gaines says.
The bad fish is more than simple spoilage and the two detectives go after a gang of criminals in a commanding manner.
Meanwhile, Decian and Harrison's case is linked to a major Hawaiian crime figure in a power move for the islands' drug trade that ends in a formulaic gun battle.
"Hawaii Justice" has some interesting twists and turns which indicate the series may be more than just a pretty face, although the special effects used to color Honolulu skies is distracting and lighting in the morgue and auto-body shop screams "CSI" at best and "Flashdance" at worst. "Hawaii" and Honolulu can stand on their own merits without visual manipulation.
Some 30 minutes into the episode, guest star Branscomb Richmond explains that a criminal has threatened "my ohana," in the first utterance of a Hawaiian word. There are no gratuitous alohas or mahalos in "Hawaii," which, in spite of early casting fears, seems to be mindful of the local culture.
And Eastin pays brief homage to "Hawaii Five-0" when Decian yells to a group of gamblers "Five-0; get lost."
Steve McGarrett would have been proud.
www.nbc.com/nbc/Hawaii/
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