A three-parter finds the whole Five-O crew up to their knees in alligators with mobsters who want McGarrett swimming with the fishes. The whole mess beings with Chris Vashon (Robert Drivas), the youngest of the Vashon family, robbing hotels just to spite his old man, Honore Vashon (Harold Gould, the other Hal Linden), who has turned soft and given up the mobster lifestyle that his old man, Dominick Vashon (Luther Adler), started on the island way back when. At first, McGarrett is just something of a nuisance to the family, but when young spoiled punk is fatally shot by the Five-O chief, the Vashon father declares war, beginning with a car bomb in Steve’s trusty Mercury (that, or somebody finally had enough of McGarrett’s bad driving!).
Luigi’s Useless Information: Whoa-ho, check out McGarrett’s pimping threads in the third part! The second and third episodes of this three-parter are the only times during the Fifth Season that we see series semi-regular Peggy Ryan as McGarrett’s secretary Jenny onscreen — her character’s voice is heard once or twice in several other episodes, though (although it could have been another actress providing the voice).
Episode 5.12: “The Clock Struck Twelve”
Directed by Ron Winston
McGarrett and Manicote have captured seven bruddahs that are part of a recent wave of bombings and threats against a hippie commune (and rightfully so, the bloody long-haired bastards!). While awaiting a trial, Steve is forced to go on the hunt for a violent islander (Manu Tupou) who is planning on blowing up the courthouse.
Luigi’s Useless Information: Tupou’s cohort is played by Patrick Adiarte, a very talented dancer/singer who appeared in several musicals including the filmed adaptations of Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals The King And I (1956) and Flower Drum Song.
DISC FOUR:
Episode 5.13: “I‘m A Family Crook — Don’t Shoot!”
Directed by Bob Sweeney
Andy Griffith and Joyce Van Patten play a the mother and father of a trio of family con-artists who (along with their daughter, played by Kimberly Louis) vacation in Hawaii for fresh faces and new swindles. When they inadvertently target the carrier of a mob boss, they make off with a suitcase full of cash…and several carloads of bad guys from opposing sides of the mob, including Harold “Odd Job” Sakata (from Goldfinger) as a henchman.
Luigi’s Useless Information: The minister who gets conned out of his car by the duplicitous Lovejoy family is played by Grady Sutton, a man who made a career playing country bumpkins in feature-length movies and two-reelers for over sixty years.
Article comments