Death Is A Company Policy at 50!

Sorry for the late post, busy day here. Note to Todd: if you feel this needs to be combined with the other thread, feel free. :)

Tonight, CBS aired "Death Is A Company Policy" to open Five-O's fifth season. There's some changes right off the bat - namely Ben Kokua (Al Harrington) and a more prominent Duke (Herman Wedemeyer). Five-O has received an interesting letter pointing them to evidence to nail criminal Piro Manoa (Michael Ansara). Not only has this oily creep done away with his competition in Johnny Resko (Harry Williams), but somehow all the evidence is literally blown up. The gun in the safe? The place has been tossed and the safe literally blown apart with no gun inside. The beach house? Up in flames prior to Chin's and and other officer's arrival. The witness? Conveniently found by McGarrett and HPD hung in her apartment. It's as if someone is one step ahead. It's not a position we're used to seeing the team in.

Due to the nature of the handling of the letter, it leaves a single conclusion - there's a leak either in Five-O or the DA's office. Each agency investigates the other. While a false trail is set to discredit Duke, it eventually comes down to Chris Lahani (George Chakiris) - an attorney working for Manicote (Glenn Cannon).

It boils down to a big meet that turns into a big massacre with Manoa and Lahani killed along with Manoa's henchmen. The assassins in the helicopter? Yeah, McGarrett and Danno take them down before they can escape. :)

Mr. Mike's write-up is here: https://www.fiveohomepage.com/5-0log5.htm#97

This episode isn't one of my favorites but it has some good points. :)

First, we learn a little bit about Ben - he grew up in a neighborhood of fishermen, like Lahani. It's too bad that relationship wasn't explored a bit more - high school buddies taking different paths in law enforcement. Ben does try to get Angela (Jo Pruden) to open up about her boyfriend Runny Grose (Richard Morrison) after he gets whacked by Manoa. So we get some insight about how Ben operates and it's great to flesh out the character.

The whole Bryce-Halsey thing in this episode could have been handled better. An uber organization of criminals that get their claws into someone so they can stay one step ahead. It would have been nice to have a tighter connection shown between the organization and Ms. Simpson (Laraine Stephens) who was obviously pulling the strings in Honolulu.

I did enjoy the fact that Duke was cleared and he received his badge back. In the story, we do discover Duke has a niece with a child out of wedlock and they live on the Big Island. So, yet another tidbit in the lore of Five-O. :)

Happy 50th, Death Is A Company Policy!! :cool:

Thanks for starting the Anniversary year posts Bobbi. It's great to go through the episodes and remember.
DEATH IS A COMPANY ⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars out of 4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ is a very creative and intelligent episode. It's a strong start to Season 5. Piro Manoa double-crosses an old friend Johnny Resko shooting him during a clever embrace. Resko is later placed in a barrel and disposed of Full Fathom Five style. Resko was preparing for a double-cross and friends of him send a letter on Resko's behalf to HFO. In the letter, Resko proves Piro Manoa's involvement in the 1968 Murder of Anna Royoto 3 ways. 1) The Murder Weapon-Manoa's gun stored in a safe at Resko's apartment. 2) A Tape 📼-Anna begging for her life to Manoa. Hidden in Resko's brother's beach house. 3)A Witness-Sylvia Chang. She was hiding in another room when Manoa killed Royoto.
The contents of the letter ✉️ are obviously leaked by a member of the HFO staff or the DA's office. When the simultaneous raid of the 3 places are conducted, the evidence against Manoa is stolen from the safe (Gun), the beach house is set ablaze 🔥 in an intense fire (Tape 📼 destroyed), and the witness Sylvia Chang is found hanging dead.

It's an incredible setback in having Manoa arrested for murdering Anna. The decision...The HFO members and DA Office members investigate each other. During this process, Duke is set up by Bryce-Halsey and made to look like the guilty party. Duke had invested $80,000 total over a few years with Sand N' Surf Condominiums. They also had forged Duke's signature convincingly making it look like he signed checks. Bryce-Halsey 🚁 was also a major share holder but based out of Switzerland. Tough to get information. McGarrett and the team find a possible in Chris Lahani. Young Attorney on Manicote's team. He grew up poor in Hawaii with Ben but somehow ended up going to Harvard. McG's theorizes that high level syndicate members had a meeting to find bright students who came from poorer backgrounds like Chris. Paying for their tuition, clothes, car, apartment etc in exchange for these graduates (lawyers) repaying their favor helping the Syndicate. Like McG says, they have their soul. McG puts Chris through a clever test which both sign off to see if Chris Lahani is the one who leaked the information.

JC Question Of The Day
In Death Is A Company Policy, Johnny Resko has a letter ✉️ prepared detailing Piro Manoa's involvement in a woman's murder. Do you believe you would have had the foresight and intelligence like Resko to create such a letter before meeting Manoa? JC

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Chergi

JC Question Of The Day
In Death Is A Company Policy, Johnny Resko has a letter ✉️ prepared detailing Piro Manoa's involvement in a woman's murder. Do you believe you would have had the foresight and intelligence like Resko to create such a letter before meeting Manoa? JC

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I would certainly be smarter than Resko by not going to meet with Manoa in the first place! Lol.

Self preservation. Forget about a “letter from the grave”. I just want to live :)