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Keywords
In response to "how can you categorize certain shows," i.e., a caper show, a heist show, a show where the lead character is a psycho, etc., I am proposing an "anal-ysis" of shows by "keywords." I quickly threw together something for season one as follows. Do you have more suggestions as per the following?
SEASON ONE
001 Full fathom five - confidence man, serial killer, widows
002 Strangers in our own land - development in Honolulu, assassination, "Hawaiian"
003 Tiger by the tail - kidnapping (goes sideways), estranged family
004 Samurai - mob boss, World War II/Japan, faked death
005 ....And they painted daisies on his coffin - police shooting, internal affairs, "Danno has a life"
006 Twenty-four karat kill - gold smuggling, undercover operative, "bookem"
007 The ways of love - jewel robbery, McGarrett undercover
008 No blue skies - cat burglar, lounge singer, music business
009 By the numbers - Vietnam/military, gang rivalry, gambling debt
010 Yesterday died and tomorrow won't be born - military, revenge against McGarrett
011 Deathwatch - mob boss, spilling the beans, witness protection
012 Pray love remember, pray love remember - murder, unjustly accused, developmentally challenged
013 King of the hill - Vietnam/military, Danno in peril, hospital
014 Up tight - drugs, hippies (not really ... but), concerned parents
015 Face of the dragon - espionage, Red Chinese agent, Vietnam/military
016 The box - prison, hostages, McGarrett in peril
017 One for the money - serial killer, psycho, family relations
018 Along came Joey - boxing/corruption, cop bends the rules
019 & 020 Once upon a time - "McGarrett has a life," family, Los Angeles, quack doctor
021 Not that much different - Vietnam/military, hippies, underground newspaper, gay relationship
022 Six kilos - heroin, robbery, caper, McGarrett undercover
023 The big kahuna - senior citizen is duped, family relations, "Hawaiian"
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What’s the difference between caper and heist?
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If you search Google for "caper vs. heist" (without the quote marks) you will find lots of pages discussing this, from dictionary sites like m-w.com on down. Several sites suggest there is little or no difference between the two, some go off on a tangent and define "caper" as having nothing to do with criminality.
Probably the most relevant definition for our purposes comes from the TV Tropes site:
When the crime is a robbery, the plot is called a "heist." The Caper is more action-oriented than The Con. It often revolves around a brilliant Gentleman Thief who Just Got Out of Jail hoping to do One Last Job, usually by Putting the Band Back Together (in comedies, a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits).
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I always think of a caper as something smaller and more innocent than a heist. The Filer episodes come to mind. I think of a caper as something a bit humorous and non-violent. A heist can be quite violent, as in the movie HEAT.
That’s just how I see it.