Death with Father 50 years ago

Tonight 50 years ago, CBS aired "Death with Father" – S06E19.

Tom Morgan (Peter Strauss) is a chemist who is working with a big-time crime dude. The problem is, he's the son of retired law enforcement officer, Cliff (Andres Duggan).

Tom doesn't care who he hurts or how much damage he causes – as long as he makes lots of money refining heroin and sticks it to his dad. Tom rejects his girlfriend Janice (Luella Costello) leading to her overdose death. He also doesn't care what risks his father takes to get him in the clear.

The crime boss Tom works for is Lee Song (Kwan Hi Lim) who is almost always seen with Luu Se Ngu (Seth Sakai). The two even discuss Tom's motivations in that Tom is hell-bent to make his father look bad.

It all winds up at an isolated cabin where Cliff is wired and given a chance to make a deal with Lee Song. Once McGarrett makes his presence known, Song and Ngu, along with their thugs, walk away. Tom is then alone with his father and he opens a propane tank without Cliff stopping him. Tom hits a striker and the cabin blows up in a creepy manner.

Mr. Mike does a much better job than I. His review is here: https://www.fiveohomepage.com/5-0log6.htm#139

There's a few things about this episode that are interesting. The first one, Leonard Freeman passed away two days before this episode aired. Of course, we're mostly through Season 6 by now, but it was still a shock back in 1974.

Back to the episode, Tom is not a sympathetic character in the least. Every time I watch this show, I just want smack him upside the head! Cliff isn't sympathetic either as he gives McGarrett a lot of grief about Tom. Both men are kidding themselves about life and a lot of other things.

One scene that bugs me is when Danno finds Janice. He tries to give her CPR on the bed. In order to be effective (and based on his training as a police officer), he would have to put her on the floor. I know it's not real, but it still bugs me. It does lead to an excellent scene in the back of the ambulance. From a photography standpoint, it's cool and makes me wonder just how many people they had jammed in there.

The opening sequence also cracks me up due to a police car being on casters and chained. It was supposed to be hit by the truck Tom is driving to get away and "swing aside". The chain broke and caused a bunch of damage after it hit two rented police cars. There were also some off-duty HPD officers in the scene and they had to actually go to the hospital to be checked out! Every time that car rolls, I have to laugh. I can't help it. Thanks to Karen Rhodes and her book Booking Hawaii Five-O for the tidbit on the car! :)

Happy 50th, "Death with Father"!! :cool:

I rewatched the scene at the beginning where Tom in the truck rams the police car blocking the road. I see the police car getting rammed and spinning around and I see the piece of chain in the back (attached to the bumper?) but I don’t see any casters. The car has regular wheels from what I see. Also what was that chain supposed to do? Was it attached to something? I don’t see the car being chained to anything. Was that chain supposed to stop the car from spinning and rolling away? Lol. I don’t see how that little chain would make any difference.

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Originally Posted by ringfire211

I rewatched the scene at the beginning where Tom in the truck rams the police car blocking the road. I see the police car getting rammed and spinning around and I see the piece of chain in the back (attached to the bumper?) but I don’t see any casters. The car has regular wheels from what I see. Also what was that chain supposed to do? Was it attached to something? I don’t see the car being chained to anything. Was that chain supposed to stop the car from spinning and rolling away? Lol. I don’t see how that little chain would make any difference.

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Yes, that chain was supposed to keep the car from careening away. It was only supposed to swing and not roll away. I think the casters were up under the car where they couldn't be seen easily. They were there to allow the car to roll freer than if the car was only on its own tires.

I don't see where the chain would have made any difference either! :p

All this talk of the car on casters - now you guys have me needing to pull up this episode to see what you're referring to!!

LOL I just checked that scene again and as soon as the car spins around after getting hit I think I see what looks like casters just to the inside of the front driver side wheel. You can see it if you freeze it at just the right time. Though the car when stationary doesn’t particularly look like it’s raised. Still looks like it’s standing on its own wheels. So I don’t know how much those casters helped spin it around. But maybe they did.

As for the chain on the rear bumper I still can’t make sense what the other end could be attached to. The rear bumper is obscured by a small bush and I just can’t see what it could have been attached to. An anvil behind the bush? Lol. There just isn’t anything big enough there to attach that chain to from the bumper.

Season 6 Death With Father Three Stars ⭐⭐⭐ Out Of 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stars.

Another solid Season 6 episode. I'm a big Peter Strauss FAN and it earns 1/2 star out of the gate. Strauss does effective work portraying Tom Morgan. A motorcycle riding chemist and chemistry student who works for a crime syndicate man Lee Song. His retired police officer father Cliff is a very forceful and powerful figure in his life. Even in adulthood. Tom escapes capture somehow during a police raid of a meth type drug lab at the beginning of the episode. Cliff later finds out of Tom's involvement and is very angry confronting his son. Bobbi brings up a good point about Tom's girlfriend's overdose death. I always believed Tom killed Janice with the pills so I value her opinion. Time runs out for Tom and Cliff in an isolated house where Cliff's deal with Lee Song can
not be finalized. HFO awaiting outside. Tom decides to commit suicide taking his father Cliff with him. He has the striker lighting the open propane tank. It's a shocking and incredible explosion. A mushroom cloud in the sky. Similar to a nuclear explosion. One of the most incredible endings in the HFO series. I believe this is 1 of the early Jack Lord directed episode and he will continue to assume even more responsibilities with Leonard Freeman's death. Waiting to be born still a few more months to go. JC