Of the 4 Vashon episodes, I rank them as follows:
1. The Son - (4 out of 4 stars) my favorite chapter, largely because of the excellent interplay between the 3 Vashon male actors, and the brilliant setup they established with the crime family and McGarrett’s pursuit. Plus that ending is so perfect: “McGarrett DIES!”
2. The Father - (4 out of 4) Don Knight almost stole this one away from Harold Gould, excellent follow-up to the first chapter, extremely tense! The scenes between Lord and Gould really crackled.
3. The Patriarch - (3.5 out of 4) The frame up gimmick was a great idea, but didn’t pack the same punch as the first 2 chapters. Luther Adler was great once again, but didn’t have the son and grandson to play off of as he did previously. Very dramatic ending though!
4. The Case Against McGarrett (3 out of 4) - very talky, more routine, but still enjoyable follow-up punctuated with great moments between Gould and Lord. The “verdict” at the end is rather absurd, though. I’m going to call bullshit on this notion of “honor among thieves”....just didn’t seem authentic given that Vashon was powerful and running things inside the prison (he just had an inmate executed earlier in the episode), and that McGarrett put many of them in there.
Would have loved a 5th chapter in season 12, wherein we learn Honore had died in prison, and the oldest daughter in the family (maybe age 21 by now) marries a top lieutenant in the Kumu mob, a power move that unites the mafia with the Vashon family. She helps her husband rise to power with an attempt to take out Alika from within their own ranks and seize control of the leadership. I envision this as a Lady Macbeth type of story wherein she would then ultimately have her new husband killed at the very end in a shocking plot twist as she herself seizes control (her ultimate plan all along), with McGarrett unable to get a shred of evidence against her, and the Vashon family now in control of the Kumu. The final scene would also reveal that she’s pregnant...and it’s a boy...a potential heir to the throne some day. Obviously this episode would have to be titled “V for Vashon: The Daughter”. Could have made a great episode coming near the end of the series’ run.
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