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!!