Imagine it's September 1973, and you're settling in for the 6th season of your favorite show, Hawaii Five-O.

First you see "Hookman". The next week, another great episode in "Draw Me a Killer". The following week, it's "Charter For Death". You even get a touch of humor the next week, from the memorable "One Big Happy Family".

No Five-O season had a better start.

Did it hold up? Sort of, but not really.

"The Sunday Torch", "Murder is a Taxing Affair", "Tricks Are Not Treats", and "Why Wait Until Uncle Kevin Dies?" were the next four. They weren't bad episodes, but they weren't very memorable, either.

Most of the rest of season 6 followed this mediocrity, but then things picked up again in January 1974, with "One Born Every Minute" and "Secret Witness", and February featured "Nightmare in Blue" and "Mother's Deadly Helper" -- both excellent episodes. Two mediocre episodes then concluded the season.

But ignoring the final two episodes, Season 6 was like a sandwich, with high quality episodes binding each end of it, and a lot of mediocrity in between.