I have previously listed this episode as one of my top 10 favorite episodes. However, upon re-watch, I'm not so sure anymore.
The episode was definitely big on eye candy. In addition to the hot female lead, Cindy Amala (Lynette Mettey, who is now 75), there were several shots of young bikini women at the Ilikai. There was even an odd shot of one particular woman (who had no lines, and nothing to do with the plot), whom the camera followed for several seconds as she walked, only to pan over to Ben once she passed him!
There were many similarities to "The Last of the Great Paperhangers", which aired 2 1/2 years later in Season 9. In both episodes, there was no violence (though "One Born" did have an off-camera suicide and a fake shootout near the beginning). In both episodes, McGarrett managed to identify the culprit, but didn't arrest him until caught red-handed. In both episodes, there was an attractive woman involved with the scam, who had an ambiguous relationship with the older ringleader. In both episodes, the ringleader was aware of McGarrett and was concerned about him. In both episodes, the bad guys got busted because they stupidly pulled a scam while they knew McGarrett was watching them.
While the episode showed three victims, most of the focus was on victim #2, Harry Maguire (Michael Strong). The look on Harry's face was priceless when he ran outside and realized he'd been conned.
It wasn't clear why married men were targeted. McGarrett claimed that the men being married made them less likely to tell police when they realized they were cheated, but that wasn't at all what happened in this episode. The first victim told his wife everything, and the second victim's wife was very suspicious the whole way.
It also seemed strange to me that these married men were vulnerable to the scam while on a couples vacation with their wives. What were the wives supposed to be doing while these guys were galavanting everywhere?
It seems to me that a single, rich businessman (or at least one not there with his wife) would have been a better target.
Cindy was supposed to pump potential victims for information, to make sure they could afford to be scammed for 5 figures without freaking out too much. However, she didn't do a very good job of it. The first victim seemed like he was in the poor house after losing $35,000, while the second victim stretched every last dollar to acquire $65,000. (It should be noted, however, that $65,000 in 1975 would be worth about $315,000 today.)
Ringleader Joe Connors contradicted himself at the end of the episode. He had called McGarrett "smart" when describing him to the accomplices, but once McGarrett busted him, Connors seemed exasperated that McGarrett could have outwitted him, calling him a "dumb cop". In reality, McGarrett didn't do anything too clever. He simply found the third victim and planted some money on him to give to Connors!
Connors explained the final scam by saying that McGarrett would be expecting them to all hop a plane off the island, thereby giving them time to pull off one more scam while McGarrett "watches the airport". Ridiculous logic, and indeed Danno and Ben were right there watching the Ilikai as the third scam was taking place.
Dennis Chun (Kam Fong's son, and currently Duke Lukela on the new Five-Zero) supposedly plays an "Attendant". However, there are two parking attendants in the show. One of them is uncredited (and very briefly seen near the beginning, with no lines), while the other is near the end, who warns Cindy that she's being tailed by Ben. While logic would dictate that the Attendant with lines would be the one credit, that person doesn't look at all like 2019 Dennis Chun (even aged 44 years), and also looks a lot older than the 23, which was Chun's age at the time. Is it possible they ended up getting another actor to play the attendant, and credited Chun? Or is it possible that the younger actor briefly seen at the beginning was Chun, and the attendant with lines was uncredited? Very weird.
It's unclear to me why they didn't show Harry jump from the building. Budgetary/time constraints? Or perhaps the Ilikai objected?
Overall, while this was an enjoyable episode, I probably wouldn't put it in my top 10. In fact, I'd probably give it 3.5 stars instead of the 4 I had previously given it.