*** John Chergi's Five-O Review Thread ***

[John Chergi]

JOHN'S REVIEW. THE CASE AGAINST PHILIP CHRISTIE 2.25 Stars ⭐⭐.25 Out Of 4 Stars. This is mostly a Court Room Episode And Scenes at The Philip Christie House 🏡. Philip Christie, an Electronics expert, is accused of killing his wife, Penny, during a party at their house with many co-workers and friends present. Christie with his mastery of mechanical and electronics supposedly utilized his gun and killed Penny and bolted the door from the inside. Escaping after he locked the door 🚪. Why leave the gun in his jacket in the closet? Why not place the gun in Penny's hand to make it look like suicide? Christie is the likely suspect as her husband and finding the weapon in his jacket in the closet. Also, the party participants are downstairs and have their alibi. McGarrett answers his jury summons and is admitted to the 12 member jury.

Ben Wahili admits on the stand that he overheard violent phone arguments at Dorn Electronics while Philip was working in close proximity. A strike against Philip Christie. It would suggest that they had angry and heated arguments with Penny and could have killed her. Vincent Van Dorn the head of Dorn Electronics was positive of Christie. His electronics expertise and academic work. Very highly qualified in his field. Monty Jarvis admits that he loved Penny Christie and was still in love with her. He was there when Philip broke down the door.
McG is the lone holdout 11-1 on the Philip Christie Jury and they later visit the Christie 🏠 house. Scene of the crime. In a re-creation, Roman is theorized by McG to be Penny's killer. She was going to expose their affair which would ruin his future marriage with Shirley Van Dorn. Roman does not refute this as 1 would expect. He is silent and looks downward. Philip Christie is later found Not Guilty. JC

[John Chergi]

JC Top 10 My Personal Unfavorable Episodes Of Classic HFO (1968-1980) .
1. When Does A War End?
2. Dear Enemy
3. Nightmare Road
4. Killer Bee
5. Not That Much Different
6. To Hell With Babe Ruth
7. Voice Of Terror
8. The Gunrunner
9. Try To Die On Time
10. Death Wish On Tantalus Mountain 🏔️
JC

[Mr. Mike]

1. When Does A War End? - Ghastly from beginning to end.
2. Dear Enemy - So complicated, I had to write the whole thing out to understand what it was about.
3. Nightmare Road - Charles Aidman was a dull actor, though I recently saw an episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker where he was a police chief, better than usual performance from him.
4. Killer Bee - Full of geeky medical mumbo-jumbo, other issues, including the names of two characters, but I don't think it was bad.
5. Not That Much Different - There is a gay subtext to this show which I think caused issues because "homosexuals" were already dealt with in The Box.
6. To Hell With Babe Ruth - If they gotten Yuki Shimoda to play the lead character as he did in very similar Hawaiian Eye episode, this would have been much better.
7. Voice Of Terror - Ridiculous revolutionaries, Cal Bellini's ranting speech is a (bad) classic!
8. The Gunrunner - Issues with the script, I had three WHAT?!? outbursts during my review.
9. Try To Die On Time - Very confusing plot, I also had to write it out very slowly to understand it; Louise Sorel is very sexy, though.
10. Death Wish On Tantalus Mountain - Don't understand what is the problem with this one.

[John Chergi]

JC Top 10 Revised Personal Unfavorable Episodes Of Classic HFO 🌊 (1968-1980).
1. When Does A War End?
2. Dear Enemy
3. Killer Bee
4. Why Won't Linda Die?
5. To Hell With Babe Ruth
6. Not That Much Different
7. Voice Of Terror
8. Nightmare Road
9. The Gunrunner
10. A Very Personal Matter.

Had to place Why Won't Linda Die? and A Very Personal Matter on there. A couple Season 11 Episodes. Could not recall the exact name of the episodes yesterday. Should have waited but went ahead. This is the list. A few Season 12 episodes I've never seen. Also a couple from Seasons 8, 9, 10. My guess the HFO fans here on the forum have their own episodes they dislike. JC

[Mr. Mike]

4. Why Won't Linda Die? - Sharon Farrell (over)acts well, but the script is stupid.
10. A Very Personal Matter - Another dumb script, Simone Griffeth's presence is very odd, and McGarrett is full of it.

[John Chergi]

Mr. Mike
Thanks for your replies about the Unfavorable Episodes. I always liked in The Gunrunner...They went to steal the guns. Don't know how they would take the weapons if they have guns in the place to shoot. LOL! I thought Sharon Farrell did a great job with the 2 characters but not much of a script in Why Won't Linda Die? The flight attendant ✈️one was very attractive. I think most agree When Does A War End? is 1 of the worst. Nancy was upbeat and 1 of the good things about it. The ending was 1 of the worst. Muromoto did not tell McGarrett about the William Barker bomber. Muromoto knew about his own World War II past. Would be a War Criminal. Dear Enemy just was a bad episode wasting the talents of Gary Collins & Vera Miles. I did like the part with the rotted stairs. It was creative that the Lawyer thought to make it look like an accident. To Hell With Babe Ruth I liked it on 1st viewing years ago. They tried to show how life changed since he was in the psychiatric facility. He was trying to drive. A few more viewings and his screaming got on my nerves. He was making all that noise and they had those devices listening. LOL! Not That Much Different was just a swing and miss. It has an interesting beginning with the shooting death of Julian. I didn't like all the hostility towards McG by the Peace Group.
JC

[Bobbi]

1. Though The Heavens Fall - where do you want be to begin with the stupidity!!!???
2. Use A Gun, Go To Hell - talk about McGarrett being full of himself!
3. A Bird In Hand ... - again, where would you like me to begin!?
4. When Does A War End? - can't stand this episode. A lot of manipulation for not much.
5. Image Of Fear - boils down to a spoiled brat, really!?
6. Voice Of Terror - yell, yell and more yell. (insert me throwing up here)
7. School Of Assassins - wasn't this covered better in "Tour De Force, Killer Aboard"!?
8. Clash Of Shadows - too convoluted and the execution was just garbage
9. The Kahuna - a lot of to do about nothing! Although Cathy Lee Crosby is a highlight.
10. To Hell With Babe Ruth - Execution was wrong all over the place, including for the reasons Mr. Mike already touched on. This isn't higher on the list because the premise was actually ok. The mis-casting ruined it from the word "go."

Honorable Mentions:

11. Why Won't Linda Die? - Twins!? It was so obvious, I could have taken the 2x4 and hit myself upside the head!
12. Dear Enemy - I couldn't even make myself write the plot out. Mostly because Mr. Mike did it in his review!

[John Chergi]

Bobbi
You are right on The Kahuna Season 12. One of the worst. I should have put that on the list. I probably liked Though The Heavens Fall and A Bird In Hand more than most people. It's a sheer cliff but that didn't stop Nu Epsilon from taking the man. LOL! I thought Del Vecchi was an interesting villain. The dumbest thing in A Bird In Hand is when they pay off the workers instead of killing them. These people would be more of a threat to the operation than the bird watchers. LOL! I liked the young couple and wished they would have stayed alive longer. That Santos could do everything. Drive a Big Rig, Scuba Dive, etc. Voice of Terror Karl's yelling is still ringing my ears. Don't like he struck Officer Dean. Felt bad for her the entire episode. JC

[Mr. Mike]

I know S10E12, Tread The King’s Shadow, is a show that Ringfire really hates. However, I gave it 1½ stars because at least the show is kind of topical with things like teenage pregnancy, generation gap issues, abortion and racism. By this episode, I was beginning to dislike the Governor more and more because he is far too "establishment"!

I don't understand why some people don't like a show because people are mean to McGarrett. Let's face it, if you were a radical type in the '60s, McGarrett was one of the "pigs." This is the attitude of the peaceniks in Not That Much Different, not to mention the wacked-out Karl in Voice of Terror: "We have commandeered your cop car and captured your little girly pig. Now, if any other pig unit bothers us, we'll blow her away." He wants to speak to the "head pig," and the cop standing behind the dispatcher immediately says "Get Five-O."

I also don't like it when people make reference to some actors in Classic H50 because they were on "cultish" shows like the original Star Trek and the James Bond franchise. So what?? I think I may have done the latter once or twice, shame on me!

[John Chergi]

JC Top 50 Classic HFO 🌊 (1968-1980) Episodes Updated. November 9, 2022.
1. Draw Me A Killer
2. The Ninety-Second War Part I
3. Hookman
4. Engaged To Be Buried
5. The Vashon Trilogy I, II, III
6. King Of The Hill
7. Highest Castle, Deepest Grave
8. I'm A Family Crook-Don't Shoot!
9. Honor Is An Unmarked Grave
10. Didn't We Meet At A Murder?
11. Yesterday Died And Tomorrow Won't Be Born
12. Double Exposure
13. All The King's Horses
14. The Singapore File
15. And A Time To Die...
16. Beautiful Screamer
17. The Late John Louisiana
18. To Kill Or Be Killed
19. Nine Dragons
20. The Defector
21. I'll Kill'Em Again
22. A Gun For McGarrett
23. Full Fathom Five
24. Cry, Lie
25. Nightmare In Blue
26. How To Steal A Masterpiece
27. Ten Thousand Diamonds And A Heart
28. Trouble In Mind
29. Yes, My Deadly Daughter
30. The Last Of The Great Paper Hangers
31. One Big Happy Family
32. A Bullet For McGarrett
33. By The Numbers
34. East Wind, Ill Wind
35. Tsunami 🌊
36. The Bells Toll At Noon
37. Savage Sunday
38. Computer Killer 🖥️
39. 6,000 Deadly Tickets
40. Why Wait Until Uncle Kevin Dies?
41. Over Fifty? Steal
42. Samurai
43. The Odd Lot Caper
44. Oldest Profession...Latest Price
45. Death Is A Company Policy
46. Legacy Of Terror
47. The Case Against McGarrett
48. The Flip Side Is Death
49. Assault On The Palace
50. Number One With A Bullet

[Mr. Mike]

I think a top 10 or top 20 would more than have sufficed. There are only 278 episodes, after all!

[Bobbi]

JC -- This is technically 52 because you put three episodes into position #5.

[John Chergi]

JC New Top 10 Classic Hawaii Five-O 🌊.

1. Highest Castle, Deepest Grave
2. Hookman
3. Engaged To Be Buried
4. Draw Me A Killer
5. V For Vashon The Trilogy
6. King Of The Hill
7. Didn't We Meet At A Murder?
8. Why Wait Until Uncle Kevin Dies?
9. Honor Is An Unmarked Grave
10. The Ninety-Second War Part I

Some other FAV Episodes Somewhere Between 11-30.
The Singapore File
All The King's Horses
Murder---Eyes Only
Double Exposure
The Defector
I'm A Family Crook---Don't Shoot!
Nine Dragons
The Late John Louisiana
To Kill Or Be Killed
JC

[John Chergi]

JC New Top 50 Classic Hawaii Five-O 🌊 (1968-1980) Episode List. Updated May 14, 2023.

Going to have another birthday soon and moving closer to 50. Should be a good year or two project. Classic HFO has so many quality episodes. It will be difficult to have a perfect 50 as many will have some episodes ranked higher or lower. Feel free to fire away on the forum. Which episodes should be higher or lower.

1. Highest Castle 🏰, Deepest Grave
2. Engaged To Be Buried
3. Hookman
4. Draw Me A Killer
5. The Vashon Trilogy (Sorry, Bobbi &#128512
6. The Ninety Second War Part I
7. King Of The Hill
8. The Singapore File
9. To Kill Or Be Killed
10. Yesterday Died And Tomorrow Won't Be Born
11. Honor Is An Unmarked Grave 🪦
12. Beautiful Screamer
13. All The King's Horses
14. Double Exposure
15. I'm A Family Crook---Don't Shoot!
16. Didn't We Meet At A Murder?
17. Forty Feet High 🌊 And It Kills!
18. The Late John Louisiana
19. And A Time To Die...
20. The Reunion
21. Why Wait Until Uncle Kevin Dies?
22. Over Fifty? Steal
23. The Defector
24. F.O.B. Honolulu
25. The Double Wall
26. Nightmare In Blue
27. Nine Dragons
28. East Wind, Ill Wind
29. Cry, Lie
30. By The Numbers
31. A Gun For McGarrett
32. Murder---Eyes Only
33. Trouble In Mind
34. The Bells 🔔 Toll At Noon
35. A Bullet For McGarrett
36. The Flip Side Is Death
37. One Big Happy Family
38. The Last Of The Great Paper Hangers
39. How To Steal A Masterpiece
40. Ten Thousand Diamonds 💎 And A Heart ❤️
41. Full Fathom Five
42. Computer 🖥️ Killer
43. Yes, My Deadly Daughter
44. Legacy Of Terror
45. Tsunami 🌊
46. I'll Kill Em Again
47. Number One With A Bullet
48. Oldest Profession...Latest Price
49. Death Is A Company Policy
50. Samurai

JC

[Bobbi]

Still 52 episodes.

[John Chergi]

JC FAV Underrated Classic HFO 🌊 Seasons (1-12 Seasons).

Season 1-By The Numbers-Poor Private Jerry Franklin set up expertly for murder. Beautiful and sexy Anne Helm as Irene. George Barker a menacing character. Excellent ending. Strong Season 1 episode.

Season 2-All The King's Horses-Finney a gruff character but reformed his life with his flowers business. A staged shooting. Finney shot in the courtroom brought before the Committee. Hitman finally completes his mission killing Finney but shot by McG and killed. Excellent episode!

Season 3-The Double Wall 🧱🧱. Interesting prison episode as Kellam hears a death bed confession from the hitman who killed Tom Chaney. Kellam placed in prison for killing his business partner Chaney. Outstanding investigation by HFO team. The carefully crafted frame is stripped away by McG and HFO team. Great episode.

Season 4-Didn't We Meet At A Murder? One of my FAVS as Bonnie Soames, Clem Brown and Wellman are blackmailed into shooting and killing a mobster Mauritany. They alibi each other meeting Mauritany at the hotel and each shooting him. Also, the Lanai Carpet Company Mauritany bid on is investigated by McG & HFO 🌊 team as criminals are using the Carpet's location to drill into Hawaiian Fourth Federal Bank 🏦. Great episode!

Season 5-Chain Of Events-One of the episodes I watched a few winters ago. HFO 🌊 investigates the chain of people with VD and 2 people killed including a VD clinic worker. It leads to Warren running for political office. Enjoyed that you don't know who the killer is until the end. Also, done respectfully.

Season 6-Mother's Deadly Helper. I think it's an excellent episode. A Right Wing type gunman Cord killing those who deserve to stay in prison for their crimes but are released. He then goes after the judges who release these criminals. I think it was Todd that mentioned the writers making MDH going after the judges...The support or sympathy for Cord dissipates or evaporates. Love the Jollyland arcade.

Season 7-6,000 Deadly Tickets. One of my FAVS. Two of my FAV scenes. The left-handed throwing bomber blowing out Ollie's storefront. Excellent scene with the damage from the bomb. Papers and things blowing in the air. Also, the amazing canal chase scene with McG trying to stop the criminal from going out to the ocean.

Season 8-The Defector. I'm a big fan of Season 8. This The Defector is a very strong episode from start to finish. Great back and forth from McG and the scientist Dr. Ormsbee. Good writing on Chang whether he is Chang or an Impostor.

Season 9-Yes, My Deadly Daughter. Plenty of action in this episode. Wu Chings Gang plans and executes with precision taking the money 💰 from secret 🚁 arrival and leaving nobody alive. Jerry the leader of the Wu Chings is later double-crossed by his girlfriend and killed by Varna. A FAV episode of mine.

Season 10-Shake Hands With The Man On The Moon
Season 11-Death Mask
Season 12-A Shallow Grave

JC Question Of The Day June 7, 2023. When Does A War End?
JC

[ringfire211]

JC Question Of The Day June 7, 2023. When Does A War End?
JC

The war in Ukraine 🇺🇦? Good question. Praying for all the senseless killing to come to an end and for the Russian orcs to be expelled from the land once and for all!!

[John Chergi]

10 Classic Hawaii Five-O 🌊 Episodes (1968-1980) That Have Moved Up The Top 50 Rankings After Multiple Watches.

1. All The King's Horses 🐎
2. Honor Is An Unmarked Grave 🪦
3. The Singapore File
4. To Kill Or Be Killed
5. The Defector
6. Yesterday Died And Tomorrow Won't Be Born
7. Draw Me A Killer
8. Beautiful Screamer
9. Legacy Of Terror
10. F.O.B. Honolulu
JC

[John Chergi]

THE CASE AGAINST MCGARRETT REVEW (Season 8 Season) 3 Stars ⭐⭐⭐ Out Of 4 Stars ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐.

In The Case Against McGarrett, HFO 🌊 leader Steve McGarrett meets face to face again with intelligent and wealthy criminal Honore Vashon at his parole board meeting. McG and the HFO 🌊 team's strong investigative work helped convict Honore Vashon in court for 10 years. Honore had conspired to murder McGarrett through utilizing the services of a hitman Dylan. The hitman had rented a room across from HFO 🌊 headquarters with a direct view 🪟 into McG's office. Through outstanding detective work, McG and the HFO team learned of Dylan's rented room and waited for Dylan to take a shot at McG. They created a diversion using a Dial A Girl service. An attractive female cop posing as a call girl asked if he was interested. In the meantime, HFO team switched the real McGarrett sitting in position with a dummy head. Dylan closed the door 🚪 and took his position at the window 🪟. His aim and shot was true into the dummy head. Dylan had been caught red-handed. His testimony that Honore Vashon paid him to kill McGarrett was powerful testimony. Honore was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

It's now over 3 years later and Honore Vashon is up for parole. He's been imprisoned for trying to have McGarrett murdered. Vashon's quick parole is very strange as McGarrett is a very dedicated and respected law enforcement member. Parole in 3 years is too fast I believe. Anyway, McG finds out from Detective Danny Williams HFO 🌊 reading a front page newspaper that Vashon is up for parole. McG finds out calling the warden he has only a week before Vashon's Parole Hearing. McG & the HFO 🌊 team investigate on the streets that Vashon is still running his illegal operations from behind prison walls. McG presents this recent information to the parole board with Honore present. Honore is not happy about this situation and the parole board decides that parole will not be granted.

Honore Vashon cooks up a plan to escape from prison and placing McG on trial by kidnapping a delegation visiting the prison. He enlists the help of inmates Tasai and Saito to help in the plan. When bringing in a prison cooked meal to the delegation, the kitchen working inmates draw knives and guns catching the guards off guard. Honore is the leader and the delegation is held hostage including the warden. McG quickly arrives at the prison. He talks with Assistant Warden Geddison outside the prison about the hostage area room and a plan of action. McGarrett agrees to Honore's demands exchanging all the hostages for himself. McG is expertly bugged so HFO and HPD can monitor the conversations inside. Honore watches from his window 🪟 as McG unloads his gun showing good faith. McG's escape to a door 🚪 inside the room is stymied as Tasai was ready waiting. The hostages walk briskly down the stairs and are safe. Now McG is placed on trial by Honore for the death of his son Chris Vashon. His 21 year old son. The prisoners will listen to the trial and then vote on McG "GUILTY" or "NOT GUILTY".

Honore presents his case why McG is Guilty and McG then gives his defense. The prisoners listen to each of the men. There is good back and forth as McG defends his actions and answering every Vashon point. Valuable time is wasted with Vashon's trial. Danno and Sgt Noble devise a rescue team to rescue McG. Earlier, McG had tapped a Morse code "VENT". They decide to break into 2 teams manuevering through the vents and then breaking into the room. Entering through the skylight, they drop down out of sight and are ready to rescue McG. The prisoners still have not voted when McG's rescue team arrives and expertly takes down the prisoners. McG is whisked away and the prisoners cough and choke from the gas released into the room. It's a close shave 🪒 for McG as Honore had every intention of killing McGarrett.

A Case For McGarrett is a solid episode but probably the weakest of the 4 Vashon Family episodes. Honore Vashon receiving parole after 3 years seems very quick after trying to murder McGarrett through the hitman. Also, Honore's intense anger and hatred for McG became his undoing. He wasted valuable time through the trial allowing the rescue team to save McG. I would have liked to see the prisoners vote but the rescue team arrived before it could be done. Saito and Tasai I enjoyed their performances. Solid 3 Stars ⭐⭐ ⭐ episode. JC

[John Chergi]

JC Classic Hawaii Five-O 🌊 Review. Season 3 To Kill Or Be Killed 4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Out Of 4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐.

To Kill Or Be Killed is an emotional and powerful episode during the Vietnam War time. An exemplary episode in my opinion. In To Kill Or Be Killed, Lt. Jack Rigney (Peter Jason) is found dead under mysterious circumstances. He either slipped accidentally over the railing (Accident) or was pushed off his apartment balcony (Murder). A possible Suicide also has to be explored. Jack is the son of decorated and respected Army Officer Brigadier General Earl Rigney (John Anderson). Mr. Rigney has to identify Jack's body at the morgue and answer some questions from McGarrett. Mr. Rigney also has a younger son Michael (Michael Anderson Jr.). He has been drafted into the military and will soon be inducted. Unlike his brother and father, Michael does not want to be in the military. He wants to avoid going to Vietnam and has a few options. Fleeing to Canada or most likely jail time for not being inducted. McG and the HFO 🌊 team have to unravel the mystery of Jack's death.

McG and the HFO 🌊 team investigate finding that Michael Rigney was at Jack Rigney's apartment shortly before he died. Another mysterious man also quickly departed from the scene. Leaving 1 of the apartments. He is later discovered to be Alan Croyden military intelligence through Fingerprint Analysis. Some sophisticated listening equipment has been utilized. This only deepens the mystery. Michael learns he is a suspect in the death of his brother Jack and he's under pressure. He soon will be inducted into the military and doesn't want to go to Vietnam. His girlfriend, Gail Howard (Joy Bang), raises some money around the college to help them with the situation. She is very devoted and an incredible girlfriend to have. They will go to a safe house and then eventually reach Canada. Danno goes undercover as an older AWOL military member at the safe house. Soon, the authorities arrive and the occupants in the safe house are rounded up.

Brigadier General Rigney is a grieving father and desperately wants the truth on how his son Jack died. Who could have killed him. It's even more troubling that his younger son Michael could possibly be involved. As the investigation continues, McGarrett & Rigney are stymied by the Army
and Officer Franklin. He cannot discuss what has been discovered by the military intelligence. Officer Rigney utilizes his rank and connections asking someone in Washington DC for assistance. Later, the final minutes of Lt. Jack Rigney's life are revealed in a room with McGarrett, Michael, Gail, Nancy Rigney (The Mother), Col. Franklin, and B.G. Earl Rigney present listening. Michael arrives just in time to prevent Jack from committing suicide by killing himself at the apartment. Michael takes possession of the weapon and Jack is very emotional about the horrors of war. The horrible killings he participated in and things have taken a psychological toll. Jack needs to talk to a doctor and he agrees to meet with one the next day. Soon after Michael leaves, Jack walks out the sliding doors and onto the balcony. He then commits suicide jumping over the balcony and landing on the pavement below. It's a very emotional room. Mr. Rigney then realizes that Michael won't be inducted into the military. He will have to go to jail if that's the consequences.

To Kill Or Be Killed definitely is an exemplary episode. Excellent acting and writing. I believe that it is a Top 10 episode Classic HFO 🌊. Very high praise. There are so many outstanding episodes in the Series. I think this could be viewed as an Anti-War episode. Jack Rigney committing suicide jumping off the balcony and expressing the horrors of war...Also, Michael Rigney's refusal to be inducted into the military and risking jail time. It makes one think about the physical and psychological cost of war. JC