Tonight 50 years ago, CBS aired "Death with Father" – S06E19.
Tom Morgan (Peter Strauss) is a chemist who is working with a big-time crime dude. The problem is, he's the son of retired law enforcement officer, Cliff (Andres Duggan).
Tom doesn't care who he hurts or how much damage he causes – as long as he makes lots of money refining heroin and sticks it to his dad. Tom rejects his girlfriend Janice (Luella Costello) leading to her overdose death. He also doesn't care what risks his father takes to get him in the clear.
The crime boss Tom works for is Lee Song (Kwan Hi Lim) who is almost always seen with Luu Se Ngu (Seth Sakai). The two even discuss Tom's motivations in that Tom is hell-bent to make his father look bad.
It all winds up at an isolated cabin where Cliff is wired and given a chance to make a deal with Lee Song. Once McGarrett makes his presence known, Song and Ngu, along with their thugs, walk away. Tom is then alone with his father and he opens a propane tank without Cliff stopping him. Tom hits a striker and the cabin blows up in a creepy manner.
Mr. Mike does a much better job than I. His review is here: https://www.fiveohomepage.com/5-0log6.htm#139
There's a few things about this episode that are interesting. The first one, Leonard Freeman passed away two days before this episode aired. Of course, we're mostly through Season 6 by now, but it was still a shock back in 1974.
Back to the episode, Tom is not a sympathetic character in the least. Every time I watch this show, I just want smack him upside the head! Cliff isn't sympathetic either as he gives McGarrett a lot of grief about Tom. Both men are kidding themselves about life and a lot of other things.
One scene that bugs me is when Danno finds Janice. He tries to give her CPR on the bed. In order to be effective (and based on his training as a police officer), he would have to put her on the floor. I know it's not real, but it still bugs me. It does lead to an excellent scene in the back of the ambulance. From a photography standpoint, it's cool and makes me wonder just how many people they had jammed in there.
The opening sequence also cracks me up due to a police car being on casters and chained. It was supposed to be hit by the truck Tom is driving to get away and "swing aside". The chain broke and caused a bunch of damage after it hit two rented police cars. There were also some off-duty HPD officers in the scene and they had to actually go to the hospital to be checked out! Every time that car rolls, I have to laugh. I can't help it. Thanks to Karen Rhodes and her book Booking Hawaii Five-O for the tidbit on the car!
Happy 50th, "Death with Father"!!
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