50 years ago tonight, CBS aired S07E07 “We Hang Our Own”.
This is an excellent episode! For one, there are some familiar faces in this episode besides the Five-O stock players.
Leslie Nielsen plays ‘Colonel’ Farraday who is more like “an emperor.” Nielsen is fantastic in this dramatic role. His son Cam (a young Bruce Boxleitner) returns to the Big Island after his college years. Cam is supposed to takeover the large ranch operations from his father. Yeah, not so fast.
Perry King plays Jay Farraday who picks up Cam from the airport via the back way. I’ll get to that later.
The pair stop at a local bar on the way home where Cam wants to pick up where he left off with his old girlfriend Carmen (Elissa Dulce). The only problem is that she’s now married to Larry (Gerry Waialae) who is very jealous of Cam. Larry and Cam fight behind the bar where Larry knocks Cam to the ground.
Things get interesting quick as Cam is found dead! Of course, the Colonel immediately blames Larry and is ticked off every which way when the judge finds the charges only justify manslaughter. The Colonel wants Larry to be charged with murder.
Five-O has been called in for backup but even Danno and Chin think this is above them. They call in McGarrett. The interactions between the two bulls – McGarrett and The Colonel – are fun to watch.
As Five-O investigates, the Colonel’s punks kidnap Larry to mete out their own justice. Meanwhile, Carmen tells them that Cam was alive after she and Larry left him. When it’s all said and done, Larry is rescued from the Colonel. On top of that, Jay is the actual killer! Oops! Plus, the Colonel is arrested for kidnapping too. It does not end well for the Farradays!
Mr. Mike has a great review here: https://www.fiveohomepage.com/5-0log7.htm#151
Leslie Nielsen is best known for the “Naked Gun” movies and other comedies. He has great range here in this dramatic role. I’ve always been a fan of his.
Perry King later went on to star in a short-lived series in the 1980s, which I loved, called “Riptide.” It had the big pink helicopter and was one of the shows that showed Vietnam vets moving on with their lives – 2 buddies became private investigators in LA. It was quirky and fun until NBC wrecked it (big surprise!).
Bruce Boxleitner went on to star in (I think) the later episodes of “Babylon 5”. I might be wrong about the timing but I know he was in that show. This is also not his only guest appearance on “Five-O” – he guested two to three times on this show.
As far as that back way to the airport, yeah good luck trying to do that now! Granted this was 50 years ago and the Big Island but still. That seems weird that Jay could just drive up to the fence and open the gate. Real secure there, guys!
Speaking of the Big Island, this is where this episode was filmed. It’s beautiful! The Parker Ranch is obviously used for the filming in some places but do they get a thanks? I can’t remember.
In the meantime, Happy 50th, “We Hang Our Own”!!