Some
comments for the production team behind this week's episode:
1. Good on you for landing Carol Burnett! She turned in a solid performance as the McGarrett's aunt that shows she's still got it. Funny, touching, and still with a lovely voice, she was a good addition to a Five-0 that's been needing something different lately.
2. Bad on you for using her to slip in a plug for marijuana legalization! You almost had me when she couldn't get her medicinal pot so she had to go out and buy some on the street and get arrested. That was clever, you cheeky li'l stinkers! But seriously, who's buying pot on Thanksgiving? Are dispensaries even open on turkey day?
3. And here we come to a problem that's been plaguing the show since the beginning, but more so this season: pacing. You crammed your entire intro full of the cast playing football (prominently featuring the show's newest addition, Chi McBride, to firmly establish the fact we'll be seeing more of him). Then you had a cop plotline featuring the "President" (no name is ever given), a murdered secret service agent, and a professional hitman on the island. Throw in Auntie Burnett's problems in the "personal" plot, and the entire thing felt like they wasted a good "Five-0" plot on an episode that was too full already to shoehorn it in.
4. Oh, and while we're talking, here's something else: it's one thing to have the team announcing their presence by yelling "Five-0" when storming a drug deal or bursting in on a hostage situation. It's another thing entirely to have a woman reassure her daughter, who has just arrived on the island, when she walks in on two men with guns drawn by saying "Oh, honey, it's ok, they're Five-0." Really? Just how good of a cop force are they that everyone knows their name?