“BOOK’EM DANNO!” OLD-SCHOOL MCGARRETT MERC & NEW 5.0 IN “HAWAII FIVE-0" REBOOT



By Hydra
"Hawaii Five-O" . . . make that "Hawaii Five-0" is back.

In a nostalgic homage, the pilot episode (aired September 20, 2010) for this “reboot” of the classic “5.0" franchise returned the names Steve McGarrett, Danny “Danno” Williams, Chin Ho and Kono to the small screen. Also catching the wave was a fairly faithful remix of the original theme music and a brief cameo by a black 1974 Mercury Marquis (not the classic ‘68 McGarrett Merc , but a cheaper insider reference to Steve’s season 7-12 Mercury )
. This was a nice gift to vintage Five-O fans (although I’d almost hoped that the new McGarrett would whip a
back-in-black 2003 Mercury Marauder while “on-the-job.”)

The new McGarrett and Danno are more of a younger, beef-cakey buddy team than their legendary 1960s counterparts.



Alex O’Laughlin is no Jack Lord, but to his credit, he’s doesn’t try to imitate Lord’s McGarrett. O’Laughlin brings sort of a “young James Bond” swagger to the part. Sadly, O’Laughlin’s McGarrett apparently bums his slouchy street threads from Goodwill, not Saville Row And the new McGarrett seems more of a reckless, impulsive, ends-justifies-the-means maverick than the original Five-O group.

Danno makes the scene in a new 5.0 Mustang. The engine sounds alone should entertain many viewers. Yet the 5.0 badge on the iconic Mustang is almost totally ignored in the cinematography, so probably only hard-core Mustangers even noticed it.

Danno and Steve also make the scene with a lot more domestic drama. The original Five-O seldom pried into the private lives of its cops. But apparently today’s CBS focus groups wanted a fair share of “Oprah” melodrama mixed in between frequent shootouts and UFC-style beatdowns. Whether all of that “family filler” will wear well remains to be seen.

But for now, at least there’s a real 5.0 and even a few seconds of a big, black Mercury in "Hawaii Five-0."