"You can't appease violence and brutality. Either you take a stand against it and fight it, or it'll kill you. Now think about it. Think about it while there's still time." - Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett, to a witness who changed his testimony due to pressure from criminals
Hawaii Five-O: The Third Season DVD Review
By Jude Clement
Has the writers' strike got you down? With most series in reruns and network schedules rapidly filling up with dumb "reality" shows and look-alike game shows, many viewers are aching for the return of intelligent TV. No need to worry-just warm up your DVD player and pop in Hawaii Five-O: The Third Season, the 1970-71 season of one of television's greatest cop shows ever.
Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) is the tough leader of the Five-O, a division of the Hawaii State Police. McGarrett's team includes young second-in-command Danny "Danno" Williams (James MacArthur), and natives Chin Ho Kelly (Kam Fong) and Kono Kalakaua (Zulu).
Hawaii Five-O is one of the rare crime shows in which the storylines actually make sense, and the use of obvious red herrings is kept to a minimum. The series is often confident enough to use visuals to tell its stories rather than dialogue. Take "The Ransom," for example. The episode begins with three men driving down the street in a powder blue van. The van pulls up to a swanky mansion. The men stealthily exit the van and scale the home's outside wall until they reach the second floor. As they make their way into the home, the camera drifts over to a window where it discovers a young boy asleep in his bed. Seconds later, the men enter the frame, and the child is abducted. Cue the opening credits. Not a word has been spoken, but we're already hooked.
Several episodes are standouts. Don't miss legendary actor Hume Cronyn as a jaunty thief who toys with McGarrett by leaving Monopoly cards as his signature at crime scenes and dressing in outlandish disguises ("Over Fifty? Steal"). McGarrett is forced to prove a wrongly convicted murderer's innocence when the inmate, in an act of desperation, takes the prison doctor hostage and threatens to kill him ("The Double Wall"). Several criminal masterminds come together to pull off the ultimate jewel heist ("Ten Thousand Diamonds and a Heart").
Again this season we get to see McGarrett's softer side, especially in "Time and Memories." In a flashback, we see McGarrett meet and fall in love with his ex-fiancée. When she is suspected of killing the man she eventually married, McGarrett's feelings for her come rushing back. He even strums the guitar in a fit of melancholy.
Keep an eye out for Gerald S. O'Loughlin (The Rookies), Donald Moffat (Tales of the City), Nancy Wilson, Eric Braeden (The Young and the Restless), Diana Muldaur (L.A. Law), Martin Sheen (The West Wing), Ed Flanders (St. Elsewhere), Peter Bonerz (The Bob Newhart Show), Don Stroud (Mike Hammer), Lloyd Bochner (Dynasty), Joyce Van Patten (Desperate Housewives), Monte Markham (Baywatch), William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show), Joan Van Ark (Knots Landing), Sorrell Booke (The Dukes of Hazzard), Tim O'Connor (Buck Rogers), Vera Miles (Psycho), Gary Collins (Hour Magazine), Pernell Roberts (Trapper John, MD), and Jock Mahoney (Yancy Derringer).
The twenty-four episodes that make up Hawaii Five-O: The Third Season are divided onto six discs. The discs are housed in three slim, clear plastic keepcases, each of which holds two discs. The fronts of the cases include photos of the series' stars. The backs of the cases include titles, brief synopses, and original airdates for each episode. The interiors of the cases include a panoramic photo of Hawaii. The discs feature photos of the cast members. The keepcases slide into a cardboard outer sleeve.
The DVD menus are simple and easy to navigate. Viewers choose individual episodes, but there is no "play all" feature. The episodes are divided into chapters, but there are no scene selection menus.
