- Title: Hawaii Five-0 – Ike Hanau
- wiki: link
Although other characters appear throughout the episode, including a B-story involving Danny (Scott Caan) and Mindy (Amanda Setton) stuck in an elevator which works as a callback to his claustrophobia introduced earlier in the series, “Ike Hanau” is mainly a Grover (Chi McBride) episode as the newest member of Five-0 is forced to question his oldest friend (Mykelti Williamson) whose wife (Kim Wayans) dies in an apparent accident while the pair were visiting the islands during their 20th wedding anniversary. Despite not having a single piece of evidence that points to a homicide rather than an accidental death Grover can’t help the nagging suspicion that his old partner pushed his wife off a cliff.
McBride gets more to do here than in any episode since the kidnapping of his daughter. Centering on a cop trusting his hunch more than physical evidence, Grover is ultimately rewarded when he discovers a motive for the crime along with pieces of his old partner’s story that simply don’t add up. Personally the episode would have been more interesting if Grover had been proven wrong about his suspicions, or if those suspicions could never be proved, laying the foundation of a longer story arc dealing with the detective’s introspecition of falsely accusing his best friend of murder.
The B-story offers fans of the show a little more time with Mindy, Max’s new medical assistant, while creating a situation where her medical knowledge could be used to help Danny through an anxiety attack. Starting the autoposy on the elevator not only gets the detective’s mind off the situation but also showcases Danny’s knowledge of forensics as the pair work well together in less than ideal circumstances to find a killer. Setton and Caan have good chemistry on-screen; had the show not so recently given Danny a new love interest it might be interesting to see the two together (since it seems it has no interest in pursuing the Mindy/Jerry romance teased earlier this season).
