Hawaii Five-0 – Popilikia

• Title: Hawaii Five-0 – Popilikia
• tv.com: link

The Five-0 Task Force is called into investigate the complicated and expertly planned murder of a decapitated polo player (Robbie Amell) which was foretold by a local fortune-teller (Bai Ling). McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) is shocked when his missing mother (Christine Lahti) turns up unannounced in his kitchen to make him breakfast with news that she plans to move back home.

Kono (Grace Park) talks with the victim’s girlfriend (Arielle Kebbel) which leads Kono and Danny (Scott Caan) back to the psychic who gives them a lead in the case and amuses Kono, who is surprised to learn that Danny believes in psychics. McGarrett and Danny head to the Hawaii Polo Club to arrest a horse doper who was paying the victim to keep quiet but isn’t responsible for the murder. McGarrett’s attempt to send Chin (Daniel Dae Kim) to watch over his mother doesn’t go exactly as planned as she, as he puts it, “saw me coming a mile away.”

A boot print near the trap laid for the victim leads the task force to talk with the owner of the Diamondhead Club (Jere Burns) and son (Guy Wilson) who was the intended victim, and the trap with the garrote wire wasn’t their last attempt as a car explosion puts both the young man and his mother in the hospital. McGarrett and Danny track down the recently released kidnapper who spent years in jail for attempting to ransom the boy years ago, but although he was responsible for planting the bomb he wasn’t the brains (or money) behind the attack.

The discovery of a link between the bomb victim and the headless horseman gives the team an entirely new line of investigation to bring the killer to justice but not before he claims another victim. Meanwhile, the true purpose behind the return of McGarrett’s mother is revealed when she recovers film from a hidden lockbox hidden in the McGarrett family home. Although McGarrett doesn’t discover what his mother is really up to, he does finally confront her about Wo Fat’s (Mark Dacascos) escape and is unable to believe her version of events that allowed the killer to escape.

I guessed the true killer, and the episode’s twist, fairly early, but the story still plays out well enough. Although she’s not a member of the task force the episode also manages to work new series regular Catherine (Michelle Borth) into the story without forcing the issue too much. My favorite moment, however, was the fortune teller mistaking Danny and Kono for a couple, a pairing I’ve long thought the show should explore. As to the truth about Wo Fat and McGarrett’s mother, I’m guessing we’ll have to wait quite awhile before we get any real answers.