Hawaii Five-0 - Ka No'eau - Review : “Valentine’s Change of Heart”

Let’s all take a deep breath together after that episode -- and that ending!

As Hawaii Five-0’s executive producer Peter Lenkov tweeted, “Ending of 504, tonight's ep, is one of the best we've ever done. Career highlight for sure.” He definitely isn’t exaggerating. Before we get to that “whoa” moment and the talent that is Scott Caan, let’s talk the case of the week.

A contract killer (played by Lee Tergesen, who’s no stranger to playing the bad guy -- FYI, he’s ridiculously good at it) named Joseph Stegner (he also goes by the alias Gordon Bristol) working for a Detroit crime family (the Bagosas) comes to Hawaii and is immediately detained at the airport. Upon being questioned for allegedly transporting a weapon, Stegner takes down all of the guards in the TSA holding room with his bare hands. Yeah, it’s a pretty kickass action sequence.

Five-0 catches the case, and soon enough locate Stegner. As they chase him down through a mall and into the street, another hitman kills him, but Steve fires off a few rounds and hits the new suspect. Steve and the others weren’t expecting that, and neither was I. Talk about a turn of events. Also, during the chase, Steve manages to avoid being hit by a police car by jumping onto the hood of the car. It’s one of the best stunts I’ve ever seen Alex O’Loughlin complete.

So, who is this new suspect? He goes by the name of Valentine, because he “doesn’t have a heart.” Apparently, he’s good at making people disappear and has killed over 100 people for the Bagosas. Yes, he’s also working for this big bad crime family. Eventually, Valentine steals an ambulance and gets chased down by Steve and Lou. He doesn’t get far. He passes out due to loss of blood and ends up in the hospital.

When he wakes up, Valentine tells this elaborate fairy tale, according to Lou, about how he’s had a change of heart for his career. Awhile ago, Valentine had heart surgery and received the heart of a very special and decent young man. Ever since then, Valentine’s been hiding the people he’s been hired to kill, rather than murdering them -- he’s formed a type of witness protection community. Well, big boss man Bagosa’s found out and comes to Hawaii to kill Valentine and the innocent people. Of course, Five-0 takes care of business (who else loved that song playing in the background?), saves the community and arrests Bagosa, his men and Valentine.

I guess you could say, Valentine literally had a change of heart.

Now it’s time to discuss the final moments of tonight’s episode, along with Danny’s storyline. So far, Season 5 has been the season of Danny -- and we’ve only seen four episodes. I think that says a lot. The CBS drama hasn’t skimped on the separate character stories, especially when it comes to Danny saving his fugitive brother.

At the beginning of tonight’s episode, Steve walks into Danny’s home, where all of the money he dug up is spread out. Unfortunately, only $13 million is accounted for, meaning Danny still needs $5.5 million to make Marco Reyes’ request of $18.5 million.

Where’s he going to get that moolah? Oh, don’t worry, because Chin goes to his criminal ex-brother-in-law Gabriel. Eventually, Gabriel gives in and offers Chin the $5.5 million if he gets him an immediate transfer to a special holding unit at a high security facility aka he’s sick of being a target at his current jail. This just smells like a bad idea, but Chin tells Danny not to worry about it, because all that matters is getting his brother home.

Steve and Danny head to Colombia with the money in tow and hand it over to Reyes. Well, Danny demands his brother be handed over. Reyes does just that, but it appears Matt is dead and his body is stashed in a barrel. Uh oh. Not good. Before I go any further, what are the possibilities of Matt actually being alive? After all, we don’t see his body. Are we just supposed to believe Reyes? Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t put it past Reyes to kill him and break his deal with Danny, but this is TV. I guess we’ll know for sure next week.

Moving on, Danny is super close to tears (ugh, the heartache) and is pissed. He vows to put Reyes in the ground when he gets a chance. Reyes threatens Gracie and tells him to go home. Well, Reyes' men escort Danny and Steve upstairs, but before Reyes knows it, shots are fired and his men are dead.

Enter Danny and Steve. Danny walks toward Reyes, looks him in the eye, and bam!, shoots him dead. Yes, you read that correctly. Danny killed him. Whoa. I mean, I’m totally on Danny’s side, and Reyes deserved what he got, but Danny essentially murdered a man in cold blood.

Also, let’s take note: Steve is an accomplice/witness to Danny’s “crime.” These two already have such a strong dynamic, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

This is not the Danny from Season 1. Since we first met him, Danny’s never hid that he’s a family man and that he’d go above and beyond for his loved ones. He's always had a good head on his shoulders, and I believe he still does. Now, and after everything he’s been through for the past four seasons, Danny is not messing around -- and I think he’s learned a thing or two from Steve.

This season, Caan’s been given such juicy material and the way he’s delivered Danny is quite impressive, in addition to illustrating Caan’s rich acting abilities. Danny has always had a huge presence on Five-0, but there’s something about this season that is truly showing Danny’s transformation as a cop and a man -- whether that be good or bad.

So far, this season has left me very pleased with each cliffhanger, I’m anxious to see how the rest of the season goes, including that much talked about 100th episode!

What did you think of tonight’s episode and Danny? Sound off in the comments below and let us hear your thoughts!

About the Author - Allyson Koerner

A small screen enthusiast, who considers TV her significant other, Allyson Koerner is an experienced writer living her dream of working in the entertainment news biz. From NCIS to Scandal to Pretty Little Liars to Supernatural to Orphan Black to anything Bravo, Allyson is all about the TV world. Have a question about a show and/or TV actor? Just ask her, especially if it has something to do with Michael Weatherly and/or Mindy Kaling.