HC Reviews

Hawaii

It's time for the new Fall Season on US television and I am the biggest television junkie there is (I make up a schedule for my living room and bedroom taping of shows), so I thought I'd review one of the shows that I've seen so far.

NBC, in a very smart programming move, debuted its Fall Season a week early. This meant that the viewing public was treated to the premieres of Joey (can I handle a whole season of "how you doin'?"), the second season of The Apprentice ("I'm crazy about crustaceans!"), and Medical Investigations (a veritable who's who of Hey! It's That Guy/Girl!"). But since I usually try to give a show a 3 episode viewing before deciding to trash it or keep it on the taping schedule, I can't review those. I can, however, tell you all about the new cop drama, Hawaii, since NBC has aired 3 episodes of this show already.

I hadn't really heard anything about this show until Susan and I went to Chicago. The plane was showing NBC coverage of stuff after the movies so we got a full preview of all the new shows on NBC. I was intrigued by this show because it's got Michael Biehn (Terminator, The Abyss, The Rock). If I like an actor, I tend to watch anything that person is in, even if the movie is crappy (The Seventh Sign, Jade, Cherry Falls ringing any bells there, Michael?).
Unfortunately, after 3 viewings, not even my like of Michael Biehn or the other talented actors makes me want to stick with this show. The show is full of clichés and sterotypes, all set against the backdrop of the lush tropicalness that is Hawaii.

You know what? I'm betting Hawaii doens't look like that all the time. It's just like how Hollywood portrays California: sunny all the time (except when they need it to rain) and everyone hangs out at the beach.

The show centers on two sets of detectives in the Honolulu Metro Police Department. Sean Harrison (Biehn) is the seasoned detective who's divorced with a young son and has secrets in his past. His partner, John Declan (played by Sharif Atkins, late of ER fame) is a young Chicago transplant (get it? Chicago? ER?) who's trying to adjust to the surroundings.
The other younger set of detectives (although they're probably around the same age as Declan) are comprised of Danny Edwards (played by Ivan Sergei, whose resumé shows a long list of 1 season tv shows, which doesn't bode well for this series) and Chistopher Gains (played by Eric Balfour, of Six Feet Under [which I won't hold against him because he was also in Kids, Incorporated]). Edwards is a loose cannon, mouthing off to just about anyone, and a ladies man. Gains is the local boy done good, who tries to keep his brash partner from going off half cocked.
Throw in a hot female cop named Linh (Aya Sumika) to create a love triangle with 2 of the younger detectives, a portly class clown cop named Kaleo (Peter Navy Tuiasosopo), and a hardened, gruff-on-the-outside-but-lovable-on-the-inside police captain, Terry Harada (played by Mortal Kombat's Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa to bust the balls of the younger detectives and you've got yourself a clichéd cast of characters.

The storylines aren't much better. Car jackers, drugged stuffed fish, severed heads in dufflebags, and serial killers have all been done before and better. Admittedly, the scene where Declan jumps off a dock to catch a car jacker only to fall into the water and have to be rescued by the offender because Declan can't swim was funny but it was one good scene in a hour's worth of scenes. I usually don't see the twists or the ends of storylines coming but these are so predictable, they hit me like a Mack Truck.
**side note:
During an interrogation scene, one of the extras tells Harrison that the bad guy threatened his "Ohana" and Declan says, "Your what?" And I thought to myself, "Has this guy never seen Lilo & Stitch?"
**end side note
Overall, I'd say to only watch this show if nothing else is on and then only until Lost premieres.
Posted by xinh at September 10, 2004 09:06 PM