For “Hawaii Five-O” faithful, a week without the most intrepid crime-fighting force on the planet is a long time. This week, the full team came back to action from the show’s brief hiatus last week with the February 2 15th episode for Season 8, “He puko ‘a kani ‘aina (A Coral Reef Strengthens Out into Land).”

The thrill of cliff diving is interrupted for some youthful enthusiasts by the discovery of the body of a private eye. Steve and Danny (Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan) are hoping to get their restaurant on the right track with some help from Uncle Vito (Vincent Pastore).

Danny's uncle can't quite figure out if he is being recruited for a torch job on the place for insurance profits, or equipping it for business, but he takes on the job with a hard-earned sum of $5,000 and heads right in the trouble.

Deep undercover with his new task force, Adam (Ian Anthony Dale) and his new confidential informant, Jessie Nomura (Christine Ko) are making their first move on crime lord, Hideki Tashiro (Aaron Yoo), and a very bold move of their own. The operation doesn’t quite go as planned.

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Steve is not quite comfortable with entrusting either the job or the funds with Uncle Vito, and certainly not well-versed in Vito’s “Jersey humor” referring to dead bodies and other illicit matters.

The call comes about the case of deceased private eye Prewitt, just as Steve and Danny are clarifying details of Uncle Vito's duties, and it doesn't take even a minute for the beloved relative to be buying expensive drinks and trusting a blonde in a bikini too much. Before he knows it, Uncle Vito is bound and tied bare naked on his hotel bed, and naturally, the cash is bound for buying more bikinis.

The most intriguing “Hawaii Five-O” action is initiated by Adam, who boosts the ultra-expensive German car from Tashiro like a pro, right under the boss’ wicked watch. Adam knows how to use the skills of his life on the dark side to best advantage, and he intends to leave the set up for the heist to Jessie, who returns the car, complete with spare keys, playing her role perfectly to be employed by Tashiro.

Actor Aaron Yoo seems perfect for this villain role, and the interplay between him and Christine Ko is juicy and delicious. She tracks him to a barbershop, where she convinces him that her skills may never be right for the real world, they are perfect for his needs. In turn, Tashiro takes Jessie to his penthouse, plying her with sake, and she passes the test. A problem that no one foresees puts Adam, her, and the operation at risk.

While the team is looking into the cases that Prewitt had on file at the time he died, they come to Micah Kalani, who was once considered a missing person, but no longer. Micah’s parents admit to recent troubles with money and employment faced by their son, but a phone message seems to give hope that he may be alive.

Tani (Meaghan Rath) investigates further and finds that the phone message was created by the father, to ease his wife's pain over the situation. He also admits that his son was very distraught after his father refused to give him a large sum of money. The father (Edward Edwards) fears the worst.

A bridge to nowhere

From the first interview with Micah Kalani’s wife, Junior (Beulah Koale) notices a purple bead bracelet he is wearing, but his wife knows nothing about it. Tani notices that one of Kalani’s photos on social media shows up close friend wearing the same bracelet. That leads her to discover that the bracelets are part of the phony spiritual “development” course from con man guru, Visha Kandaharu, a.k.a.

Devin Walsh (Daniel Buran).

The journey across the “bridge” of nothing that is described by Kundahara’s book not only cost thousands of dollars for Kalani, it made his friend, Greg Isaacs (Donovan Oakleaf) insane, and now confined to an institution. With Steve and Danny realize that the bridge Isaacs mentions is a fabricated one from Kundahara/Walsh and not an actual one, they trek with the team through the remote jungle to snatch him.

The charlatan’s followers are not just quiet peaceniks, but an armed militia and the team faces a swarm of rifles before a shot to one of the devoted brings a dose of reality. Walsh is in custody and is informed that three of his “disciples” have flipped on him, so he is sure to serve prison time.

With Kamekona (Taylor Wily) coming to his rescue, Uncle Vito is able to come through with equipment for Danny and Steve, much to their delight, except for a pricey statue of Adonis. No telling what “interest” Kamekona will charge for this one.

A huge kink comes to Adam and Jessie's plan when Tashiro’s men are called to inspect his car for “bugs” of surveillance. Adam intercepts at the last second, putting a gun to one henchman’s head. Just when he calls Jessie to let her know that things are under control, a goon dressed in black fires a laser-shock straight at Adam, and he falls. He comes to consciousness stunned and confused, as well as bound. He screams from a storage trailer, left in the jungle.

How will Jessie manage on her own, savvy as she is?

Good news came in November that “Hawaii Five-O” will have 24 episodes confirmed for this season, but that still means there are just nine more to go. Savor all the “ohana” and action while it’s here for the taking.

“Hawaii Five-O” returns with new episodes on March 2, according to previews. The team will face a “not a drill” nuclear threat, much like the one in recent news headlines.
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