Faithful “Hawaii Five-O” fans never feel that the islands’ elite crime-fighting force has too much to handle, but killers out to get one another in the middle of a hurricane is a bit too much on any law and order plate. In this week's February 15 Episode 15 for Season 9, "Ho'opio 'ia e ka noho ali'i a ka ua" (Made Prisoner by the Reign of the Rain), Lt. Commander McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) is preparing to take in some 200 displaced residents in the wake of a severe hurricane, when a call comes in from the FBI.

Under orders of the federal government, the “safe house” chosen for a notorious drug lord and serial killer, Alejandro Vega, known as El Diablo (Raoul Trujillo), is inaccessible due to the storm.

The ultimate criminal allows himself to be arrested after a near-fatal injury and is being transported to a “supermax” incarceration facility when the storm worsens. McGarrett is committed to simultaneously protecting the people of Hawaii and ensuring that the elusive criminal who often escapes has no way out of rendition with “Hawaii Five-O”

Mere coincidence cannot explain the timing of this storyline, with the recent verdict in the trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. The indictments by the jury certainly communicate that drug crimes are in no way victimless.

Tani (Meaghan Rath) and Junior (Beulah Koale) are ordered by the boss to enforce mandatory evacuation orders, and Tani is trapped in a drug ordeal of her own, one that risks the life of a little girl.

Danny (Scott Caan) only has to worry about making his own home safe for Charlie (Zach Sulzbach) and Rachel (Claire van der Boom) during the storm, and memories start to make things very cozy.

To protect and to punish

Steve McGarrett understands the situation all too well with felons like El Diablo, and he doesn't scare, one bit, under the steely gaze of this criminal who completely creeps out Jerry (Jorge Garcia).

Steve ensures that the “sad and pathetic” old man is chained and locked, in every way possible, and that cameras and human eyes keep constant watch over the killer who took the lives of the Commander’s good friend and young family.

What doesn't come to light until the cameras go black from “Hawaii Five-O” headquarters is that Vega was going to turn state's evidence against enemies and those involved with his cartel’s operations, and an operator from one of those opposing cartels, Sergio Diaz (Craig Henningsen) was out to get Vega before he was able to give his testimony at trial.

Jerry discovers that all the surveillance wires have been cut and the same is true for a sheriff’s deputy (Bernard Aderhold-Lindsey), who is left seriously bleeding near the area. Jerry realizes from his description that he has seen the unassuming assailant, and Steve, FBI agent Collins (Ted McGinley) and Adam (Ian Anthony Dale) start to track him.

Steve suspects another thing fishy when another agent seems to know exactly their whereabouts and every activity of Vega.

The slasher enemy, Diaz, doesn't stop with simple weapons. He steals hose and tries to pump carbon monoxide into the cell where Vega is kept. Steve and the crew find their prisoner just-in-time to save his life, and the only place to move him is to Steve’s office at headquarters.

Not safe and sound

Tani makes a call on a family in a mandatory evacuation zone, pleading with them for the sake of their child, Emmy (Hannah Raizelle Schwartz) to get to safety. The father pretends to comply but comes out of the bedroom holding a gun to Tani’s head, threatening to kill her, and then binding her to a chair. Tani gains Emmy’s trust over being “a world-class shoelace tier” and tries to convince the mother that she will help them all get out safely, but mom’s screams alert dad, who says that the house is the stash spot for over $300,000 in drug money, as the dealers are beating at the door.

Tani is nothing if not resourceful, and she hides the family in a barricaded closet and protects herself behind a kitchen island and a refrigerator door.

She secures a knife before a gunshot takes down her primary attacker. “I had that,” she tells Junior, who always takes the right shot at the perfect time.

Charlie is all smiles at being with both his parents together. A repair on a leaky roof leads to Rachel and Danny reminiscing over deodorant found in a long forgotten box of mementos. They soon fondly remember their second date and sweating for the best of reasons. After having fun playing dice, they fall asleep together on the couch, and Charlie coincidently finds them when he comes out to watch cartoons the next morning. He shushes them when they start to explain, saying “I'm trying to watch this.”

Lou (Chi McBride) and Jerry keep the deputy alive with humor and online help, and Steve finally comes face to face with the slashing adversary coming out of an elevator.

They battle brutally through the “Hawaii Five-O” headquarters, and even when there is not much in the way of high-tech, McGarrett shows that a good kick can do the job, and so can bashing a perpetrator’s head.

The chase goes to the underground garage, where the mole FBI agent tries to shoot Vega, who is doing his best to hotwire a car in his handcuffs. McGarrett intercedes, shooting the agent, and getting his perpetrator prison-prepared again.

The next morning, Steve is at Danny’s door, ready for a breakfast of pancakes with chocolate chips and bananas, fit for a five-year-old, as Danny teases, or a boss who did his best during the storm.

“Hawaii Five-O” will treat fans to two hours of high action and family love next week.
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