On the Japanese island of Hoyoko, a man is hunting wolves when he spots a Western youth with long, blond hair (Buddy Foster)
Not Kurt Russell?
In Tokyo, Shige Ishikawa (Teru Shimada) recruits Kuroda (John Fujioka reprising his role from last season), ostensibly on behalf of the government, to lead an expedition to find the titularly monikered lad.
Ishikawa-san is kind of a Japanese Mister Phelps.
Oscar has a fit because he's episodically concerned with cutting the OSI's budget
Wouldn't this just be a personal favor?
(Maybe lay off a few of the moles?)
Steve believes based on a computer search that the boy may be Gary Emerson, the son of an American ambassador who was reported killed in an accident along with his family.
"Wiki is usually pretty accurate about these things."
Steve arrives in Japan to find Kuroda working in a shoe store
"Save me, Steve."
Steve spots a wolf trap, trips it with a stick, and tosses it over the treetops.
Are the wolf hunters poachers or is Steve just against it?
Upon receiving an update, Ishikawa instructs a khaki-outfitted Bob Masters (Quinn Redeker) to tail the two-man expedition and ensure that the boy isn't returned.
Not Mister Phelps, I guess. But this raises the question of why Ishikawa didn't just send Masters after the kid.
Steve and Kuroda hear a wolf commotion and come upon the sight of the blond boy howling mournfully over the body of what they surmise is his wolf mother (cause of death unclear--either a fight with other wolves or having stepped into a trap)
Shot by a hunter with a poisoned arrow. Probably.
he ferally fights them off, trying to bite into Steve's bionic arm
Bzzt.
(Steve thankfully waves off the ShazamVan.)
The men bandage the boy and put pants on him
Whew.
Kuroda expressing empathy for his situation
"I also brought you a pair of shoes."
But the boys wakes up in the middle of the night and escapes back into the forest.
Too bad they didn't foresee this unlikely turn of events and take steps to prevent it.
an unseen but predictable party triggers a landslide above them, which Steve shields them from with his bionic arm
That seems like a lot for one arm to manage.
Kuroda has Steve offer the boy a ration tin of sushi...which Steve has to pretend to like while demonstrating that it's food
Kuroda accidentally steps into a wolf trap
Wasn't this the guy who survived alone in the jungle for thirty years?
Masters spills that it was Ishikawa who killed the Emersons, motivated by old-fashioned nationalism.
Okay, I'll buy that much, but what did he gain?
After Steve's OSI ID is found
Why doesn't he just tape it to his forehead?
Masters lures the boy into the forest with part of the party to stage an accident
Ishikawa already did that. All they have to do is make him disappear.
while leaving the rest of the party to deal with Kuroda and Steve.
Two well-known individuals whose disappearance will raise a lot of questions. Again, Ishikawa should have just sent Masters.
his mother imploring him to "run, Gary, run!"
Now I'll have
that stuck in my head.
Steve chases after the boy, who trips again, this time into a pond
How long has this kid been feral?
Steve argues that the boy should be given time to adjust rather than be taken back to the States right away. After Oscar agrees, Steve goes to inform Kuroda that he can live in the woods with Gary for a few months before specialists are brought in...an opportunity for which Kuroda is overwhelmingly grateful.
Backdoor pilot? Nah, probably not.
Radar drives onto a very bumpy road and admits that he's lost.
Very out of character. He must be hung over too.
Potter--who's now telling stories of service in World War I (or maybe I mistook an early reference as being about WWII; though if he is career military, he likely would have served in both)
I think he did, though I'm not sure.
Burns and Radar having ultimately turned around out of fear of enemy snipers
Or Private Jenkins.
Radar and Burns are each unsuccessful in working on it
Burns worked on the engine? That's weird. I would expect Potter to have some mechanic experience.
This episode has no Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr, or laugh track.
Interesting. I would have thought that the finale was the only one without a laugh track, but now that I think of it the real-time episode with the clock probably didn't have one either.
We see a Potter/Burns dynamic emerge here that doesn't bode well for the major's future at the 4077th.
Potter didn't have much patience with Burns. But Burns's most interesting period is still ahead.
Honore Vashon (Harold Gould reprising his role from Season 5's "V for Vashon" three-parter)
Nice. He gets to be a recurring villain.
McGarrett makes a surprise appearance at Vashon's parole hearing to present the board with his report, which results in denial of parole. Looking for an opportunity to get even, Vashon orchestrates a scheme to take a visiting legislative committee, along with Warden Heller (Kent Bowman) and a couple of guards, hostage with the help of prisoners on the waiting staff
So this was all an impromptu event? It seems like it should have taken a lot of planning.
Vashon declares his intention to first put McGarrett on trial for the murder of his son--slapping Steve for emphasis.
Speaking of recurring villains, this makes Vashon sound like Dr Loveless.
While protesting the kangaroo court
"I declare a mistrial!"
Danno plans with a pair of HPD assault teams to raid the administration building from the roof vents, then plays SWAT Ken by gearing up to join them.
View attachment 49658
I wonder if they ever had H50 action figures. Probably not.
Vashon lays out his titular argument while Steve repeatedly corrects his prosecutor's twisted details
"Objection! That evidence is incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial!"
As the teams sneak in through the ventilation shafts
I question the plausibility of this trope.
Vashon draws a gun previously smuggled in by Saito on Tasai's back, but McGarrett pushes a table into Vashon. This is immediately followed by the assault team moving in
Aw, they should have let Tasai have it out with Vashon.
Outside, as Vashon is being cuffed while pressed against the hood of a squad car, Steve chastises him for stupidly wasting time with his revenge scheme.
"Now I'm late for my golf game with the governor, you fool!"
While being led away, one of the prisoners involved, Afuso (John Gracciano), stops to tell McGarrett that he and others who had no loyalty to Vashon would have voted for acquittal.
"Honest to goodness!"
Steve then fills a little closing time by expressing to Danno how close this one was.
"In the grand scheme of things, Danno, this one was not close at all."
We got trouble...right here in River City...
Love that. Also "Seventy-Six Trombones."
I found it interesting that the original Rebel Without a Cause trailer didn't show a bit of
perhaps the movie's most iconic scene.
Maybe they didn't realize how iconic it would be at that point. Or maybe it was considered too violent for a trailer.
