I moved to my current job around three and a half years ago. For the first time I found myself having "on-call" duties, whereby I'm somewhat at the mercy of my work phone.
I won't go into exact details, but as part of these duties are weekend on-call. Some weekends are busy, some are not, and there is very little that is predictable about it. Therefore I find myself watching TV shows that don't require commitment, a lot of attention and yet still provide entertainment and a means to relax. And that's how I came to spending those Saturdays watching Hawaii Five-0 marathons on Sky Max.
Fast forward a few years, we've culled our Sky subscription somewhat, and I've now been working my way through the series on a nightly basis on Sky Mix. Here's what I've come to like:
1) The Best Theme Music In TV History?
If it isn't the best, it isn't far away from being the best. While clearly recorded more recently, it is recognisable from the original series. In the titles themselves they even put Alex O'Loughlin on the same hotel balcony as Jack Lord was on all those years ago, that's a nice touch.
2) The Scenery
In the credits there is a mention of Hawaii Tax Credits. Hawaii should pay for it all! The location scenes, not to mention the clips of the island that are spliced between the scenes, are a wonderful advert to the beautiful islands.
(Excuse me while I go on Skyscanner to look at flight prices... yeah, that dream will have to wait a while.)
3) The Characters
Honestly, I think I've come to like just about every single one. Not enough time to go into detail here though.
4) Carguments
One of the more famous things to come from the show are the "carguments" between Steve McGarett and Danny Williams. I can spot one of these coming, and have even come to enjoy the way they have stretched the genre to boats, flights and even on occasion to side-by-side hospital beds.
5) The Element of Surprise
The show is typically action-packed and easy to watch, but there have been times where courses have been changed. There have been multiple episodes where the military and the history of Pearl Harbor have been honoured, while an episode that touched on grief and mental health was both poignant and incredibly well done.
6) Eddie!
Because honestly, who doesn't love a Golden Labrador? Even better, in one episode he saves nine people - including series regulars Tani and Junior - from a road tunnel collapse, in an episode I absolutely loved.
7) The Tech
Hmm, can I please have a tablet that doubles as a coffee table, and also allows me to check in on the criminal records of suspects, as well as their banking and phone records? It's an incredibly cool piece of kit.
(It is just a mock-up sadly, but it is awesome. More details in this video.)
8) Did I Mention The Theme Music?
This isn't to say that the series is perfect. Some episodes don't work, I hated the way that Daniel Dae-Kim and Grace Park left after series seven, episodes without Scott Caan miss a certain saltiness, and the writer ended up being let go for toxic practices.
But would I like to be without this show for times when I'm stuck in the house and need to be entertained? No I wouldn't. Book 'em, Danno.
