Hawaii Five-0 Season 6 Episode 11 Review: “Kuleana (One’s Personal Sense of Responsibility)”

Welcome back to the island life Hawaii Five-0 fans! The new year is upon us, and our favorite crime fighting team in paradise is back. The midseason premiere brings back the bromance, the Ohana, and the most ruthless criminal in the show’s history.

The main storyline this week centers around Kamekona. Now I understand the whole reason Kamekona has been a valuable informant to Five-0 in the first place is that he has a checkered past. We finally get to see the original deal he made with the police, namely Chin, to flip on his then friends for only two years in prison. One of the people arrested in the deal, Remy, turns up dead at the same time another, Levi, returns to visit Kamekona. It turns out that like Kamekona, Remy also turned his life around. Five-0 is sure Levi ordered Remy to be killed, they just have to prove it. Levi claims that he owes an enemy $300,000 in 24 hours or he’s dead. He wants Kamekona to help him, and Kamekona only agrees because he knows there has to be more to the story.

What is really great about this episode is that we get to take a look at Kamekona’s past, all the way back to childhood. Even then Kamekona was cooking, and it turns out he and Levi met when they were just teenage hustlers. They considered each other family. When push came to shove though, Kamekona had to make a choice. Levi ended up turning Kamekona’s brother into a drug runner. When he got caught Kamekona agreed to give up Levi in exchange for his brother going free. There was just one problem with Kamekona’s plan: he had no idea Levi and his brother would continue to be in business together for years. Kamekona ends up walking into ambush with his brother and Levi. Levi pushes Kamekona’s little brother to kill him, but when he can’t bring himself to he shoots Levi instead. Hopefully he’ll one day be able to have a fresh start like his big brother.

While the team protects Kamekona, Steve and Danny attend a partner retreat in Maui. The only problem is that there is a slight mix-up in the fine print of the itinerary. Danny and Steve are not on a partner retreat as they thought, but a couples retreat. Steve and Danny decide to stay regardless, mostly because their therapy is mandated anyways. Steve tries to multitask and squeeze in a date while Danny grumbles and probably tries to picture various ways of making Steve suffer. Steve squeezes in a date during the weekend and ends up going on about spa treatments and goose down pillows. Who is this man and what has he done with Steve McGarrett? Just my opinion, but I think after years of commitment to Catherine Steve is taking this time to go a little wild.

Danny actually makes a smart, insightful point in therapy. He reminds everyone that if you constantly poke at all of the little problems you’ll forget what is good about the relationship to begin with. Powerful words from the divorced man, but by now we can all agree Rachel made some major mistakes with Danny. Lest anyone can’t recall, she “forgot” to tell Danny he had a son. It turns out Danny has been particularly prickly about therapy because he refused to go to save his marriage. Steve says what we all know, that Danny is the most committed guy there is. After all, who else would willingly commit to being Steve’s partner?

Don’t think that just because everyone is preoccupied that that means their enemy is going to disappear quietly into the night. Kono has to get used to visiting her husband in prison, but she’s not the only one visiting Adam. Adam put himself in prison to protect his wife and end his ties to crime once and for all. With a visit to Adam, Gabriel proves he just isn’t going to let that happen.

What did you think of the story into Kamekona’s past?