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| In 1972, in what was either a stunning diplomatic coup or a cynical ploy for re-election (or both), President Richard Nixon visited mainland China. It would still be several years before full diplomatic relations occurred, but in one stroke Nixon had re-established ties with China. So what's this history lesson got to do with Hawaii Five-O and spies? Until '72, Five-O's arch nemesis was Chinese spy Wo Fat. In the pilot, Wo was assassinating U.S. intelligence agents after torturing them in a sensory-deprivation tank and in a later episode Wo hoped to destroy the U.S. economy with perfect counterfeit plates. Suddenly, however, Americans were watching their president drink toasts to Chinese leaders. But these were the guys who employed Wo Fat! Well, not really, of course. But for Five-O producers, it meant that maybe, just maybe, Wo Fat wasn't exactly representative of all Chinese. This would affect future story lines in a significant way.
Writer: John D.F. Black Director: Harry Falk First aired in the 1972-73 season Plot: Two operatives infiltrate a U.S. military installation, killing most of the men on duty. One operative gets over the fence but kills the other before the second man can follow. The first operative runs to a limousine where Wo Fat is waiting. But one soldier survived the attack and sounds the alarm. It turns out Wo's men have stolen a new guidance system for missiles, much smaller than previous models. U.S. spymaster Jonathan Kaye (Joseph Sirola) comes to Hawaii and again deputizes Five-O and McGarrett to coordinate the investigation. Meanwhile, Wo is manipulating Tom, a naive Chinese American Maoist (Soon Tek Oh). Wo plans to kill his father and brother, leaving Tom the oldest man in his family. Tom's father will be buried in Taiwan, and Wo will smuggle the guidance system in the casket. McGarrett and crew figure all this out and get Tom on their side. With Tom's help, Five-O captures Wo Fat. But, back at McG's office, Wo doesn't seem too worried even though he's carrying a U.S. passport (which, McG notes, will enable him to prosecute Wo as a traitor as well as a murderer). But Jonathan Kaye comes in and says Wo has to be freed. It turns out China has a captured U.S. spy plane pilot in prison. He'll be exchanged for Wo Fat. The episode ends with McGarrett slamming Wo's fake passport down on his desk. Review: A hell of a last scene. "You sold me out, Jonathan, you sold me out!" McGarrett yells at Kaye before the federal bigwig can explain. The last image, of McGarrett angrily throwing the fake passport, is a stunner. At one point, Wo Fat receives a message from a superior who is displeased with all the killing Wo is doing. This gives a hint of future Wo Fat story lines.
Writer:Jerome Coopersmith Director: Charles S. Dubin Aired during the 1974-75 season Plot: Episode opens with what appears to be a U.S.-Chinese American conference. A waiter enters the room with a hidden weapon and attacks the lead member of the Chinese delegation. Just when it looks like it's curtains, everybody stops. It turns out this is a training exercise, as Five-O and HPD are doing dry runs in anticipation of a real U.S.-Chinese meeting. Jonathan Kaye (Bill Edwards this time) has again turned to McGarrett & Co. to keep an eye on things. It turns out the practice is necessary. After not appearing in Five-O's sixth season, Wo Fat has returned. This time, he means to assassinate his country's representative at the meeting. Wo believes the Chinese group has come "on bended knee" to the Americans. The Chinese leader, meantime, has brought a nephew with him and the kid wants to go to the circus. By chance, two defectors from Cuba are part of a trapeze act. Wo blackmails them to participate in his scheme. But all is not what it appears.... Review: Decent plot is elevated by Khigh Dheigh as Wo Fat. In the end, the plot is foiled with Wo escaping and his No. 1 goon, Chow Lee, capatured. But the chief lackey must have had a good lawyer as we'll see in our next review.
Teleplay: Orville H. Hampton and Jerome Coopersmith Plot: Hampton Two-hour episode; first show of the 1975-76 season Plot: An officer in Naval Intelligence at Pearl Harbor is killed by a letter bomb. By luck, Steve McGarrett, who we're told is in the Naval Reserves (something previously unmentioned), is on active duty and brought in to investigate. We know something is up when Chow Lee (hey waitaminnit!) goes to a yacht where Wo Fat is waiting. McGarrett (who brings Five-O into the case) has a complicated jigsaw puzzle of an assignment. Reivew: Not the strongest Wo Fat episode. In fact, the villain isn't seen very much for long stetches. As it turns out, writer Hampton submitted a spy-oriented script that didn't use Wo. CBS moved the show to Friday nights this season to try and knock off The Rockford Files on NBC. So the network wanted to start the season off with a bang. Thus, writer Coopersmith was brought in to expand the story and add Wo Fat. But the episode seems padded in places. For example, early in the episode, we watch this long, tedious sequence where McGarrett transfers from one ship to another so he talk to an admiral, who assigns McG the case. Not a bad episode, but not the most memorable encounter between the two adversaries. At the end, Chow Lee is arrested again. But, then again....
Writer: Jerome Coopersmith Director: Michael O'Herlihy Two-hour episode; first show of the 1976-77 season Plot: McGarrett wakes up on a boat, about to be dumped in the sea near Hong Kong. He effects an escape and is picked up by Suzy, a woman who's on a small fishing boat. She takes the lawman to Hong Kong. But he doesn't even remember who he is until he sees his face on a newspaper. As McGarrett and Suzy try to find the authorities, they are attacked by members of a triad. McGarrett rememers he has to stop some event at 4 o'clock. We're then shown a long flashback. Two extremely potent toxins were stolen by Wo Fat in Hawaii. McG has followed the trail to Hong Kong, only to be kidnapped by Wo's operatives. McG is then brainwashed. Wo plans a coup to take over China, using the toxins to kill the Chinese leadership. A propaganda film, using the brainwashed McGarrett, will make it look like the Americans did it. Wo will then launch nuclear missiles at the United States. Review: One of the strongest episodes of the series, and perhaps the most Bond-like plot. People who have read Raymond Benson's "Zero Minus Ten" novel might enjoy this episode, which shares many of the same elements. This was director O'Herlihy's swan song for the series (he had directed many of the series' best shows) and he goes out with a bang. It's also the next-to-last episode written by Coopersmith, Five-O's most prolific writer (32 episodes) and he comes up with a superior effort here. However, when we see Wo Fat arrive in Hawaii, Chow Lee is picking him up at the airport. Sheesh! The guy must have had the best defense lawyer in Honolulu. The score by Morton Stevens is outstanding.
Writer: Frank Telford Director: Barry Crane Series final episode, aired spring 1980
Plot: A scientist (Patricia Crowley) is abducted but goes peacefully after being exposed to gas that eliminates a person's will to resist. She finds herself whisked to In Hawaii, another scientist, Elton Raintree (looking suspiciously like Jack Lord with an Albert Einstein wig) has just underwent a throat operation. Raintree, supposedly the world's greatest physicist since the death of Einstein, can put together the work of the three missing scientists. The Navy, for reasons unexplained, willingly lets McGarrett take Raintree's place. Soon enough, McGarrett is whisked to the same island. Eventually, he and Wo Fat have a hand-to-hand fight to settle this feud once and for all. Review: Hardly the finale the series deserved but the show's quality had fallen steadily starting with the 10th season. The 12th, and final, season was generally horrible. This isn't the worst example. Wo must have gone semi-senile after Nine Dragons, unable to detect McGarrett for the longest time. And the 59-year-old Lord and the 70-year-old Khigh Dhiegh look their age in the "climatic" fight. The conflict between McGarrett and Wo Fat was always like a chess game and the notion of a hand-to-hand battle was just wrong. The best thing, by far, about the episode is the fine score by Morton Stevens. All in all, the McGarrett-Wo Fat faceoff provided one of the better moments in adventure television shows. Despite the disappointing last act, Five-O generally was at its best when utilizing Wo Fat.
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a remote island in the Pacific, where she meets two other scientists. Their host turns out to be Wo Fat. Each of the scientists participated in a conference eight years earlier where a laser-based missile defense system was proposed (this episode aired two years before the so-called "Star Wars" missile system proposal).