Vampire vs. Vampire

Pilot review: Hawaii Five-0

After some discussion with my parents, it seems that this show was not as enjoyable as I had originally believed. I suspect part of this may be due to the fact that I was familiar with (and fond of) all of the actors in this show, whereas they were only familiar with Scott Caan. Also, according to my mother, the whole human trafficking of Asian people is pretty played out in the cop procedural circuit. As I only watch one standard procedural (which has never dealt with human trafficking) I was unaware of this so the plot didn't seem as stale and obvious to me as it did to them. So I liked this show but, as usual, my opinion is just my opinion.

What it has going for it:

• Scott Caan: He seems to be universally likable. In this show, he's no different.
• The special permission from the governor to do whatever the hell they want: Basically there are no warrants, there is no red tape, there is no legal procedure whatsoever. They show up, they shoot people, they catch bad guys. That's all. It's like a show from a simpler time. A time before people wanted a touch of reality in their TV shows. Perhaps the 1970s.
• Vamp vs. Vamp: This really only applies to this episode unless someone like Stephen Moyer or Robert Pattinson guest stars as a bad guy later in the season, but it was fun to see Alex O'Loughlin and James Marsters beating the crap out of each other. Too bad it was in broad daylight and there were no fangs involved.
  

And against it:

• Alex O'Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim, and Grace Park have all previously been supported by the charismatic performances of others (well, O'Loughlin wasn't really, which probably explains why his shows haven't lasted long). Each of them is a tiny bit bland on their own. The show is really going to have to strike the right balance to make them engaging as a team. Scott Caan can't do it all by himself.
• Hawaii wasn't really a character: Unless the show integrates a little more of the uniqueness of Oahu, then it'll be just like every other cop show on TV, just with more palm trees.

Common elements:

• I'm going to call it the second cop show after Chase.
  
• There's a dead father as a motivating force in common with Outlaw.
• And I guess vengeance as a motivating factor as in Nikita.
  

I'll watch one more time to see if I still like it, but I don't really need a cop show in my life, so it may not be permanent.