Hawaii I-Dunno

I never watched the original show, altho I assume that like many 70s cop dramas, it was pretty bad. Regardless, I didn't bring much baggage to this reboot's pilot, save for the fact that I don't get CBS' fascination with Alex O'Loughlin – his acting's as flat as his abs.

So while I was open to the idea of Hawaii Five-O, I dunno that it's worth adding to your regular rotation of channel surfing.

The plot can be summed up pretty quickly: buddy cops meet cute and start off squabbling before bonding over bullets. In what I suppose amounts to a twist, this time neither one goes by the book. O'Loughlin's character ignores rules in an attempt to avenge his father's murder, and Scott Caan smartasses his way through pretty much every situation. While their banter's nothing you haven't seen before, the two leads do have decent chemistry – Caan's casual spin on his Entourage and Ocean's characters help liven up the proceedings. Also milling around are a pair of buddy cop cousins: one a disgraced former cop played by Daniel Dae Kim, lucky enough to land another show that shoots on location in Hawaii, and a freshly promoted junior cop played by Grace Park, oddly enough cast in another show where she takes over a role previously played by a man.

They spent a bunch of money on the pilot, and it shows – great locations, lotsa explosions, etc. And they must've spent a bunch of money on the script, as Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Transformers, Fringe, Star Trek) don't come cheap, but it doesn't really show – it's literally "you killed my father, prepare to die." Supposedly there are some multi-ep arcs in the works, which could help, otherwise it's a by-the-numbers procedural. Overall, It's like a throwback action movie every week: a few funny lines, some glimpses of skin, a torrent of bullets that somehow don't hit the main characters, etc...

Worth a watch if you like that sort of thing – entertaining but inessential.