Not sure why, but I just happen to browse many of these shows in my Netflix wanderings, to and fro around their endless catalog of similar shows. Note that I am speaking from experience of the first season, at least 5-6 episodes, so please don’t say much more to me if you (i.e., please no SPOILERS if there is anything to spoil).
I call Hawaii Five-0 “the show where abject, upright murder of bad people is not only allowed, but encouraged by the law enforcement of the state”. I’m not sure whether this is usual fare for these sorts of televisions experiences or not, but the first thing I noticed was that this strike teams kills a LOT of people in the course of their investigations. No grieving happens, no consideration of what they did – they just straight up murder people if they provide the slightest hint that they’ll hurt someone. The team can simply do whatever’s necessary, and nobody anywhere seems to bat an eyelid – I guess Hawaii’s crime warrants an all-powerful team that goes straight over the American legal system? Who knows?
Anyway, I am overthinking an entertaining police procedural, so don’t mind me…
Should you watch it? Sure, why not? Honestly speaking, the show goes through the motions in a unique setting, with the occasional burst of violence here and there. I realize that it plays off the original series, which ran from 1968-1980, but it appears closer to the modern form of “villain of the week” television shows. You need a straightman, a funny guy, an attractive girl, and then a third guy who does some unspecified but specialized function. It’s the perfect disposable entertainment when you just want to watch people say witty things and solve crimes in exactly 42 minutes of real-world time. In that sense, I recommend it. If you’re looking for a show with any kind of depth beyond the purely superficial, emotional kind, I’d say you barked up the wrong tree on this one. In fact…
If you want that, watch Longmire. Walt Longmire, the central character, is a sheriff who lives in Wyoming. His wife died recently (cancer? It’s not clear), and he continues to do the job when everyone tells him to take time off. Sound familiar? Sure, it does, but the Wyoming location provides plenty of differences. Consider that Wyoming contains the smallest population out of the entire United States; everybody usually knows everybody, and thus there’s only so many places to hide. As a result, the stories become personal, rather than abstract “case solving” like the majority of such cop shows. We see, over time, the sorts of cases that motivate Longmire to action, and even how he sees through what’s apparent to the truth of the matter. We can also say that his location relative to the Cheyenne reservation adds its own set of difficulties, with the tribal law enforcement often showing a disdain for the “white man” who continues to encroach on their land. Longmire often wants to cooperate, but their biases make solving cases which cross their borders difficult.
If this sounds like high praise…well, it is, as far as a police procedural goes. Longmire often doesn’t feel as if we must resolve something in exactly one episode, although the cases often do, since it weaves a bunch of unrelated story threads into the general proceedings. This “day in the life” approach enhances the basic proceedings substantially, allowing the audience to emotionally invest in Longmire’s cast of characters beyond seeing them every week. Whatever the show’s actual intentions, it appears there is a plan here, and that’s a good thing.
So yeah, watch this if you’re up for it. It can be a bit depressing and sad at times, but the characters make up for it.
