Strangers in Our Own Land

Strangers in Our Own Land. Episode 2. Season One. Originally aired Oct. 3, 1968. A Hawaiian official is blown up in a taxi at the airport which sets forth an intriguing poltical plot which involves Hawaiian nativism. Five-O, does not frequently address this matter with explicit energy, however a graduate student might fit McGarrett as a latter day Cpt. Cook in the colonial push to make Hawaiians "Strangers in Our Own Land." Kono is even beneath Chin Ho (the Chinese) in the Five-O chain of command. The grieved best friend of Commissioner Mano riffs on "the land" in a way which would strongly echo the Hawaiian nationalist anthem "Hawaii 78" which would later be popularized by the great Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and is, I think, the fround note for the movement for Hawaiian Independence. Looking out over the Honolulu skyline with disgust, the best friend reminisces in a meaty speech about the days when Hawaiians lived in Waikiki, saying when the Comissioner was sympathetic to highways and buildings he was no longer Hawaiian and deserved to be popped. The plot turns on a construction deals when the daughter of the best friend, "Leilani" of course, reveals her Dad knew the first prime suspect and he, with his crazy nativist theories, becomes the main suspect. "Crawl in your boxes, Hawaiians!" McGarrett's secretary, who always seem to be wearing the same polyester dress, is more of a character presence in early Season One.

Highlight: The luau show in the Tiki-themed bar--maybe the only time in the series such a setting was used.