"I Ka Wa Mamua:" In A Time Past

It seems like it’s been forever since we've a solid Danny-centered episode. So I was thrilled when this hour open in 2001 in New Jersey, as I knew we were going to see pre-Hawaii Danny in his element. 

And we weren't disappointed. 

Right off the bat, part of that element was the always lovely Sydney Tamiia Poitier playing his partner Officer Tillwell. I had a pretty strong suspicion that she wasn't going to survive the encounter during the opening; then you add in the acting talents of Terrance Howard as the criminal they are up against and things grew grim very quickly.  

From there, we returned to modern day. When Five-0 started looking into the bombs and terrorist cell, I couldn’t figure out why Danny was so emotional about it. Then again, it’s Danny; we’ve seen him go on rant about fishing. 

I’m sure I wasn’t alone in my anticipation of the conclusion of Danny’s story. Of course, none of us was surprised how things turned out after Danny’s ominous comment from our Hawaii Five-0 quotes section:

Danny: Borrowed Time [sigh]
Steve: What's that?
Danny: I have to remember that all of this, the last 10 years with my daughter is all borrowed time.

Sure enough, when Danny finished telling the story, his former partner had been shot and killed during events in the warehouse. But there were two things that did surprise me. 

1. Poitier’s character first name was named Grace: There is no way it's an accident that Danny’s then unborn daughter is now named Grace. Honestly, I can’t imagine how often Danny thinks about his former partner when he looks at Grace or says her name. I can only hope he has a lot more happy memories to offset her death.
   
   
2. Her death took place on September 11, 2001: For Danny, that dark day in our history has two events attached to it. It’s no wonder he was so emotional about the terrorist, he’s attached the anger and pain of his partner’s death to it. Well played, Mr. Lenkov, you did an awesome job of weaving in just enough of a visual element that we all could make the connection.

If figuring out those two things wasn't enough of a tug at the heart strings, watching Danny and Grace at the father/daughter dance was very cute. I was glad that Danno’s 100% guarantee turned out to be true. As he said, there are only a few of these moments. 

The only thing that distracted from the emotional roller-coaster that Danny took us on was when the last suspect, Anshiri took off and running from Steven and Danny. For being trapped on an island, suspects in Hawaii Five-0 seem to run from the police an awful lot. In fact, it’s often enough that I’m finally introducing the unofficial H50 drinking game I've previously said we need. 

H5O Foot Chase Drinking Game Rules: 

Start the episode with a drink of your choice.

• For each vehicle (car, motorcycle, etc.) that a Five-O member leaps over - take a drink
  (If they hood-slide in the process, take another drink)
• Each bystander that is knocked down, take a drink
• For each cart (flower, food, etc) knocked over, take a drink
• If a Five-O member tackles the suspect to end the chase take a drink
• If Steve says “Book Em’ Danno” – finish the drink.

Overall I’m giving the episode 4.2 smiling daughters for a great glimpse into Danny’s past and a well done nod to 9/11.

What do you think? Do you want to see more of Danny’s past? Should we add more to the Foot Chase Drinking Game? 

Jim G. is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.