There are changes afoot on Oahu.

A longtime fixture left and a potential new team member made her debut on Hawaii Five-0 Season 10 Episode 1.

After one episode, I'm not at all sold that this is an improvement.

Yes, Jerry's departure did feel organic, which was important.

That didn't happen with the departures of Chin and Kono after Hawaii Five-0 Season 7, when Daniel Dae-Kim and Grace Park left in a salary dispute. 

It made sense that Jerry took stock after being shot and decided to go write a book about one of his conspiracy theories that leave viewers and his teammates thinking "Huh?"

Jerry getting his badge was a series highlight, because it proved anybody could grow up and become part of Five-0.

But with the addition of Tani, Junior, and to a lesser degree Adam on Hawaii Five-0 Season 8, Jerry's role as the squad's computer wizard became less necessary, although he still reigned supreme in that area.

Related: Hawaii Five-0 Season 9 Finale Review

He worked well undercover because Jerry could be that everyman. But, unlike all his teammates, Jerry never fit into that action-figure role.

Jerry wasn't killed off. This means he can return for an episode or two a season for those offbeat storylines which he did so well before joining Five-0.

But we'd got used to him supplying that humor every week. So Jerry will be missed.

While Jerry was one of a kind, Quinn Liu already seems redundant.

She's supposed to be the female version of McGarrett. But Tani had already been filling that role quite nicely.

Quinn is ex-military, like McGarrett. But she was insubordinate, like Tani.

Or is she supposed to be the new Catherine, someone military and of a certain age, with whom Steve can bond, or something more?

That's when you can tell that a long-running series is showing its age, when even new characters feel like they've been done before.

What's next? A Five-0/Magnum crossover? We've already had the Five-0/MacGyver crossover and this one makes way more sense. These characters are at least on the same islands.

Yeah, that would be fun.

McGarrett's quick background check revealed that Quinn, to put it nicely, was more concerned with results than procedure, which got her into trouble in the military.

Cutting corners to get the job done? That qualifies her for Five-0.

Related: Katrina Law Joins Hawaii Five-0

It will be interesting to see how she fits in, as the team's members didn't quite know what to make of her.

Anyway, the powers that be need to add some depth to Quinn, pronto. It's not enough just to out-McGarrett Steve.

I'm not hopeful, as it's been two seasons and they still haven't figured out how to best employ Adam, which falls in the kind-of-a-waste category.

At least this episode he got sent in on his own to use his old mob contacts. In doing so, it was revealed that he and Tamiko are still hanging out together.

Good. Adam deserves a fresh start.

Now that Salvation is but a fond memory, Ian Anthony Dale may finally get properly utilized. We can dream, can't we?

On to the case of the weak, err, week.

When setting up a villain in a recurring storyline, I don't know that I'd go for a realtor played by Rob Morrow, still best remembered as Dr. Joel Fleischman on Northern Exposure.

Realtor doesn't have the same gravitas as international terrorist or cartel boss.

Of course, they turned Joey from Gimme a Break into a viable cyber villain, so I'll withhold judgment for now.

The case was someone's turning snipers with PTSD into assassins. Well, that was an effective way to bring a renegade M.P. into play.

All you needed to understand the new dynamic was that showdown among McGarrett, Quinn, and Danny, when Danny had to serve as the voice of reason.

When Danny loses the game of "Quien es mas macho," you can see the direction the series is taking.

That should have been a clue to keep a closer eye on Quinn.

But no. Instead, she barged into a sitdown of mob bosses, just before the assassin Sanders took out most of the thugs in the house.

What followed was that head-shaking moment when Quinn tried to shoot down a monster truck before lying underneath it after she had already been shot, or as she put it, "Just a graze."

After the final battle with Sanders, at least Steve was able to offer Quinn some perspective, in that the two dead veterans chose to become assassins and paid for it, and that wasn't her fault.

It was still a little fuzzy at the end as to what Quinn's affiliation with Five-0 would be. It sounds like the Army would be happy to let her go, and Steve does have an opening now.

On to more important matters: McGarrett has hair again, after a couple of seasons of regrettable styling choices.

It appeared Danny had to suffer a faux-hawk for that to happen.

Now that he's back in the only relationship that ever worked for him, Danny tried to set up Steve with Brooke, a recently divorced mother at his school.

Then he did everything in his power to sabotage their first date by kibbitzing by phone and text.

No wonder McGarrett and Brooke resolved to cut him out of the loop.

Related: Get CBS All Access via Amazon Channels for Hit Shows, Exclusive Originals & Live TV!

It seemed that Tani and Junior are officially a couple now, with a minimum of muss and fuss. 

Now, will McGarrett have to separate them in the field as a result, or just roll with it? So far, it appears to be the latter option.

Not a lot of Grover this episode, which was too bad, since he's going to have to provide the funny as Jerry used to do.

To revisit Jerry's career, watch Hawaii Five-0 online.

Are you sorry to see Jerry go?

What do you think of Quinn?

What will the new Five-0 pairings be?

Comment below.

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Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.