"Face of the Dragon" is a very exciting episode and up until the end, it had me hooked. Unfortunately, much of the good will I had for it vanished when the "where the heck did THAT come from" ending occurred. It's a shame, as it was great entertainment up until then.
The show starts with a plague victim being robbed by a man on a motorbike. Who both these men are is a mystery and Five-O faces a huge epidemic unless this is contained as soon as possible. However, unknown to the police is a deeper problem--one that involves the security of top military secrets.
When it comes to excitement, this episode has it. The sense of impending doom is there and it's handled well. Because of this, I could ignore that the wonderful actor David Opatoshu is horribly cast as a Chinese-American! Sadly, the series did that a lot--with such actors as Ricardo Montalban, Mark Lenard and Opatoshu playing Asians when REAL Asians would have done a much more credible job. Also, despite this, it was also nice to see Uncle Fester, I mean Jackie Coogan, in a supporting role as well. And, it was also nice seeing Tommy Chan (from the Charlie Chan flicks), Victor Sen Yung, in a supporting role as well. And, it was also nice seeing black cowboy actor Herb Jeffries in a supporting role as well. Wow, what a great assembly of old character actors.
Unfortunately, there is the dumb ending. With only four minutes to go in the show, Five-O has no idea where the murderous enemy agent is. Yet, a minute later they are on a stakeout at one particular boat at the harbor waiting for the agent. How did they know he'd be there?! This is NEVER mentioned at all and in the scene immediately preceding it, McGarrett is lamenting that they have no idea where the guy is. Sure, you then see him ask the leader of a Hui (family clan) to help them find the agent, but nothing more is said of this. Did the Hui help or did God simply tell McGarrett to be there?! Regardless, it's a HUGE plot hole and knocked the episode down a couple points. It's a shame, as up until then it was terrific.
The show starts with a plague victim being robbed by a man on a motorbike. Who both these men are is a mystery and Five-O faces a huge epidemic unless this is contained as soon as possible. However, unknown to the police is a deeper problem--one that involves the security of top military secrets.
When it comes to excitement, this episode has it. The sense of impending doom is there and it's handled well. Because of this, I could ignore that the wonderful actor David Opatoshu is horribly cast as a Chinese-American! Sadly, the series did that a lot--with such actors as Ricardo Montalban, Mark Lenard and Opatoshu playing Asians when REAL Asians would have done a much more credible job. Also, despite this, it was also nice to see Uncle Fester, I mean Jackie Coogan, in a supporting role as well. And, it was also nice seeing Tommy Chan (from the Charlie Chan flicks), Victor Sen Yung, in a supporting role as well. And, it was also nice seeing black cowboy actor Herb Jeffries in a supporting role as well. Wow, what a great assembly of old character actors.
Unfortunately, there is the dumb ending. With only four minutes to go in the show, Five-O has no idea where the murderous enemy agent is. Yet, a minute later they are on a stakeout at one particular boat at the harbor waiting for the agent. How did they know he'd be there?! This is NEVER mentioned at all and in the scene immediately preceding it, McGarrett is lamenting that they have no idea where the guy is. Sure, you then see him ask the leader of a Hui (family clan) to help them find the agent, but nothing more is said of this. Did the Hui help or did God simply tell McGarrett to be there?! Regardless, it's a HUGE plot hole and knocked the episode down a couple points. It's a shame, as up until then it was terrific.
