Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) One Big Happy Family (1973) User Reviews

Monica - an overlooked performance

[lynettenorris · 8/10 · 1 November 2017]

Definitely off the beaten track of the usual mobsters, drug smugglers, money launderers, murderers and even international intrigue, this one plays like "The Beverly Hillbillies Meet the Manson Family." Deserved kudos go to Barbara Baxley, Slim Pickins, Bo Hopkins and Robyn Millan, who are both hilarious and horrifying as the vile white trash Ferguson family, cheerfully financing their Hawaiian vacation with a murder spree for "nickles and dimes." However, it's teenage daughter Monica who is the unnoticed central character - the family's eventual capture hinges on her theft of a shiny phone book cover from a hotel room. The actress plays her as a quiet, slightly "out-of-it" introvert, and there's a sweet, childlike sadness about her; it's obvious from the beginning that she's mentally challenged, as when she stands on the bed to admire a pretty wall mural and later plays with the water pitcher and cups as if they were a tea set. Whether or not she really grasps what's going on is ambiguous in the script, but the general impression is that she doesn't. For example, when her family is arrested at the airport near the end, she stands in the background, holding up the phone book cover and staring at it, lost in fascination.

One of the most poignant moments is when she shows her family the tally sheet of the actual number of customers in a business the family plans to rob. Receiving praise for a job well done, watch as she slowly draws the paper toward her at the end of the scene, looking down at it with a tiny, delighted smile that she was able to help her daddy out.

When I first saw this episode as a child, at the very end, when McGarrett and company can only stare at the murderous clan in horrified bewilderment after the "they wasn't kin" revelation, I couldn't help wondering what was going to happen to Monica.

Barbara Baxley Shines as a Ma Barker!

[Sylviastel · 9/10 · 8 February 2018]

When you meet this dysfunctional mainland family at first, you wouldn't think they were harmless but they're dangerous. They come get jobs and kill for money (not a lot of money). Barbara Baxley shines as the matriarch Sadie. Slim Pickens played her creepy husband. Bo Hopkins played her equally disturbed son. Robin Millan does well as daughter-in-law Rosalie and Lynette Kim played Monica (a special daughter). The crimes are senseless and a waste. Of course, they can't foil MacGarrett. I wished that the final scene was longer to better explain their criminal activities.

A very good episode of H5-0 that borders on the macabre.

[FloridaFred · 9/10 · 6 October 2023]

A very good episode of H5-0 that borders on the macabre. McGarrett and the Team are dealing with simpleton psychopaths who kill people in cold blood for chump change.

The Ferguson Family is headed by an A-List cast of actors and actresses. The great Slim Pickens is head of the clan, but it is Barbara Baxley as "Sadie" who calls the shots. Bo Hopkins is the annoying, goofy "Jeb" who carries out most of the killings. We also get the half-witted daughter Monica, played by otherwise-unknown actress Lynette Kim. Completing the family is the White Trash sleazy daughter-in-law "Rosalie", performed by Robyn Millan.

Another good character is "Rene" the hairdresser, played by Ric Marlow. If there was one guy you felt no sympathy for, this is the man.

One serious problem with this show, which has been discussed by other reviewers, is the fingerprint issue. There is simply no way that a database containing those prints did not exist. Not with 125+ similar killings in 24 States. No, that just would not happen. The writers should not have spent so much time on that topic.

A very good story, possibly based upon the McCrary-Taylor Family, who committed at least 22 murders across the United States in the early 1970's.

Because of the fingerprint issue, I ding it one star. I rate "One Big Happy Family" 9 Stars.

Possibly the series most disturbing episode

[garrard · 13 March 2007]

Veteran character actor Slim Pickens plays the patriarch of a family of murderers that will go to no end in order to acquire "ill-gotten gain." The quintet (including Barbara Baxley as the mother and Bo Hopkins as the dim-witted but equally as vile son) have committed crimes all on the mainland, with Hawaii its next "target." Unfortunately, they encounter McGarrett and he brings to an end their crime spree, even though a number of bodies pile up before they are apprehended.

As always, Morton Steven's musical score is a treat, with piercing strings providing a sinister accompaniment to the hillbilly killers, sort of a warped take on the then-popular "The Beverly Hillbillies." Baxley's final utterance in the offices of McGarrett is chillingly surprising!

Like watching an episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies" that was written by Charles Manson!!

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 23 March 2011]

This is my brother's favorite episode--and he occasionally remarks about the wonderful conversation McGarrett has with the family matriarch at the end---and it certainly does pack a heck of a wallop. While not my personal favorite, it's certainly within my top 10 in an excellent TV series.

The show begins with a family of VERY stereotypical hillbillies arriving at a swanky Honolulu hotel--and paying for a suite with cash. Something doesn't quite fit here and it looks almost like the Clampetts have arrived in Hawaii for a vacation. However, unlike the spunky but sweet Beverly Hillbillies, this family isn't so sweet--in fact, they have traveled across the United States killing with reckless abandon. What makes there murder spree so weird is both the number of victims (numbering about 150 by the count at end of the show), the incredibly small amounts of money that they killed for (it was all for 'chump change') and the callousness of it all. The m.o. is that they travel, pick up a job and then kill the boss and whoever else is at the job site after working there only about a week! A bizarre, dark plot, highly inventive dialog and a group of killers you can't help but enjoy (like a train wreck)--this one is kooky fun despite the awfulness of this brood.

"It don't count cuz they wasn't kin."

[Resurgum · 10/10 · 18 March 2013]

A family of murderous hillbillies come to Hawaii and take off where they left off back on the mainland. I found this one to be something of a dark horror comedy. Slim Pickens is hilarious as the patriarch of the fiendish Fergusson family. Barbara Baxley is his equal playing his wife. An interesting twist, the Fergusson's young daughter who is quiet, simple, and stays to herself. However, she does get the family caught when she steals the cover of a hotel phone book because she likes the design on the cover. A highlight of "One Big Happy Family" is when they're in McGarret's office and he asks the family how they feel about killing 150 people. Sadie, played by Barbara Baxley states, "It don't count because they wasn't kin," and "we never stole noth'in cuz they was already dead." Wow, I guess the Fergusson's have morals!

Most memorable episode, and most disturbing

[jackamessick · 10/10 · 18 March 2022]

An in-bred back country family of 5 has been on a killing and robbing spree for three years. They finally get to their 24th state, Hawaii. My siblings and I could still quote lines from this episode some 40 years later, and the soundtrack with a near "Psycho"-sounding violin adds to the chills. The sociopathic matriarch is the most disturbing, and a great performance by the actress. The murders are gruesome enough that they take place off camera, save for one. This episode will give you the creeps! Six murders in this episode.

Frightening Episode

[januszlvii · 10/10 · 18 March 2022]

One Big Happy Family is without question the most frightening episode in the history of Hawaii 5-0, and one of the most frightening I ever saw in the history of TV. Why? A family Killing over 150 people. The worst has to be the mother played by Barbara Baxley who got angry when McGarrett accused her of being a thief, and she said "I never stole anything They were already dead." Throw in a daughter who is a " Special needs child" and the fact that McGarrett who rarely makes a mistake, had no idea what kind of monsters he was dealing with until the daughter in law Rosalie told him exactly what happened ( you got the impression that she was a prisoner and was happy to let 5-0 know everything). The husband played by Slim Pickens and the son played by Bo Hopkins were not much better then the wife. An episode I will never forget. 10/10 stars.

Manson family on steroids!

[alligatorbrew · 10/10 · 9 July 2020]

Vagabond hilly billies thrives in this family of 5! Steve and the crew catch on to a pattern of murder where new hires at cash only jobs murder their staff and run off with the loot in a weeks time. Crazy themes for this period in time. The family killed over 128 people on their trip from Cleveland to Maui

Chilling

[VetteRanger · 9/10 · 1 February 2023]

I can't find an actual set of cases this was based on, but certainly there have been cases of spree killings associated with robberies and car thefts. Slim Pickets and Bo Hopkins, normally cast in endearing or heroic roles, are the men in the family, and do the actual killings. The matriarch orders the killings, the son's girlfriend (or wife) helps set some of them up, and a distressed teenage girl follows along in silence.

5-0 uncovers that this family has killed dozens and dozens of people across the country, each crime collected a very few hundred dollars or less. Their complete sociopathic nature is chilling, and that kind of evil DOES exist in the world.

Top Five All-Time Episode

[ramsfan · 10/10 · 14 April 2023]

"One Big Happy Family" is a disturbing yet outstanding Season 6 entry and one of the best episodes of the entire series. It chronicles a vile family of hillbillies who have committed over one hundred fifty murders and petty robberies covering multiple states on the Mainland before coming to Hawaii to continue their spree. Their violent crimes which yield very little money flummoxes the Five-O team, and when caught, their justification for the crimes leaves McGarrett stunned.

Character actor/rodeo star Slim Pickens and actress Barbara Baxley make an excellent tandem as the amoral husband and wife while Bo Hopkins delivers as their horrid, murderous son Jeb. Daughter Monica, a quiet special-needs child and the only innocent character amongst them, ironically figures in their capture. Super episode.

MEET SAM FERGUSSON AND THE FAMILY?

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 7 April 2023]

I remember this cult episode when it came out, and never forgot it. In fact, ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY has been redone through the years by many cop shows, it's that chilling. Credit Alvin Sapinsley, long a writer for HAWAII FIVE O who, without too much surprise, did work for NIGHT GALLERY and got his start back in the early days of tv with SUSPENSE. Need we say more. Also, the creepy music score (that violin pitch at the precise moment) was done by Emmy winner Morton Stevens, likewise a regular with the series, who went on to do music for POLICE WOMAN. He is even credited for doing the fluffy music on GILLIGAN'S ISLAND? Genius is as genius does. This is creative macabre writing 101, folks. Western sidekick Slim Pickens plays Sam Fergusson who brings his family to Hawaii for a vacation and some recreational killing. After all, they were in twenty-four other states, murdering and robbing, and wanted a change of scenery? Watching ole Steve McGarrett's perplexed expressions in this one is fun. Jack Lord is soooo cool and composed and calculating. A special salute to the great Barbara Baxley (playing wife Sadie), who specialized in offbeat roles, and she is terrific, actually the leader (Ma Barker type if you will) of the gang. The running gag; despite all their robberies, the family seems to always be short on cash! Bo Hopkins plays son Jeb, reminding me right off the bat as a "mature" Jethro Bodine? I most totally agree with the last reviewer, this has the look and feel of a dark version of the BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, only without the millions. Best line department: Beauty shop owner: "We don't do men here." Jeb pulls a knife and replies, "We do!" Sam pulls down the door shade, reading CLOSED. You have to admit, the break for tv commercials is torture as to what happens next. Has to be seen at least once. SEASON 6 EPISODE 4 CBS dvd box set.

Awesome Ep

[grawil · 10/10 · 22 November 2022]

What an excellent episode this was,is. Having the great Slim Pickens in the guest cast was a great choice and added to the greatness of this episode.

This hill billy, murder loving, thieving and somewhat inbred family come to the sunny idyllic Hawaiian Islands to spread their fear and simple view of life....if they ain't kin then killing ain't bad....if they're dead...how can it be stealing.. The look on Mcgarret and Danno's face at the end as they explain their life philosophy is worth watching the ep alone. None of the hard...bookem Danno.

A more lost for words...bookem.

The girl who played the daughter did an excellent job, only to never grace the screen ever again in anything.

Dysfunctional family values

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 1 October 2023]

This is a much-lauded episode of the show, but it's not exactly perfect. I am giving it a 9. It doesn't get a 10 because McGarrett is not in it very much. When he does appear on screen, most of his dialogue is quite repetitious, just going over what the family stole and how many they killed this time. Jack Lord could have recited those lines in his sleep.

Alvin Sapinsley the script writer seems to be more interested in giving all the screen time to the family of murdering crooks, but even they seem highly repetitious a half hour in to the story, so the focus abruptly changes to the daughter-in-law trying to break free with her own scheme. We're probably supposed to root for her, since she is the one smart enough to cut a deal with the police at the end.

I wasn't exactly sure why McGarrett would detain the youngest daughter, since the only thing she did was steal a telephone book cover. She was too mentally deficient to be an accomplice to the actual crimes and she would surely be represented by someone who'd argue in court she had diminished capacity. Even the wife had limited involvement in the actual robberies and killings. It was the father and the son who'd probably get prosecuted.

It was never throughly explained how all five of them had no fingerprints on record anywhere.

I wasn't a fan of the screechy violin music every time we reached the end of an act, leading into where the commercial was supposed to be inserted. It seemed gimmicky, and quite frankly, this family didn't seem as sinister as the music implied. They seemed campy and misguided. Of course, we knew the father and the son were the deadliest but we never actually saw any of their most gruesome acts of murder graphically depicted on screen. The action would always stop just short of the killing. As a result, most of the violence occurred off screen and because of this, the family just came across as kooky, disturbing and strange, instead of seeming as brutal as they were probably meant to be viewed.

The scene where they are finally apprehended in the airport lacked dramatic punch. There should have been a longer chase. Instead, it was all wrapped up pretty easily...and it was a little too convenient that both Danny and McGarrett happened to be at the right airport at the right time.

Fascinating but flawed ep

[bobstevens-16810 · 8/10 · 20 September 2023]

Popular one by all good reviews. Story told on here. I will point out the weaknesses. How did the dead count exactly go from 125 to 150? We saw them kill six people after arriving in Hawaii. Should have been 130 or 131 death count by the end.

Two. The writers did not have enough story and thus it was obviously stretched out to make room for 52 or 51 minutes.

Three. Also, writers lacked imagination and it shows with plot twists. That is why the pimp in the hair salon scene is so long and the bar scene is short. The writers could not think of how the daughter-in-law got into the hooker scene in the latter scene so she is doing so with no explanation how.

About the comely lady playing the daughter. She was also on "The Partridge Family" and in real life she used to date singing idol/TV actor David Cassidy. This means she herself was anti-society in real life as such people were the only kind he ever romanced. Sad fact about her as she is so attractive to watch in this.

Back to this ep itself. Hawaii Five-O Homepage says this was based on a real life family who committed like 24 murders. No where near the very100+ the fictional family murders. This is not taken that much from real life at all.

Creepy and kooky; spooky and all together Ooky; the Ferguson Family!!

[donnamariejones · 10/10 · 8 April 2024]

Very chilling and scary episode especially it's supposed to partially based on a real killer Family. These people were callous and oblivious to any emotion or extreme seriousness of their crimes. I half expected they'd do the daughter in law in. My 2 questions regarding this episode and believability are the same as the other reviewers. One being the believability of them not messing up and leaving fingerprints and getting caught much sooner and the other the fact ; i got the impression the younger sister Monica appeared to be possibly under 18(mentally and physically) and special needs. I questioned why Monica was arrested as she did not appear to be intelligent enough to understand what the rest of the family were really doing. I certainly understand the arrest of the others although not sure until the daughter in law revealed the mother was the ring leader to barking the orders- as to why the mother was arrested being she was not physically in person involved with the crimes. She was just as bad as the husband and son because they did everything she said. And she was extremely eerie with her response to and Garrett at the end and if there were any question of her involvement she cooked her own goose with her statements. The son and husband of course scary in their non chalant way of the murders and even the daughter in law fully aware of herself setting up the scenes for robbery and or murder was creepy and of course rightly arrested; in fact it appeared she was trying to stage her own crime benefits and she went right along with crimes knowing of tge murders even if she did commit them herself. It appeared her blurting out what the others did was mostly to try to get herself out of whatever she could so her charges would be lessened. But i did not understand the issue with Monica being arrested. I realized McGarret may not have known of her naiveness or special needs and lack of intelligence at first but after delving into things more i didn't understand why criminal charges weren't dropped or that he didn't question her physical and mental age. The fact the daughter in law ratted on the mother and men to lighten her charges maybe - she could've spoken up about Monica. After all she called her stupid.

The one other issue was the believability of the family committing more than 150 murders. I realize on screen they were responsible for six and i get that they said they traveled to almost half the US but the 150 count went along with my questioning in all that time they supposedly committed those crimes with their simple unemotional eerie thinking how did they not slip up and leave any fingerprints every time. It sounds far fetched they would've gotten away with their crimes that many times that they would've accumulated that extreme number without being caught. Although what do i know - many serial killers are believed to have committed crimes and killings in high numbers without fully being tied or charged to everyone. With them it's hoped that they can be connected and charged with as many as possible so they'll at least be in prison for life without any chance getting out and sentenced to several life sentences. These people were in fact serial killers but it was their extremely simple thinking that was unbelievable they got away with their crimes so long.