These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
YMMV: Hawaii Five-0
Author's Saving Throw: The pilot used a "modernized" theme song heavy on the electric guitars and synth drums; after it was sent it out to critics, it met with such overwhelmingly negative response (unsurprisingly, given that the original theme is considered one of the greatest in TV history) that the producers actually re-recorded the theme using the traditional orchestration (including three musicians who participated in the original 1968 recording). Even though it was still cut to thirty seconds (commercial time is far too valuable to allow for a minute-long theme song nowadays), the gesture was still greatly appreciated by classic fans and pop culture historians.
Nicole Duncan, the culprit in "He Kane Hewa'ole", kills the dying-from-cancer husband and tricks the father into thinking that she has been kidnapped to get five million bucks.
Sean Winston after he began to make threats to shoot a child in a hostage situation.
Critical Research Failure: A few things in "Ua Hopu". For instance, Interpol having a worldwide tactical team in Osaka, Japan. Which doesn't work since Interpol is a collection of police agencies working together by sharing intelligence. Although Interpol does have a tactical team responsible for protecting Interpol facilities in France.
Same thing with the uniforms of Japanese police officers. Although the basics are correct (e.g. vest, cap, shirt), the shoulder patches and the kanji for the vests are incorrect. In the episode, the kanji is portrayed as "特別警察官", which means "Special police officer" in Japanese. Although it's correct, all Japanese police officers have vests with the kanji "警察庁;", which means "National Police Agency". And don't get me started on the Osaka Police crime scene investigators.
Fan Preferred Couple: Steve/Danny. The sheer amount of fanfiction, communities, and board threads devoted to them are staggering.
Fetish Fuel: Lori gets into the Fanservice act in "Ike Maka," first in her undercover outfit, then dressing as Olivia Newton-John in Grease for movie night at Max's.
"Funny Aneurysm" Moment: Even though this was aired on the same day Amanda Berry was freed after being held captive for a decade, Season 3's "Ho'opio" involved another girl named Amanda being held captive for 10 years. Except it wasn't as happyan ending as the Cleveland case.
He's Just Hiding: What McGarrett suspects is going on with his father's murderer, terrorist Victor Hesse, after shooting him off a cargo ship. He orders the Coast Guard to try to find his body. They haven't, but insist they'll keep looking. 'Course, it turns out McGarrett was justified in his caution.
Marty Stu: McGarrett approaches this rapidly. Even lampshaded by Chin Ho after witnessing McGarrett call in a favor with a serving (female) naval officer.
Chin Ho: You convinced her to task a top secret military spy satellite and you got a date?
Paranoia Fuel: Wo Fat has a habit of rigging claymore mines on people's cars, which will detonate once the ignition slot is keyed.
Special Effects Failure: Unfortunate example in the third-season premiere, when the helicopter airlifts away the (moving) armored truck carrying Wo Fat. Ruins an otherwise perfect Crowning Moment of Awesome. Compare that with the much more technically ambitious, completely CGI free plane-lift scene fromThe Dark Knight Rises. Let's just say that if your CG effort at a smaller-scale version of this looks like a video game cutscene, you are DEFINITELY doing something wrong.
Danno: Rachel, just hear me out. Before you sic your lawyers on me, I wanna remind you of something. I moved 5,000 miles so that I could see Grace twice a week. Twice a week, okay? That is 48 hours, 52 times a year for a grand total of 2,500 hours. When you factor in sleep, and school, I can really only count on 400 hours of real face time each year. And ya know? That's only going to shrink as she starts making friends... Then she goes off to college... So ultimately that does not leave me with a lot of time to spend with my daughter. Not as much as I would want. But I never complained. I never complained. Because every single one of those minutes reminds me of what I am doing, and why I am here. That little girl is my life. So I am asking you- I am begging you to please- please just be kind. Don't take her away from me, that's all.
What an Idiot: The Yakuza boss forgets to clear his fingerprints off the stolen Champ box and throws it in the dumpster outside his own bar — leaving just enough clues tying him to the kidnapping that Five-0 can arrest him.
Malia, Chin's ex-fiance. We meet her in He Kane Hewa'ole, and from everything we've heard about her from Kono and what we know about what happened to Chin, it's expected that she's the kind of lady who was willing to dump him after he was disgraced. Instead Malia is a nice lady who loves Chin, was the one dumped for her own protection, and she still wears her wedding ring on a chain around her neck. She tries to be nice to Kono who hates her, and she's so awkward around them both... Poor lady.
Stoic Woobie: Chin takes the fall of his uncle's embezzlement and ends up being disgraced from HPD, disowned by his cop-pride family, and separated with his fiancee. He trades his house's deed for cash to essentially bribe HPD to stop further investigation.
