Missing Scenes, "Powa Maka Moana"
by Sammie
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Yet.
RATING: K
SUMMARY: Missing scenes from "Powa Maka Moana".
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I saw "Powa Maka Moana" a couple days after it aired. (It was the first full episode listed on the CBS site when I visited.) Certainly not one of the show's stronger episodes. I kept expecting somebody to ask Nick Lachey about tuna versus chicken.
Still, watching the episode the first time as just a regular viewer, two things really hit me. Yes, I know Steve McGarrett is macho, but promising something so unpredictable as getting the kids back? He keeps all his other emotions bottled up; why promise aloud something he can't guarantee? And the last shot with all the families reuniting, with McGarrett watching what, for all intents and purposes, appears to be Kono - Kono? What was that about?
And then I saw "E Malama" (next ep on the website), which will always be one of my favorite episodes ever (Chin Ho and the witness were my favorite, then Danny's storyline). The look on McGarrett's face as Kono takes on that cleaner...! and then Entertainment Weekly totally confirming I was not nuts in seeing what I was seeing. (popwatch. ew. com/ 2011/ 02/ 08/ hawaii-five-0-sexual-tension/ (remove spaces) or simply Google "Entertainment Weekly" and "Hawaii Five-0" and "sexual tension")
"Powa Maka Moana" then made more sense in the rewatching - at least in my newly-minted, little twisted shipper mind, which then produced this sad little twisted shipper interpretation of those scenes. I hope it doesn't trivialize the seriousness of the circumstances; that was not my intention. Episode dialogue in italics.
Her question is asked in a neutral tone, but Steve knows that she thinks they don't stand a chance in getting the kids back alive. At least, she now thinks they don't. He sees her grim expression.
He's not going to lie to her. He's never pretended to Kono Kalakaua and he's never had to.
He hesitates in what he's going to say; it's still raw and personal, and he wonders if it's too personal to share. His mouth, however, has a mind of its own and just starts moving. "When my father was kidnapped, I knew from prior experience that no matter what move I made on that day, the results were not going to be good, OK. In these situations they rarely are."
She just nods. She's not stupid. Kono, rookie though she be, has encountered enough of the world to know that things rarely work out the way anybody wants them to. She lost her livelihood and dream career once; she saw corruption tear her extended family apart; she's stolen ten million dollars and sniped a bad guy just so she wouldn't have to see her beloved cousin blown up. As terrible as it would be for even just one of these teenage hostages to die, this is just one more thing on a long list of horrors she'll encounter as a cop. He's not going to lie to her. He's never had to, and he doesn't intend to start now. She's strong enough to bear the truth, even if he wishes it were prettier.
Yet, in that instant, he blurts out the rest: "But we're going to change that." He gives her a quick glance, trying to gauge her reaction. "We're going to get these kids back, and we're going to get them back alive."
The minute it's out of his mouth, his rational side bangs its head against a wall, screaming at him. It's stupid: he is not God, so he can't guarantee these things. He can't even guarantee that it won't rain the next day, much less decide life and death. Isn't hubris, Reason reminds him, always the downfall of the epic heroes?
Yet, try as he might, he can't get himself to regret what he's said. Her expression changes, ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly: the grimness of reality resets itself into a fierce determination. He doubts he's been able to give her any rational hope, but he sees that change in her, and he can't help but feel his spirits lift when hers do. It's a dangerous thing, he knows, to pin his own joy in seeing her delight, but he can't get himself to regret it this time. She has a lovely expression when she's happy and content - those bright eyes, crinkling in laughter, the corners of her mouth upturned in a radiating beam.
Great, the rational side of him huffs. He can't even keep his mind on the job.
He has vowed to the parents to do all he can to bring them home, but in that instant, he makes a silent promise to himself: he will try to give her a happy ending. Perhaps it's the hostages' youthfulness; perhaps it's the ransom calls; perhaps it's the sheer number missing; perhaps it's their innocence. He doesn't know why she seems so quiet about this case, but her grim resignation bothers him. For all the hostage cases she may deal with in the rest of her career, and all the possible bad endings, he desperately wants this one to end well. He is going to find that scumbag and bring him down. He's going to bring those teenagers home to their parents, alive.
And he's going to make her hope again - and smile.
He can feel the corners of his mouth lift as she appears, pushing through the doors, the kids behind her. He knows that Chin and Danny - especially Danny, who no doubt has been having horrifying images of his own daughter being kidnapped - are just as happy as he is that these teens are safe home, but he can't help being even more delighted, personally. Seeing these hostages come home safe eases the loss of his father a tiny bit.
That, and her. His eyes are drawn in her direction.
She seems almost in disbelief, as if it's a dream she doesn't quite believe has happened. She's wandering among the reunited families, looking at them with incredulity, a little like Alice in an unfathomable wonderland. Too easily all of them could have ended up like their friend, killed and dumped on the beach like litter. These happy endings just don't happen - except in those providential times they do.
One of the mothers pulls Kono into a hug, and she seems even more surprised, if not embarrassed, by that gesture. She's got a slightly chagrined look on her face. This all just amuses him for some reason, and he can't help but grin.
She catches his eyes on her, but he continues to look at her unabashedly; he doesn't even pretend that he hasn't been watching her as he leans on this wooden podium, his chin resting on his hand. At this moment, as the grateful mother releases her, Kono's expression changes from that too-good-to-be-true bewilderment to the one he loves so much: eyes bright and happy, crinkling slightly as she beams...the sweet, full-lipped, dimpled smile of hers. He is completely captivated; his own grin widens as he watches her. The things he'd do to see that smile...
Somewhere inside, Reason throws up its hands and stalks off.
end