User Reviews

This is one of the first power house episodes of H50 when the stories really began to click with good acting, writing, and a tense plot.

Yaphet Koto is a Marine barricaded with a gun and a wounded Dano in a hospital full of patients. He thinks he's back holding a hill in Viet Nam, and McGarrett is climbing the walls trying to rescue Dano before he bleeds to death.

Koto really does a great job in this one.

And for trivia collectors listen to the TV newsman as he gives a bit of Dano's background.

In earlier episodes many of the plots are hackneyed and not very exciting, this is about the time that H50 really begins to hit its stride.

This show had a lot more impact when it aired, because the Vietnam War was still underway.

This episode debuted in the year 1969, when countless young men were dying in Vietnam in a pointless political war. Many lives were ruined (death, crippling injuries), many others were traumatized, and almost all of the combat soldiers were frustrated, wondering "What are we fighting for?"

The Vietnam War was fresh in everyone's mind, and in those days it was broadcast daily into the living rooms of Americans (the powers-that-be learned their lesson, we would not again get daily televised man-on-the-field reports from Wars. Even though technology was far, far greater, we did not get much "live action" from the War in Iraq, from Desert Storm, from Afghanistan... the Government didn't want us to again see the atrocities of political Wars that had no beginning, no end, no objective, no reason.

The overwhelming majority of Veterans (whether Vietnam, or Korea or WWII) were able to put the War behind them, move forward, and lead productive lives. Yes, everyone has memories, but it's only a small percentage that suffers the recurring nightmares and the guilt years later. I could give countless examples, including friends and relatives who served and fought, but this is a review of a TV show, so I will leave that for another time.

In this sad story, Lance Corporal John T. Auston is one of the small percentage of soldiers who didn't get over it (and of course, in this episode he is still on Active Duty; the flashbacks he is having are of events that only happened a few weeks or a few months prior).

The hysterics of the girl whose father died in the ICU unit are a bit over the top. Of course McGarrett will administer CPR (not correctly, but it's a TV show and he is the hero, so it's okay) and save the guy.

And, as often happens on Hawaii Five-0, we have incredibly sloppy police work. A gunman has shot two people, one critically, the shooter is still firing... but the Cops allow a crowd of civilian onlookers to gather within mere feet of the hospital! When the shots are really close, the crowd scatters and disperses. But a few minutes later, the onlookers regroup in the parking lot to continue watching the scenario. Get serious, in real life, nobody would be allowed in the vicinity.

L. Q. Jones (who is only 42 years old in this role) plays the Colonel who will step in to help end the crisis. His haircut is not in compliance with Army regulations, but again, this is a TV show, they take liberties.

How unfortunate that producer Leonard Freeman played the race card at the end. Very unnecessary, it doesn't fit into the story. It totally wrecked an otherwise good episode; my rating reflects this.

FWIW, I am a Vietnam Era Veteran.

6 Stars for "King of the Hill"

Florida Fred.

The longer this episode dragged on, the more I just wanted it to be over.

Danny Williams is no dummy, plus the TV reporter listed the detective's background as including schooling in psychology. So why O WHY didn't Danny figure it out early on and play along with the delusional Lance Corporal and tell him that those voices down the hall were indeed corpsmen trying to help them?

And the uniformed officer allowing the Marine to take not only his weapon, but also his belt loaded with ammo? I don't buy it. But without that, the whole episode would've been over before it started (not that I would complain about that outcome).

I realize that the actors can only work with the material they were given and Yaphet Kotto sure ate up the scenery, but I was hoping for something a little more believable.

In summary, you should instead watch Midnight Run. Thank you.