S012E10 - “The Kahuna” - Plot

Act One

A funeral takes place as the surf roars in the background but it can't drown out the singer (Emma Veary). A blonde woman (Cathy Lee Crosby) walks past 'Lono Bay Sand & Gravel Co.' sign on her way to the funeral. She talks to Chief Kaana (Doug Mossman) to try to persuade the people to stop the interment. The Chief tells her, Dr. Lynch, she needs a court order because the island is privately owned. Even as a public health officer, Dr. Lynch is getting no cooperation. Chief Kaana also informs her Doc Cooper (Charles Peck), who is the company doctor, signed the death certificates and found cause of death to be "conch shell dust poisoning". The people on the island respect Dr. Lynch but she may have bitten more off than she can chew. She appeals directly with the mourners but the Kahuna (Edward Larry Akau) tells her it's "forbidden" and she gets a police escort off the island. She leaves determined to get the court order for autopsies.

McGarrett supervises a stakeout mission from his office with Kimo on channel six and Dr. Lynch waiting to speak to him. Kimo is at the back of Oahu Power Company while a pair of HPD officers covers the front and side. He's keeping his eyes open for Mr. Numura. After McGarrett orders "protective surveillance on a 24-hour basis," he turns toward Dr. Lynch not really sure why she came to Five-O. Dr. Lynch tells McGarrett she can't get help from anyone because there's no proof any crime took place. Kimo calls in as an employee (Fred Lerner) goes near Numura's limousine with "protective clothing". The guy breaks into the car by jimmying the front lock. He then searches for a canister, which Kimo sees and calls in. McGarrett orders him to take the suspect. When Kimo moves in, Truck walks out with Numura and the guy claims to have a gun. Truck pushes Numura to the side and tackles the guy, knocking him out. Kimo reports what's happened; McGarrett wants everyone away from the limousine and he'll be there shortly. Dr. Lynch feels blown off by everybody as McGarrett leaves.

McGarrett arrives at the power company. The HPD Bomb Officer (Barton McCollough) says the device is an "open canister". Because Numura's company had been testing radioactive waste, they put the Geiger counter to the canister: it's "hot". Kimo identifies the employee/suspect as "Frank Turley," who has worked as a radiation expert for 21 years. He'd been demoted two months before.

McGarrett debriefs Kimo and Truck in his office talking about Turley's plan to remove the canister after Numura died so no one would be able to prove murder. Luana (Laura Sode) buzzes in with an Addison Bower (William Verdier) on the line and she reminds McGarrett Dr. Lynch is still waiting. McGarrett tells Luana to allow Dr. Lynch in. Bower gives them the bad news the kids were disinterred and reburied at sea after a request for autopsies. Bower says it's been company policy for over a century to not interfere with local customs and religions. The company considers their deaths "tragic accidents". After he hangs up with Bower, McGarrett introduces Dr. Lynch to Kimo and Truck. The plan is to hold Truck over from HPD and to have him and Kimo fly to Lono Bay with Dr. Lynch.

Act Two

A helicopter brings the three in. Truck's cover is a traveling salesman of sorts, as he brings over a little bit of everything from Oahu. Dr. Lynch shows Kimo around with the first stop being the 'Emporium' a general store on steroids that includes a barbershop. Mr. Lamb (Don Knight) owns/runs the Emporium and discusses the kids with Dr. Lynch and Kimo. The families weren't keen on an autopsy according to Lamb. Lamb steps away for a bit but the Kahuna walks in telling them the kids violated an ancient kapu and that's why they died. Every Hawaiian the Kahuna walks by either stops, walks in another direction or bows; he holds great power in the community.

As Truck tries to sell his wares to a woman (Kamalei Sataraka); he speaks to the family about the beaches. All the beaches are good except Lima Beach: it has a kapu on it. Truck walks out to Lima Beach to see what all the to do is about. As he's walking through the woods, a red cloth on a tree gains his momentary attention but he presses on. The Kahuna stops Truck from proceeding further. Truck tells him: "this Hawaiian respects the old legends, but he doesn't have to believe in them". The Kahuna gets frustrated and pushes his way past Truck. Truck kicks a rock that's the boundary for the kapu out of the way but sprains his ankle closer to the beach. Limping the rest of the way there, he doesn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Dr. Lynch and Kimo visit Dr. Cooper who has a surprisingly warm relationship with Dr. Lynch. Dr. Cooper says the kids showed signs of "acute toxemia". Dr. Lynch isn't sure without a post mortem. Cooper tells them in all his years of practice, "I've seen all kinds of poisoning, every kind that could afflict the human body". Dr. Cooper is sure "lung poisoning" killed them. Chief Kaana drives up fast to Dr. Cooper's house just as Dr. Lynch and Kimo are leaving. All of them pile into the SUV Kaana is driving and go see Willy Nuna. By the time they arrive, he's already dead. Kimo plans on getting Willy on a helicopter to Honolulu to have an autopsy done.

Truck limps into the Emporium's barbershop. The barber (Terry Plunkett) starts giving him a trim while Truck talks about Lono Bay. When he brings up their kapus, everyone goes silent. Truck changes the subject but soon goes into spasms but he manages to stumble out.

In the evening, Kimo and Truck have dinner at Dr. Lynch's house. Truck is uncharacteristically not hungry while Kimo pulls out his list of suspects. The list includes about half the town including the police chief! Truck suspects the Kahuna who Truck calls "evil". Truck is sure "he laid a big kahuna curse on me". At the table, Truck has stomach cramps again.

When Truck was leaving the barbershop, a boy picked up some of his hair clippings. The boy takes them to a house and leaves them on the doorknob of the Kahuna's house. The Kahuna takes the hair and uses it in a ritual. "Let him know the wrath of the kahuna".

Act Three

The coroner (Winston Char) reports in McGarrett's office a sedative was found in Willy Nuna and it's not something that can be easily bought. However, he died of "toxic shell dust in his lungs" which brings them back to square one. The coroner informs McGarrett it's not the dust itself but rather the concentration as if "it might have been deliberately inhaled". There were bruises on the inside of the trachea suggesting a tube was shoved down Willy's throat. McGarrett considers it "a new way to commit murder".

On Lono Bay Island, Truck leaves the house he's staying at finding a leaf from the Kahuna left on his doorknob. He rips it off, throwing it to the ground. His problems have only begun because people who he just talked to a day before avoid him on the street. Kimo rants about the three murders and they're "not even close to having a motive, except for that mumbo jumbo about some evil kahuna". Truck has a great suggestion that someone may be doing some sketchy stuff on Lima Beach under the cover of the kapu. When Truck was there, it was high tide, which means anything out of sorts could be underwater. Low tide is in a few hours and anything out of whack could be exposed. Kimo comes up with a plan to go check it out with snorkeling equipment with Dr. Lynch.

Later on, Kimo and Dr. Lynch go to the beach with their new equipment. When they get to the beach, they notice a large cable anchored next to the one tree there. It goes into the water and is not easily brought up to the beach. Kimo and Dr. Lynch hit the water to investigate. While they're in the water, a man drives to the beach and cuts the cable. Kimo dives down and sees a cage on the edge of the reef. Kimo resurfaces telling Dr. Lynch what he found but when he goes back down, the cage tumbles down into the ocean. Back on the beach, they find footprints around the cable base leading to the road. On the road, tracks from an off-road vehicle are neatly in the sand. Dr. Lynch says Dr. Cooper makes plaster casts and they leave to see him so they can get casts of the tracks.

Truck is flat in bed fighting off something. The landlady (Elizabeth Smith) comes in to start yelling at him and eventually kicks him out because she wants nothing to do with his curse.

Kimo and Dr. Lynch return from the beach in search of plaster. She goes to get it while Kimo calls McGarrett to apprise him of the situation. A rainstorm hits during the call, so much for getting casts of the tire tracks. McGarrett will travel via helicopter and be at Lono Bay "in a couple of hours".

Truck limps down the street to the Emporium's barbershop going in demanding to know where the kahuna lives. He tells the barber and a couple other guys he has to find out how the kids died. Truck tries to block their exit with no success following them outside. He runs into the two guys who met him at the helicopter when he flew in and they tell him he has to leave Lono Bay. Truck collapses in front of the Emporium.

Kimo and Dr. Lynch go back ready to make casts but there's nothing left due to the rain. When they get back, they find Truck. Propping him up, he mutters something about believing in the kahuna's curse.

Act Four

McGarrett arrives in Lono Bay asking about Truck as soon as he steps off. Dr. Lynch can't find a reason for his condition but she has him on I.V. at her place. The next order of business is the tire tracks, or lack thereof. At Dr. Lynch's place she tells McGarrett Truck really believes in the curse but she would know based on test results of blood samples.

At the Emporium, Dr. Lynch and Kimo discuss Truck's condition with McGarrett because the I.V. isn't doing any good. He's going to call the Coast Guard to airlift Truck out. He also asks them about the tire tracks, planning a bluff. Because no one saw them leave to make the casts, McGarrett believes they can smoke the person out. Carew plants a bug into Chief Kaana's ear, as they also need his help in getting all the jeeps on the island in one place.

Dr. Lynch tries to break Truck's fever, telling he needs to forget about the curse and that Kimo needs his help. Dr. Cooper stops by with extra I.V.s and tells her he has equipment to run the blood samples. He could have results for her in a half-hour. She agrees, grabbing the samples and following Dr. Cooper to his office. As they walk, Dr. Cooper informs her that Lamb has a jeep and he keeps it in the warehouse next to the store. She parts ways with him to check it out.

Kimo compares treads with various jeeps in a parking lot as Dr. Lynch sneaks behind them toward the warehouse. Once inside, she notices another tire next to the jeep. Lamb is at the front of his vehicle and scares the hell out her when he stands up. She tells him they're checking tires but she's not sure if he was putting it on or taking it off. She tries to back out but Lamb pulls a gun on her and goes psychotic. Apparently Lamb discovered a bed of Angel Skin coral off Lima Beach worth about "a million dollars". The kids stumbled onto it because they ignored the kapu. So Lamb killed them, "what else could I do?" However, the kapu was in place before Lamb found the coral so the kahuna wasn't in on the killings. Lamb isn't a fan of Trans-Allied and the coral technically belongs to them but he considers them "rich enough". He also whines about being behind the Emporium counter for 25 years. Lamb eventually makes his way to the driver's seat and takes Dr. Lynch for a ride. When they leave the warehouse, Kimo notices them jumping into a jeep to follow them. McGarrett takes off in another direction.

Following them, Kimo makes a turn to catch up. Once he does, Lamb runs Kimo off the road and the jeep overturns. Lamb stops, Dr. Lynch fights him and a helicopter shows up with McGarrett! Lamb aims at the chopper running along the road as Lynch and Kimo meet up. Kimo goes after Lamb finally jumping him after Lamb takes another shot at the helicopter. Lamb punches Kimo out and threatens to shoot Dr. Lynch if she doesn't stay back. Lamb takes off again as Dr. Lynch stays with Kimo. After exchanging gunfire, the helicopter closes in on Lamb, kicking up sand. McGarrett subdues him, meeting up with Kimo and Dr. Lynch. She tells McGarrett everything Lamb told her. McGarrett orders Kimo to book Lamb on "murder one. Three counts".

Truck recovers in a Honolulu hospital. McGarrett explains Lamb's operation with two partners of an underwater salvage operation. Kimo goes on to explain why Truck is so sick: radiation sickness because Turley was moving the rod from the front to the back because Numura was his target. Not enough to kill, but enough to make Truck sick and believe he was cursed.