Clint Allen

Watched all of NCIS (original) and Hawaii Five-0 and have enjoyed both. NCIS Hawaii feels like it wants to combine both shows into 1 but it doesn't know which one to lean into the most. The first episode was pretty good but personally I think it tried to do too much too soon and in effect hurt itself. It tried to introduce and give background on all the characters and why we should care about them overlaid on top of a relatively far-fetched case. It could have just established Tennant and given her a chance to shine right out of the gate and just let us observe the team. The second episode did a decent job of trying to build on the characters but again it felt like they are trying to too hard to establish who plays what role on the team and what some of the overarching personal issues are. And just as the first actual case being a bit out there, this one needed a very convoluted setup to get the case to NCIS. NCIS works because its at the Navy Yard and Hawaii Five-0 worked because the team worked "along side" (let's just say) HPD in Hawaii. I think NCIS Hawaii will take a bit to find their footing in how they want to operate and where. They have a great setting there with Pearl Harbor and the Pacific but that might be too expensive story wise. I mean, how can you not include the base at Pearl Harbor in the first two episodes? Trying to avoid the obvious I guess. They also need to tone things back a bit and allow us to learn about these characters organically and over time. Learning about characters and their stories in parallel (but secondary to) solving a good case is what keeps you coming back. If you take some of the mystery out of the characters right away, they lose their luster. And once you pigeon hole them into a value and role, it will get stale quickly. I'm not sure how long I'll stay with the show, maybe give it up to 5 episodes to give them a a chance to find their footing. Overall though, I'm going to struggle with the fact it feels like its trying to be a Navy Five-0 and if that's the case, I'd be better off just re-watching Five-0