08. Der Tod hat 24 Karat (Twenty-four Karat Kill)

Ex-Soldat Johnny Fargo hat ein florierendes Tunfischfang-Unternehmen. Und weil er für das Syndikat Goldbarren schmuggelt, kann er seinen beiden Hobbys, Spielen und Frauen, ungehindert nachgehen. Doch dann gelangt ein Fisch mit „Füllung“ versehentlich auf den Markt. Als die Käuferin des wertvollen Tieres erstochen wird, kann der Mörder anhand der Fingerabdrücke identifiziert werden. (Text: Kabel 1)
Deutsche TV-PremiereFr 06.08.1971ARD
Original-TV-PremiereDo 14.11.1968CBS

This show has a major continuity error: "Governor" Richard Denning appears in this show as treasury agent Philip Grey. There is no logical explanation for this. I assume that some other actor was supposed to play this part and was unavailable at the very last minute. During his first appearance, McGarrett keeps repeating Grey's name -- as if he is trying to convince us that it really isn't the Governor! Or (this is my rumour) maybe the show's producers thought that Five-O wasn't going to be successful, and they didn't care who played this part? Aside from this blunder, it's a good show. When the woman buys the fish (a kind of tuna called bonito, by the way) at the beginning, and considering she is very picky, why doesn't she realize how heavy the fish is (since it contains a gold bar)? I like the parallels when she gets knocked off -- her knife, the killer's knife; her screaming, her baby screaming. This show has a great, archetypal sequence of McGarrett driving away from his office and through Honolulu (taken from the pilot episode) with accompanying score by Stevens. Why can't anyone drive in this episode without squealing tires? Doug Mossman plays Lt. Howard Kealoha, who deals with McGarrett in a blunt, no-nonsense way. Kono is used to bust down the door of the gambling den, sort of like a human bulldozer. Check McGarrett's artsy-fartsy reflection in the mirror when he is talking to the coroner. Chin gets a skull fracture (from tailing someone too close!) and McGarrett addresses him as "Fatso" in the hospital. When McGarrett busts into the office of sleazy lawyer Paul Dennison (Paul Richards), he tells Dennison's secretary, "Stay out of this, honey." McGarrett is very pissed at Dennison for putting Chin in the hospital. McGarrett says "no dames" when Grey suggests using a female undercover operator. When McGarrett suggests using a million bucks, Grey says if it gets lost, they'll take it out of McGarrett's salary, to which McGarrett replies: "What's a couple of hundred years of peanut butter sandwiches?" McGarrett directs his receptionist's attention to the coffee machine when he enters the office. When Johnny Fargo (Kaz Garas) tries to get fresh with the undercover agent Andrea (Marj Dusay), he says "Perfect, baby, perfect," to which she replies, "Act your age." When Danno phones the office to relay the good news about Chin's recovery, he seems very chummy with May, the receptionist, telling her "You're beautiful." When they are tailing the bad guys near the show's end, the scene with the cops in car nine is used twice, and the scene with car twelve is used four times!! At the end, Fargo ends up shot and in the drink, similar to Kevin McCarthy's character in episode number 1. Eddie Sherman (presumably the newspaperman) plays a detective. One of the boats used by the bad guys is named Alika, which is the name of a gangster played by Ross Martin in the final two seasons.This is the first show in which McGarrett utters the familiar expression "Book him, Danno," when he and Williams overtake Dennison and Wong Tuo inside the parking garage.