Ha'alele (episode)

Ha'alele (Abandoned) is the 20th episode of the second season in the remake version of Hawaii Five-0.

Synopsis
Max reveals some revealing information about his childhood in order to convince Five-0 that a serial killer is on the loose.

Plot
Danny Williams arrives into his office and finds a letter that his partner, Steve McGarrett, has left for him, with Steve explaining that he's gone to Japan to find Joe White and as long as White is out there, Steve can't devote himself to the job.

Unfortunately, there's no time for Danny to cope as the Hawaii Five-0 Task Force finds themselves investigating the death of Angela O'Hara, with the death leaving Dr. Max Bergman unusually stunned and emotionally distant.

The team soon discover that Angela's death was connected to a serial killer known as the Trashman, who abducted his female victims, murdered them, and dumped their bodies alongside trash bags and that at the time, HPD, who were under intense scrutiny, ultimately arrested Richard Branch, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, although Branch has continued to protest his innocence to this day.

Things get intense when Max reveals that his biological mother was one of the Trashman's victims.

The team soon find a link between both the victims in the past and present: all the women gave birth and left their babies at the same parish.

The team believes that the caretaker may be the killer but once they've brought him in, they discover that the caretaker is suffering from arthritis, which means that the caretaker is innocent. Max realizes this while the team learns that the caretaker had an airtight alibi at the time of Angela's kidnapping: he was at the hospital with his mother while she had dialysis. He tells them that McKenna's assistant Sam also had access to the truck used to abduct Angela.

Max soon returns to the parish and finds that Deacon MacKenna is the true killer due to the fact that MacKenna was abandoned as a baby.

As Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua arrive, Max manages to break free and kill MacKenna in self-defense by stabbing MacKenna with a piece of glass.

Thanks to the evidence, Branch is finally released from prison with Max being there to greet him and the two men shake hands.

Meanwhile, Kamekona Tupuola arrives to ask the H50 team for help in finding his shrimp truck. The team investigates and discovers that the trunk has been impounded by the City of Honolulu as Kamekona forgot to renew his license.

Later, Danny tries again to call Steve. At an airport in Tokyo, Japan, Steve receives the phone call but ignores it as he prepares to board a small jet plane.

Main cast

 * Alex O'Loughlin as Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett
 * Scott Caan as Detective Danny Williams
 * Daniel Dae Kim as Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly
 * Grace Park as Officer Kono Kalakaua
 * Masi Oka as Dr. Max Bergman

Guest starring

 * Pruitt Taylor Vince as Richard Branch
 * Max Perlich as Sam Sherman
 * Taylor Wily as Kamekona Tupuola
 * James Michael Connor as Deacon MacKenna/The Trashman
 * Kevin Dobson as Al Shepard
 * Stacy Haiduk as Nancy O'Hara
 * Keahu Kahuanui as Cal Litoa

Co-starring

 * Brian Yang as Charlie Fong
 * Adrian Wilson as Prison Guard
 * Elise Levin as Young Woman
 * Michael Gueso as Creepy Guy
 * Bill Ogilvie as Frank Pollard

Quotes
The letter from Steve to Danny:

Partner,

I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person to tell you this, but I need 

''to find Joe White. I think he lied to me about the identity of Shelburne ''

''and I need to get the truth. Shelburne is the real reason my father was ''

''murdered and maybe even my mother. And until I get some answers, I ''

can't do this job right.

''Danno, I'm gonna need you to hold down the fort for a while. ''

I'll be in touch.

Mahalo.

Chin Ho Kelly: Hey, where's McGarrett?

Danny Williams: He left a "Dear Danny" note on my desk this morning. He's off looking for Shelburne again.

Chin Ho Kelly: So, he just picked up and left?

Danny Williams: Guy's on a mission. What are you going to do?

Chin Ho Kelly: All right. Let's hope he gets some answers this time, I guess.

Danny Williams: We got to help the big guy, you know? Plus, I am becoming very partial to the garlic shrimp.

Chin Ho Kelly: Oh-ho-ho. Just a matter of time.

Danny Williams: Whoa, whoa, stop. What does that mean?

Chin Ho Kelly: Plate lunches at local grinds. You're practically kama'aina, bro.

Danny Williams: Did I say that I was jumping aboard to any local customs, Don Ho? No, I didn't. I just said that I liked the garlic shrimp. Which, in fact, is basically scampi. And that is not island food at all; it's Italian.

Deacon MacKenna: She didn't want you, Max. Don't you understand that? You're just like me.

Dr. Max Bergman: No, I'm not. I'm normal. You are mentally ill.

Chin Ho Kelly: Hey, you didn't talk to him, did you?

Danny Williams: No, he's, he's not taking my calls.

Chin Ho Kelly: You worried?

Danny Williams: A bit, like a cheerleader's father on prom night.

Chin Ho Kelly: Well, wherever McGarrett's going, obviously he's got to do it himself. Otherwise he would have asked us for help. Right?

Danny Williams: He's probably just trying to protect us, make sure we don't get hurt, you know.

Trivia

 * The letter from Steve to Danny has "Danno" written on the envelope
 * Steve heading to Japan was written into the series due to the fact Alex O'Loughlin was entering rehab at the time of the episode's airing, to receive supervised treatment for prescription pain medication due to a recent shoulder injury which limited his appearance in the episode and forced O'Loughlin to miss the two crossover episodes with fellow CBS crime series, NCIS: Los Angeles.