Hawai 5-0 The Flip Side Is Death (1968–1980) Online

This is not a bad episode at all--though the first portion seemed better to me than the finale. In fact, the 15 minutes or so were wonderfully creative. I just wish the ending didn't rely on the stupidity of the criminals--plus, apparently, Danno has a Star Trek transporter or a tardis...which I'll explain about a bit later.

The show begins with a military truck overturning in the street and gas pouring out--and according to the soldiers, it's nerve gas (hence their masks). Naturally, the people nearby run in horror--not realizing that this is all a ruse so that these four fake soldiers can rob the nearby bank. Soon, the army vehicles are ditched along with the uniforms and they make their escape. Considering how well timed this was as well as the smart idea for smuggling the money off the island, you'd think the chances of catching them are nil. But, as is the case when a crime is too well thought out for TV, the criminals need to make some uncharacteristic blunders so that Five-O can catch them. This is a weakness of the episode but what confused me a lot more was how you see two of the crooks speeding to their nearby hideout (on a rural part of the island) and, at the same time, Danno talking with Steve back at headquarters---then, instantly, Danno manages to be at the hideout BEFORE the crooks! Now perhaps Danno could have called police have them meet the crooks, but unless he had Scotty beam him to the hideout with a Star Trek transporter there is no logical reason for him being in the finale (unless has cool X-Man powers over time and space). A great first half, an okay second half--and still well worth seeing.

By the way, about 1/4 of the way into the show, you see a 2-3 second clip that is actually from episode 6.17 ("One Born Every Minute")--with the four crooks from this episode making THEIR getaway! Weird but it clearly is Ed Flanders, Michael Strong and the others in the car!

In "The Flip Side Is Death" we find out that Art Walker (Peter Haskell) needs the bank robbery loot because his music business is in trouble. It isn't overtly mentioned, but we learn why when it is revealed that he is a distributor of 8-Track cassettes, a format that, while certainly conducive to portable listening, had a shot lifespan with consumers due to reliability and usability. One of Five-0 strengths isn't fleshing out the characters of the good guys. Al Harrington's Ben, for example, doesn't even have a last name. It is therefore refreshing in this episode to learn that one of the patrolmen is a fan of Santana. It made me wonder what Danno liked to listen to in his free time. He didn't seem to have any qualms about smashing a Bob Dylan 8- Track cassette so perhaps he was one of those die hard folk fans who would have booed Dylan when he plugged in an electric guitar at Newport. And McGarrett seemed to show interest in playing the guitar in earlier episodes, but then apparently gave it up. Don Stroud played drums in "The Buddy Holly Story" but he doesn't get to do anything musical here; he just acts real mean and makes an excellent bad guy. In keeping with the music theme it should be noted that this episode was directed by Paul Stanley. I wonder if he ever directed Jean Simmons in anything?