Steve McGarrett
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Steve McGarrett was the lead character in the long running crime drama television series Hawaii Five-O. He was a former Naval Intellegence officer with two presidential citations. McGarrett was appointed the command of a fictional state police force, for the state of Hawaii, known as the Five-O. It was named for Hawaii's status as the 50th state. McGarrett was appointed to his job by Governor Paul Jameson (Richard Denning) somtime prior to the events in the pilot film. McGarrett's job description was to lead the Five-O against organized crime, murder, foreign agents and felones of every type as well as dealing with the occasional state wide disaster.
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[edit] His Top Aid
McGarrett ran a six-man strong police force. The Five-O did however borrow other police officers as needed. One of McGarrett's most defining relationships was with his right-hand man Danny "Dano" Williams (James MacArthur). McGarrett nicknamed him "Dano" and many episodes end with McGarrett saying "book em Dano", words that are then followed by the naming of a criminal offense. That statement is an order to place the latest villain under arrest. Those words became one of the show's most popular catch-phrases. Another popular catch phrase was McGarrett saying "Okay, what have we got?" This means that he is thinking about the facts that he knows and is beginning to formulate a solution to the episode's mystery. McGarrett's style of leadership is a tough no-nonsense one with an insistence on whatever it takes to get the job done. One episode has him saying to Danny Williams "how much do you know about hang-gliding Dano?" Williams replies, "Nothing, Steve." McGarrett says "Oh, how'd you like to learn?" Williams replies, "Do I have a choice?", to which McGarrett replies, "No."
[edit] His Adversaries
Another of McGarrett's most defining relationships is with his number one adversary, the Chinese spy and later terrorist Wo Fat. Wo Fat,as far as is known,began his criminal carreer as the head of Red China's entire spy operation in the Pacific theater. Later he started acting on his own. Wo Fat became the leader of a Chinese secret society known as the Nine Dragons and ploted a coup aganist the Chinese government. McGarrett had eleven encounters with the criminal mastermind over the course of the series. The first one was in the Five-O pilot film Cocoon(H50 TV Movie) which was broadcast six weeks before the series started. The last one was in the show's final episode twelve years later. In between, the those two episodes, their encounters always ended with the Five-O foiling Wo Fat's latest scheme but never being able to arrest the man.
During those encounters McGarrett developed a strong, almost admiring, but still antagonistic relationship with Wo Fat. In the episode "The Nine Dragons," McGarrett read a letter sent after a major heist from a secure vault. He read the letter aloud to the Five-O team and said, "No signature, none necessaary. Only one man could have planned this heist. To that Danny Williams replies, "Wo Fat". McGarret says "Wo Fat. I know his methods and the way that he thinks." Most of McGarrett's adversaries would be arrested and gone for good after one encounter. Only after eleven encounters and in the show's final episode was McGarrett finally able to arrest the criminal mastermind.
Most of McGarrett's adversaries went down for good after one encounter. In order to really count as a Rogues Gallery villains have to appear more than once. McGarrett did have a few such villians. Gang Lord Honre Vashon(Harold Gould) was another, and was the patriarch of a crime family who blamed McGarrett for the death of his son. Another was a vicious gang lord nicknamed "Chicken"(Gaven McLeod) and a con-man with a talent for escape played by Hume Cronyn. There were several other recurring villains as well.
Other adversaries of McGarrett and the Five-O team include ganglords, fancy theives such as a group that posed as the Five-O, foreign terrrorists such as the Japenese Red Army, serial killers, drug runners, hitmen, vicious small-time thieves, counter-culture terrorists, and the occasional vigilante whose brand of crime fighting makes them criminals. These villains were only seen once.
[edit] His Other Aides
Allies of McGarrett against these villains include Detective Kono and Chin Ho Kelly. The two of them were from the early years. The murder of Chin Ho in a later episode bought out McGarrett's vengeful side. Later in the series McGarrett is joined by policemen Duke Lukela and Ben Kokua. He is also aided by medical examiner Doc Bergman and forensic specalist Che Fong. He is also aided by a succession of secretaries.
[edit] Personal Data
Although McGarrett seems to live out of his office, he does have occasional relationships with attractive women. He has never been marrried and none of these relationships seem to last long; in fact, some end tragically. McGarrett also had a friend named Hennessey from his Navy Intelligence days who was lost in the pilot episode, and a nephew who was lost in the shows first two-episode storyline. The mother of the nephew was McGarrett's sister, who livee in Los Angeles. McGarrett's key hobby was to indulge in a passion for sailing.
People say that McGarrett only takes orders from the Governor and God and sometimes even they have trouble. He is from time to time called back into service for the Navy. One of those times was to battle with Wo Fat. When that happens Danny Williams is placed in charge of the Five-O. McGarrett's passion for sailing may be the reason that he joined the Navy. The only explaination that he gives for being a cop is that he cares.
[edit] Comparisons with other fictional crime fighters
A regular and ongoing group of aides as well as a long a diverse group of adversaries gives McGarrett something in common with Dick Tracy, Steve Carella and Theo Kojak. Having another job where he also fights crime gives him something else in common with Dick Tracy. Detective Tracy was also a naval intellegence officer. McGarrett's relationship with the governor is similar to Batman's relationship with the police commissioner. His ongoing struggles with Wo Fat are similar to James Bond vs Blofled.
[edit] Reasons that he is the Lead Character
Steve McGarrett in the only character in the series to appear in every single episode including the pilot film. Jack Lord portrayed him in every appearance. That is unlike Danny Williams who was portrayed by one actor in the pilot and another for the rest of the series. McGarrett is clearly the brains of the Five-O. He is the one who tells people what to do in a crisis, he is the one who does most of the sleuthing and he manages the arrests. For these reasons McGarrett is more the center of the action than the other characters.
[edit] Sources
- Adventure Heroes:Legendary characters from Odyseus to James Bond by Jeff Rovin published by Facts on File
- The Hawaii Five-O Homepage at MJQ.net
- The Hawaii Five-O season one DVD
