The pilot episode of the reimagined crime series Hawaii Five-0 premiered on CBS in the United States on September 20, 2010. The pilot's teleplay was written by Peter M. Lenkov, based on a story developed by Lenkov, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, and was directed by Len Wiseman. The episode introduces the four main characters: Alex O'Loughlin as series protagonist and Navy SEAL, Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett, Scott Caan as Steve's partner Danny Williams, a former Detective from New Jersey who moved to Hawaii to be close to his daughter, Grace, Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly, a disgraced HPD cop and Grace Park as Kono Kalakaua, a former surfer-turned-HPD Academy graduate who is also Chin's cousin. In the pilot, McGarrett returns to Hawaii to find Victor Hesse (James Marsters), a terrorist who murdered his father, John McGarrett. The Governor of Hawaii, Pat Jameson (Jean Smart) offers McGarrett to head a new task force to fight serious crimes by any means.

Since the end of the original Hawaii Five-O series, there had been a number of attempts to create a remake, but ultimately none went beyond the pilot stage. CBS later hired Lenkov to pitch a pilot story. Kurtzman and Orci were approached; while originally hesitant to participate in the project, they were impressed with Lenkov's pitch. The episode was filmed in March 2010 and took over two weeks to shoot. When the episode became too long certain sequences were cut from the final product, including the funeral scene with Taryn Manning as McGarrett's sister; the character would be introduced in a later episode. Almost 14.2 million Americans viewed the pilot, increasing to 17.59 million when Live+7-day digital video recordings (DVR) are taken into account, and was also considered a ratings success in other countries. Critical reactions were generally positive.

Plot The episode begins in Pohang, South Korea, where United States Navy SEAL Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin) is transporting prisoner Anton Hesse (Norman Reedus). Anton's brother, Victor (James Marsters) calls McGarrett to announce he is holding his father, John McGarrett (William Sadler), in Honolulu, and wants to make an exchange. However, Victor is in fact tracking McGarrett's convoy; two helicopters arrive and ambush it. In the midst of the skirmish, McGarrett is forced to kill Anton when he brandishes a weapon. In response, Victor executes John.

McGarrett returns to Hawaii to attend his father's funeral, where he meets State Governor Patricia Jameson (Jean Smart). Jameson offers McGarrett to lead a new independent state police task force to apprehend Hesse and clean up the criminal underworld in the state by any means. However, McGarrett initially refuses and goes to his father's home to investigate the crime scene. While searching the house he finds that Hesse has an accomplice, and also notices a tool box marked "Champ" (in the beginning of the episode, John referred to his son as "champ" despite never calling him that before). As he takes the box, which has evidence on a case John must have wanted his son to solve, he is confronted by the lead detective in the case, Honolulu Police Department Detective Sergeant Danny Williams (Scott Caan), a divorcee from New Jersey who moved to Hawaii to be close to his daughter Grace (Teilor Grubbs) after she moved with her mother and her new husband. Despite initial friction between the two, McGarrett decides to accept Jameson's offer, and appoints a reluctant Danny as his partner. They find a lead in suspected gun runner Fred Doran (Jonathan Clarke Sypert); ballistics evidence suggests it came from a gun once owned by Doran. When they arrive at his quonset hut, he attempts to flee, but is killed by Danny following a standoff.

Initially dismayed that Danny shot the only lead to Hesse, McGarrett finds Chen Chi (Allison Chu), a smuggled immigrant from China who was sold to Doran, leading McGarrett to believe human traffickers smuggled Hesse to Hawaii. In order to find out who, McGarrett and Danny turn to Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim), one of John's proteges. He left the Honolulu Police Department disgraced after he was accused of corruption. After Chin Ho asserts his innocence, McGarrett offers him to join his task force. The trio meet with Chin Ho's friend, former police informant and current owner of a shave ice business Kamekona (Taylor Wily). Kamekona believes the snakehead leader is Sang Min (Will Yun Lee). In order to apprehend Sang Min, Chin Ho decides to appoint his cousin, Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park) as a plant. Kono was a former professional surfer turned police academy graduate. She goes undercover as a Chinese immigrant to meet with Sang Min. The conversation is monitored by the rest of the team through up-to-date laser audio surveillance, eliminating the need for a wire. However, it has emerged that Sang Min has a mole in HPD, who identifies Kono as a cop. The team storm the warehouse, and McGarrett apprehends Sang Min.

In the interrogation, McGarrett informs Sang Min that if he goes to prison, his Rwandan wife and son will be deported, leaving his son at the mercy of the Hutu militias. If he cooperates, McGarrett will ensure they stay in America. Sang Min reveals that Hesse is going to leave the island on a Chinese freighter. Danny and McGarrett hastily drive to the docks. They then proceed to assault the freighter, where they dispatch several of Hesse's guards. McGarrett confronts Hesse, and shoots him off the boat. At the end of the episode, the new team settle into their new office space, and cannot settle on a name for their new unit.

Production

Background and writing The idea for a remake of Hawaii Five-O first came about in 1996, when CBS commissioned a sequel starring Gary Busey and Russell Wong, along with a cameo appearance by James MacArthur, who portrayed the original Danny Williams, as Danny who was promoted to the state governor. Though the pilot was produced, it was never released. Twelve years later, on August 12, 2008, CBS commissioned another sequel to Five-O, with Criminal Minds executive producer Edward Allen Bernero appointed to write the pilot. The sequel would center on Steve McGarrett's son. However the sequel was never produced.

Later, CBS approached CSI: NY writer Peter M. Lenkov to pitch a reimagined pilot of the show, as Lenkov himself was a fan of the original. When executive producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman known about the remake, the two were originally hesitant to participate, but were impressed by Lenkov's pitch, since the story had "such a great kind of paradigm for the show and how to really get into the characters that he really talked us into it." All three developed the story of the pilot, though Lenkov was the one who wrote the script. On February 19, 2010, CBS ordered the production of the pilot, with Len Wiseman chosen to direct. It was the first time Wiseman worked on a television program, and it was also the first time he used digital cinematography rather than film.

The producers discussed changing Kono to a female character. Lenkov noted that the producers did not have reservations as he initially though, but instead embraced the idea, as it would empower women in the remake by including them as main characters and not just victims or other minor characters. The pilot episode of the original series already established the Five-O task force, and when writing the pilot Lenkov wanted to give a proper introduction to the characters so that the audience can get to know them. Another difference in both the original and reimagined shows was the genre; the original was more police procedural, whereas the remake would be more action orientated, as well as some comedy mixed in, particularly from the banter between McGarrett and Danny. In the original script, there was no fighting between the two main characters, but the producers felt this would launch their partnership. Lenkov also included the return of an iconic catch phrase from the original series, "Book 'em, Danno". A table read-through of the pilot took place on February 19, 2010.

Casting

The first principal actor to be cast was Daniel Dae Kim for the role of Chin Ho Kelly. Before he was cast, Dae Kim was working on the final season of Lost, in which he portrayed regular character Jin-Soo Kwon. The actor wanted to find more work after he finished, and was offered a chance to appear on Five-0. Dae Kim spent some time with HPD officers, as well as viewing some episodes of the original series as "homework" for the character. Alex O'Loughlin was next to be cast as the main protagonist Steve McGarrett. Despite playing two series on CBS, Moonlight and Three Rivers, that were cancelled in their first year, CBS was still interested in having O'Loughlin headline another series. However, the producers initially had reservations casting the actor, until they realized his dedication towards the role. Grace Park was later cast as Kono Kalakaua. It is the second time she starred in a re-imagined television series in which her role was previously portrayed by a male in its original incarnation, the first being Battlestar Galactica in which she portrayed Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, a part that was played by Herbert Jefferson Jr. in the original series. The producers had Park in mind because of her previous role on Battlestar. The producers also felt that another male Kono would be boring for the show. Scott Caan was the last principal cast member to be cast on the show, as Danny Williams. Being cast at "the eleventh hour", the first time Caan and O'Loughlin met was during rehearsal.

In addition to the regular cast, a number of recurring characters were introduced in the pilot. Taylor Wily was introduced as confidential informant and shave ice entrepreneur Kamekona. Lenkov, who initially designed the character from Huggy Bear on Starsky & Hutch, took a liking to the actor following his audition, and was given the role. In March 2010 it was announced that Jean Smart would play state governor Pat Jameson. In the same month it was announced that James Marsters would appear in the pilot as the nemesis to McGarrett. After some speculation, in July Lenkov announced that Marsters would "most likely" return later in the season. In one of the deleted scenes of the pilot from the first season DVD boxset, an alternate ending featured Hesse swimming ashore after McGarrett shot him. Will Yun Lee was cast as Sang Min. The character was originally a one-off, but because the producers were impressed by Yun Lee's performance, he would appear in a further three episodes in the first season. In February 2010, Taryn Manning was cast as McGarrett's sister, Mary Ann, who was originally intended to appear at her father's funeral. However, her scenes were cut. Mary Ann would later be formally introduced in the fourth episode, "Lanakila".

Filming

Filming began two weeks after the readthrough, on March 5, 2010, and took over two weeks to shoot. Wiseman's direction was to film the episode like a "postcard of Hawaii," but at the same time show its darker side when the team fight the antagonists. Dae Kim's schedule overlapped between the Five-0 pilot and Lost, although at the time his character in the latter show was in the process of being killed off. The first few days of filming was affected due to bad weather conditions, particularly strong winds and sudden sporadic rain showers. The first day was spent in Pearl Harbor, near the USS Missouri (BB-63). Line producer Pat Crowley made an appearance as a helicopter pilot. The second day of filming took place at the North Shore, shooting scenes for Kono's introduction. Before filming began, Park, who had never surfed before, was taught the basics, though the scenes in which Kono surfs were mostly done by a body double. Filming was severely hindered by bad weather, forcing the production team to reschedule. Day three was spent on Kamekona's scenes.