'Hawaii Five-0' Season 1, Episode 4 Recap (VIDEO)

['Hawaii Five-0' - 'Lanakila']

Even scripted shows sometimes get an unwanted dose of reality. For 'Hawaii Five-0,' that came in the form of an on-set injury to Scott Caan. This accident forced the writers to invent a similar injury within the show, which in turn wrote Danno out of a lot of scenes tonight. Did tonight's episode suffer without the usual heaping helping of Caan?

The short answer: Yes, although not terribly much. Not only did the plot device allow Chin Ho a little more screen time, but also allowed more room for this week's guest star as well as the addition of a new character to the roster. Many might have preferred that McGarrett use his limitless resources to equip Danno with a rocket-powered wheelchair rather than a simple cane, but at least the man's mouth still worked as well as ever.

The guest star in question? Balthazar Getty, playing a prisoner who staged a jailbreak and then ... did an impression of Charlie Sheen on a bender. OK, not literally, but boy the characterization did scream, "Look, 'Two and a Half Men' is one of our biggest shows ... maybe we can fool some people into thinking it's still on a few hours later!" It's a bit odd that the task force has gone from chasing down international terrorists to going after bank thieves in just a few short weeks, but the body count that Getty's Walton left in his wake probably escalated the case all the way up the chain.

The new addition? McGarrett's sister Mary, played by 'Sons of Anarchy' actress Taryn Manning. (Irony or coincidence that a former 'Brothers & Sisters' actor shows up at the same time as Mary?) Her insertion into the mix will undoubtedly help the problem correctly identified by Danno in one of his few scenes tonight: While Steve is great when he's on the case, he's about as friendly as a piece of concrete in his everyday life. Mary's presence should not only give some background into the McGarrett family (and, by extension, a little bit about the HPD's corruption), but also give Steve someone besides Danno with whom to converse about non-police business.

Indeed, a lot of tonight's episode went towards building up a few dimensions for McGarrett in general. A few too many of these dimensions consisted of learning that he excels at something, however. He can seduce female Naval officers into lending satellite coverage! He can fly a helicopter! He can track people in the jungle! He slices! He dices! He's the McGarrett 3000! As he tells Chin Ho, "I'm a multitasker." Alex O'Loughlin has shown some truly dry wit over the first few episodes. He's no Caan in the comedy department, but it's clear that he recognizes the value that humor can bring to a character than might seem not simply larger than life, but darn near inhuman in his overall perfection.

A few bullets about tonight's solid, if unspectacular, hour ...

– Tonight marked the first time that the show ventured into the jungles of Hawaii. 'Lost' fans undoubtedly looked for smoke monsters and strange apparitions during the show's climatic chase scene.

– Having the episode function as one prolonged chase allowed for a variety of topographies as well as vehicular transportation. Throw in Walton's over-the-top villain into the mix, and by the time McGarrett took off in that helicopter, it was like watching "Grand Theft Auto: Hawaii."

– Yup, that was D.L. Hughley serving a double life sentence, during which time he apparently didn't play enough basketball to defeat McGarrett's newbie in a one-on-one game.

– Note to self: If I ever win a game show, and the prize sends me to the very state in which the man who once shot me is incarcerated, I will ask to exchange the points for frequent flier miles to be used for another location at another time.

With these first few establishing episodes out of the way, hopefully the show can be confident that its audience has learned the basics about its major characters in order to progress onto more meaty, ongoing stories. Mary's arrival should stoke a fire in her brother to re-open his father's files and learn more about the corruption that not only infects the state's underworld, but its police force as well. Maybe that's not CBS's usual method of storytelling, but 'Hawaii Five-0' need not be the usual CBS show, either.

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'Hawaii Five-0' airs Mon., 10PM ET on CBS.