As I anxiously await tonight’s episode, I entertained myself by reading the pilot script, sent to me by kristen999. Very interesting! So much stuff was cut and introduced in later episodes. It makes me wish the pilot had been 2 hours. Anyway, a few LOTS of things of note:

*****

♦ First description of Steve: “We’re TIGHT on another face — the face of a hero: LIEUTENANT COMMANDER STEVE McGARRETT.” Dying. Later: “And now, a word about our hero: If you’d ask McGarrett’s Naval Instructors at Annapolis for a recommendation, they’d say he’s the best man for the job, only sometimes you don’t want the best man if he won’t listen to a word you say.”

♦ First description of Governor Jameson: “GOVERNOR PAT JAMESON, a rather beautiful woman in her early 40’s; local Hawaiian with a Washingtonian’s backbone, she’s a unique mix of brilliance, grace, and compassion.” Interesting.

♦ Better description of Steve’s service, from the governor: “I know your resume. Annapolis. Navy SEALS. Four years as a special investigator. Then five with Naval Intelligence.”

♦ Steve was already planning to hunt down Hesse himself:

GOVERNOR JAMESON: According to the Director of Naval Intelligence, you’ve taken extended leave — I assume that’s because the military isn’t in the revenge business?
That STOPS him. He turns back, eyes narrow.
GOVERNOR JAMESON (CONT’D): Well I am. And going up against Hesse as a vigilante is a mistake. At worst, it’ll get you killed — at best, incarcerated — either way, your father will have died for nothing. So what I’m offering you isn’t just common sense, it’s a chance to go get the sonofabitch… with complete immunity and means.
MCGARRETT: Lady, I’m not a cop.

♦ First description of Chin: Chin was described as being in his 50′s (and Kono is described later as being 23-years-old, and his niece), and he cheered at Steve’s LITTLE LEAGUE GAMES, not his high school football games: “I worked with your father in the 7th. Back in the day, he made me go to your little league games when he was working. I was your biggest fan.” GUYS. My heart just grew three sizes. STEVE PLAYING LITTLE LEAGUE. CHIN CHEERING FOR HIM. ♥

♦ First description of Danny: “Danny’s ex-Baltimore PD, real working man in paradise. Only guy on the island without a tan and always looks like he slept in his clothes.” Interesting that he was originally from Baltimore. In the script, he reads a lot less lively, a lot more downtrodden somehow. He’s also not as funny, which is obviously Scott’s doing, bringing him to life.

Also, Danny is a lot happier to see Grace in the aired pilot than he is in the script. Lots more teasing and banter in that first scene with the pink rabbit.

♦ Mary is in the pilot, first seen at the funeral (this scene is a deleted scene on the DVD). First description of Mary: McGarrett and his younger sister, MARY ANN McGARRETT, walk behind the hearse carrying their father’s flag-draped coffin. Mary wears shades, we presume to hide her grief. Multiple bracelets and nose stud betray her punky roots. There’s silent TENSION between them — troubled history now forced back into the present.”

Bonus description of Steve at the funeral: “McGarrett, for his part, seems anxious, distracted, eyes scanning faces. Does not allow himself time to grieve.”

♦ When Steve, goes to his dad’s house and sees the old car, there were supposed to be flashbacks of him at 6-years-old, working on the car “by his proud father’s side.”

♦ Catherine was in the pilot! First description of Catherine: “LT. CATHERINE ROLLINS (30), smart and beautiful, manning an INTEL PROCESSING NODE. BING: she receives and EMAIL on her console, non-navy. Email ID shows a photo of McGARRETT, smiling against a tropical backdrop — a picture surely taken during off-hours. She reads: “NEED YOUR HELP. CAN YOU TALK?”“

Their first conversation uses most of the lines from 1×5, including the “cute boy from high school” line. He greets her with “Hey, sailor.” ♥ He asks if she got the flowers he sent her, and then a picture of flowers pops up on her phone. We know where obviously “Smooth Dog” came from, lol. She tells him she’s sorry about his dad.

Also, this:
“An INTIMACY between these two we’ll come to understand as our show progresses — for now:
MCGARRETT: I need your help.
CATHERINE: Anything –”

She was the one who sent Steve information about the guy who left palm prints on Steve’s dad’s desk. When she emails the file to him, the message says, “HERE’S YOUR PALM PRINT… BE CAREFUL. LOVE, C.”

♦ Missing scene at Danny’s precinct: In the aired pilot, Steve says he “swung by your precinct and talked to your captain,” but the scene was originally in the script and Danny is still there, yelling at his captain.

DANNY (O.S.): — I don’t care who he is, I’m working a solid lead here, making progress — and I don’t like being benched for some gung-ho Jarhead –
FIND McGARRETT outside, listening. Finally, Danny storms out, looks surprised to see McGarrett — who GRINS:
MCGARRETT: “Jarhead’s” slang for Marine. I’m Navy. You wanna insult me, call me a “Squid.”
Danny throws him the case file –
DANNY: Knock yourself out, Squid.

♦ More missing stuff at Danny’s precinct: Danny gets picked on a lot for being an outsider. His fellow cops leave a bottle of fake tanning lotion on his desk “in case he needs to go undercover.” Uh, I guess Scott wouldn’t really need the tanning lotion? Whatever, that part was dumb anyway.

♦ Danny’s captain’s impression of Danny: “Bad temper, good cop. Probably best they had in Baltimore: Medal of Honor, bravery in the line of duty — but that don’t make his job easier here. [snip] He’s got an attitude that doesn’t wear well. Things run a little different here. Some of the guys work in their own time zone — they call it “Island Time.” You either adjust to it or you don’t. (offhanded shrug) I give him a year before he quits.”

Steve doesn’t like the captain’s attitude towards Danny. ♥

♦ First description of the shitty motel Danny’s living in: “A $49-a-night-park-by-the-door nestled in the lush Palolo Valley. Neon blinks VACANCY. McGARRETT pulls into the parking lot — JUMP CUT TO ROOM 47.” And the room itself: “A lonely little pit: king bed and a neatly-made kid-size cot. Clothes still in the suitcase. Empty six packs. Old takeout.”

Danny tells Steve he doesn’t do partners. (Uh, I guess they added Meka later?)

♦ When he’s chasing Doran, Steve runs out of bullets and ends up making one (???): “HE’S JUST QUICK-BUILT A BULLET OUT OF NAIL GUN CHARGE AND BALL BEARING.” Oh, Steven.

♦ Danny never sticks his finger in Steve’s face. Steve never grabs him. Danny never hits him or says he doesn’t like him.

♦ Danny says that Chin was a cop for twenty years. (Obviously he’s younger on the actual show, although I’d hazard a guess that the number is still pretty close.)

♦ Meeting Kamekona: Steve has to pay him $500 on top of the shave ice, t-shirts, humiliation, etc. Steve never speaks Pidgin to him. Steve tells the little girl “go away” instead of “go find your mom!”

♦ First description of Kono: “KONO KALAKAUA (23) shreds a long, MASSIVE wave. The woman is spectacular. Not just because she’s got wave cred and fills out a wetsuit, but homegirl’s got serious akamai (smarts).” Chin’s description of Kono: “Kid’s off the charts: speaks 4 languages, including Japanese and Mandarin. 2nd degree black belt — [snip] — and then there’s surfing. Had offers to compete, but all she ever wanted was to wear a badge. Graduates the police academy in a month… unfortunately she’s my niece, which means the HPD will never take her seriously.”

Interesting how much they changed her skill set and surfing background.

♦ Kono/Danny:

MCGARRETT (as they shake) You got a nice left hook.
KONO Nah, Man, that was a love tap.
DANNY: (chuckles; to Chin) I think I found my Cinderella.

♦ Kono’s meeting with Sang Min: Chin has to psych her into it. He tells her to wipe the smile off of her face, it’s not a training exercise, and to harness her fear and use it.

During the meeting with Sang Min, Kono speaks Mandarin to him. When Sang Min sends the picture to HPD, we see that Ben Kokua is the person who confirms that she’s a cop. On the aired show, we don’t find out until 1×8, when he kills Meka.

♦ The whole last scene with Hesse is different. The ship has already left the dock, so Steve and Danny have to get a helicopter and jump onto the ship. (This makes the governor’s line about “boarding a Chinese freighter” and “international waters” make a little more sense?) They kill the whole crew, and Danny makes the captain stop the ship.

♦ The key Steve found in the Champ box fit his father’s desk, not the governor’s. Steve finds the manila envelope of photos and realizes that his mom’s death was a murder. He tells Mary about it. This is the reason he stays in Hawaii.

♦ Steve and Mary break my heart:

MARY: … why didn’t he just tell us the truth?
MCGARRETT: We were kids.
MARY: So he sent us away… to protect us?
McGarrett stares: yeah. Mary looks off. For a long beat, she’s quiet. Then, softly:
MARY (CONT’D): All those years he let me hate him for that.
MCGARRETT: Maybe hating him… was the sacrifice he lived with. So we could grow up without being afraid.
And that brings it right to the surface for her. Eyes well, as she stares at him…
MARY: Except now I’m scared for you.
MCGARRETT: Don’t be. (beat, thoughtfully) This is where I belong… I think it’s why I spent so much time running away from it.

T____________________________________________T

♦ IF NOTHING ELSE, READ THIS PART: After Steve gives Danny the stay at the hotel, it says this: “McGarrett GRINS. No way around it: they dig each other.”

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

♦ Steve tells his “Five-0″ story, and the team gets their name.

♦ Victor Hesse washes up on the beach and yells at a lifeguard, or something.

*****

Um, that was longer than I meant for it to be. Here, have the download link! Hawaii Five-0 pilot script