"Small Potatoes" is a great example how "Hawaii Five-O" went seriously downhill during the last couple seasons. Up until then, it had been one of the best cop shows ever. But 11 and 12 seasons was too much, as the writing started to falter and HUGE cast changes made you wonder why they even bothered.
The episode begins with Johnny Noah organizing some sort of big-time gambling evening. However, on the way, Noah's car is in an accident--he's injured and a suitcase with $60,000* in it is discovered. It really isn't Noah's money but belongs to a compulsive gambler and embezzler--but it certainly did get the attention of Feds and Five-O.
Later, after trying to locate Johnny Noah for a long time, Noah inexplicably tells McGarrett he'll cooperate and agrees to take McGarrett undercover to one of the gambling parties. It's absolutely hilarious seeing Steve in a silver wig and cheesy mustache!! How would the head of Five-O expect to get away with this--particularly at the beginning of the episode, McGarrett is on TV talking about his anti-gambling campaign. It's just sloppy and stupid. Even stupider is when Feds raid the party and McGarrett is arrested. Now think about it--McGarrett has a cheesy disguise that even Ray Charles would have found laughable AND he never informed ANYONE that he was going undercover in order to protect himself! Duh....talk about sloppy writing!
If you want to find out what happens next, by all means watch the show--but I wouldn't if I was you. It's just sloppy all around and unbelievable.
*Here are a few of the silly mistakes in the show: 1. When the paramedic looks into the car with Johnny Noah, he sees the open briefcase and remarks "That looks like $50,000 or $60,000!". Huh?! How does this guy see a big stack of bills and instantly know how much is there? Is he a former bank clerk or psychic?! 2. When the FBI and gamblers work to set up McGarrett, you see an agent standing on shore taking photos of McGarrett meeting with Noah. Later, after McGarrett is arrested, they show him these photos--photos that were taken from the OTHER side of the ship--the side that faced the harbor! Plus, they were taken at an angle that only would have been possible had the picture taker been standing on the deck of the ship--only a few feet from the two!! 3. The big boss-man is so very, very careful. Yet, when a woman approaches him and tries to get him to say incriminating things, he opens right up and doesn't even have her checked for a microphone. What a dummy!
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