#and there's another episode i still have to watch! h50 is delivering this week

[five-wow]

my (as always very elaborate) thoughts on 9.16 are under the cut! ✨

mermaids!!! i knew they were coming, but i have to make the (for people in roughly my age group) obvious joke: am i watching h50 or h2o? [cue recorded audience laughter]

oh god, the sudden bleeding? that’s very dramatic in the water, and i like the visuals of that a lot (in a “oh no that’d be horrifying in reality but is a really cool idea in fiction” way)

adam is moving house and i like that they’re showing that! i also appreciate the way he’s doing it all on his own and making kind of a mess of it, aw, but to be honest, i was just kind of watching him putter around and appreciating the props department for getting him all that stuff to unpack, and then suddenly, boom, KONO. in a picture, but still, it’s so good to see her face on this show again!! (even if it’s in a sad, adam-needs-to-let-go-of-his-past context which would not necessarily be my first choice)

okay. OKAY. this may be the point at which i have to admit that i never cared for adam overly much. i don’t dislike him, not at all, but i’ve been a little confused about his character at times and i didn’t necessarily want him to stick around after kono left, so i’m a little wary, still - which i’m mostly just saying because this, this right now, adam bringing a homeless guy sandwiches and respectfully learning sign language from him and earnestly asking about things going on in this man’s life? that kind of makes me love adam a bit, holy shit. THIS is what i want from his character, not all the weird yakuza subplots where he somehow always still has strong ties to criminals and new deep secrets despite supposedly completely having left that life behind half a decade ago

tani loves mermaids!!! i love that tani loves mermaids!!! it’s so fun seeing her be all excited and gushy to danny

danny: [some statistics about women using poison as a murder weapon] noelani: “for the record, we’re just as capable of using a gun or a knife.” tani: “ha haa! my sister!” LOVE THIS. GIVE ME MORE OF THIS.

a pyramid scheme! they’re dipping into a lot of relevant topics this season.

fjdkfdjk adam brings the homeless guy (do we know his name yet? i missed it oops) the purple elephant that the man wanted for his granddaughter and then adam hands him another bag and he goes “i get an elephant too??” and i laughed so hard, omg. that is ridiculously cute!!

IT’S CLOTHES. AND ADAM WANTS TO GIVE HIM A HAIRCUT. I’M CRYING. which isn’t even an exaggeration, i’m literally tearing up. i’m weak for this, why haven’t they always been doing this with adam’s character

tani and junior!!! i love basically anything that’s tani and junior, is what i’m growing to realize, because they, too, are SO CUTE

junior: “a little birdie did tell me this morning that you were pretty jealous at the mermaid camp.” tani: “um, did this birdie have a blond pompadour and talk with his hands?” things i adore about this: a) tani and junior being cute, obviously, b) “a little birdie”, c) “BLOND POMPADOUR”, and d) the implication that danny immediately told junior about tani’s enthusiasm (which sounds like some low key matchmaking to me, tbh)

tani’s story about her dad??? junior’s EYES when he watches her??? i keep being surprised over and over by how much i love them together even though i should definitely know that by now because it’s been this way pretty much from the start

danny’s phone starts ringing and it looks like he doesn’t even look at the screen before putting it to his ear and going “yes, steve”

kamekona’s story? i’m crying. again.

ALSO, i’m really happy that kamekona is bringing that up, actually: it’s good that adam wants to help his friend, but he can’t decide for the guy that it’s time to make a big step like mending bridges with his family. a helping hand is good, it’s amazing even, but the actual decision to change needs to come from the person in question, and as a friend you need to let this person make that decision on their own.

kamekona: “sometimes you have to ask yourself if you’re doing this for him, or for yourself.” i LOVE it when kamekona drops some serious knowledge. he’s so often a comic relief character, but he’s been through some shit and he knows his stuff, and seeing him dole out wisdom like this? always a gift.

adam talks to his friend (al? hal? he used a name but i’m still not sure what it is exactly) and this episode, god, it’s hellbent on getting me to reach for a tissue every other scene.

the look between danny and steve when danny says some smartass thing about steve’s dog? fjdfdjk. that’s all.

shooting suspects dead on sight is coming back to bite them in the ass! this guy knew something they kind of needed to know too, so, uh, oops.

THEY PUT THE DEAD GUY IN THE PASSENGER SEAT WITH A HAT AND SUNGLASSES. they full on weekend at bernie’s’d this guy, I’M YELLING

danny with the kids!!! he’s so soft around kids and it makes my heart feel soft, too

depressing sidenote, though: this woman’s husband was shot through the head by the Bad Guys, right? and she’s going to prison for murder and other illegal activities, which means she’ll probably be there a while? the relief for these kids will be very short-lived, fuck.

team dinner at adam’s! good stuff

adam gets up and says “you guys all know what i’ve been through this past year” and we get a looong shot of danny’s face. is it very bitter of me if in the context of where recent episodes seem to be headed, i kind of hope he’s thinking about how horrible divorces are and how wrecked he was when he went through that with rachel and how it might mean they weren’t meant to be?

adam: “and then- just when i thought i lost my whole family, i looked up and- and you were all there.” oh SHIT. this episode is giving me adam feels like i never even thought was POSSIBLE. (also: ohana feels. that’s a smart play when it comes to hitting me right in the heart.)

HAL’S GRANDDAUGTHER. FEELS.

also: here’s the bit in the background with steve biting (licking?) danny’s arm or hand, omfg. blurry but beautiful. blurrtiful. (did i just reference my own fic? yes, i did.)

so i’ve said a couple of times already that i was crying. i’m going to have to say it now AGAIN because TANI’S FREAKOUT when she realizes what junior is giving her? MY HEART. FUCK. i don’t know if it’s just one of those days for me or if this is a normal reaction to this episode, but people freaking out with happiness? TANI, who i love, freaking out with happiness? YES. THAT WILL GET ME TO CRY.

JUNIOR, by the way. JUNIOR IS SO SWEET. junior and tani are i-need-a-dentist-now levels of cute together, but i also need to give junior his own shoutout here, because this is just him being thoughtful and nice and i love him a lot for it.

junior: “when you do cross me, i am blasting this thing on social media. i just have to join it first.” OH SWEETHEART

tani gets to swim with her mermaid tail! tani has her mermaid experience! tani is fucking ecstatic and i’m so happy for her!!!

last thoughts: while i like the entire cast a lot, i won’t deny that usually danny and steve are the main reason i watch, so, for an episode that had relatively little danny or steve in it and almost no danny&steve at all, it’s awesome how this still managed to COMPLETELY get me on board for the whole thing. i enjoyed this SO MUCH, gosh. i ship junior/tani harder than ever, i unexpectedly cried a lot and i have a whole new appreciation for adam! many good things!!! i’m so happy, yay