Hawaii Five-O
Woe to Wo Fat
TV Flash files “Woe to Wo Fat” as a desk essential hour — Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980) on CBS, season 12, episode 20, aired 1980-04-05, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S12E20: listed hour 284 of 284 in the Hawaii Five-O guide, last listed hour of season 12. It aired 1980-04-05 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “The Moroville Covenant” (S12E19). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “Woe to Wo Fat”. Woe to Wo Fat closes the original badge: twelve seasons of granite intensity, the whistled theme still the aftertaste.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The series concludes with the final showdown between McGarrett and Wo Fat. Three scientists who have disappeared have one thing in common, they all attended a symposium on possible space-based, laser defense systems. McGarrett impersonates a fourth scientist, Dr. Elton Raintree, who attended the same gathering and is soon abducted. Wo Fat is behind it all and wants the scientists to complete their work and produce such a device.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Woe to Wo Fat sit in the Hawaii Five-O guide?
S12E20 is listed hour 284 of 284 — last listed hour of season 12, season 12 episode 20.
When did Hawaii Five-O S12E20 air?
Woe to Wo Fat aired 1980-04-05 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start?
Jack Lord's McGarrett in an early location-heavy hour is the command presence: theme, waves, 'Book 'em, Danno.' You do not need the 2010s reboot to understand the original.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Book 'em, Danno — Steve McGarrett's elite unit chased crime across an islands postcard for twelve CBS seasons. Jack Lord's granite intensity, the Morton Stevens theme, and location photography made procedural TV feel like a vacation with felonies. The most whistled badge theme in the language.
The theme hits before the warrant. CBS's *Hawaii Five-O* premiered September 20, 1968, and ran through 1980: twelve seasons of Steve McGarrett's elite state police unit chasing crime across an islands postcard. Jack Lord's granite intensity. James MacArthur's Danny Williams. Kam Fong's Chin Ho and Zulu's Kono in the unit. Leonard Freeman built cop drama as tourism board and iron discipline. Morton Stevens wrote the surf-orchestra swagger that still chases you. **Book 'em, Danno entered the language. The theme…
Filed against
- Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett
Jack Lord’s Steve McGarrett made Hawaii Five-O a twelve-season postcard with felonies — granite intensity, Morton Stevens theme, Book ’em, Danno as civic punctuation. CBS procedural as vacation weather that still whistles. TV Flash files…
- James MacArthur as Danny 'Dano' Williams
James MacArthur’s Danny “Danno” Williams took the order that became a national catchphrase — Book ’em, Danno, twelve CBS seasons of Hawaii Five-O as vacation-with-felonies television. Jack Lord’s granite needed a partner who would move.…
- Kam Fong as Chin Ho Kelly
Kam Fong’s Chin Ho Kelly rode Hawaii Five-O as islands-postcard procedural muscle — Book ’em, Danno, Steve McGarrett’s elite unit, twelve CBS seasons, Jack Lord’s granite, the Morton Stevens theme, location photography that made felonies…
- Zulu as Kono Kalakaua
Zulu’s Kono Kalakaua rode Hawaii Five-O as island-unit steel — Book ’em, Danno, Steve McGarrett’s elite squad chasing crime across an islands postcard for twelve CBS seasons. Jack Lord’s granite intensity, the Morton Stevens theme,…