Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) Bored, She Hung Herself (1970) User Reviews

A seemingly mundane episode, pulled due to an alleged suicide attributed to it.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 25 January 2010]

This episode was apparently pulled from circulation after someone reportedly imitated the hanging seen in this show and the producers didn't want to see anyone else killed as a result of ideas spurred on by the show. In the Season Two set that came out, this episode was not included and I felt a bit cheated--after all, it was purported to be ALL of the shows and cost just as much as a complete season. I did, however, get to see the show but not on DVD.

The show starts with a weird guy chanting like a Buddhist and practicing a mind-control technique that would allow him to hang himself without being hurt!! A bit later, his girlfriend was found hanging and was quite dead! Considering that they'd been arguing and they are hippies, you'd naturally assume she either died imitating him or he did it. Her distraught father sure believed that he was responsible.

When McGarrett talked to the hippie guy, he said that her death WAS his fault. However, he denies that he murdered her, but blamed himself for giving her this idea. BUT, a bit later, the coroner's report showed that someone had crushed her throat--she did NOT die as a result of the hanging! Naturally, this was now a case of murder.

Despite McGarrett not having a case against the young man, the girl's father is on a rampage (a common theme in the show--practically a cliché since it happened so much in the first few seasons). So, the dad decides to throw around his weight and prove to everyone the guy did it.

Normally, I wouldn't tell all the spoilers, but since this particular episode is out of circulation, I'll give the rest of the show. After some lengthy cross-examination, a creepy middle-aged neighbor confesses to the murder. Fortunately, McGarrett is able to tell the grieving father and boyfriend the truth. At the very end, the boyfriend utters an "I want to live" line (VERY sappy) and the show ends with the youth running wildly into the surf--as he'd convinced himself that he might have done it!

By the way, this is NOT the sort of case a crack state police force would usually investigate--it seems a bit mundane. Oh, well, it still is an interesting story and worth seeing--if you can find it. Also, if they had to pull an episode, at least it was far from a great one-- this one was kind of goofy, actually, as you can tell from the odd plot.

You Can Find Anything on the Internet!

[st3800 · 5/10 · 1 November 2017]

So, we know this episode was banned because someone tried to re-enact the hanging scene and died. (In real life) That's not the only reason the episode should have been banned! Without a doubt, that was the most bizarre, cheesy, tacky ending of a show that I think I've ever seen in my life! lolol. The episode itself wasn't that great...almost didn't feel as though it was an episode of Hawaii Five O...more like a tacky movie on Lifetime. But at least i can now say that I saw it. So many articles said it was locked away and gone forever.But thanks to the internet, nothing is really gone forever, is it? Thanks to the Dailymotion page for posting the episode. Believe it or not, as much as I didn't care for it (and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the original Hawaii Five O series) I am glad I saw it. (I have NOTHING to do with Dailymotion. I have NOTHING to do with the video either. I simply did a Google search and found it on Dailymotion and watched it without any issues. (Though the quality wasn't the best but I'm NOT complaining)

Don't try this at home!

[joposa · 3/10 · 10 November 2018]

I managed to catch this episode on YouTube a few years ago, before it was removed, making me one of the relatively few people who have seen it. It seems a boy died died trying to imitate a dangerous stunt depicted in it, and the episode was never shown again on television and I guess never will be. Before having seen it I was somewhat indignant that it had been taken out of circulation and kept out of the official season 2 release. Having watched it, I don't really care anymore. The plot was in some ways rather familiar: the usual suspects turn out to be innocent and the otherwise respectable citizen is guilty.

A hippy guru practices an usual exercise in which case he hangs himself, but not to the point of death. One supposedly reaches a higher level of consciousness with it. When his girlfriend is found dead hanging at the end of a rope, her father, a psychiatrist and friend of McGarrett's, is convinced the guru is guilty and maneuvers him into confessing to having at least some level of culpability. McGarrett, however, suspects otherwise. Here comes the spoiler you were warned about, if it matters, since most people reading this will, as another reviewer pointed out, never watch the episode: McGarrett and Danno grill the hippy's neighbor, a middle-aged seemingly happily-married man and father and otherwise respectable citizen, into confessing to the murder. It seems he lusted after the girl, and killed her when she spurned his advances. Say hello to the NEW usual suspects! The ending is unbelievably corny, where we see Steve smiling as he watches the hippy jumping up and down along the beach, celebrating his innocence in the murder. Ironically, this was filmed just a few months after a real life gang of crazed hippies led by Charles Manson went on a murder spree, in which case the victims were, yes, respectable citizens.

I still think it's unnecessary to ban the episode, and while I understand the apparent reason for it, there are all kinds of dangerous stunts shown on television that may or may not unintentionally inspire some viewers to try it. Future releases could at least include the episode as a special feature with a warning against imitating the technique in question. But, as I indicated, you're not missing much.

A but weird. Doesn't seem to fit with the usual five 0 style.

[stevesfan · 3/10 · 19 August 2014]

Actually got to see this episode on you tube, how someone managed to find it is a mystery, as usually any episodes on you tube seem to be deleted very soon after they are posted. Seemingly because of copywrite. I dud not like this episode very much, maybe because the quality was bad, obviously not digitally re-mastered as it was never included in the DVD,s. The plot is reasonable, but i knew who did it even before McGarrett did. Right from the beginning I knew it wasn't the boyfriend. It was too easy to accuse him. Even though he actually thought he had. I thought the ending was silly. The only time I didn't like McGarrett smiling.or at least his reason for doing so. I certainly don't think this episode is a loss by any means. I didn't think the acting was very good either, other than of course the regulars. So it's only a three from me on this one.