Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) Most Likely to Murder (1970) User Reviews

When good cops go bad...

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 3 January 2010]

This episode features a young Tom Skerritt in one of his earliest roles. He did a particularly good job and it's well worth seeing.

The show begins with the wife of a cop (Skerritt) being found in her home, murdered. Who did it and why is a complete mystery at first, however, over time the Five-O team learn that the wife was quite the playgirl—with several lovers who COULD be the murderer. At the same time, Danno is pulled into the case because Skerritt is an old friend—and his heart bleeds for him.

Later in the episode, Skerritt begins to investigate the case himself. This is very reminiscent of an episode from Season One—where an older cop begins a one-man rampage to find out who killed his son (who was an up and coming boxer), though Skerritt's motives and goals are far darker…and deadly.

While not a great episode, it is very good and the acting is very good. My biggest reason for not giving it a higher score is that the plot is a bit familiar….just a bit. Oh, and by the way, the episode was directed by Nicholas Colasanto--that's 'Coach' from TV's "Cheers".

A Short Corrective

[grnwltr-11212 · 6 January 2023]

Planktonrules' review of this episode mentions that the guest star, Tom Skerritt, was a young man in one of his earliest roles. Actually, Skerritt was 35 years old at the time this episode was broadcast and had appeared in twenty-five different television series and motion pictures, including Robert Altman's MASH. His reputation was significant to the extent that he was the lead guest star in this episode. He was a significant presence in the early part of his career with multiple appearances in such series as Combat and The Virginian. This corrective in no way should be seen as a criticism of planktonrules' review.

A Cop Going Bad!!

[ellisel · 10/10 · 8 January 2008]

The opening clip of "Most Likely To Murder" began with Marjorie Morgan's dead body lying on the carpet. Steve McGarrett and Dan Williams were surprised and shocked about Officer Lew Morgan's wife killed the previous night. Lew Morgan was restless from the untimely death. Five-O had their hands full into investigating the death ... as to whether another person actually killed Lew Morgan's wife ... or was the death a cover-up because of infidelity.

The detectives had asked the house keeper some questions about what happened between 10 p.m. That night and 3 a.m. The following morning. Meanwhile, Lew Morgan was grieving silently at the funeral. Dan Williams invited Lew Morgan to his apartment to spend time to recover from the devastating death. From there, Five-O had supposedly suspected Gary Oliver as the main suspect in Marjorie Morgan's murder. Gary Oliver -- as a juvenile offender -- spent eighteen months in the Illinois Youth Reformatory for armed robbery. He spent time messing around with other women. His girlfriend was with Gary Oliver at their home -- for which he ran through a window and escaped from the police -- when they tried to arrest him for suspicion of murder.

In the latter part of the episode, Lew Morgan roughed up Gary Oliver's girlfriend -- and slapped her -- for not finding out where he was hiding. Dan Williams located Lew Morgan in his apartment. He had a transistor radio for himself; he went out to find Gary Oliver in defiance of Five-O's orders. Gary Oliver's former girlfriend -- Gloria -- was forced to help him to obtain money to leave Oahu ... all in order to avoid detection of Lew Morgan. Gary Oliver was alone in an apartment ... or so it seemed to him. Lew Morgan obviously barged right in for one purpose: murder Gary Oliver because of his affair with his wife.

Lew Morgan fired two fatal shots into Gary Oliver's chest. An instantaneous death occurred from the gunfire. Lew Morgan used a telephone to speak to Hawaii Five-O. The end result was obvious in detail: Steve McGarrett noticed the dead body on the bed; he then had the officers arrest Lew Morgan. Dan Williams was outraged and bitter about Lew Morgan for dealing with Gary Oliver. In the end, the house keeper made a statement -- on tape in Steve McGarrett's office -- that Gary Oliver did have an alibi between the hours of 10 p.m. At night and 3 a.m. The next morning. She did not tell them that he was present on the property ... for fear of being implicated as an accessory to first-degree murder ... not to mention her fear of Gary Oliver. The District Attorney indicted -- in their obvious wisdom -- Lew Morgan on two counts first-degree murder ... instead of one count second-degree murder. A Fat 10.4!!