The second season of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

drama series '' Hawaii Five-0'' premiered on September 19, 2011 for the 2011–12 television season. CBS renewed the series for a 23 episode second season on May 15, 2011. Two

fictional crossover A crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders (known as intercompany ...

s with '' NCIS: Los Angeles'' occurred during the season in episodes six and twenty-one. The season concluded on May 14, 2012. The series continues to center on the Five-0 Task Force, a specialized police state task force established by the Hawaiian Governor that investigates a wide series of crimes on the islands, including

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

, and

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

. The second season introduces a new governor, after the murder of his predecessor. However, unlike the previous governor, the new one orders changes to the task force.

Taryn Manning Taryn Manning (born November 6, 1978) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett in the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), Cherry in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (200 ...

did not return as a main cast member however, did make a guest appearance. In addition, the season includes two new main cast members,

Masi Oka is a Japanese actor, producer, and digital effects artist who became widely known for starring in NBC's '' Heroes'' as Hiro Nakamura, for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, ...

, who recurred in the first season, and

Lauren German Lauren German (born November 29, 1978) is an American actress. She is best known for her television roles as Lori Weston in '' Hawaii Five-0'' Leslie Shay in '' Chicago Fire'' and Chloe Decker in ''Lucifer'' She also starred in the films ''A ...

, who debuted in episode two and began receiving an "Also starring" credit in episode five. German departed after episode sixteen. Alex O'Loughlin missed some filming as he was seeking drug treatment for pain management medication during the production season. The second season ranked #26 for the 2011–12 television season, had an average of 11.83 million viewers, and received mostly positive reviews. " Haʻiʻole", the season premiere, brought in the most viewers for the season with 12.19 million; meanwhile, the season finale, " Ua Hala" had the fourth highest amount with 11.42 million. The series was also renewed for a third season on March 14, 2012 which later premiered on September 24.

Cast and characters

Main cast

Alex O'Loughlin Alex O'Loughlin (born 24 August 1976) is an Australian actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett on CBS' remake of the TV series ''Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series), Hawaii Five-0'' (2010–2020). He had starri ...

as Lieutenant Commander Steven "Steve" McGarrett,

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

Scott Caan Scott Andrew Caan (born August 23, 1976) is an American actor, director, photographer, writer, and former rapper. He received his breakthrough role in ''Ocean's Eleven'' as Turk Malloy, whom he played in the '' Ocean's trilogy'', and starred as ...

as Detective Sergeant Daniel "Danny" "Danno" Williams *

Daniel Dae Kim Daniel Dae Kim (born August 4, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his many roles in network television and theater. In 2025, ''Time'' magazine listed him as one of the world's 100 most influential people. On television, he portray ...

as Detective Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly * Grace Park as Officer Kono Kalakaua *

as Dr. Max Bergman,

Chief Medical Examiner The medical examiner is an appointed official in some American jurisdictions who is trained in pathology and investigates deaths that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictio ...

as Special Agent Lori Weston,

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

assigned to the Five-0 Task Force

Recurring

Mark Dacascos Mark Alan Dacascos (born February 26, 1964) is an American actor, martial artist and television personality. A 4th-degree black belt in Kajukenbo#Wun Hop Kuen Do, Wun Hop Kuen Do, he is known for his roles in Action film, action films, including ...

as Wo Fat *

Reiko Aylesworth Reiko M. Aylesworth (born December 9, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for playing Michelle Dessler in the action television series '' 24''. Early life, career start Aylesworth was born December 9, 1972, in Evanston, Illinois, and is ...

as Dr. Malia Waincroft *

William Baldwin William Joseph Baldwin (born February 21, 1963) Note: While birthplace is routinely listed as Massapequa, that town has no hospital, and brother Alec Baldwin was born in nearby Amityville, which does. is an American actor and the second-younge ...

as Frank Delano *

Dennis Chun Dennis Chun (born March 18, 1952) is an American actor. He is the son of ''Hawaii Five-O'' star Kam Fong Chun, and portrayed Sgt. Duke Lukela in the reboot of the series, in which his father was known for playing Chin Ho Kelly from the origi ...

as HPD Sergeant Duke Lukela *

Ian Anthony Dale Ian Anthony Dale is an American actor. His notable roles include Adam Noshimuri on '' Hawaii Five-0'', Harris Edwards on ''Salvation'', Simon Lee on ''The Event'', Davis Lee on ''Surface'', Avatar Gamma on ''Charmed'' and Kazuya Mishima in '' ...

as Adam Noshimuri * Teilor Grubbs as Grace Williams *

Richard T. Jones Richard Timothy Jones (born January 16, 1972) is an American actor. He has worked extensively in both film and television productions since the early 1990s. His television roles include ''Ally McBeal'' (1997), ''Judging Amy'' (1998–2005), ''CSI ...

as Governor Sam Denning *

Terry O'Quinn Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for his performance as John Locke on the TV series '' Lost'' (2004–2010). In film, he also played the title role i ...

as Lieutenant Commander Joe White *

Larisa Oleynik Larisa Romanovna Oleynik (; born June 7, 1981) is an American actress. Oleynik began her career as a child actor, first appearing onstage as young Cosette in a national touring production of ''Les Misérables'' (1989–1991). She was subseque ...

as Jenna Kaye *

Autumn Reeser Autumn Reeser (born September 21, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Taylor Townsend on the Fox series '' The O.C.'', Lizzie Grant on HBO's '' Entourage'', Katie Andrews on ABC's '' No Ordinary Family'', and Leslie Be ...

as Dr. Gabrielle Asano *

Tom Sizemore Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. (; November 29, 1961 – March 3, 2023) was an American actor. Born in Detroit, he started his career with supporting appearances in '' Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), '' Lock Up'' (1989), and '' Blue Steel'' (19 ...

as Capt. Vincent Fryer *

Taylor Wily Taylor Tuli Wily (June 14, 1968 – June 20, 2024) was an American actor, sumo wrestler and mixed martial artist. He competed in UFC where he was billed as Teila Tuli and also competed in sumo wrestling. As an actor, he was known for his recurri ...

as Kamekona Tupuola * Brian Yang as Che "Charlie" Fong

Guest stars

Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor. He is most notable for portraying Lou Grant on the sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977) and drama '' Lou Grant'' (1977–1982), making him one of the few ...

as August March *

Annie Wersching Anne Wersching (March 28, 1977 – January 29, 2023) was an American actress. She was known for her television roles as Renee Walker in '' 24'', Julia Brasher in '' Bosch'', Emma Whitmore in '' Timeless'', Dr. Kelly Neiman in ''Castle'', Leslie ...

as Samantha Martel *

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

as Frank Bama *

James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award an ...

as Tony Archer *

Patty Duke Anna Marie Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016), known professionally as Patty Duke, was an American actress. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ...

as Sylvia Spencer *

Robert Englund Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American actor and director. Englund is best known for playing the villain Freddy Krueger in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise. Englund has received multiple accolades and honors, incl ...

as Samuel Lee *

Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American political commentator, stand-up comedian, talk show host, writer, actor and former sportscaster. Miller was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' fro ...

as Bobby Raines *

Michelle Borth Michelle Borth is an American actress who has portrayed characters on '' The Forgotten'' and the HBO series '' Tell Me You Love Me''. Borth played Catherine Rollins on the CBS crime-drama '' Hawaii Five-0''. Early life and education Borth was bo ...

as Lieutenant Catherine Rollins * William Sadler as John McGarrett *

as Mary Ann McGarrett *

Claire van der Boom Claire van der Boom (born 21 November 1983) is an Australian actress. She first became known to Australian audiences for her roles in the TV series '' Love My Way'' and '' East West 101''. In 2008, she starred in the Australian neo-noir thrille ...

as Rachel Edwards * David Keith as Commanding Officer Wade Gutches *

Will Yun Lee William Yun Lee (born March 22, 1971) is an American actor and martial artist. He is best known for his roles as Danny Woo in the supernatural drama ''Witchblade (2001 TV series), Witchblade'' and Jae Kim in the sci-fi series ''Bionic Woman ( ...

as Sang Min Sooh

Crossover characters

Daniela Ruah Daniela Sofia Korn Ruah Olsen (born December 2, 1983) is an American-Portuguese actress and film director best known for playing NCIS Special Agent Kensi Blye in the CBS police procedural series '' NCIS: Los Angeles''. Early life Ruah was born ...

as Kensi Blye *

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

Sam Hanna This is an overview of regular and recurring characters on the TV series '' NCIS: Los Angeles''. Overview Main cast Recurring cast Main characters G. Callen Agent Grisha "G." Callen (born: Nikolaev) (portrayed by Chris O'Donnell) ...

Chris O'Donnell Christopher Eugene O'Donnell (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor. After modeling and acting in numerous commercials as a teenager, he made his film debut in the comedy-drama film ''Men Don't Leave'' (1990). Following supporting roles in ...

G. Callen This is an overview of regular and recurring characters on the TV series ''NCIS: Los Angeles''. Overview Main cast Recurring cast Main characters G. Callen Agent Grisha "G." Callen (born: Nikolaev) (portrayed by Chris O'Donnell) ...

Craig Robert Young Craig Robert Young (born 4 October 1973) is a British actor who began his acting career at age ten, starring in the stage production of ''The Price of Coal''. At 17, he moved to London to attend the Central School of Speech and Drama, whereupon ...

as Dracul Comescu

Episodes

The title of each episode is in the

Hawaiian language Hawaiian (', ) is a critically endangered Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family, originating in and native to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the native language of the Hawaiian people. Hawaiian, along with English, is an offi ...

with the English translation directly underneath.

Crossovers

The season featured two crossovers with '' NCIS: Los Angeles''. The first crossover event took place in the sixth episode, entitled "Ka Hakaka Maikaʻi" (or "The Good Fight" in English),

made a guest appearance as her ''NCIS: LA'' character Kensi Blye; the episode aired on October 24, 2011. The second event took place in the form of a two-part crossover.

Chris O’Donnell Christopher Eugene O'Donnell (born June 26, 1970) is an American actor. After modeling and acting in numerous commercials as a teenager, he made his film debut in the comedy-drama film ''Men Don't Leave'' (1990). Following supporting roles in ...

and

appeared as

and

in the twenty-first episode of the season titled " Pa Make Loa" ("Touch of Death") on April 30, 2012. In the second part,

and

appeared in the ''NCIS: Los Angeles'' third season episode "

Touch of Death The touch of death (or death-point striking) is any martial arts technique reputed to kill using seemingly less than lethal force targeted at specific areas of the body. The concept known as ''dim mak'' (), alternatively () traces its history ...

" which aired on May 1, 2012.

Production

Development

On May 15, 2011, CBS renewed '' Hawaii Five-0'' for a second season which premiered on

on September 19, 2011. Filming for the season began on July 11, 2011 with a traditional Hawaiian blessing. As of March 2, 2012 the twentieth episode was being filmed and production was ahead of schedule. On March 14, 2012 the series was renewed for a third season. The season concluded airing on May 14, 2012.

Casting

is the only main cast member to not return after departing the series in the middle first season; however, she did reprise her role as Mary Ann McGarrett as a guest star in the nineteenth episode of the season. On May 16, 2011 while the first season was still airing it was announced that

, who recurred as medical examiner Max Bergman, would be promoted to a main cast member for the second season. It was reported on June 21, 2011 that

was cast as a

Navy Seal The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

Lt. Commander, meanwhile on June 27, 2011 it was announced that

would recur in a multi-episode

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...

throughout the season. On July 12, 2011 it was announced that

had been cast in a recurring role, beginning in the second episode, as Special Agent Lori Weston, a potential love interest for

's character

Steve McGarrett Steven Jack McGarrett is a fictional character who is the protagonist of CBS' '' Hawaii Five-O'' created by Leonard Freeman. McGarrett is a former United States Navy officer and the leader of a special state police task force, which is called F ...

. She was later upgraded to a series regular beginning with the fifth episode.

who also recurred in the first season reprised her role as former

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

operative Jenna Kaye

also guest starred in a multi-episode story arc. On August 18, 2011 it was reported that

would guest star in a crossover episode as her '' NCIS: Los Angeles'' character Kensi Blye. In episode nineteen,

reprised his role as August March from the original series episode "Wooden Model of a Rat:, footage from the episode was used for March's second appearance. During a second crossover event later in the season

and

also appeared in an episode as their respective ''NCIS: Los Angeles'' characters

and

. On March 2, 2012, CBS announced that O'Loughlin would miss shooting some episodes of ''Hawaii Five-0'' to seek drug treatment related to pain management medication prescribed after a shoulder injury. He makes a brief appearance in episode twenty and does not appear at all in episode twenty-one. German departed the series in the sixteenth episode and was subsequently cast in '' Chicago Fire''.

Release and marketing

On July 12, 2011 it was announced that the season would have an advanced premiere screening on September 10. The annual event known as "Sunset on the Beach", featured a

red carpet A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by Very Important Person, VIPs and celebrity, celebrities at formal events. History ...

and interviews with the cast and crew at Waikiki beach in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. When CBS released their fall schedule on May 18, 2011 it was revealed that the series would keep its time slot from the first season and continue airing on Mondays at 10 p.m.

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

Reception

Critical response

Kevin Yeoman with

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and comic books. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publications including Comic Book Resources, Collider, MovieWeb and XDA Developers. ...

stated about the series premiere "Hawaii Five-0 managed to do what it does best in the season 2 opener: move at such breakneck speed that the audience hardly has time to recognize the implausibility of it all" and that "The plot of ‘Ha'i'ole’ is paper-thin, as are the majority of the characters and their motivations". Jim Garner at TV Fanatic says "I have to hand it to Peter Lenkov, he certainly knows how to shake things up and give us a dramatic ending".

Awards and nominations

On May 18, 2012, it was announced that the series had been nominated for three

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards were an annual awards show that aired on the Fox television network between 1999 and 2019. The awards, based on a popularity vote that could be overridden by the producerswho reserved the right to choose the winnerscovered ...

at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards ceremony. ''Hawaii Five-0'' as a whole received its second nomination for Choice Action Series.

and Grace Park both received their second nomination for Choice TV Actor Action and Choice TV Actress Action respectively. All three nominations were lost. As part of the

Creative Arts Emmy Awards The Creative Arts Emmys are a class of Emmy Awards presented in recognition of technical and other similar achievements in American television programming. They are commonly awarded to behind-the-scenes personnel such as production designers, ...

at the

64th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards The 64th Annual Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony was held on September 15 at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles and was televised September 22, 2012 on ReelzChannel. This is in conjunction with the annual Primetime Emmy A ...

, stunt coordinator Jeff Cadiente was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in " Outstanding Stunt Coordination" for the episode " Kameʻe". Composers Keith Power and

Brian Tyler Brian Theodore Tyler (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor and arranger, best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 26-year career, Tyler has scored seven installments of the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, ...

won the "BMI TV Music Award" at the 2012 BMI awards.

Ratings

Home video release

References

External links

* * * List o
''Hawaii Five-0'' episodes
at

The Futon Critic ''The Futon Critic'' is a website that provides articles and information regarding prime time programming on broadcast and cable networks in the United States. The site publishes reviews of prime time programming and interviews of people in th ...

* {{Hawaii Five-O 2011 American television seasons 2012 American television seasons Hawaii Five-0 (2010 TV series) seasons