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Hawaii Five-0: Can we please stop comparing women to McGarrett?

By Christine Cenon

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The main female characters of Hawaii Five-0 have always been compared to series lead Steve McGarrett, but it’s time to elevate them over him.

“She’s more the McGarrett, the female McGarrett.”

Wait! Haven’t I heard that before?

Anyone who has watched Hawaii Five-0 over the years knows that Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park) was more than just eye candy. When we first met Kono in season one, she was one week away from graduating the police academy. But Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin), the head of the Five-0 Task Force, was quite taken with her right hook love tap, and recruited her for his team.

While Kono looked perfect in a bikini, she was a force to be reckoned with. She was never one to sit and wait for a man to rescue her, nor was she one to sit and wait for the men to catch the bad guys. She was more than able to hold her own in a male dominated team.

But Kono had been compared on more than one occasion to McGarrett (despite the fact that I approve of the concept because I once shipped Kono and McGarrett), more so by her teammate Danny Williams (Scott Caan).

Per exemplum, when Kono and McGarrett both explained frequency analysis to Danny:

via CBS/Pinterest

And when she couldn’t just sit around waiting for someone to save McGarrett:

via CBS/Pinterest

But Kono’s gone now and there will never be another “female McGarrett.” Right?

Wrong.

Even while Park was still on the show, there have been multiple attempts in casting new “female McGarretts.” First, there was the short-lived Lori Weston (Lauren German), who was literally and specifically casted as a “female McGarrett.” When Lori once expressed that patience wasn’t her strong suit, Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim) told her that she was “a lot like McGarrett.”

Then there was Michelle Borth, who self-proclaimed that her character, Catherine Rollins, was a “female McGarrett”:

"“You’ve never really seen her in combat or in action, there’s going to be another badass side of her that you’re going to see. So you’ll see she’s tough in action. You’re going to see a side of her you haven’t seen yet, that is kind of comparable to a female McGarrett, which is why you can kind of see why they’re together, that they’re similar.”"

Now, in the season eight opener, police academy evictee-turned-lifeguard Tani Rey, played by new series regular Meaghan Rath, has been recruited in attempt to minimize Kono’s absence (as were the other women, now that I think about it). Not only did Danny call her a “female McGarrett,” but showrunner Peter M. Lenkov has spoken highly about Tani, calling her the same and even comparing her to Kono:

"“The difference is that Kono was in the police academy on the verge of graduation, and Tani was kicked out of the police academy. Where Kono was more of a by-the-rules kind of cadet, this woman is not that by any means. She’s more the McGarrett, the female McGarrett.”"

Where, in the examples I provided, does it say that Kono was ever “by-the-rules?”

Okay, look. I’m not writing this article to state reasons why Kono is better than the other female characters. I’m writing this article to address an ongoing issue that has plagued H50 for many years. Yes, Kono is my favorite character. And yes, no woman can compare to her. But no woman should. They shouldn’t be compared to each other, nor should they compare themselves to McGarrett. They should be their own characters.

Being a “female McGarrett” used to be a compliment—I’d be pleased myself if someone told me that I reminded them of McGarrett (especially since I find myself extremely attracted to him). But now it’s demeaning—sexist—even if unintentional. Instead of comparing them to McGarrett, the women should rather be classed as their own rarities. Referring to them as a “female McGarrett” not only invalidates their characters, but also each other. No woman is better than the next.

Also, just because Kono was never orally referred to as a “female McGarrett,” it doesn’t mean she wasn’t good enough. We all know what a badass she is.

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McGarrett (or any of the men in H50, really) shouldn’t be the standard by which the female characters are described as being. Every woman on the show deserves to be their own kind of person. But, despite all this atrocity, I commend the persons behind H50 for working up female characters who are kick-ass in their own right. The majority of action genre television would have you believe that only a male hero could save the day, but the women in H50 help prove that hero(ines) exist. They help bring new meaning and purpose to the term “girl power.”

It was because of Kono that I began feeling emboldened and potent as a female. That’s the kind of impact the women of Hawaii Five-0 are making, and therefore I certainly encourage that you watch the show for yourself.

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