The BEST episodes of Hawaii Five-O

Every episode of Hawaii Five-O ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Hawaii Five-O!

The investigations of Hawaii Five-O, an elite branch of the Hawaii State Police answerable only to the governor and headed by stalwart Steve McGarrett.

Last Updated: 10/10/2025Network: CBSStatus: Ended
Woe To Wo Fat
star
9.81
32 votes

#1 - Woe To Wo Fat

Season 12 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/5/1980

The series concludes with the final showdown between McGarrett and Wo Fat. Three scientists have gone missing. They have one thing in common: they all attended a symposium that discussed a possible space-based, laser defense system. 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.

Directors: Barry Crane
Watch Now:Amazon
Deathwatch
star
9.15
46 votes

#2 - Deathwatch

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/25/1968

McGarrett must protect a protect a mob underboss so he is able to testify against his superior, Joe Matsukino. However, Matsukino has many tricks up his sleeve to silence his former colleague permanently.

Watch Now:Amazon
Pray Love Remember, Pray Love Remember
star
9.15
40 votes

#3 - Pray Love Remember, Pray Love Remember

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/1/1969

When a young female student is found murdered on campus, suspicions fall on her boyfriend but McGarrett senses that something is not right.

Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Deadly Persuasion
star
9.00
4 votes

#4 - Deadly Persuasion

Season 8 - Episode 16 - Aired 12/18/1975

A disturbed young man steals nerve gas to use against a visiting royal family as revenge for the death of his father.

Directors: Allen Reisner
Writer: Tim Maschler
Watch Now:Amazon
star
9.00
5 votes

#5 - A Lion In The Streets (2)

Season 12 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/4/1979

Labouring under a ban on cooperation by native Hawaiians because of a Kahuna, McGarrett must try to prevent war on the streets...

Directors: Reza Badiyi
Writer: Robert Janes
Watch Now:Amazon
star
9.00
3 votes

#6 - Number One With A Bullet (2)

Season 11 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/4/1979

The rival gangs are on the brink of all out war, and Five-O must struggle to stop them.

Directors: Don Weis
Writer: Robert Janes
Watch Now:Amazon
star
9.00
3 votes

#7 - The Miracle Man

Season 11 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/21/1978

When a preacher is attacked by a man convinced that he is responsible for his wife's death, Five-O investigate more closely and discover some less than godly motives.

Directors: Lawrence Dobkin
Writer: Robert Janes
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
star
9.00
3 votes

#8 - A Distant Thunder

Season 11 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/9/1978

Five-O must deal with the plans of a Neo Nazi organisation to kill Bobby Tamara, the "Hawaiian Kennedy".

Directors: Dennis Donnelly
Writer: Al Martinez
Watch Now:Amazon
The Waterfront Steal
star
9.00
5 votes

#9 - The Waterfront Steal

Season 8 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/21/1975

When Five-O fail to prevent a series of thefts at dockside warehouses, an influential owner creates trouble for McGarrett.

Directors: Allen Reisner
Writer: Albert Aley
Watch Now:Amazon
How To Steal A Submarine
star
9.00
4 votes

#10 - How To Steal A Submarine

Season 8 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/14/1975

A vice-principal enlists the help of his students and a submarine to smuggle drugs.

Writer: Walter Black
Watch Now:Amazon
The Banzai Pipeline
star
9.00
3 votes

#11 - The Banzai Pipeline

Season 6 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/1/1974

An exciting surf beach is the location for a filming session, where a man catches a killer on camera.

Directors: Richard Benedict
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Finishing Touch
star
9.00
3 votes

#12 - The Finishing Touch

Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/20/1973

McGarrett brings in a document expert to help him crack a case involving forged government securities, but he soon becomes suspicious of the expert as well...

Directors: Charles S. Dubin
Writer: Walter Black
Watch Now:Amazon
Murder Is A Taxing Affair
star
9.00
3 votes

#13 - Murder Is A Taxing Affair

Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/16/1973

A corrupt federal agent who is tracking a man under indictment for tax evasion kills him for the $600,000 he is carrying, and then loses the money.

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Charter For Death
star
9.00
5 votes

#14 - Charter For Death

Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/25/1973

When a large amount of diseased rats are found on a boat with all the crew dead, Five-O must contend with an outbreak of bubonic plague.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Odd Lot Caper
star
9.00
3 votes

#15 - The Odd Lot Caper

Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/30/1973

A senior partner in a stock exchange firm comes up with a foolproof plan to rob the Honolulu Stock Exchange.

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F.O.B. Honolulu (2)
star
9.00
6 votes

#16 - F.O.B. Honolulu (2)

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/3/1971

Five-O must deal with treason, murder and double-crosses in order to solve the case and prevent the U.S. from being flooded by fake currency.

Watch Now:Amazon
F.O.B. Honolulu (1)
star
9.00
4 votes

#17 - F.O.B. Honolulu (1)

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/27/1971

Wo Fat and other top international agents converge on Hawaii to place bids on printing plates for twenty dollar bills, which are in the possession of a former friend of McGarrett.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Payoff
star
9.00
3 votes

#18 - The Payoff

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/9/1970

McGarrett must apprehend two abductors who are on the run with the proceeds of their crime in order to protect the lives of their co-conspirators.

Writer: Ken Pettus
Watch Now:Amazon
King of the Hill
star
8.82
67 votes

#19 - King of the Hill

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/8/1969

Danno is taken hostage by a Vietnam veteran who is suffering delusional flashbacks and sees everyone as forces sent to kill him.

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The Grandstand Play (2)
star
8.80
5 votes

#20 - The Grandstand Play (2)

Season 3 - Episode 24 - Aired 3/10/1971

The son of the baseball player becomes the vital witness in a murder, but he is reluctant to tell either his father or Five-O of the crime.

Directors: Paul Stanley
Writer: Adrian Spies
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
Flash Of Color, Flash Of Death
star
8.80
5 votes

#21 - Flash Of Color, Flash Of Death

Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/6/1973

A glamorous woman sets up an opal smuggler so her accomplices can rob both the smuggler and a jewellery store at the same time.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Golden Noose
star
8.80
5 votes

#22 - The Golden Noose

Season 12 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/15/1980

McGarrett is suspicious of an aide who arrives in Hawaii to retrieve millions of dollars held in trust for a Southern Asian state and he must prevent a daring gold robbery.

Watch Now:Amazon
star
8.75
4 votes

#23 - The Spirit Is Willie

Season 11 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/25/1979

Millicent Shand returns and claims that her niece's husband has faked his own death in order to get his hands on $500,000.

For Old Times Sake
star
8.75
4 votes

#24 - For Old Times Sake

Season 12 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/8/1980

A aging crook decides to use dollar bill printing plates he made to raise cash for a charity, but he fails to realise the trouble that this will cause.

star
8.75
4 votes

#25 - The Meighan Conspiracy

Season 11 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/18/1979

When a robbed bank vault shows no signs of break-in, an inside job seems the likely solution. McGarrett's trail of clues leads him back to the builder of the vault and his wife...