Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Hawaii Five-0 series finale. Read at your own risk!
CBS said goodbye to Hawaii Five-0 last week, and did its best to give the long-running series a proper send-off. Of course, all series finales are bittersweet, especially when the showrunner reveals that there were plans for another season had the network signed off on one. It turns out the series let go of some pretty major plans and, following the series finale, showrunner Peter M. Lenkov was willing to share the details.
Hawaii Five-0 managed to shore up its characters' stories rather well, despite two of them going through some massive changes in the hypothetical following season. Actor Lance Gross, who was introduced in the final batch of episodes as Lincoln Cole, was poised to take the lead in Season 11, while Steve McGarrett was taking some time away to go find himself.
Lenkov told TVLine that, in a perfect world, McGarrett would've eventually returned after a trip. The season would've started without him, and then picked back up with McGarrett fresh from his journey and perhaps somewhat changed. Of course, Alex O'Loughlin's contract was up at the end of Season 10, but Peter M. Lenkov believed CBS could've convinced him to stay on:
"If the studio had wanted to bring back the show for Season 11, I have to believe they would have tried to get Alex to stay."
Once Lenkov learned that CBS intended to drop Hawaii Five-0 from the lineup, the original episode that became the series finale was altered in order to make for a more conclusive ending. That meant dropping some stories that would've picked up in Season 11, some of which fans may have liked to see.
One story teased a small "romance beat" between Tani and Junior. As previously shown, Junior had killed the boyfriend of an ex-girlfriend, and Tani would later find out that he's been supporting them in the time since, due to the guilt he's felt over the killing. The Hawaii Five-0 story would've carried over to Season 11, as would this storyline between Adam and the Yakuza:
Adam (Ian Anthony Dale) got a visit from the Yakuza in Japan, who basically said, ‘What you did [by setting up Kenji] went against everything we believe in, and we’re done protecting you.' So there was a bit of a cliffhanger there.
Peter M. Lenkov cut all that so characters could have a more definitive end, though it's always possible Hawaii Five-0 could return in the future. Lenkov even said CBS told him it's possible a revival could come down the way, though one wouldn't assume that's coming anytime soon. For now, this is the end of Hawaii Five-0, and a pretty good run for a beloved CBS series.
Miss Hawaii Five-0 already? The entire series is currently available to stream right now on CBS All Access. As always, continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest happenings in the world of television and movies.
