Pilot is the first episode of NCIS: Hawaii Season 1 as well as the first episode of the entire NCIS: Hawaii series.
Synopsis
The peace and quiet of Hawaii is shattered when an experimental Navy aircraft unexpectedly crashes into a mountain in Oahu, destroying the jet and killing its pilot, a Navy Lieutenant Commander aviator. As NCIS Special Agent in Charge of NCIS Pearl Harbor Jane Tennant and her team investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash, they also attempt to find out if the Navy aircraft program and any highly classified state secrets have been exposed with the team soon discovering evidence of a spy ring operating on the island.
Plot
As Night Panda- Walk With A Bounce plays in the background, the camera pans over a huge mountain before it goes on to show some scenes of Hawaii consisting of miles of land, a boat sailing through the ocean, another mountain with the ocean in the distance with a waterfall at the bottom and finally, an area containing a beach and mountainous terrain.
It then shows a group of young people playing volleyball on a beach while a man surfs on a wave and two people, a young boy and a man fish in the ocean before it shows an unknown person sky boarding while groups of people are walking on a beach as others sit around, enjoying the atmosphere and as a large boat moves towards the ocean, six people are rowing it but then, the sound of a large engine overheard has them looking up just in time to see a plane going past as two people on the beach look up, having heard the noise as well with everyone watching as the plane then crashes into the mountain, bursting into flames as the title, "NCIS: Hawaii" appears.
At a soccer field, NCIS Special Agent Jane Tennant is coaching a group of young girls or the Kahala Warriors who are playing a soccer game against another unknown team, Jane's daughter, Julie one of the members of the Warriors team while her son, Alex sits in the background, looking at his phone as Jane and the other parents keep an eye on the game.
However, proceedings are interrupted when members of the U.S. Navy security patrol who are also presumably assigned to the Joint Base Police arrive, ordering everyone to clear the field with the teams retreating to the sidelines, leaving the pitch empty in seconds while Jane looks at her phone, presumably receiving a text about the plane crash. She then tells the Warriors to bring it in and hands Alex the clipboard, Alex stating he doesn't know anything about soccer with Jane telling him the girls don't care and to have fun. Then, with everyone off the field, a helicopter arrives, landing on the field and after bidding farewell to her children, Jane heads for the helicopter and straps herself in to one of the seats as Julie and Alex wave at her.
Once everyone's on board, the helicopter takes off, Jane even blowing a kiss to Julie and Alex.
Sometime later, the helicopter arrives at the scene where the jet crashed and Jane disembarks, meeting Navy Captain Joe Milius, the two getting into a confrontation as Jane believes it's a crime scene while Milius is more focused on recovering any highly-classified information. Despite butting heads, the two come to an agreement to work together, Jane offering Milius to tell the wolf pack consisting of NTSB and FBI agents as well as HPD officers it was his idea with Milius stating they should give it a beat.
At a bar in Honolulu, two other HPD officers are investigating claims of a fight between a Hawaiian native, his girlfriend and two mainlanders with NCIS Special Agent Kai Holman intervening and attempting to resolve things peacefully, only for Kai to end up getting arrested when he refuses to give one of the officers his ID with Kai being dragged away in cuffs while his cell phone rings seconds later, the caller revealed to be none other than Jane, presumably wanting to talk to Kai about the team's newest case.
At Naval Base Pearl Harbor or Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Oahu, Hawaii which is the Headquarters for the NCIS: Hawaii branch, NCIS Special Agent Lucy Tara has arrived, carrying a box of four cups of coffee and some files.
After exchanging some brief greetings with some co-workers in the bullpen, she and Jane head up to the War Room to discuss the victim: Navy Lieutenant Commander David Walters, Jane revealing she'll need everything on Lieutenant Commander Walters while through the briefing, NCIS Special Agent in Charge Jesse Boone arrives in, armed with another box of four cups of coffee. The three then discuss the case and the circumstances surrounding it as well as the fact Jesse skipped cleaning camp sites at Bellows Field before Jane dispatches Lucy to go to AFMES to get the autopsy results while Jesse works with NCIS Computer Specialist Ernie Malik to get an insight into Walters's private life and Jane heads off after receiving a text that presumably has her learning that Kai's been arrested. In the office, Ernie meets Jesse who's changed his clothes, the two discussing the victim: Navy Lieutenant Commander David Walters, Ernie stating he'll dig into everything about Walters's life.
As soon as that's done, Jesse announces he's heading to Walters's apartment and that Ernie should call him as Ernie begins researching Walters's entire life and background.
Later, at Kapolei Station, a police station belonging to the Honolulu Police Department, Kai's out of jail and immediately meets Jane who's changed her own clothes, Jane informing him the deputy sergeant texted her when he saw Kai's NCIS credentials, Kai wondering how she knew where he was?
After giving Kai a lecture about his antics along with the promise that if anything happens to him she should be his first call, the two head off while Lucy arrives at the Medical Examiner's office, looking for the report, only to face a challenge as DIA officer Kate Whistler has arrived, Whistler seeking access to the report first so that she can check for any sensitive information and after she's made her point, Whistler leaves which has Lucy frustrated.
Across town, Kai has arrived at Walters's apartment, looking for information on a dog named Inoki before he hangs up. After apologizing to Jesse and revealing he got locked up by HPD, a revelation which has Jesse surprised, the two search the apartment but don't find any bottles of alcohol although Kai does find a sticker advertising Ace's Surf Shop.
Back at HQ, Lucy reveals to Jane that Commander Walters had a massive amount of dextroamphetamine: 100 to 120 milligrams along with signs of classic psychosis and probable cardiac arrest with Jane believing they're looking at an overdose: intentional or otherwise. Heading into the bullpen, the two meet Jesse and Kai, Jesse revealing they only found a bunch of supplements as Kai believes Walters had been hitting every dive bar on the island while Ernie arrives in, informing his colleagues of a potential lead in the form of Noelani Illihau and who Ernie has managed to get a signal thanks to her LoJack being activated. This sends Jesse and Tara into the forest to look for her and the car with the two using a map to get their destination where it's revealed that not only has the car landed on its side but Noelani herself is also inside, dead.
With the scene where Noelani's body being processed, Jesse and Lucy tell Jane of the grim discovery as well as the fact that Noelani's neck has been broken and after the call has ended, Jane advising them to keep on working, she has a brief conversation with Captain Milius who tells her that one wrong move won't just see her and Milius taking the fall: her team will suffer as well while Kai meets his father, Wally, the two clearly having a very frosty relationship, Kai and Wally briefly talk before Kai leaves.
Back at NCIS Hawaii HQ, Jesse and Lucy who have arrived back in from the mountain area inform Jane of the medical examiner's report that states Noelani was dead before she hit the ravine along with the discovery of material underneath her fingernails but the meeting is interrupted by Whistler who storms into Jane's office, furious over the fact that her declassified report has already been seen in its unclassified stages with Jane taking the blame for that. With things now smoothed over, Whistler informs Jane Walters's supplements have been analysed and were found to contain high levels of dextroamphetamine, Jane realizing they were spiked and that this crash just got a lot more complicated.
At the Tennant house, Jane is making dinner while helping Julie with her homework as Alex heads off, still glued to his phone as a knock on the door interrupts things but as Jane prepares to berate Alex, it's revealed the visitor is none other than Ernie who informs her the door was open. Muttering "Nothing", Jane heads back into the kitchen as Alex heads into a room while Julie greets Ernie.
In the kitchen, Ernie tells Jane Jesse and Lucy found Neolani's phone at the crime scene, the SIM card has been pulled and the online profile only goes back a few months as most of her friends on social media are bots and most of her pictures are photoshopped before revealing to Jane Noelani worked as a cocktail waitress at a place called Namaka Ale House as the paystubs go back a few weeks before they abruptly stop. As Ernie remarks the stew smells amazing, Jane calls for Alex, informing him she needs him to finish dinner and get his sister to bed on time. When Alex protests, calling it babysitting, Jane states it's not babysitting, it's helping and that's what families do for each other before she heads off with Ernie having tasted the stew for himself recommends to Alex that he'd add lemonglass.
At the bar, Jane tries to interview some of the staff, even talking to Myra Tan but gets nowhere. She soon leaves and on the way home, gets a phone call from Kai who informs her of a possible lead but one he has to handle himself.
The next day, Kai heads to a beach and meets a woman named Hina who doesn't respond with a greeting, instead punching him in the mouth while standing over him and sarcastically remarking, "Welcome home, brah".
It then cuts to Kai lies there on the ground, stunned.
Kai on the ground after being punched in the mouth by Hina.
Later, as Kai nurses his wound, it's clear Hina is still full of resentment towards him for joining the Marines and heading to the mainland. Despite this, she gives him a name: Big Luna, information Kai tells Jane and Ernie of with Ernie giving them a possible lead: DOD engineer Don Sloane who works on top-secret aircraft, Jane revealing that the possibility appears of a local girl who dates guys with need-to-know information and works them until she becomes a ghost which hints it's a con woman or at worst, a spy. Ernie later manages to find Sloane's location although he reveals there's a second IP logged in as well which means that an unknown group besides the NCIS Hawaii team is tracking Sloane. At a park area, Sloane is out for a jog but manages to avoid getting run down thanks to Jesse who manages to get the two of them safety while Lucy runs after the car which flees quickly and has her shaking her head when Jesse wonders if she got the plates, causing a frustrated Jesse to say "Damn".
Meeting up at an area where a local food trunk is selling food, Jane and Kai discuss the case while back at NCIS: Hawaii HQ, Jesse and Lucy talk some more, Lucy revealing Walter's credentials haven't been compromised but Jesse tells her that Don Sloane's phone was hacked and the spy ring got access to all the information he knows including the info on the unnamed aerial capabilities which is a user manual, Jesse noting it's ironic that the spies know but NCIS doesn't as only DIA has access to that information and suggests she might have to apologize to Whistler.
Later, that night, Lucy arrives at Whistler's apartment and the two talk with Whistler eventually relenting and giving Lucy a list of names of people who could be the spy ring's next target with Lucy relaying the information back to her NCIS colleagues. Thanks to Ernie's digging, they've got a name: Charles Randolph, an engineer whose girlfriend is Sally, a cocktail waitress at the same ale house Jane visited earlier, Jane realizing the group are targeting Randolph to get what they need as they failed to get a piece from Walters and without the important piece, the entire thing is useless.
Gathering at the bar later that night, Jane, Jesse and Lucy stay outside in their respective vehicles while Kai goes in, undercover to find out what's going on. He quickly spots Randolph talking to Sally but after a while, Randolph heads off, Sally leading him elsewhere with Kai following Big Luna who Kai informs his team is not only a native to the island but is even in on the entire ring. However as soon as Kai gets to Big Luna, a fight breaks out between the two, prompting Kai to use his distress word: "I'm new to the island" which sends Jane, Jesse and Lucy racing to the bar.
Splitting up, Jesse and Lucy race upstairs to find Randolph while Jane and Kai pursue Big Luna via Ernie who relays directions back to them from his office.
Bursting into the office, Jesse apprehends Sally while Lucy arrests Myra. Back on the road, Jane and Kai are depending on Ernie to give them information concerning Big Luna's whereabouts and arriving a few miles from the forest, discover fire and smoke at a distance while inside the house or structure the spy ring has presumably been operating, it's shown that Big Luna is destroying something with a hammer as Jane and Kai creep up to the house, their weapons drawn. Inside the house, Jane attempts to arrest Big Luna but he gives them the slip, fleeing through the forest with the two NCIS agents chasing Big Luna before they arrive at a mountain terrain that leads to the ocean but instead of obeying them and surrendering, Big Luna willingly jumps into the ocean, disappearing from sight which has Jane and Kai both stunned and dismayed. Refusing to back down, Jane then jumps into the ocean, heading after Big Luna, a move that has Kai going "Really?" before he too relents and races forward, preparing to follow Jane.
Now in the ocean, Kai looks around and upon seeing Jane and Big Luna fighting, swims towards them while Jane and Big Luna are trading blows that sees Jane dropping her Glock while a single kick from Big Luna sends her back into the ocean. Taking advantage, Big Luna grabs Jane's Glock and begins firing rounds into the water, each one avoiding Jane, only for his rampage to stop when Kai runs forward and takes Big Luna with him into the ocean once more.
As Jane re-emerges for air, she sees Kai trading blows with Big Luna and upon seeing her, Kai heads for his boss as Big Luna goes another direction but when it looks like Big Luna is going to succeed at killing them, Kai tells Jane to trust him with the two taking a big, deep breath before they dive underwater while on the surface, Big Luna turns around and notices too late, a huge wave approaching him with the wave itself sweeping over him and presumably causing him to drown, resulting in his death.
Once the wave has passed, Jane and Kai re-emerge once again, Kai repeating the words Hina told him: "Never turn your back on the ocean" with Jane noting it. As Kai wonders since Jane got them into this mess, does she have a way to get them out, it looks hopeless for the two NCIS agents but then they see a light up ahead and it's shown that it's a boat belonging to the Coast Guard with Ernie who tells them the Coasties aren't lying: they're always ready. Relieved, Jane and Kai swim towards the boat.
The next morning, as a new day begins in Hawaii, Lucy, Ernie and Kai are in the bullpen, examining the items they recovered from Big Luna's safe house which Lucy reveals consists of hard drives that were smashed and files and photos that were burnt even though Ernie remarks it's the kind of puzzle that gets his circulation going. Lucy then shows Kai something in an evidence bag, revealing it's dextroamphetamine, 100 milligrams per pill that were disguised to look like Walters's vitamin supplements with Kai believing Big Luna snuck into Walter's house to dose him while Lucy reveals that material on Big Luna's knife matched what was under Noelani's fingerprints and that Big Luna killed her too. Despite this, Kai is at a loss as to who Big Luna worked for and how much of the jet program was compromised. Jesse then appears, revealing that Myra, the bartender he arrested claims to be a victim although she served spiked drinks, led Rudolph up to the room and gave as good as she got with Lucy, something Lucy herself denies and then hands Jane who's just walked in containing potentially damning information on Myra herself, remarking it's clean living when Lucy wonders if Jesse timed it for when Jane walked in.
Later, in Interrogation, Jane and Whistler confront Myra, revealing their theory: she was born in Honolulu but trained by MSS- the Ministry of State Security, revealing the spy ring is actually operated by personnel from China as Whistler confronts Myra, demanding to know everything about fighter jets.
At the airport, Walters's remains are being brought onto a Navy plane destined for Grand Rapids with a Navy honor guard saluting as that occurs while Milius watches proceedings and Jane pays her respects from a distance. After talking some more which Milius subtly apologizing for what he said earlier about her jeopardizing the careers of her team, Jane accepts his apology and leaves.
A few hours later, as a cover version of "Island Style" plays in the background, Kai has arrived with his dog, Inoki and is greeting everyone when Hina arrives, greeting Inoki who instantly runs to Wally's side. After biding farewell to Hina, Kai approaches Wally, revealing Inoki is fresh out of quarantine with Wally complimenting Inoki, stating he's a fine looking fella that reminds him of Hachiko and that Kai's mother loved that dog. He also tells Wally they'll have a lot of time to talk about things and suggests his father take care of Inoki before he heads off, Wally talking to Inoki while at the Tennant house, with everyone out on the balcony, Kai has arrived with food that he reveals his father forced him to bring. He greets Jane who's in the kitchen, cooking something, Jane revealing that Wally's illness was something Kai mentioned in his application with Kai telling her it's why he wanted the billet and as Jane prepares to head out to the balcony, Kai tells her he thought it was just gonna be a job but he has realized it's more fun to do it with someone that he would.. follow off a cliff, Jane remarking, "That was dumb" with Kai agreeing, calling it "Dumb. Absolutely dumb" which has the two laughing and Jane stating the food smells delicious and they should take it outside so everyone can enjoy it.
Gathering on the balcony, everyone exchanges greetings to Kai and as Kai and Ernie share a hug while Jesse and Kai clink their beer bottles together and Kai hugs Lucy.
As Jane, Ernie and Alex examine the food, Kai, Jesse and Lucy are talking to Jane, the camera then pulls away, heading up into the sky before it shows a shot of the neighborhood in Oahu at nighttime.
Major Events
- NCIS Special Agents Jane Tennant, Jesse Booth, Lucy Tara and Kai Holman as well as Computer Specialist Ernie Malik and DIA officer Kate Whistler are all introduced for the first time.
- It's revealed that Kai has been a member of the NCIS Hawaii team for two weeks, Jane having interviewed fifty candidates including Kai himself and that Lucy has been working as a member of the NCIS: Hawaii team for a year, Tennant having fired Lucy's predecessor, Jim Carter.
Trivia
- NCIS Hawaii is the second series in the NCIS franchise not to have previously aired during a backdoor pilot via all the other shows in the franchise which include JAG which aired as a solo series, NCIS which first aired as a backdoor pilot episode during JAG Season 8, NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans, both shows that aired as backdoor pilot episodes during NCIS Season 6 and 11 respectively.
Cast
Series Regulars
| Name | Portrayed by | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Jane Tennant | Vanessa Lachey | Special Agent in Charge of the NCIS: Hawaii team and also the mother of Alex and Julie Tennant. |
| Kai Holman | Alex Tarrant | Special Agent of the NCIS: Hawaii Team who is also the team's newest member. |
| Jesse Boone | Noah Mills | Senior Agent and second-in-command of the NCIS: Hawaii team. |
| Lucy Tara | Yasmine Al-Bustami | Junior Agent of the NCIS: Hawaii team. |
| Ernie Malik | Jason Antoon | Computer specialist of the NCIS: Hawaii team. |
| Kate Whistler | Tori Anderson | Officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency or DIA. |
| Alex Tennant | Kian Talan | NCIS Special Agent Jane Tennant's son and Julie Tennant's older brother. |
Guest Cast
| Name | Portrayed by | Role |
| Joe Milius | Enver Gjokaj | Captain in the United States Navy and Commander of the Pacific fleet. |
| Julie Tennant | Mahina Anna Maria Napoleon | NCIS Special Agent Jane Tennant's daughter and Alex Tennant's younger sister. |
| Wally Holman | Moses Goods | NCIS Special Agent Kai Holman's father. |
| Hina | Danielle Nuela Zalopany | NCIS Special Agent Kai Holman's childhood friend. |
| Big Luna | Ron Yuan | A man who appears in the episode. |
| Myra Tan | Erica Wong | Bartender. |
| Charles Randolph | Jamaal Burcher | Engineer for the DOD- Department of Defense. |
| Sally (Pilot) | Amber Olivia Abara | Cocktail waitress. |
| HPD Officer 1 | Ryan Pagan | A man who appears in the episode. |
| HPD Officer 2 | Chris Kim | A man who appears in the episode. |
| Moke | Blaze Laniola Cosner | A man who appears in the episode. |
| Mainlander 1 | Jordan Matlock | A man who appears in the episode. |
| Mainlander 2 | Jacob White | A man who appears in the episode. |
| Female Bartender (Pilot) | Keala Patterson | |
| M.E. Tech | Chris Magpoc | A man who appears in the episode. |
| Navy Honor Guard | Pedro Lemus Jr. | |
| Master at Arms | Louis Steiner | |
| Jogger (Pilot) | Josh Squire | A man who appears in the episode. Uncredited role. |
| Kala'e Camarillo | Himself | Special Live Musical Performance. Credit only. |