S11E11 - “The Miracle Man” - Plot

Act One

The 'Miracle Crusade' has invaded the Honolulu Concert Hall and is being broadcast throughout Honolulu. The reverend (Keith Baxter) get the crowd into a tizzy as a man (Pepper Martin) in the crowd takes special notice. The reverend thanks Sister Harmony (Jean Marsh) as she starts the choir singing. In the governor's office, McGarrett is less than impressed by Reverend Andy with the governor telling him Reverend Andy began by preaching in a Manchester, England pub and now is one of the most successful evangelists on the mainland. The governor considers Hawaii lucky to be hosting him. Reverend Andy begins introducing others on stage: Sister Sarah (Jacquelyn Campbell), Sister Harmony, Sister Ruth and the Miracle Crusade choir amongst great applause. Backstage, a man with the Miracle Crusade (James Sikking) watches over everything as Reverend Andy beckons for people to come onto the stage. The man who took special notice rushes the stage calling Reverend Andy "a fake and a liar" as he shoves various people off the stage before pulling a gun! McGarrett doesn't waste any time leaving the governor's office.

It is complete and utter chaos with a sea of crushing humanity in front of HPD. McGarrett shoves his way through finally making it into the building where an HPD Sergeant named Ed (Ed Fernandez) meets him commenting about the "angry mob" outside. Ed tells McGarrett the gun used wasn't loaded but the only people who know that are the arresting officers. McGarrett wants to keep that way for right now with Ed saying it can be done.

In an interrogation room, the man explains his actions: the man sought attention because he's tried every other way to resolve his issue but no one listened. McGarrett tells him he' lucky he wasn't shot because there was no way to know the gun he had was empty. The man is from San Diego and tells McGarrett his story: his wife Marion was killed on a winding road slamming head-on into a telephone pole without trying to stop. He blames Reverend Andy for her death because "he mesmerizes people. They'll do anything for him". He asks if McGarrett will help and McGarrett agrees as long as the man starts at the beginning and doesn't lie. The man explains: they couldn't have children and she blamed herself. When Reverend Andy first arrived in San Diego, she attended and while he tried at first to get into it, the man couldn't but Marion became obsessed. Six months later, the "Tabernacle of Miracles" arrived again with Marion making the decision to follow Reverend Andy, leaving behind her old life including giving him their savings of $12,000! The night she left was the night she died. He can prove the money because the savings and loan showed him the cancelled cashier's check. The man wants to know if McGarrett believes him with McGarrett being evasive but he promises he'll check out his story.

McGarrett walks into his office followed by Danno and Duke with Danno calling it "open and shut" because everyone saw the broadcast. When McGarrett tells them the gun wasn't loaded, Duke calls Nelson crazy because he could have easily had his head blown off! McGarrett wants Danno to dig into Nelson's story, but quietly while putting Duke onto finding out what he can on Reverend Andy and his Miracle Crusade. Luana (Laura Sode) appears at the door with the governor on line five. McGarrett picks up the phone with a nervous governor on the other end: he wants things handled as judiciously as possible but McGarrett counters that Nelson has a story that must be followed up on and some of the things suggested aren't "flattering" for Reverend Andy. The governor relents knowing McGarrett will do things his way anyway. The governor also says Reverend Andy's business manager Oscar Ross called about having a police presence at the rest of the services for the time they're in Hawaii. McGarrett will take care of that request before hanging up and turning to Danno, "what do you say we give him a look at two of Honolulu's finest?"

At the convention center, Danno wonders if they're watching a religious service or a stage show with McGarrett saying it's a combination. The man, from backstage earlier, walks up behind them introducing himself as Ross. McGarrett would like to talk to Reverend Andy when it's convenient with Ross leading him to the reverend's "quiet room" to wait. He tells Danno to "nose around" and see if anyone knew Marion Nelson.

In the quiet room, McGarrett and Ross discuss the Nelson case with Ross not understanding the need for an investigation. Once the service/show ends, Danno stops a pair of sisters while Reverend Andy rushes into his "quiet room" where Ross quickly introduces McGarrett. Right behind him is Sister Harmony with a protein drink and she compliments the pineapple juice they have. McGarrett asks about Marion who Reverend Andy claims to have never met, only knew of her and her accident. McGarrett tells them Nelson claims Marion was out to see the reverend that night as the reverend laments that she had, she might not have been in the accident. McGarrett then moves on to the contribution of $12,000 in a cashier's check with Ross saying he'll look into it. As he's about to leave, McGarrett also asks what seminary Reverend Andy attended but gets his story: born Andrew Norwood outside Manchester, England learning to hustle on the streets leading to jail on and off since he was 14. There was a prison brawl where he was severely stabbed and he prayed that he might live. The next morning, the wound was gone and he dedicated himself to God from that point on because "it was a miracle". Reverend Andy goes into his routine a bit but McGarrett has one of his own: a miracle Nelson didn't shoot Reverend Andy when he had the chance.

Backstage, Danno isn't having much luck either until Harmony remembers Marion from San Diego and the car accident. Harmony tells him Reverend Andy sent her to the hospital with flowers but Marion died before she could see them. Danno tries to make a connection but Harmony stops him saying Marion had only recently joined the church and there's no time for "any special interest". Danno attacks the problem from the money angle with Harmony matching his step: she says Reverend Andy is the real deal and she's living proof. She explains she was once a streetwalker in London and she was "working Reverend Andy's Miracle Crusade at the Royal Albert Hall. He picked me out of the crowd. He saved my soul". Danno isn't convinced by Reverend Andy's shenanigans, no matter what Harmony says.

The governor goes to see Reverend Andy at his hotel apologizing for the incident but Reverend Andy says there's no need as Nelson isn't even from Hawaii. He does thank the governor for the aloha shirt while the governor invites the crusade back to the islands "anytime". The governor offers if there is anything he can do to make their trip more enjoyable, not to hesitate to call. Ross jumps on the opportunity to see about getting McGarrett to back off.

In McGarrett's office that night, the team comes together with the same story: everyone loves Reverend Andy and no one really knew Marion. McGarrett wants Duke to go to San Diego to see what he can find with Duke saying he wanted to travel and Danno reminding him to go easy on the expense account!

Act Two

At Five-O, Danno speaks to someone about the stabbing Reverend Andy told McGarrett about. He walks into McGarrett's office briefing: according to "the governor of Wormwood Scrubs" there was a brawl and two men were stabbed to death. Reverend Andy was helped to his cell holding his abdomen but the prison doctor didn't see him until the next morning when the incident was looked into. The warden wouldn't comment further on Reverend Andy's miraculous recovery. McGarrett knows he walking on thin ice, as evangelism is huge in the U.S. providing comfort to people who can't find it elsewhere. McGarrett is really interested in the money trail, wanting Danno to dig into that via the State Corporation Commission.

In San Diego, Duke talks to a lady (Peggy Anne Siegmund) about Marion who wanted more out of life than what she was getting. The lady was a neighbor of Marion's saying Marion stopped over to say goodbye when Duke asks if she saw Marion much before the accident. Duke calls back to Danno reporting what he has so far: "Marion was determined to see Reverend Andy personally. She was going to his dressing room, follow him to his hotel, whatever it took". Duke says the neighbor told the San Diego police but they didn't think anything of it at the time, a lot of women seem to want to see Reverend Andy. Danno asks about the police report with Duke saying the location of the accident is weird: the hotel and where the services were held were near Balboa Park but the wreck happened in La Jolla! Danno then tells Duke that McGarrett wants him on the next plane to Phoenix because Reverend Andy is supposedly building a tabernacle in Joshua City. What's really going on with all the donations to the Miracle Crusade?

Reverend Andy's car is brought to the front of the hotel as Harmony reminds him of his annual check up. Reverend Andy is off to the retreat saying that's better than any doctor. After the huge Continental drives away, McGarrett arrives where Harmony tells McGarrett she can't give him the information on where the retreat is, even if he wanted to donate $1 million. She gets a bit defensive when McGarrett asks her how many people know where the retreat is located and if he has one in every city the crusade goes. However, he explains to her his intentions are to get at the truth rather than tell people how to go about their way to worship. She still won't budge on giving up any information so McGarrett gives her his card asking for the reverend to call when he returns. Ross watches from above on a sky bridge.

McGarrett radios Danno to organize a group of plainclothes HPD officers to follow Reverend Andy around the clock. McGarrett wants to know where the "private retreat" is, one way or another.

In the hotel room, Ross calls Reverend Andy telling him McGarrett was back. Ross goes on saying they seem to have picked up some new information in San Diego about Marion. Regardless of what they found, Ross doesn't like it. Reverend Andy has an idea but he'll need Ross' help to do it, making a u-turn while driving.

While McGarrett is en route to the office, Danno radios him that something is happening at HPD so McGarrett heads there. At HPD, Reverend Andy goes into his spiel as Danno watches from the yard with McGarrett walking up behind him. Reverend Andy and Ross essentially hold a conference dropping the charges against Nelson as well as pay back the $12,000 Marion donated plus another $13,000 for a total of $25,000. Reverend Andy is trying to make himself appear as the better person.

Act Three

At the governor's office, McGarrett calls Reverend Andy's "gesture" a publicity stunt. More than that, something about Reverend Andy bothers McGarrett and it boils down to Marion's accident. He shows the governor a simplified map of San Diego pointing where the hotel and crusade was but the accident was ten miles in the opposite direction. Based on what Duke dug up, it doesn't make any sense that Marion was ten miles from where the reverend was. McGarrett suspects the payoff is "conscience money" and wants to keep Nelson in custody until the crusade is out of Hawaii.

Reverend Andy drives around town eventually arriving at his retreat with a pair of HPD officers taking down the address.

At lunch, Danno is able to talk to the State Commissioner (Harry Chang) who says the Miracle Crusade has a non-profit charter out of New Mexico and their tax returns are clean. They move on to Reverend Andy and Ross as individuals: Ross discovered the reverend in England about ten years ago and they've been together since. However, this isn't Ross' first go round with non-profits but it's the highest position he's held and the first religious group. While they haven't broken any Hawaiian law, something strange came up: they purchased the land for their tabernacle from on company: the Apache Land Company. The oddity is that the land company had the exact 100,000 acres the crusade was looking for: that much land under a single group is nearly unheard of. Danno has a deep rabbit hole in front of him to dig into the corporations owned by other corporations and so on. He thanks Tom for the help.

In Phoenix, Duke calls back to McGarrett saying the tabernacle is going up as scheduled, the finances are solid and the contractor has no complaints. McGarrett wants Duke to go to the Hall of Records to dig up everything on the Apache Land Company and to make it fast. The crusade is going to be leaving within the next 36 hours. Luana walks in with the lease agreement on the house for the retreat: R.O. Windom. McGarrett has seen the name before and begins searching in the paperwork finding he's the treasurer of the Apache Land Company. Danno walks in reporting the HPD surveillance team watched Sister Sarah drive to the retreat as if she has been there before. They both wonder what Harmony would have to say about it with Danno sent to see her reaction.

Danno goes to see Harmony telling her the police found the retreat. He's carrying a San Diego map asking where that city's retreat was: La Jolla! When Danno mentions that's the same area of Marion's accident, Harmony has had enough. She tells Danno women aren't allowed at the retreat before Danno drops a bombshell on her: they've seen Sarah enter the retreat and there's no mistake because all their pictures have been in the newspaper!

Harmony speeds up a winding road rushing to the retreat. When she arrives, she's shocked at what she sees: Reverend Andy and Sarah being overly cozy with one another! She laves despondent over the revelation running through a stop sign and into a possible crash with her car!

Act Four

At HPD, McGarrett walks with Ed after HPD picks up a woman on Hotel Street who "started early". McGarrett walks into the interrogation room to see Harmony worse for the wear. She tells McGarrett what she saw and he apologizes that she got hurt. Harmony is willing to answer any questions so that Marion can rest in peace. They figure Marion caught Reverend Andy with another woman, just as Harmony did. Harmony is still grateful, regardless of all the bad the reverend is, that he taught her to believe in herself.

At the hotel, Ross gripes to Reverend Andy that Harmony would only see and speak to McGarrett. Reverend Andy isn't that concerned because Harmony can't tell McGarrett anything. However, Ross is about to come unglued especially since the reverend confirms what happened to Harmony is what happened to Marion: found him with another girl. They have 12 hours left in Hawaii and Ross is downright freaking, not wanting Reverend Andy to talk to anyone. The phone rings: it's McGarrett wanting to talk to the reverend but Ross makes up a lousy excuse as to why McGarrett can't speak to him, using the last service as a ploy. Once off the phone, Ross tells Reverend Andy not to speak to McGarrett unless Ross is present.

In McGarrett's office after the call, McGarrett and Danno look at the mess of the deep rabbit hole. Duke walks in with information from Phoenix including the site sale for the tabernacle. Reverend Andy and Ross have been swindling people buying parcels of land for $10 per acre but sold it to themselves at $1400 per acre! Duke shows them on the transparent board with the two companies owning Apache Land Company, one owned by Ross, the other by Reverend Andy. The biggest problem is in the church charter, there is nothing prohibiting the church from doing business with any of its officers. While not illegal, certainly unethical. They can try exposing them to the press but that opens up Five-O to a defamation suit. McGarrett has an idea and wants them to meet him at the concert hall 15 minutes before Reverend Andy starts.

At the concert hall, final preparations are being made as crowds filter in. Harmony steps out of her dressing room nervously walking to the stage but Reverend Andy sees her first. She asks him what happened between him and Sarah with Danno signaling to turn on her microphone! Reverend Andy then goes out over the speakers but not the way he intended! The crowd realizes he's a fraud and begins to leave with Ross trying to stop him but it's too late. The hot microphone is the one Harmony is wearing, oops! When it's over, McGarrett tells Danno to call HPD to release Nelson and he apologizes to Harmony. Reverend Andy is left adrift searching for a miracle.