NCIS: Hawai’i, now properly into its second season, follows the superb workforce led by Particular Agent in Cost Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) — Kai Holman (Alex Tarrant), Jesse Boone (Noah Mills), Lucy Tara (Yasmine Al-Bustami), and Ernie Malik (Jason Antoon) — as they examine crimes involving naval officers from their Pearl Harbor base in lovely Hawai’i. Of their downtime, a lot of the brokers (sans Jesse) have well-balanced and emotional relationships that drive their private journeys. For Jane, most of the time, these tales revolve round her son Alex (Kian Talan) as he reaches maturity and plans to jet off to the Naval Academy after highschool. For Lucy, it’s her blossoming romance with FBI agent Kate Whistler (Tori Anderson). During the last season and a half, Kai’s story outdoors of labor has been centered round his father Wally (Moses Items) and their extremely strained relationship following the dying of Kai’s mom and Kai’s lengthy absence from the island afterward. Nevertheless, as Season 2 continues, it’s displaying us what we already knew: Kai is prepared for love.
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Adriana Breaks Kai Out of His Shell in ‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ Season 2
Episode 17 of the second season is the right instance of this, showcasing the potential for Kai if he have been lastly granted a love curiosity. Kai is tasked with, basically, babysitting a witness in a pending prison investigation in opposition to an untouchable billionaire: Adriana Velasco (Anna Grace Barlow). She’s a high-maintenance, Elle Woods kind; fairly and fairly sensible, too, which Kai begins to note very early on whereas defending her. As he spends extra time along with her, they kind an unlikely bond and begin to be fairly flirty with each other. After all, it’s doomed from the beginning contemplating she is enjoying a key function in taking down against the law boss and the rest of her life goes to look a lot totally different after testifying. Nevertheless, Adriana manages to carry out a brand new facet of Kai, which is kind of pleasurable.
With Adriana’s encouragement, Kai loosens up a bit. He dances along with her whereas undercover at a celebration. He will get a pedicure along with her (considered one of her many calls for whereas being protected by NCIS). He flirts again, clearly growing some romantic emotions for her, too. He turns into the important thing to the case, breaking down Adriana’s partitions and coming to know how her thoughts works, even stopping her from killing the crime boss point-blank as a consequence of her emotions of loss after he had her boyfriend killed. Whereas the story and relationship each come to an in depth with the episode, this presents a turning level for Kai and his improvement shifting ahead.
The Writers Have to Change Issues up With Kai in ‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ Season 3
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Previous to this story with Adriana, Kai has been very centered on work or his father. Over the course of practically two seasons of NCIS: Hawai’i, he and his father have began to place collectively the items of their fractured relationship. Issues aren’t good by any means, however they’ve come a great distance since Kai confirmed up unexpectedly to start out working at Pearl Harbor within the collection premiere. Up to now, Kai’s warmest interactions have been together with his father in uncommon moments of bonding and therapeutic. For the reason that premiere, they’ve slowly been coming again collectively, however they nonetheless struggle commonly and wrestle to ever be on the identical web page.
One of many tales all through the second season has been an ideal instance of their rocky relationship, which is Wally inadvertently getting his struggling enterprise tied right into a prison enterprise led by Kai’s childhood greatest pal AJ Hale (Jonah Ho’okano). Whereas AJ was stopped, because of some robust work from Kai and Whistler, it highlighted the variations between Kai and his father which are going to take a very long time to work on or come to phrases with. Thus, this relationship doesn’t present the lightness we have to see from Kai sometimes.
Picture through Paramount
Apart from with Wally, we’re lacking out on a lot potential improvement for Kai as he grows and begins to loosen up. The workforce has develop into his household, permitting Kai to start fixing the chip on his shoulder that he has carried since highschool and the dying of his mom. Whereas he’s shut with every member of his workforce, these relationships don’t present the identical sort of alternatives that, for instance, his relationship with Adriana did. His workforce is there to assist him and supply sage recommendation on his private conditions, however these relationships aren’t typically written on procedurals to supply the identical lasting change as outdoors forces do. Introducing a love curiosity and romantic storyline for Kai would just do the trick although, and it’s much-needed because the collection continues for an additional season.
Kai all the time retains his partitions up. He additionally manages to tug off the stone-cold demeanor of a legislation enforcement officer higher than anybody else round him. However, this habits interprets over to Kai’s private life, which is stunting his development. As nice as his relationship together with his father may be, it’s slowed down and sophisticated by years of trauma that Kai remains to be actively working via. Whereas all of us love Kai’s relationships with the members of his workforce, his chosen household, they’re nonetheless at work and people tales can solely not often revolve across the characters individually. In the meantime, Adriana’s transient, one-episode stint on the present introduced some levity to the character, breaking down Kai’s partitions quickly and permitting us to see one other facet of him. A facet that enjoys life and is raring to be completely happy, discover love, and dwell the life he has all the time dreamed of. After so lengthy, it’s good to get an extended take a look at the actual Kai buried beneath his hardships. That is one thing that would proceed on in his platonic friendship together with his different childhood pal, Hina (Daniella Nuela Zalopany). However, the simplest method is for Kai to lastly get an actual love curiosity. It’s been too lengthy, and he deserves some love.
NCIS: Hawai’i continues Mondays on CBS. Each episode is now streaming on Paramount+.