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Just over a month ago, CBS stunned fans when it announced that it was canceling Hawaii Five-0 after 10 seasons. The news that the island-set cop drama was ending was a shock to viewers, especially when they learned that there were only a handful of new episodes left to air. Now, the end of Five-0 is almost here. The series finale will air Friday, April 3. 

The last-ever episode of ‘Hawaii Five-0’ airs April 3  

Hawaii Five-0
Scott Caan as Danny ‘Danno’ Williams and Alex O’Loughlin as Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-0. | Karen Neal/CBS via Getty Images

Originally, the Hawaii Five-0 series finale was supposed to be a two-hour special event airing on April 3. But scheduling changes due to the coronavirus meant that the network decided to air the show’s final two episodes over two nights instead. 

The first part of the finale aired March 27. It featured the introduction of a new character, Lincoln Cole (Lance Gross), a marine who went AWOL and who has been hiding out in Hawaii, working at a diner. After he rescues a woman from a gang of bank robbers, he crosses paths with Danny (Scott Caan) and Steve (Alex O’Loughlin). When the woman and her child are kidnapped by the robbers, Cole emerges as a bargaining chip. Later, Steve confesses to Danny is not sure about his future on the force. He’s also received a mysterious letter from his dead mother containing a cipher she wanted him to decode. As he and Danny talk, a thief breaks into Steve’s house and steals the envelope that contained the letter, but not the letter itself. 

Danny is jeopardy and Steve solves his big case in the ‘Hawaii Five-0’ series finale 

Danny and Steve in Hawaii Five-0
Scott Caan and Alex O’Loughlin in the last episode of Hawaii Five-0 | Karen Neal/CBS via Getty Images

Friday’s episode of Hawaii Five-0 — titled “Aloha” — continues last week’s storyline and wraps up the series for good. Danny is abducted and badly wounded by Wo Fat’s wife, who is after the cipher that Steve’s mother left him. Meanwhile, Steve finally solves the case his father left for him 10 years ago. (His father John was murdered on the orders of Wo Fat in the show’s pilot episode, leading to the creation of the Five-0 task force.)

James Marsters (Victor Hesse), William Sadler (John McGarrett) and Mark Dacascos (Wo Fat) all guest star in the episode, which airs on April 3 at 9/8c on CBS. 

Why was ‘Hawaii Five-0’ canceled? 

CBS didn’t say why it had decided to cancel Hawaii Five-0 after a decade on the air. But it sounds like both Caan and O’Loughlin — whose contracts were reportedly up at the end of this season — were ready to leave. Deadline reported that O’Loughlin, in particular, felt he could no longer continue with the show after dealing for years with the effects of a back injury he suffered while filming. 

Still, the actor had nothing but good things to say about his time on the show and its fans.  

“This show has been pretty much every waking moment for the last 10 years of my life,” O’Loughlin said in a statement when the cancellation was announced. “Everywhere I go on this planet, in every language, I am McGarrett to all these people. What we’ve done, what we’ve accomplished, it’s extraordinary. I can’t really put words to express my level of gratitude. I’m just glad to have been a part of this, a part of history, and I’m going to miss it. And to the fans, I don’t know how to thank you guys. Thank you for following us the way you have. I’m going to miss you. Aloha.”

Read more: ‘Hawaii Five-0’ Star Daniel Dae Kim Tests Positive for the Coronavirus

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