When the character of Kamekona, played by Hawaii actor Taylor Wily, debuted in the pilot episode of “Hawaii Five-0,” everyone remembered his character, even if they could not pronounce his name. And when his cousin Flippa, played by Hawaiian musician Shawn Mokuahi Garnett, arrived on the scene, we started to see a great comedic duo begin to emerge. Not that either of them couldn’t hold their own as individual characters, it just seems as if the comedy is bigger and the meaning behind ʻohana is stronger when they are together.

Most locals — people born and/or raised in Hawaii — know that everyone is your “cousin.” This usually refers to the fact that, as we live on a small island and often families are rather large, it could mean that anyone could potentially be a cousin. At times calling someone your cousin, could mean two different things — a blood relative, as Chin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Kono (Grace Park) refer to themselves, or it can mean a friend that is more like a family member or “cuz” to you.

For Kamekona and Flippa, it seems as if they are blood related cousins, as it was revealed this season in “Kuleana” (“One’s Personal Sense of Responsibility”) that they share the same last name. Kamekona Tupuola was one of Chin’s confidential informants before Chin was kicked off the force, and Chin should be credited for helping to direct Kamekona’s innate business acumen toward more legal avenues. In “Kuleana” we learned that Kamekona sacrificed himself to Chin in order to keep his younger brother Kanoa (Sam Puefua) out of jail.

It was the start of what has become a beautiful friendship — between Chin, McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin), and the rest of the Five-0 team. Who can forget the first time McG and Danno (Scott Caan) met Kamekona? Ever the businessman, Kamekona gave up some confidential information in exchange for McGarrett and Danno wearing blue Waiola Shave Ice shirts as free advertising.

While it seemed at first that Kamekona’s shave-ice stand is just a front for more criminal activity, his character has become an intrepid businessman who is always out to make an honest buck — or perhaps a few thousand honest bucks. Shave ice is part of the complete beach experience in Hawaii — you can’t spend a day on the hot shore and not want something sweet to cool you off. And Kamekona is no fool. His insight is right on the mark from the first moment he told Chin that ice had “a high profit margin.” He was on his way to become the kind of man he seemed to always want to be.  

So his beach front shave ice stand and rolling cart is just the start to his success as a legitimate entrepreneur. Of course, Kamekona is not one to rest on his easy success and turns to an even bigger adventure — a shrimp truck. Hawaii has had what we now call food trucks since the early 70ʻs — we just called them manapua trucks. The trucks sold Chinese char siu bao and soft drinks, as well as plate lunches, much like the plates sold at Rainbow Drive-in and Zippy’s. Kamekona’s shrimp truck idea was smart and adding the helicopter tours was just another step toward financial dominance.

While Kamekona became an important part of the show early on, his cousin Flippa acts as both comic relief and a reminder of Kamekona’s love of family. Flippa, whose real name, Shawn Tupuolu, was revealed this year in “ʻI’ike Ke Ao” (“For the World to Know”), seems to be one of his few family members who helps Kamekona, and because of that, Kamekona forgives him of his crazy mishaps. One of my absolutely favorite scenes with the cousins is from the season five episode, “Ua ʻaihue” (“Stolen”) when Flippa signs Kamekona up for a cooking contest with celebrity Hawai’i chef Sam Choy. Kamekona is not too pleased with his over-confident cousin and begins to throw throw things at Flippa who defends himself by shouting “I love you!” to his angry cousin.

Still, it’s obvious the cousins really love each other — and fans love them too. In the June fan favorites survey, folks shared about how admired their humor and the way they stress ʻohana and friendship between the Five-0 team. They love Kamekona, “because he’s fun and always up to new tricks — while always being there when he’s needed for his friends,” wrote Caroline White from New Zealand. His tricks are usually his business trials and errors — like Spam Burritos and his failed catamaran tours.

But besides his desire for a financial windfall — it is the fact that Kamekona has “made something of his life,” Petra Holzmair from Germany wrote in the fan survey. He has turned himself around from being a two-time felon, into a respectable man with several successful businesses — and a friend of Five-0.

It is not uncommon for the scenes we love best — happen to include Kamekona and Flippa. The shrimp truck is not just a spot where the team hangs out and has an ʻono shrimp plate — it’s a place set up for them to be themselves and be surrounded by ʻohana. Perhaps it’s the cousins who help make that happen, but in the end Kamekona and Flippa will always be an integral part of the team.

REDUX SIDE NOTE

This week’s “Hawaii Five-0” repeat was the season six episode,  “Ka Haunaele” (“Rampage”). The writers used the real-life story of Tyke, an escaped circus elephant who was sadly killed in the streets of Honolulu in 1994. Tyke was killed after she crushed her trainer and injured her groomer — and the controversial story was used in the episode in order to tell a bit of Jerry Ortega’s (Jorge Garcia) back story. It also helped to introduce us to Jerry’s sister, Isabel (Zuleyka Silver), an animal-savior and activist.

It was a good episode to see more about the subject of last week’s Five-0 Redux, Jerry Ortega, who has gone from being known as Chin’s strange conspiracy theorist pal, to a Five-0 Special Consultant.

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Wendie Burbridge is a published author, playwright and teacher. Reach her via Facebook and follow her on Twitter  and Instagram.