For 10 seasons of “Hawaii Five-0,” we’ve often seen our favorite characters risk life and limb for their friends and ohana. This week’s episode brings Adam (Ian Anthony Dale) to the breaking point when his girlfriend Tamiko Masuda (Brittany Ishibashi) is kidnapped in order to force her father, Hajime Masuda (Sonny Saito) to give up his position of power in the Yakuza. The episode titled “O ‘oe, a ‘owau, nalo ia mea,” which is Hawaiian for “You and Me, It is Hidden” derails Adam, who has to choose between his new life in Five-0 and his old life as a son of the Yakuza.

The deeper meaning behind the traditional ʻōlelo noʻeau, or Hawaiian proverb or poetical saying, is “Let the secret be with us alone.” The title certainly relates to how Adam handles Tamiko’s kidnapping, especially when her father Masuda-san orders him not to call Five-0. The secret of Tamiko’s kidnapping has to be between us, Masuda implies, which is probably why Adam doesn’t reach out to McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) for help. Unfortunately, her kidnapping keeps him from seeing the real conspiracy going on while he fights to bring her back alive.

Written by Paul Grellong and Rob Hanning, and directed by Kristin Windell the episode was packed with intense action and emotion. Adam’s storyline takes up the bulk of the episode, while McGarrett and the rest of the team, Lou (Chi McBride), Quinn (Katrina Law), Junior (Beulah Koale), and Tani (Meaghan Rath) investigate a triple homicide that looks unrelated, but who they find is connected to a ten-year-old homicide which was pinned on an innocent man (Gabriel Ellis).

ADAM FOLLOWS HIS NA‘AU

Hawaiians believe that we hold our emotions and our feelings in our na‘au, which in Hawaiian means “bowels or gut” both also “mind, heart, affections.” So when masked men break into Tamiko’s apartment and pull her out of the shower she was sharing with Adam, he desperately fights to protect her from being taken and is almost killed in the process. The fight scene is brutal, and Dale does an excellent job showing his skills in hand-to-hand combat, while being extremely vulnerable, as his character is completely naked during the fight.

While following his gut may not seem to be the right thing to do, it is why he seems to be making fast and quick decisions. He loves Tamiko, and as we have seen in the past, Adam will do anything for those he loves. Yet in all his haste to find her and get her back, he does not see the deeper plot being played out. It seems as if Kenji (Fernando Chien) wants to take over Masuda’s position in the Yakuza, and has orchestrated Tamiko’s kidnapping in order to force Masuda to sacrifice himself and transfer all his power to Kenji. Kenji then kills Masuda during Tamiko’s exchange and makes it look like the Pinoy Playas, the gang who has been fighting with the Yakuza for control of some of the island drug trade, has killed him during the shoot out.

PAYING A PRICE

Watching Adam struggle alone with the prospect of losing another woman he loves, and to the same kind of life he left in order to have that kind of love, was heartbreaking. Yet, Dale shines as he continues to show how Adam tries to work through his internal conflict and his inability to marry his past with his present. Dale has always been so good about showing true emotions on his expressive face which was so evident in this episode.

Still, it would have been nice to see more of the development of Adam and Tamiko’s love before she was kidnapped and he put everything he has built with McGarrett and Five-0 on the line. It was very interesting that we found out about the nature of their love affair in a shower scene, which was a bit of a flashback to how we found out about his relationship with Kono (Grace Park) in season two of the series.

But Adam’s reaction to the situation was definitely how he has handled all of his other conflicts. He’s all in no matter what kind of sacrifice he has to make in order to protect and save those he loves. He’s paid a very big price for his actions in the past, and it seems as if he may have to do it again once he faces McGarrett.

FACING MCGARRETT

While Adam was trying to save Tamiko and left Five-0 in the dark, Duke (Dennis Chun) gets a visit from HPD detective Belden (Kimberly Estrada) who delivers Adam’s watch in an evidence bag to him. It seems as if Adam lost it while committing armed robbery on the Pinoy Playa’s territory in order to find Tamiko. Concerned, and conflicted, Duke reaches out to Adam, who ignores his calls. Duke then goes to see McGarrett. While Duke must do his duty, he also knows that something is wrong and McGarrett needs to know that something is up.

The look on McGarrett’s face while he tells Adam to come to Five-0 headquarters, as Duke sits in front of his desk, his face equally grave, did not reveal much. Adam’s actions leave McGarrett in a tight spot. And while we know that Adam had only the best intentions when he followed his gut and did what needed to do in order to save Tamiko, we are left to wonder how Adam will come out of this turn toward the dark side, and if McGarrett and the team will remain by his side.

Wendie Burbridge writes the “Five-0 Redux” and “Magnum Reloaded” blogs for staradvertiser.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.