Hawaii Five-0 season 8 spoilers: Keeping the Steve – Danny restaurant dream alive

When you think about life beyond the Five-0 Task Force for Steve and Danny on Hawaii Five-0, you probably think about Danny’s restaurant retirement dream. This was a discussion point during season 7, and with the show now going into season 8 McGarrett is likely thinking even more about his own mortality (with the news about his radiation poisoning), so it makes sense for him to think about life outside of fighting crime. These characters are getting older, and are starting to look towards what their future could be — this doesn’t mean that they are quitting their jobs anytime soon, but they do have more to think about and Steve has made it no secret that he wants to hitch his wagon to Danny’s restaurant (in that he at least wants it to be named after him). It’s understandable that they would start to entertain some of their dreams.

In teasing up what could be a season-long (or even longer) storyline, showrunner Peter Lenkov had the following to say to TVLine:

“A big part of last year and this year is talking about people’s legacies and what they leave behind, and [Steve and Danny] sort of start this side [restaurant project] project which is a lot of fun for them to be doing … It’s a longterm thing, and who knows — the way they’re sort of going at each other, and given their different points of view with regards to building this business as something to retire into, it may never even happen! Because it’s just one hurdle after another.”

This is the reality of the dream these two are chasing — if you’ve ever watched Kitchen Nightmares (we can’t believe we’re even referencing it here), you know the sort of drama that comes with people trying to pursue a future in the restaurant business. It’s long and incredibly time-consuming, and it often doesn’t lead to anything other than sadness and mountains of debt. We don’t think the show would want Danny and Steve to fail at this venture to the point where Gordon Ramsay would need to show up and swear at them while rifling through their refrigerator for wilted lettuce. The thing that Danny and Steve have going for them (that many other restaurant entrepreneurs may not) is that they have the support of not only their family and the police department but they also have friends like Kamehona who have a successful food business to help guide them.

Maybe this story shows up in bits and pieces given that there are so many other things for Lenkov and the writers to address — you’ve got the arrivals of Meaghan Rath and Beulah Koale, for starters, and then also the case-of-the-week storylines that are going to be ramping up. You’re also going to be seeing more of some characters this season like Kamekona, and Ian Anthony Dale will be coming on board in a more permanent capacity as Adam — hopefully, this helps to compensate for the departure of Kono.

Want to express your love of all things McDanno?

You may know this if you’re reading the site regularly, but Danny and Steve are in the final round right now of our Crime Dynamic Duos series! If you head over to the link here, you can vote for the two of them to win the title. Voting there is open until the end of August 30 — the link has more details. (Photo: CBS.)