Hawaii Five-0 season 8: Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park leaving
In a statement first confirming the news, executive producer Peter M. Lenkov had the following to say:
“I will never forget meeting Daniel while still writing the pilot and being certain there was no other actor who I’d want to play Chin Ho Kelly … Needless to say, Daniel has been an instrumental part of the success of Hawaii Five-0 over the past seven seasons and it has personally been a privilege to know him. Grace’s presence gave Hawaii Five-0 a beauty and serenity to each episode. She was the consummate collaborator, helping build her character from day 1. They will always be ohana to us, we will miss them, and we wish them both all the best.”
Meanwhile, CBS added the following in a statement of their own:
“We are so appreciative of Daniel and Grace’s enormous talents, professional excellence, and the aloha spirit they brought to each and every one of our 168 episodes. They’ve helped us build an exciting new Hawaii Five-0, and we wish them all the best and much success in their next chapters. Mahalo and a hui hou…”
There was an understandable fear that one or two of the show’s stars could be departing before season 8 judging from the way the recent season 7 finale was written. Kim’s character of Chin had an opportunity to take a new job in California that would place him in more of a leadership position; meanwhile, Park’s Kono took off to help stop a sex-trafficking ring in other parts of the United States, a case that became very personal to her at the end of the seventh season.
There are logistical reasons behind this exit, given that season 7 / season 8 is often the time where stars do consider leaving shows to work on other things. Kim in particular is getting more into producing; he’s currently one of the people behind the scenes at ABC’s The Good Doctor, and it’s difficult to take care of matters in Los Angeles when you’re filming several hours away.
While Hawaii Five-0 will continue, it’s certainly sad to lose three people in the past year. (Remember, Masi Oka left during season 7.) This is also a massive blow to the show’s diversity, losing three of their prominent minority characters in a very short period of time. For us personally, Chin is probably our favorite character on the show since he is just so cool even when things are going horribly wrong for him. Add to that our love for the show Lost (Daniel’s character of Jin was our favorite there too) and it’s going to be painful for us to say goodbye to him. Let’s also take a minute to talk about losing Grace Park who is really the only female character they have on the show. There are other smaller female characters and female guest stars here and there, but Park is the only female they have in a major role right now and let’s not pretend that she’s going to be easy to replace. She’s strong, smart and has had one heck of an amazing story over the years when it comes to her career and her love life with Adam. This really is a major loss for the show and for the viewers. There will be some new additions most likely, so be sure to check back with us, as we will have more scoop as the story unfolds.
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Meanwhile, head over here to read more about how Park’s character could ultimately depart the series. (Photo: CBS.)