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Season guide

Hawaii Five-O: Season 3

24 episodes Premiered Sep 16, 1970 Updated Nov 6, 2026

The third season of the American police procedural drama Hawaii Five-O aired on CBS, beginning its broadcast run on September 16, 1970, and concluding on March 10, 1971. Produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman, the series is set in Hawaii and centers on the operations of a special state police unit. Jack Lord stars in the production as Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, who serves as the head of the Five-O

Previously on Hawaii Five-O

Season 3 Lore Primer

Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.

  • ⚡ Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series set in Hawaii.
  • ⚡ The series is produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman.
  • ⚡ Jack Lord portrays Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of the special state police unit.
  • ⚡ The show originally aired for twelve seasons between 1968 and 1980.
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Season overview

The third season of the American police procedural drama Hawaii Five-O aired on CBS, beginning its broadcast run on September 16, 1970, and concluding on March 10, 1971. Produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman, the series is set in Hawaii and centers on the operations of a special state police unit. Jack Lord stars in the production as Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, who serves as the head of the Five-O task force. The narrative follows the unit as they address various criminal activities within the region. The season is part of the original twelve-season run of the series, which spanned from 1968 to 1980. Following its initial television broadcast, the third season was made available for home viewing through a region 1 DVD release on January 22, 2008. The series continues to be recognized for its procedural format and its depiction of law enforcement efforts in the Hawaiian islands. As an established entry in the long-running franchise, this season maintains the core premise of the special state police unit led by McGarrett, continuing the procedural drama established in the show's earlier seasons.

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Season 3 Episodes

Episode Guide

🛡️ SPOILER SHIELD

Season 3 Progress Shield

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Binge Efficiency Engine

Season 3: Filler vs. Essential Canon

Filter episodes by narrative weight. Focus on essential mytharc and skip standalone side quests.

25%
75%
Mytharc (6): Crucial lore & season climaxes
Core (18): Character development & subplots
Side Quest (0): Standalone / filler
S3·E1 Mytharc

... And A Time To Die

Sep 16, 1970 · 50 min

Five-O must act swiftly when the daughter of a top neurosurgeon is kidnapped by Wo Fat in order to make the surgeon operate on a wounded U.S. undercover agent who is carrying secre

S3·E2 Core

Trouble In Mind

Sep 23, 1970 · 50 min

Singer Eadie Jordan has not only a comeback concert to perform, but also a serious heroin addiction. Poisoned heroin is being peddled on the islands, and McGarrett must try to save

S3·E3 Core

The Second Shot

Sep 30, 1970 · 50 min

Dr. Lemira, an opposition leader for Greece, is living in exile in Hawaii, but Klaus Marberg is sent to assassinate him. His plan is to get himself shot and work his way into Dr. L

S3·E4 Mytharc

Time And Memories

Oct 7, 1970 · 50 min

When a lawyer is murdered, his wife becomes the top suspect and McGarrett investigates. However, matters are complicated by the fact that the woman had a relationship with McGarret

S3·E5 Core

The Guarnerius Caper

Oct 14, 1970 · 50 min

Shortly after giving a recital, the violin of a visiting Russian virtuoso is stolen, and McGarrett must retrieve it before the theft turns into an international incident.

S3·E6 Core

The Ransom

Oct 21, 1970 · 50 min

Five-O's efforts to rescue a young boy from kidnappers go wrong when Kono is captured and beaten. An angry McGarrett must work out a way to rescue Kono without further endangering

S3·E7 Core

Force Of Waves

Oct 28, 1970 · 49 min

When a ruthless businessman is blown up in a boat explosion, Five-O has many suspects to choose from, and they use psychological methods to determine the guilty party.

S3·E8 Core

The Reunion

Nov 4, 1970 · 50 min

A Japanese computer research company executive is recognised by a veteran as his former captor in a Phillippine prison camp in World War II.

S3·E9 Core

The Late John Louisiana

Nov 11, 1970 · 50 min

The hitman sent to kill the witness to a two year old murder instead falls in love with her and McGarrett and the team must lead the search to find her before duty overtakes love.

S3·E10 Core

The Last Eden

Nov 18, 1970 · 50 min

Five-O search for the criminals who have set up Hawaiian singer and ecologist Jimmy Nuanu as the fall guy for a sewage plant bombing.

S3·E11 Core

Over Fifty? Steal!

Nov 25, 1970 · 50 min

McGarrett and company must pit their wits against a veteran thief and robber who leaves Monopoly money at the scene of his crimes.

S3·E12 Mytharc

Beautiful Screamer

Dec 2, 1970 · 50 min

Dan Williams's fiancee is murdered by a strangler who writes poetry in lipstick on his victims' legs. Danno resolves to catch the culprit who has other murderous plans to carry out

S3·E13 Core

The Payoff

Dec 9, 1970 · 50 min

McGarrett must apprehend two abductors who are on the run with the proceeds of their crime in order to protect the lives of their co-conspirators.

S3·E14 Core

The Double Wall

Dec 16, 1970 · 50 min

When a convicted murderer, Harry Kellem, hears a dying man say he committed the crime that Kellem was jailed for, he takes a doctor hostage and McGarrett must negotiate his way out

S3·E15 Core

Paniolo

Dec 30, 1970 · 50 min

A cowboy fears the loss of his land to a crooked estate agent and accidentally kills him by hitting him. McGarrett and his team must track the cowboy into the mountains and persuad

S3·E16 Mytharc

Ten Thousand Diamonds And A Heart

Jan 6, 1971 · 50 min

An electronics genius is busted out of prison so he can mastermind a massive robbery of diamonds from the Honolulu Diamond Exchange.

S3·E17 Core

To Kill Or Be Killed

Jan 13, 1971 · 50 min

Five-O investigates the death of Vietnam hero Jack Rigney, who fell from a balcony. His father is a World War II veteran, but his brother Michael is a peacenik, and Danno goes unde

S3·E18 Core

F.O.B. Honolulu (1)

Jan 27, 1971 · 50 min

Wo Fat and other top international agents converge on Hawaii to place bids on printing plates for twenty dollar bills, which are in the possession of a former friend of McGarrett.

S3·E19 Core

F.O.B. Honolulu (2)

Feb 3, 1971 · 50 min

Five-O must deal with treason, murder and double-crosses in order to solve the case and prevent the U.S. from being flooded by fake currency.

S3·E20 Core

The Gunrunner

Feb 10, 1971 · 50 min

The wife of an arms dealer is kidnapped by revolutionaries who want the guns diverted from their original destination, but the arms dealer himself is not as innocent as matters wou

S3·E21 Core

Dear Enemy

Feb 17, 1971 · 50 min

The wife of a convicted man fakes evidence in a new crime so that McGarrett will have to re-open her husband's case.

S3·E22 Core

The Bomber And Mrs. Moroney

Feb 24, 1971 · 50 min

Danno's past comes back to haunt him when the brother of a young boy he shot is released and wants revenge. The brother takes Chin Ho, Jenny and others hostage in McGarrett's offic

S3·E23 Mytharc

The Grandstand Play (1)

Mar 3, 1971 · 50 min

A baseball player, Lon Phillips, brings his backward son to Hawaii to escape threats on his life on the mainland.

S3·E24 Mytharc

The Grandstand Play (2)

Mar 10, 1971 · 50 min

The son of the baseball player becomes the vital witness in a murder, but he is reluctant to tell either his father or Five-O of the crime.

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