Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) Computer Killer (1975) User Reviews

This must have looked like sci-fi when it debuted!

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 11 October 2011]

When this episode aired in 1975, it must have looked like sci-fi or pure fantasy. After all, how could someone use a computer to do this crime? Well, today it all makes a lot of sense--but in its day it was a very prescient episode as it showed what evil a maniac with a computer and a lot of know-how could do.

The episode begins with a guy arguing with his estranged wife. In the heat of emotion, he beats her to death and runs from her apartment. The argument and his fleeing is observed by a neighbor and it looks like an open and shut case when it comes to court. However, the murderer's father (who is quite wealthy) is approached by a stranger--a stranger who says he can get the guy acquitted...for a price. And, this stranger with Leo Sayer hair is able to do the seemingly impossible. Using a very, very early modem, portable monitor and keyboard, he calls in to various computers and changes records--all to make an incredibly guilty man look innocent. How is he able to do all this? Well, it turns out this soul-less and amoral man is a computer genius and designed all these computer systems and knows their access codes! Can this amazingly complex plan work or will Steve and the gang somehow unravel this high tech crime? This is an amazing episode--because it could have happened pretty much the way the show described it. A well thought out plot and a darned good episode. See this one!

Computer Killer - Well Ahead of its Time

[adventure2run · 9/10 · 14 May 2007]

I first viewed this episode three years ago while living in Los Angeles. I haven't seem it since, but the computer themes of this episode have stuck with me. I don't remember the entire plot, but a so-called "computer consultant," as stated on the killers business card, uses computer technology as part of his criminal activity. He also strangles his victims.

What seems to stand out most of this episode, filmed in 1974, is the pervasive use of advanced computer technology, for the day. He uses what I've researched to be an ADDS Envoy portable computer "dumb" terminal and a car mobile phone to break into the Hawaii Motor Vehicle Dept. Remember, this is almost ten years prior to the movie Wargames. He seems to also use a computer terminal from his home with the old phone receiver-pickup modems.

An episode that is well ahead of its time in using portable computer equipment and early car mobile phone system.

Really a very cool episode and would love to find out how the writer came up with the computer themes.

Jon

A "hacker" makes catching a murderer difficult for Mcgarret...

[JSouth1 · 8/10 · 29 January 2010]

"Computer Killer" has long been one of my favorite 5-0 episodes. In many ways, the episode was WAY ahead of its time, since, in early 1975 when the episode premiered, few "average" people had even seen a computer themselves. I first saw this one about 25 years or so ago, by which time such a scenario was a bit more possible in reality. Nowadays--EVERYONE deals with computers from day--to day--so, A young person seeing this one would NOT be impressed with the terribly outdated computer technology in the show.

(SPOILERS FOLLOW!!!)

But at the time...it must have seem almost "otherworldy". A man named Tillis accidentally kills his wife, in a fit of rage, to keep from a divorce. Suddenly...a strange man is seen in his car, with a telephone, making a call to the BMV. Once through...he takes the receiver and places it on a small computer terminal, in his car, and begins to type in a license #. From there...the computer displays the info he is looking for...the driver's name, age, address and so on. Soon..this man approaches the father of the murder suspect, telling him "I can clear your son". He lets him know he can use computers to clear him, and gives him a list of phone #'s that the father uses to discredit a major witness. The father then agrees to pay $500k. for the hacker's services. Now, the hacker, named "Charles Aarons", takes his "bypass code book" with which he uses to access, and alter--private information in computers at the 5-0 police office, the BMV, a department store, banks, and an airline. Using his "ADDS Envoy", "portable" (in the OLD sense of the word...at least..)computer and a "home computer terminal by "Lockheed"(I wonder if this is the same "Lockheed as in "Lockheed Martin??)--he is able to manipulate these computers to "create" a "new suspect" to divert suspicion from the real killer. Aarons however..is ALSO a COLD--BLOODED KILLER himself, and to reinforce his electronic trail, he kills TWO people,--a former burglar, and a woman, supposedly his last victim...and places items in various places to make it LOOK like this SAME guy, "Palmer",... killed the Tillis woman. Of course...after the "deed".."Palmer" "jumps on a plane, to LA", under an Alias...and is "long gone".. Case closed...murderer gets off.. Hacker gets rich...right?? WRONG!!

The ever--vigilant Mcgarret, about to "throw in the towel" and resign to the fact that Palmer killed both of the women, STILL has doubts about things. He soon realizes that EVERY piece of information that now "proves the Tillis man innocent" has ONE thing in common:: ALL of them came from some computer. Steve begins to wonder:: could it be possible--that SOMEONE has PLANTED ALL of that data--to make it look like Palmer--which simply "disappeared"(was buried by Aarons) is the killer--is a plant??

The early computer technology really sets this one apart. True--it IS a VERY outdated setup--and TOTALLY text--driven, with NO graphics or such on ANY computer screen, and the data transfer speed is terribly slow, but still--it "gets the job done" and in an interesting way--even today, when an Iphone would probably have MUCH more computing power than ANY of the large mainframe drives and/or processors shown on the show....some made by "Control Data Corp".

Most realistic and inspirational computer shows of its time.

[richard-driessel · 10/10 · 4 March 2012]

I'm one of the lucky ones who can date the inspiration for his career to a single date: 1-14-1975. I was 15 years old, and watched this episode. I remember a line from it very clearly. The computer consultant Charles Arrons was talking about the "miracle" of the computer to the owner of the computer company. He said "Well, I'm your miracle. I make guys like you." This was the first time I even thought there was somebody writing the software that made computers work. In fact, it was the first time I heard the word "software." This was 1975 after all.

It also didn't hurt that the episode was one of the more suspenseful and exciting ones. After seeing his gadgets and hearing about that "miracle," I wanted nothing more than to write software. I was fortunate the next year to start at a high-school which had a computer, an old card-based machine. After writing my first program, I was hooked. Since then I've had a great career in software development that I wouldn't trade for any other career. I thank the writers of that episode, and the convincing actor who played Charles Arrons for my initial enthusiasm for software development. Hawaii Five-O was such a quality program, and this episode epitomizes it.

Scary criminal plot with two major flaws

[VetteRanger · 7/10 · 13 April 2023]

Charles Aarons is one of the most sociopathic characters ever to appear on Hawaii 5-0. As a software developer who has his fingers in dial-up access and the underlying software systems of some of the largest corporations in Hawaii, his ability to check out and change information.

He decides to use that access to help the son of his wealthy employer beat a murder charge. And the son is guilty ... we saw him commit the crime. So did the victim's neighbor, whose reputation is almost ruined by meddling in telephone records.

Aarons' effort don't simply stop at hacking, though. He's willing to commit murder, himself, to advance his plan to gain $200,000. It seems like a paltry sum, and even those in 1974 it was about 10 years of a nice salary, I think the payoff is a bit low for the changes he takes, including leaving his job.

The two flaws? First, the impetus which solves the case comes from what I considered to be an unlikely Mcgarrett epiphany. Those happened quite often after the first few years of the series. Second, Aarons scheme to get paid was entirely inadequate. Someone as clever as the character was made out to be could SURELY have done better, and you'll know why that's important if you watch the episode.

If the writer of an episode quits before scripting the end...

[crispcharles-44249 · 6/10 · 27 July 2023]

I do not believe that actually happened as regards "Computer Killer"; it just seems like it did. Perhaps the writer(s) realized there was not enough time in a 60-minute program to properly resolve it, so the last ten minutes or so is what had to be presented as the resolution.

In essence, a hot-shot computer programmer makes a deal with the father of a murder defendant - the hot-shot will get the young man acquitted for a large sum of money. The hot-shot brilliantly and cold-bloodedly, using a "classified" computer code-book, frames another man. How did hot-shot acquire the book? Nobody knows. There are many, MANY loose ends throughout the episode.

Alright, never mind. The PROBLEM is McGarrett, despite having a mountain of physical evidence, all of a sudden decides none of it matters. Instead, since the phone company, jewelry stores, the police, airlines, and banks all use computers to do business...the REAL killer is a computer expert! It is no different than saying "Hey wait...the killer drove a car...therefore he's a mechanic at a Ford dealership on Waikiki Drive!" If you think that sounds ridiculous, you now know how I felt at the end of the episode.