Job desciption: Resourceful, compassionate, and tactically brilliant commander of Hawaii Five-O.
McGarrett earned several field promotions and presidential citations during his military tenure, as well as a reputation as a stubborn, rebellious agent (“Cocoon”). He was stationed in Japan during the Korean War (“Wooden Model of a Rat”), when a friend of his was shot in the head by enemy fire and only the lining in his helmet saved him (“The Hostage”). Also in the war, the ship on which he was serving sank (“The Hostage”).
In 1953, McGarrett investigated Joseph Trinian for the latter’s involvement in the death of a Navy sailor and had him put away for fifteen years; upon being released from prison in 1968, Trinian tried to violently avenge himself upon McGarrett (“Yesterday Died and Tomorrow Won’t Be Born”). McGarrett ultimately attained the rank of commander (“Samurai” and others).
McGarrett’s reputation as a no-nonsense, dedicated, and independent-minded investigator followed him to the Five-O offices (“Cocoon”). His successes earned him many enemies, the greatest of which was unquestionably Wo Fat, the commander of Red Chinese Intelligence in the Pacific Theater. McGarrett clashed with Wo Fat many times (“Cocoon”, “Forty Feet High and it Kills”, and others), never achieving a definitive victory until 1979, when he posed as theoretical physicist Dr. Elton Raintree to get close to his arch-enemy (“Woe to Wo Fat”).
On six separate occasions, McGarrett’s enemies tried to frame him for crimes he did not commit. The most successful of these endeavors, engineered by the Vashon family, saw McGarrett convicted of second-degree murder, although this conviction was set aside once the Vashon scheme was exposed (“V for Vashon: The Patriarch”). McGarrett was also falsely implicated for bribery (“The 90-Second War”), racketeering (“Small Potatoes”), grand theft art (“Wooden Model of a Rat”), murder (“Man in a Steel Frame”), and, along with the entire Five-O team, extortion (“Welcome to our Branch Office”), but none of these frame jobs resulted in a conviction.
Another of McGarrett's close relationships occurred in 1964 with Margot Cooper, a photographer — but again, the relationship did not work out due to incompatibilities in their professions, although they briefly rekindled the relationship in 1972 (“Thanks for the Honeymoon”).
In 1968, he has a brief romantic flirtation with the youthful hippie Rosemary Quong, although the romantic interest seems mostly physical (“Cocoon”).
In 1974, he enjoys a dinner date with attractive Brit Marni Howard, who would later betray him (“A Gun for McGarrett”).
In 1976, McGarrett begins a serious relationship with fashion designer Cathi Ryan, to whom John Manicote introduced him. Ms. Ryan is ultimately murdered by gangster Charlie Ing, who tried to frame McGarrett for the crime (“Man in a Steel Frame”).
McGarrett, a Capricorn (“Highest Castle, Deepest Grave” and others), resides at 404 Piikoi St. in Honolulu (“Once Upon a Time”), but also owns a beach house (“Sing a Song of Suspense”).
McGarrett has a younger sister, Mary Ann, who resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Thomas Whalen. In 1968, their young son, Thomas Jr., nicknamed “Tommy” — the accounts inconsistently report his age as 12 months and as 6 months — died of cancer while under the care of a quack physician, Dr. C. L. Fremont, whose fraudulent practice McGarrett worked very hard to expose (“Once Upon a Time”).
McGarrett follows a strict personal regime. He gets up at 5 o’clock every morning (“A Gun for McGarrett”). In 1968, he jogs along Waimanalo Beach every morning (“Yesterday Died, and Tomorrow Won’t Be Born”), although by 1974, he jogs only three times a week, in Kapiolani Park near the rose garden, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays — and only when other errands and duties permit (“A Gun for McGarrett”). Every Tuesday, he gets his hair trimmed at the same barber shop — a fact which both Bonamo (“Bait Once, Bait Twice”) and Jovanko (“Blood Money is Hard to Wash”) use to their respective advantage.
McGarrett is a self-confessed health-food nut, but occasionally deviates from his diet when the mood strikes him (“Sing a Song of Suspense”). In fact, he boasts of making the best lasagna and cacciatore in all of Hawaii (“My Friend, the Enemy”). In his younger days, he enjoys an occasional drink (“Cocoon”), but after 1968, he swears off alcohol completely (“Honor is an Unmarked Grave” and others). He plays golf (“Retire in Sunny Hawaii... Forever” and others) and chess (“Assault on the Palace”), and enjoys boating whenever he can (“Oldest Profession—Latest Price” and others). He is a noted collector of Asian art objects, having taken up this hobby in 1951 (“Wooden Model of a Rat”). He also plays tennis twice every week, and by 1976 his instructor Yoshi notes that his game is improving (“Man in a Steel Frame”).
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