Anna Daniels
All good things must come to an end, and it seems that that saying is especially true of Hawaii Five-0. There is no one reason for why the show came to an end after ten seasons. Rather, it appears that everyone involved just felt like it was the right time to conclude the series.
One of the main factors was the impending departure of the show’s star, Alex O’Loughlin. He had been on the verge of departing the series for a while, and the tenth season felt like the right time for him to do so. In an interview with TVLine, Lenkov said, “I believe Alex wanted this to be his last year … If the studio had wanted to bring back the show for Season 11, I have to believe they would have tried to get Alex to stay. But it’s now moot.”
While the show may have been able to continue on after losing one key cast member (it would hardly be the first), it’s clear that the network felt that O’Loughlin’s departure was a good time to end the series. As TVLine noted, ratings remained solid, but not extraordinary. This likely didn’t leave the network feeling bullish on continuing the show without one of its stars, especially after the controversy the production encountered after the departure of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park. By ending with the conclusion of Steve’s storyline, the show was able to say its final aloha on a high note.
Written by: Looper
