close
close

NCIS: Hawaii Series Finale Recap: How It Ended

NCIS: Hawaii Series Finale Recap: How It Ended

NCIS: Hawaii took his final bow the only way he knows how – with big action.

The last episode of season 3 of NCIS: Hawaii , which aired Monday, May 6, became the series finale after the Vanessa Lachey-led procedural was canceled by CBS in April. The end comes shortly after the franchise reached 1,000 total episodes last month.

In the episode, the island-based spinoff series took Sam Hanna’s (LL COOL J) group of elite agents to a chemical plant where Dr. Annalize Cruz infected them with Compound X, a weapon airborne and odorless biological that triggers the attack on the body. himself.

After Dr. Cruz threw a canister of Compound X at the agents and ran, Sam rushed to the locked room where his team was slowly dying from the virus. Determined to help his team, Sam threw his body against the steel door with so much force that his breathing mask cracked. Soon he became desperate and opened the door with an explosive, but was quickly stopped by one of the agents in his last breath.

“No, you need to get out of here! You know I’m right,” the agent panted before collapsing to the ground.

Meanwhile, Jane Tennant (Lachey) and Jesse Boone (Noah Mills) raced to find Dr. Cruz before leaving with the four remaining cartridges of Compound inject compound X. an antidote after being exposed to the virus. Sam heard Dr. Cruz’s commotion and chased her down a stairwell.

While coughing and panting, he promised to make her “answer for every one of these dead officers” and set his sights on making an arrest before falling backwards.

“It’s the virus, it’s quite incredible to experience, isn’t it? All the weapons of your biology are turned against you?” » said Dr. Cruz before running away.

LL Cool J as Sam Hanna in “NCIS: Hawai’i.”

Karen Neal/CBS


Back at the police station, Alex Tarrant (Kai Holman), Ernie Malik (Jack Antoon) and Lucy Tara (Yasmine Al-Bustami) discovered just how deadly Compound X can be. The virus triggered a “cytokine storm” with side effects including sweating, vomiting, blood, organ failure and death within minutes.

While telling Jane, Jesse, and medical examiner Carla Chase (Seana Kofoed) how he became infected, Sam’s condition helped the trio discover that Dr. Cruz possessed an antidote. At headquarters, Alex, Lucy and Kate Whistler (Tori Anderson) revealed Dr. Cruz’s true identity: Talla Florez, an organic chemist from the Philippines involved in the “Colonial Liberation Alliance”, an organization that seeks to “eradicate” the US imperialism. » by “any means necessary”.

While the team back in Hawaii did their best to identify Florez and the CLA’s next target, Jesse returned to the lab to research another dose of antivirus. While he was able to retrieve the antidote, he discovered the vials were crushed and returned to a converted veterinary clinic where Sam was isolated and treated.

Seana Kofoed as Carla Chase and Noah Mills as Jesse Boone in ‘NCIS: Hawai’i.

Karen Neal/CBS


With the help of Ernie and Lucy, Jane discovered Florez’s location and waited for her in her motel room. Jane then put Florez in her place after shooting her in the shoulder and took her back to the veterinary clinic for questioning where Carla discovered there was only enough antivirus for one dose.

“I was able to extract enough antidote for maybe one dose,” she said solemnly. “If we had Compound

Carla revealed that creating an antidote could take hours or days “under these conditions”, fully aware that Sam’s clock was ticking. Jane then decided to take matters into her own hands and used unique methods to extract the location of Florez’s Compound X cartridges. From threatening to pull teeth to using AI technology to tricking Florez into believing her little sister was in NCIS custody, Jane finally learned that CLA’s next target was in Hawaii.

Alex Tarrant as Kai Holman, Yasmine Al-Bustami as Lucy Tara and Tori Anderson as Kate Whistler in “NCIS: Hawai’i.”

Karen Neal/CBS


When Sam’s condition worsened and he stopped breathing, Carla injected him with a rough, untested dose of her antidote and he began to stabilize. Returning to Hawai’i, the team discovered that the CLA planned to attack the family members of important government officials and follow them to a hotel where a celebration was taking place. Although Alex managed to find three canisters of Compound X, the team struggled to find the last box. Eventually, Lucy found a CLA agent posing as hotel security and after throwing punches, she finally recovered the missing cartridge by eliminating the enemy agent.

In Serbia, Florez escaped and threatened to hurt Carla by holding a scalpel to her neck. Her efforts were stopped when Sam shot her after she got out of her hospital bed.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

After making a full recovery, Jane drove Sam to his surprise party where he gave a touching toast to the team for all their efforts and best wishes.

“When I arrived on the island, I think some of you might have been suspicious,” he shared. (The actor joined the spinoff at the start of the season after spending 14 seasons on NCIS: Los Angeles.) “But thanks to your boss Jane Tennant, that didn’t last long and I’m truly honored to be considered part of your o’hana and thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

“And to those who didn’t make it. We will never forget your sacrifice and we will always be in your debt,” Jane added, before toasting the team: “Okole maluna!”