“Up the Rebels”
The tenth season of Hawaii Five-O opened in 1977 with “Up the Rebels,” a premiere which featured Stephen Boyd taking on the role of Costigan, a Northern Irish splinter group terrorist in disguise. Costigan, as a sweet talking priest, manipulates an Irish-American Republican sympathizer in his attempt to procure explosives and evade capture by Hawaii Five-O. Boyd’s character is a prime example of the use of the IRA as stand-in terrorist organization. The organization is not fully defined, or even identified, but they are certainly armed and dangerous.
From 37:47 to 38:40 Costigan expresses his beliefs in total devotion to the cause
This episode plays on the blind-faith American support for the republican cause. The IRA employ euphemisms to hide their activities from the ignorant Americans by calling murder, “a tactical necessity” and any disgraceful act is simply, “an occupational hazard”. This is another instance where the IRA member is depicted as charming and persuasive; Fogarty quickly falls for Costigan and is blinded to the true nature of his cause. The appearance of Fogarty in the episode brings up Irish-American funding and support of the IRA. This also emphasizes the faith that some Americans have in their republican brethern across the sea. When referring to the cause Costigan says, “There’s no room for questions – or conscience.” This also typical of the IRA representation across different mediums; they feel that the strength of what it is they’re fighting for justifies any action and moral qualms are not necessary. This episode paints the IRA in a very dark lighting by bringing up the children killed in the bombing and suggesting their Machiavellian tendencies towards apathy and duplicity. The IRA member is also impersonating a priest which is a common American conception because most episodes begin with them spouting some notion of peace in Ireland. The distinction that’s important to make is that they almost always believe they can achieve peace through violence.
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