What happened to Kono in ‘Hawaii Five-O’?

Some reboots are sad attempts to capture nostalgia while others, like Hawaii Five-O, air for 10 successful seasons. But even well-crafted TV shows make mistakes, and Kono Kalakaua’s (Grace Park) exit is one of them.

Kono’s story begins in a riveting way: she’s an amazing surfer who has to find a new career (and a new life) after she gets hurt. Once she joins the Five-O task force, she becomes an integral part of the show, finding love and building her skill set. So, let’s take a trip back to the 2010s (hopefully minus the skinny jeans) and find out what went down when Park stopped playing one of her most famous TV characters.

Why did Kono leave Hawaii Five-O?

In Hawaii Five-O season 7, episode 25, “Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina I Ka Pono/The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness,” Kono leaves Hawaii and begins living in Carson City, Nevada. Why? Because she’s got a new job and purpose in life as she has become part of a task force that aims to stop sex traffickers.

Since the police procedural aired for three more seasons, fans could argue there was no reason for Kono to leave… and they would be totally right. It was also upsetting to learn in season 9 that she and her partner Adam Noshimuri (Ian Anthony Dale) broke up. Sure, Kono is a strong person who deserves career success, and it would be terrible to only focus on her romantic life. But did Adam and Kono really have to break fans’ hearts like that?!

While it might seem like Park wanted to leave Hawaii Five-O or Kono’s time on the island ran its course story-wise, that’s not why this popular character departed. In 2017, Variety reported that it seemed that Park and Daniel Dae Kim left after season 7 because CBS didn’t pay them as much as their co-stars, Scott Caan and Alex O’Loughlin. Caan and O’Loughlin were given a percantage of the back end, along with a salary that was 10 to 15% higher than Dae Kim and Park’s. Media Action Network for Asian Americans president Guy Aoki, who also started the organization, told The Hollywood Reporter “the racial hierarchy” from the OG series (which aired from 1968 to 1980) was “in the 2010 reboot: Two white stars on top, two Asian/Pacific Islander stars on bottom.”

Although Park didn’t confirm that the salary issue is why she didn’t continue on Hawaii Five-0, she told Entertainment Weekly in 2018, “There were a number of factors spanning the show that affected the non-renewal of my contract. She continued she “chose what was best for my integrity.”

By the time CBS cancelled Hawaii Five-O in 2020, being a fan of the show was complicated. Viewers and critics were understandably upset that Dae Kim and Park couldn’t be paid the same as their co-stars, and when the series finale aired, it definitely felt like time for the reboot to end.