* the way Grace asks where her mum or uncle Steve are - she knows if Danny was injured one of them would come for her, which says a lot about Steve's place in her life
* the way when Danny says that Grace is at a tennis lesson, Steve tells Chin which tennis place she's at - he knows which club she has her lessons at, but Chin is not expected to know this
* the way Steve is so visibly stressed when they realise Grace has been taken and he can't get a hold of Danny and he needs to make a decision about what they should do cos he's the boss, but he's visibly trying to pull himself together and focus and even when he manages to focus he's so emotional in a way he never is with cases. Like, he always cares, but this time he's rattled.
* the way Steve just yells Danny's name (multiple times) when they get to the park. He sends Kono and Chin to deal with the bad guy, and his focus is just on Danny.
* it's Steve there with Danny when they rescue Grace, right beside him, untying her, etc.
Not mcdanno but...
I can't comment on this ep without also commenting on how much I appreciate Stan in this episode.
When Danny says he needs to meet him, Stan's first thought is Grace.
When Danny says he needs to shoot him or some guy is going to kill Grace - Stan accepts it. He basically agrees to it. Because it's for Grace.
And I know in s1 he's set up as the 'bad guy' from Danny's POV because he gets time with Rachel and Grace, but I so wanted them to follow through on this moment here - where Danny and Stan are united in their desire to protect Grace and willing to do anything for her.
It would have made such a great starting point for them to start understanding each other, etc. They may never like each other but they both put Grace first.
And think that's also very telling about Stan. That he's okay with getting shot if it's for Grace. He loves her. He cares for her as a father. He's not just putting up with her so he can have Rachel - and I think that's very important to acknowledge.
(But the show was far too focused on making Danny and Stan rivals for Rachel's attention because don't we all know that Danny's straight? Here's proof. No, I'm not bitter about the comphet at all)
After Charlie was born(or sometime after when his hair grew out), I just keep imagining Stan having a Ned Stark moment. Looking at his reflection...of raven hair, then at Rachel...of raven hair, and then at Charlie...of golden hair.
You know Stan, I have made a lot of mistakes in my life and some of those mistakes are why you are with Rachel…. but there is one thing that I never ever get wrong and that is Grace. I’m telling you that if you ever put her in any kind of danger again you are going to find out that the scariest criminal in the world, is a cop who just doesn’t care anymore
It started out with a panicked phone call from Grace. It hadn’t quite come out of the blue, but it wasn’t one that Danny had expected to get either. He’d mostly thought that her reluctance to go back to her mother’s home lately had more to do with feeling displaced by hew new baby brother and the fact that she found her mother’s style of magic far more stiff and uncomfortable than what Grace was learning from the local mages. Still, there had been no indication that anything was really wrong.
Then the phone call had come. To Steve because Danny had once again lost a phone due to the insanity that was Five Oh.
Steve had answer the phone with a smile.
“Hey, Gracie. What can I do for you?” The dropped off his face within a second. “Let me put you on speaker, sweetheart, so your dad can hear too.”
“–something is wrong with Mom’s magic. It feel’s all dark and icky, and I don’t know where we’re going, but they’re taking Charlie, so I said I’d come along. And he won’t stop crying. Every time Mom or Step-Stan comes near him him he cries, and Step-Stan feels like magic now, but not like our magic. It feels wrong. We just stopped to get gas so I called you. I don’t know how long until we leave again and–”
“Take a deep breath, Grace.” Danny instructed. “Are you wearing your necklace from Nana?”
“Yes, Danno.”
“Good. Keep your phone on too. That way we can track you both magically and electronically. Steve and I are going to come get you, and we’ll take things from there.”
Steve was already heading for HQ. Between the magical and mundane resources they had, finding Grace shouldn’t be too hard. Danny was more worried about the part where it sounded like both Rachel and Stan were dabbling in dark magic. Rachel should know better. Stan might be completely unmagical and ignorant of how things like that worked, but Rachel’s family had been a part of the British magical community for centuries and had been heavily involved in its policing.
Of course that had been one of the things that Rachel had complained about was the fact that Danny was involved with both magical and mundane police work, but he still wouldn’t have thought she would have gotten mixed up In anything that would distress Grace to this degree.
“Mom and Step-Stan are coming back, Danno!”
“All alright, Monkey. Hang up your phone, but keep in on and with you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
He hung up with a sinking feeling, even as they pulled up in front of the Iolani Palace.
“Danny?”
He looked at Steve. “I didn’t even realize that something was going with Rachel. I knew that Grace wasn’t happy with her and Stan, but I thought it was typical sibling now that Grace is no longer an only child.”
His partner patted his shoulder. “We’ll find her, Danno. Between the four of us and our connections, they won’t be able to hide her from us.”
That didn’t exactly comfort him. The real question was would they find Grace in time. It almost sounded like Grace was incidental to Rachel’s plans, but even so, Danny didn’t want his daughter to even be near dark magic. And they had no idea what they were going to find when they found her.
But Steve had been right as well. Between Danny’s magic and Chin’s technology, it was easy enough to locate Grace. It was harder to figure out where Stan and Rachel were taking her. They were still on the move, and as far as Danny could tell there was no clear destination. Kono was frowning at a map.
“Chin, didn’t one of the Aunties mention that there’s some sort of spring out this direction that Elementals tend to congregate around?” she asked.
The man nodded. “I think you’re right. If Rachel planning some sort of ritual, it would be an ideal spot.”
Once again Danny found himself more than grateful for Chin and Kono’s vast knowledge of the island. It meant they made good time and didn’t attract a lot of attention. Unfortunately, by the time the arrived, they found Rachel’s car, but no sign of Grace. The locating spells indicated that they needed to head in to the wilderness.
And as much as he was loathe to stop, Danny knew that they needed to take a moment in order to prepare. He at least needed to see what elementals he could summon to aid them, and he knew Chin would probably want to do the same. This far inland, he doubted Steve and Kono are likely to summon their own, but with Steve, Danny never knew.
The good news was it was pretty easy to find the path Rachel and Stan had used. It was hard to be stealthy with children in tow. The bad news was as they were traversing the trail a wave of magic burst over them. Their shields kept any harm from coming to them, but it made Danny break into a run.
He burst through the trees into a clearing where he found Grace backed up against a tree, biting her lip in concentration as she held her shields around her. Her eyes flew open as he made his entrance and her shield dropped.
“Danno!”
Danny wrapped his arms around her. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, burrowing closer. “Mom wouldn’t let me go any farther than this, and I could feel something happening, so I had my shields up in time, but I don’t know about Charlie.”
Danny and Steve traded a look. Chin and Kono were right behind them. Grace would be safe enough for now.
“Stay with Chin and Kono, Monkey. We’ll be right back.”
The two of them headed into the next clearing. Neither Danny nor Steve were expecting to find bodies, but that was exactly what was waiting for them. A circle of bodies dressed in dark robes, amongst them both Rachel and Stan. But there in the middle of the circle was Charlie, eyes wide and watching the sylphs that danced around him. Sylphs that Danny was all too familiar with. Steve holstered his gun as he stared at the little blond boy.
"Somehow, I think Rachel might have been wrong about Charlie being Stan's son."
You know what really irks me? That just because you’re not related by blood, the relation isn’t as strong. And we still see this a lot on TV which is really annoying.
In this post, we’ll be complaining about Stan Edwards. We see him mentioned still for getting Grace a car. And maybe I’m reading too into it but I personally feel he tries harder with Grace just to piss off Danny? Like he can see how much being a father means to Danny and he still feels in competition with him( I feel like with all this Rachel and Danny hinting they’re doing that in Rachel and Stan’s relationship maybe she compares Stan a lot to Danny, which proves she’s not over him and makes Stan spiteful towards Danny, which is seriously a wtf Rach?) And with how much love Danny showered Grace with, his firstborn, his baby girl...Stan feels the need to buy her love more despite thinking for a few YEARS that Charlie was his.
How do you go years loving a child, a child you thought was yours, and then completely abandoning them because they weren’t? Just because you weren’t his blood father doesn’t mean you weren’t his father???? You were raising him, providing for him??? Unless you cared more about business and then only made a scene when you found out he wasn’t really your kid???
In conclusion...Stan and Rachel aren’t healthy for the kids. Danny should get full custody, marry Steve and he the happy family they are in real life but on paper too and get all the government perks that comes with being married and having kids, cos all the love and caring and going to the ends of the world for each other? They already got that.
You know what would be great? What would be better that we’re not gonna get?
I would rather see a friendship...a bromance bloom between Stan Edwards and Danny Williams than see Rachel get back with Danny.
After talking in a post I made earlier, I feel like when she was with Stan, she didn’t really let go of Danny. And it was very little to do with Danny following Grace to Hawaii to still be part of her life. Rachel couldn’t let go of Danny even if she bitched and moaned....I may not be fond of Stan either BUT...Rachel did him dirty too.
I still believe that Stan should be trying harder in canon to stay in contact with Charlie. You can’t be part of a child’s creation, birth, and partial raising and then just turn your back on them(I mean it sadly does happen but it shouldn’t!)
Let’s get rid of Rachel who is just...not good with relationships, let’s replace her with Stan, have this beautiful arc of Danny and Stan learning to be friends and put Charlie’s best interests at heart.
That would be SUCH a better plot line for obvious reasons, but I now also want Stan to see why Danny’s so great but without any of that venom of he’s my wife’s ex, ya know?
Normally I would just pull over and give someone the worst beating they’ve ever had in their entire life until they tell me the truth… But, I am working on my anger management issues and I am learning conflict resolution
