Tradecraft: Spook Jonathan Kaye Comes to New Hawaii Five-0

Recently, the primary spy antagonist of the original Hawaii Five-0, Steve McGarrett's arch-nemesis Wo Fat, turned up on CBS' new version of the show in the person of Mark Dacascos. Now, Deadline reports that recurring good guy Intelligence man "Jonathan Kaye from Washington" (originally played by Lyle Bettger, Bill Edwards, Joseph Sirlola and others) will soon follow–sort of.  Like Kono (Zulu in the original; Grace Park in the new version), Kaye will undergo a sex change and an appropriate name change as well.  According to the trade blog, former Secret World of Alex Mack star Larisa Oleynik (all grown up now) will be joining the cast of the remake series as Jessica Kaye, a "highly educated ex-CIA analyst who goes to Hawaii to assist Five-0 in the pursuit of Wo Fat."  Since everybody on the new version needs a personal stake in things (the bland new McGarrett lost not one but both of his parents to recurring series villains!), Jessica has a backstory never deemed necessary for her male predecessor. Apparently, "Wo Fat was responsible for the murder of her fiancé, a well respected CIA field agent." It sounds like the new J. Kaye will play a bigger part on the series than her original namesake. Oleynik's role is a recurring one for the rest of this season, but with an option to become a series regular next year.

Read my review of Hawaii Five-O: Season Three here.
Read my mini-review of Hawaii Five-O: Season Two here.
Read my review of Hawaii Five-O: Season One here.