Thousands of fans of the CBS reboot of "Hawaii Five-0" packed Waikiki Beach on Saturday night to enjoy an advance screening of the season two premiere episode.

I was one of the few bloggers fortunate to be invited to join the international press on the red carpet, and I struggled to juggle several gadgets to document the event. As the stars filed by, I had an audio recorder, a three-year-old Panasonic digital camera, and my iPhone 4, which I tried to use for both photos and video. Suffice it to say, across all that technology, I collected a crazy mix of digital media... most of it pretty rough.

Still, between my "old fashioned" camera and my iPhone, I was happy with most of the pictures I was able to capture between quick chats with the cast. You can browse through the photos above, or click through to see the gallery on Flickr.

Though technically there as press, I couldn't resist delivering a couple of special Kukui High School polo shirts to KHS grads Daniel Dae Kim and Alex O'Loughlin. Kim was especially gracious, remembering my family and I from our years of "LOST" stalking. I was also stoked to talk with Terry O'Quinn, who mused about what other "LOST" alums he'd like to see guest star on "Five-0" (Michael Emerson highest on the list).

As for the episode? If you missed the beach premiere, you'll have to wait until its broadcast next Monday, Sept. 18. I think it was a great start to the show's second season, demonstrating a willingness to take chances, get a little darker and edgier, but still retain its great sense of humor and fun.

I was a little disappointed with how the writers decided to deal with the daring corner that the characters were painted into at the end of last season. But there were still more than a couple great twists to keep fans interested. O'Quinn's guest turn is so strong, I have to believe CBS is already working on promoting him to a series regular. And Masi Oka, who was cute but a little shaky in season one, really steps up and could quickly become a fan favorite.