Aarcflick

Even for a series directed and created by Jason Momoa, there might be too much of him in the first episode of Apple TV's Chief of War. It wouldn't have stood out in an otherwise decisive and solid plot, which has its essence in the right place: keeping Hawaii's history close to its roots. But the problem is that almost every anecdote that acquaints us with Hawaiian culture and traditions of the late 18th century has Momoa at the center. That takes away from the spontaneity, nothing more. But other than that, Chief of War does a promising job of laying the groundwork for a radical change in the political and spiritual landscape of the Hawaiian Islands at the end of the 18th century. We still don't know all the key players. But the story remembers Ka'iana as the center of change. And so does Chief of War. The part of Hawaii's history that the narrator reveals to us owes many of its significant movements and positive changes to a very real Hawaiian warrior, Ka'...