From what I had read on Mike Quigley's site, it was supposed to be so simple:
Why did the Five-O team move their offices in the ninth season?
The move, shown taking place in the season opener, "Nine Dragons", was necessary because they could not do any exterior or interior filming at the palace because it was undergoing extensive renovations. So the fictional Five-O team "moved" to the old Territorial Building. Five-O moved for real, too, because their lease on the Fort Ruger studio was up. The office shots in the Territorial Building are not of a standing set -- that is the real space in the Territorial Building, which became the temporary studio for the production.
http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/fiveofaq.htm
But this fictional move is more complicated.
A LOT more complicated. If you have been following the
"Thoughts on Season 9" thread, you may have noticed that, starting with
Disc 3, I've been touching on the Five-O offices in my comments. However, this is a topic that deserves a thread of its own.
There is a behind-the-scenes story here just as interesting, and just as confusing, as the "now you see Ben, now you don't" drama of Season 7. Mike Quigley explained the Ben story here:
http://www.mjq.net/fiveo/season7.pdf. In this post I will likewise explain what happened to the Five-O offices during Season 9.
Like the Ben mystery in Season 7, a lot of the Five-O office confusion can be cleared up simply by reordering the Season 9 episodes from air date order into production order. If that is done, it becomes (mostly) clear that, after about three and a half months, the Five-O team moved their offices
back to the Iolani Palace. That's an oversimplification, but a good place to start.
KEY:
INT = Interior
EXT = Exterior
TB = Territorial Building
IP = Iolani Palace (INT = office set, EXT = real location)
N/A = Not Applicable (no office scenes)
IN AIR DATE (DVD) ORDER:
Prod# Air# Episode Title INT EXT
601 192 Nine Dragons TB TB
606 193 Assault on the Palace TB TB
607 194 Oldest Profession -- Latest Price TB TB
604 195 Man on Fire TB TB
608 196 Tour de Force, Killer Aboard TB TB
610 197 The Last of The Great Paperhangers TB TB
609 198 Heads, You're Dead TB TB
614 199 Let Death Do Us Part TB TB
617 200 Double Exposure (1) IP TB
613 201 Yes, My Deadly Daughter TB TB
612 202 Target -- a Cop TB TB
611 203 The Bells Toll at Noon TB TB
619 204 Man in a Steel Frame IP TB
623 205 Ready, Aim... (2) IP IP
620 206 Elegy in a Rain Forest N/A N/A
605 207 Dealer's Choice... Blackmail TB TB
624 208 A Capitol Crime N/A N/A
603 209 To Die in Paradise TB TB
622 210 Blood Money is Hard to Wash IP IP
616 211 To Kill a Mind IP TB
615 212 Requiem for a Saddle Bronc Rider TB TB
621 213 See How She Runs IP IP
618 214 Practical Jokes Can Kill You IP IP
NOTES:
1 - "Double Exposure" was the first episode to show the Iolani Palace
interior.
2 - "Ready, Aim..." was the first episode to show the Iolani Palace
exterior.
IN PRODUCTION ORDER:
Prod# Air# Episode Title INT EXT
601 192 Nine Dragons TB TB
603 209 To Die in Paradise TB TB
604 195 Man on Fire TB TB
605 207 Dealer's Choice... Blackmail TB TB
606 193 Assault on the Palace TB TB
607 194 Oldest Profession -- Latest Price TB TB
608 196 Tour de Force, Killer Aboard TB TB
609 198 Heads, You're Dead TB TB
610 197 The Last of The Great Paperhangers TB TB
611 203 The Bells Toll at Noon TB TB
612 202 Target -- a Cop TB TB
613 201 Yes, My Deadly Daughter TB TB
614 199 Let Death Do Us Part TB TB
615 212 Requiem for a Saddle Bronc Rider TB TB
616 211 To Kill a Mind IP TB
617 200 Double Exposure IP TB
618 214 Practical Jokes Can Kill You IP IP
619 204 Man in a Steel Frame IP TB
620 206 Elegy in a Rain Forest N/A N/A
621 213 See How She Runs IP IP
622 210 Blood Money is Hard to Wash IP IP
623 205 Ready, Aim... IP IP
624 208 A Capitol Crime N/A N/A
Put into production order, it seems clear that the Five-O team resided in the Territorial Building (TB) through "Requiem for a Saddle Bronc Rider" and then moved back to the Iolani Palace (IP) sometime before "To Kill a Mind". But, and here's where things get
really complicated, that statement only holds true if you're talking about the
interior. If you're going by the
exterior too, then the move back didn't happen until "See How She Runs", the point where the Five-O team has moved back to the Iolani Palace for good.
But even the preceding paragraph is an oversimplification. Due to the vagaries of air date vs. production order, the Iolani Palace
interior doesn't always coincide with the Iolani Palace
exterior. Three episodes: "To Kill a Mind", "Double Exposure", and "Man in a Steel Frame" have the
Iolani Palace interior seemingly housed within the
Territorial Building exterior. If one tries to interpret those episodes literally, then an exact replica of the Iolani Palace office suite was constructed inside the confines of the Territorial Building. As I said, there are three of these "half and half" episodes.
In my comments on "Ready, Aim...", the first episode (in air date order) to show
both the Iolani Palace interior and exterior, I speculated that:
In real world/production terms, I guess the "Iolani Palace" interior was built in preparation for the re-opening of the real palace, but there was some kind of delay with the location. Hence, we have a few episodes, starting with "Double Exposure", that have the "Iolani Palace" interior, with the Territorial Building exterior.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062568/board/thread/168442033?d=168989169
But even that doesn't tell the whole story, because the last episode (in air date order) "Practical Jokes Can Kill You" has a matching Iolani Palace interior and exterior, and in production order, "Practical Jokes" precedes "half and half" episode "Man in a Steel Frame"! Here, I can only speculate that because "Practical Jokes" was aired last and, I might add, more than a month after its preceding episode, there was ample time to incorporate Iolani Palace exterior footage to match the interior. Since the "Practical Jokes" interior scenes feature a balcony for the first time in Season 9, which the Iolani Palace had, and the Territorial Building clearly did not, they couldn't very well make this a fourth "half and half" episode.
I guess I shouldn't complain too much because by the end of the season the Five-O team is back in the Iolani Palace where they belong. But still, if you watch Season 9 in air date order, and try to interpret what you're seeing literally, the sheer number of office moves will make your head spin! I guess TV audiences back then were more forgiving when it came to inconsistencies like this.