The drama begins when Steve (Alex O’Loughlin) rushes to his sister’s new apartment and discovers “there was a struggle,” explains Taryn, who has been waiting months for an opportunity to demonstrate the acting skills that brought her attention in such films as 8 Mile and Hustle & Flow. “Steve discovers a tooth on the ground, basically establishing that MaryAnn was a badass and fought her whole way through. There’s a lot of emotion.”

So is Steve about to lose the last surviving member of his immediate family? My lips are sealed! But I hear one person who is sorry to be saying goodbye to Taryn is Alex. During my last visit to the Hawaiian set, Alex told me, “I haven’t worked with Taryn as much as I would like. She brings out a certain paternal caring that Steve wouldn’t normally have. With both their parents gone, he feels an obligation to keep an eye on her; especially since she’s troubled and kind of out of control.”

Indeed, Taryn confides that “Alex wasn’t very happy” with the producers’ decision to alter their plans for Mary Ann. “He liked me and liked our relationship. He felt my character was necessary to explore further aspects of his role and was prepared to fight for me.”

Taryn also expresses her thanks to Daniel Dae Kim (Chin Ho), who she says, “sat down with me and had a little heart to heart to make sure I felt okay about everything. He’s very thoughtful.”

MaryAnn proved a challenge for producers from the beginning. She was originally slated to appear in the first four episodes and recur throughout the season. “The family mystery was supposed to slowly unfold over the first season and I was going to play a big part in that with my own Nancy Drew mission,” says Taryn, who had been under the impression that her character would even return for future seasons. “It was told to me that the first season would be based around the team more, and I should just hang tight.”

However, producers chose to shift greater focus to McGarrett’s professional associations and less on his personal life. There was also concern that too much was being revealed too soon about the murdered mother. Also taken in the upcoming episode is Steve’s father’s lock box, which contains clues to the mother’s disappearance. “I think they were going to show more of this throughout the season, but now it’s all wrapped up in this episode,” says Taryn.

Before the episode’s end, Mary Ann will encourage her brother to keep delving further in to the case, and the team will be further aided by evidence discovered on MaryAnn’s cell phone. The final image, teases Taryn, is of Steve experiencing “sadness over another loss.”

The busy 32-year-old hasn’t allowed professional disappointments to get her down. A Buddhist who sits cross-legged and chants every morning and night, Taryn had been toting a travel-size altar back and forth from Los Angeles to Hawaii, which she credits for “quieting her mind from all the chitter chatter.”

In addition to focusing on her music (one of her songs, “Spotlight,” was played in an early episode of Hawaii Five-0 and is available on iTunes), she will guest star in a January episode of Law & Order: SVU. She may also return to her recurring role on Sons of Anarchy, and is mulling an offer to play Janis Joplin in an independent film. As for Five-0, she has no regrets: “I chanted to get this show and the benefits have been priceless.”

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StyleList caught up with Manning, 31, to talk about her evolving style, fashion regrets, and famous friends.

StyleList: “Hawaii Five-0″ was huge in the ’70s and ’80s. Do you remember watching it?
Taryn Manning: I feel like it was always sort of on in everyone’s household. I remember the Hawaiian setting and the sexiness of it. In the new series, I play Steve McGarrett’s younger, estranged sister, who wasn’t in the original. She’s from L.A. and hasn’t quite embraced the Hawaii vibe, so she’s in black skinny jeans, a brown leather jacket, and has on hot boots and sunglasses. She’s too cool for school at the moment.

SL: The fashion in the original series can be cringe inducing. What’s your own worst fashion moment?
TM: The double socks of the ’80s! You do a pink sock and a yellow sock on one side, and on the other, you switch it.

Also, Bongo shorts with the ruffle on the bottom worn with the half-top. And, of course, the hair. I used to put one curl forward and one curl back, then brush it and spray it. It was such a bad time!

SL: Do you feel like your style has evolved since your 20s?
TM: Because a musician lives inside of me [Manning is in the band Boomkat], it’s been hard to accept getting older and needing to be more sophisticated. But it’s becoming more natural. It’s something me and my stylist are doing together. We went to Barneys the other day and bought a bunch of Helmut Lang stuff, because they are simple colors but the shapes get kind of crazy. And I got some T-shirt dresses from Alexander Wang. I also love things that are simple and elegant, like Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney.

SL: Do you have any beauty must-haves?
TM: I’m obsessed with toners. If I need a little pick-me-up, I spritz a vitamin C or Evian toner on my face. It’s cold and feels so good. As far as makeup, I’m really minimal. I do cream blush, mascara, and a light, sheer lip gloss in pink tones that’s usually flavored, like strawberry or watermelon.

SL: You’ve worked with major stars like Britney Spears and Kirsten Dunst. Do you still keep in touch?
TM: I’ve kept in touch with a lot of co-stars. As for Kirsten, I’ve known her since we were kids going to acting class together. And if I see Britney around, it’s always love. But I don’t think she hangs out with anybody, to be honest. I love her, though, we had such a good time [filming "Crossroads"], and she’s one of the nicest women, and so polite and sweet. When everything happened to her I was heartbroken.

I also got to work with Eminem in “8 Mile,” and me and Brittany Murphy were definitely friends. I am so bummed that she passed away. I still can’t believe it.

Me and Zoe Saldana are good friends, and I can’t believe what’s happened to her! I saw her before “Avatar,” and she’s like, “I’m going to do this movie for James Cameron and I’m not getting paid anything. I’m kind of annoyed, but I think it’s going to be very great for me in the end.” And bam!

To see Manning make a “bam” of her own, tune into “Hawaii Five-0″ Sept. 20 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.

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The actress said she’s been hard at work on the Hawaiian set of the heavily promoted CBS show and her producers are attempting to give her character a bit more depth beyond emotional ballast.

“They are establishing her with a skill set,” Manning told PopcornBiz. “We’re starting to see that she’s really good on computers.”

“She’s off on her own Nancy Drew little mission to figure out stuff about her own family.”

Manning jetted off the Hawaiian set of “5-0″ to speak to us from the premiere of her heart-wrenching drama “Love’s Rain,” where she plays the victim of a terrible crime. But back in Hawaii, she’s all about the new CBS crime-fighting show that premieres on Sept. 20.

So could the “5-0″ show’s producers have a greater plan for her character? Perhaps make her part of the crime busting team as the season progresses? “I think she could be,” Manning said. “She’s got the skills.”

The actress will be introduced to the series as McGarrett’s (Alex O’Loughlin) estranged sister brought into the scene due to a family drama. Sister for now, perhaps more in the future.

To answer the inevitable follow-up, Manning replies, “Yes, I’m good with a gun.”

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