3 Takeaways From the Season Premiere

Magnum P.I. is back and sexier than ever. NBC has been teasing juicier storylines in the show’s fifth season, the first at its new network home after it was unceremoniously canceled by CBS after last year’s season 4 finale. The two-part season 5 premiere delivered on that promise, with plenty of heat between Magnum and Higgins, plus some intriguing new storylines that will likely play out in the upcoming episodes. 

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Magnum P.I. Season 5 Episodes 1 and 2.] 

Magnum and Higgins are on, but they’re keeping their relationship on the DL 

After that big kiss in the Magnum P.I. Season 4 finale, we were eager to see what was next for Magnum (Jay Hernandez) and Higgins (Perdita Weeks). The premiere wastes no time in confirming that things are very much on between the two. “The Passenger” opens with a steamy shower scene, though it doesn’t take long for the more analytical Higgins to start questioning whether she should get involved with her partner. 

“On paper, we really don’t make sense,” Juliet tells Thomas over coffee. “The notion that opposites attract is a total myth. Our personalities are vastly different and we disagree on pretty much everything … this, you and me, it’s inherently risky.”

Magnum points out that the risk might be worth the reward in this case. They agree to give things a chance, but not without setting some “ground rules.” Specifically, she wants to keep things on the down low while they decide where things are going. That leads to some funny scenes as they try to conceal their new relationship from Kumu (Amy Hill), Rick (Zachary Knighton), and the rest of their friends. But we can’t imagine they’ll be able to keep their hookups a secret for too long. 

Meanwhile, Magnum and Higgins will also have to figure out how their new romantic relationship affects their professional partnership. (Fortunately, it hasn’t led them to abandon their trademark witty banter.) They do a good job of striking a balance in these two episodes, though we can’t imagine their new entanglement won’t cause some complications going forward.     

There’s a new detective in town in ‘Magnum P.I.’ Season 5

The season premiere also introduces a new HPD Detective, Chris Childs (Michael Rady). He’s a replacement for Detective Gordon Katsumoto (Tim Kang), who got kicked off the force at the end of last season after he broke a convict out of prison to save his ex-wife. (Gordon is still around, though, and at the end of episode 2, he decides to fight to get his old job back.)  

Childs first shows up when Magnum and Higgins are poking around the office of a doctor who died in a suspicious car crash. At first, he’s none too pleased to find a pair of PIs sticking their noses into his investigations. 

“They already warned me about you two already,” he tells them. “It seems your reputations precede you.” 

Of course, Childs eventually realizes that working with Higgins and Magnum has its benefits, though he’s reluctant to involve them too deeply in any investigation. Will Childs be a friend or foe? Time will tell. 

The ‘Magnum P.I.’ season premiere sets up a big mystery involving Captain Buck Greene 

The two-part Magnum P.I. season premiere also sets up what looks to be a big mystery involving Captain Buck Greene (James Remar). In “The Passenger,” Magnum learns that Greene, who has disappeared, named him as his emergency contact. Greene led Magnum’s special ops unit in Afghanistan, and the PI counts him as a father figure. But the two have a complicated history, to say the least. 

“It’s … odd that your former CO who betrayed you and nearly got you killed then lists you as his emergency contact,” Higgins points out.  

We later learn that Greene’s been kidnapped by someone who’s searching for information about that black ops team and its members. And at the end of episode 2, “The Breaking Point,” Greene turns up dead, suggesting that he was killed after giving up those details. The mystery man also made it clear he wants to take out the members of Greene’s team, which spells big trouble for Magnum and his friends going forward. 

New episodes of Magnum P.I. air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. 

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