Magnum P.I.
Cast & Key People
▶
Our Review
A former Navy SEAL turned estate security man on Oahu, driving a Ferrari he does not own, taking cases the resort needs solved while Higgins clocks his hours. The 2018 reboot understands that the original was a character piece pretending to be an adventure: Magnum is a guy who peaked at a party he keeps crashing, and the mustache is armor over a wound. Lewis Tan’s TC gives the show its best physical scenes, and the estate staff sell the family feel the scripts keep earning.
The show is best on the beach in banter mode and worst on mainland cases with a fresh guest star and a paint can of exposition. The Hawaii location is shot like a star, the ensemble chemistry carries the flat stretches, and the run found a second life on streaming that CBS never quite credited it with. Five seasons is enough time to run out of tricks, and season five knows it.
A comfortable reboot with a good bench, for people who want the island more than the mystery.
Our score: 6.5/10.
