MAGNUM P.I. Post-Mortem: Eric Guggenheim on Magnum-Higgins’ ‘More Serious’ Relationship, TC’s ‘Small Win,’ and the Show’s (Possible) End

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the midseason premiere of MAGNUM P.I.]

MAGNUM P.I.’s Magnum (Jay Hernandez) and Higgins (Perdita Weeks) reached a big couple-related milestone in the midseason premiere: They officially told each other “I love you.” (Naturally, that turned into a joking fight over how much they loved each other and for how long.) 

Of course, it won’t be all beer and sunsets for the duo, though. “Their relationship is progressing and things are getting more serious between them, but they’re going to discover that they’re not as in sync as they might’ve thought,” MAGNUM P.I. boss Eric Guggenheim teases to Give Me My Remote via email.

When it came to writing the sequence, “It was a while ago now, we broke that episode in December of last year,” he recalls. “But I’m sure we talked about how each would be feeling in that moment, Magnum’s brief hesitation right before he said it and how Higgins would react.” 

While Magnum and Higgins seemed to have all the time in the world in their little romantic bubble in the final moments of “Hit and Run,” things were decidedly more rushed on set. “I do remember we had precious little time to shoot that scene,” Guggenheim says. “It was a packed day. Most network shows shoot 8 days. We shot 6.5, except for a handful of episodes when we shot 7. But our pattern was 6.5. So each day was packed. Anyway, it was the last scene of the day and we were quickly losing the light.” 

“When I talked to Jay about it the next day he was like, ‘We had 20 minutes!’” he continues. “They were just racing to get it done. Thankfully, he and Perdy both prepare well, the crew is insanely fast, we would often shoot with 3 cameras, and the scenes are thoroughly toned with the director in advance, in this case David Straiton who did an absolutely incredible job with these first two episodes.”

But that wasn’t the only bit of happiness in the episode: After struggling post-gunshot with a lack of mobility and feeling, TC’s toes twitched—and he could feel a brief sensation in his foot.

“TC had a small win and there was a glimmer of hope at the end, but the road ahead is going to be very challenging and he’s going to face some setbacks,” Guggenheim warns.

Since the series last aired, NBC opted to not order a season 6. (This was the first season on NBC, after CBS ran the show for four seasons before canceling it in 2022.)

“This season was for the fans,” Guggenheim says. “They saved the show and we’ll always be grateful. I hope they come away feeling that we rewarded their faith in us. I can honestly say we left it all on the field.”

But is this really the end? “As for a revival, I don’t want to give false hope, but I think anything is possible,” Guggenheim says. “For now though, I just hope that the fans enjoy these ten episodes and that new viewers will discover the show now that there’s finally a streaming deal in place with Freevee.” (Fans, for their part, have launched another campaign to save the series.) 

No matter what, there are at least nine episodes to go in season 5. “I’m really proud of these episodes,” Guggenheim says. “We went big in the 2nd half. There’s a lot of action, Magnum and Higgins are together more than they were in the first half, TC’s arc is big and we’ll see more of Kumu. Amy has an episode coming up where we learn something about Kumu and it’s very emotional.”

MAGNUM P.I., Wednesdays, 9/8c, NBC

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