MAGNUM P.I. Post-Mortem: Eric Guggenheim Breaks Down the Series Finale, Including the Changed Miggy Scene, and Shares What Was in Store for Season 6

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the MAGNUM P.I. series finale.]

MAGNUM P.I. said goodbye with some good news—and a looming, ominous threat.

The good news? Rick (Zachary Knighton) and Suzy (Betsy Phillips) are getting hitched! And after Higgins (Perdita Weeks) freaked out thinking Magnum (Jay Hernandez) was about to propose, she acknowledged she was scared…but her answer would be yes when the time came.

But there was a looming threat: the Hawaiian governor was stepping down, leaving the team’s new foe Bedrosian (Patrick Fabian) without some of his leverage…and looking for payback.

So what would have come next? Here, MAGNUM P.I. showrunner Eric Guggenheim breaks down the series finale—via email—including the original plan for the season 5 finale, their pre-cancellation tentative plans for a final season, and if there’s any hope the show could return. [And for more MAGNUM finale coverage, read what Weeks shared about the series finale here.]



Perdita mentioned the last scene was tweaked a bit during production. What can you share about the original plan and how you ended up with what we saw in that final conversation? 
It was a very minor tweak but it was one that I think had a very large impact. In the earlier drafts the episode ended with Magnum telling Higgins that at some point in the future he would be asking her to marry him and you could see that she was receptive to that. But then as I was talking to Jay and Perdie it became clear to me that it worked so much better and made a lot more sense if it’s actually Higgins who puts the idea of marriage out there. 

It’s totally unexpected and yet I think it still feels earned. It’s her being vulnerable, which hasn’t been easy for her. But that’s how much she loves him. And by giving her the line, it felt like Higgins’ arc was complete, not just for this episode but for the entire series. 

Overall, what conversations did you have about where Magnum and Higgins would end up? Was there ever any version early on where they did actually get engaged or elope?
No, an engagement or them eloping was never on the table. 

One, it didn’t feel like they were there yet. It would have felt rushed and unrealistic. In the time line of the show they actually haven’t been together for that long. And two, we were afraid that an engagement or wedding was what everyone was expecting. 

Of course, we hope the audience doesn’t feel cheated in any way. We show them a ring but it’s a bit of a misdirect. I’m not sure if they will feel let down by that. I just know that that moment at the end with Higgins being vulnerable and Donovan singing in the background was really moving and romantic. Arguably more romantic and satisfying than if Magnum had gotten down on one knee and proposed. At least that’s how we feel. Hopefully the viewers agree. 

Obviously, you went into this unaware of what the show’s fate would be. On a structural/nerdy writing level, can you share a bit about the process of how you went about crafting a finale that could function as either a series or season ender?
It was a tricky needle to thread but I felt that if there was a sense of closure for our main characters then it would be forgivable if there were a couple of loose threads. So that’s [what] we focused on. Just servicing each of our characters and crafting satisfying codas for them while at the same time making sure that those endings could also work as new beginnings in the event there was another season.

In hindsight, if you had known this was the end-end, is there anything you wish you had been able to sneak into this hour?
I’m really bummed that we don’t see Chris Thornton in the episode. He was in a big dinner scene at Rick and Suzy’s that we had to cut for time but hopefully it will be on the DVD. And he actually was in that last scene at La Mariana [in the script,] but the morning we were going to shoot it we learned he had a close contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID so we had to take him out as a precaution. As far as this episode goes, that’s my one big regret.

We got lovely side stories with Kumu, TC/Cade, Katsumoto, and Rick in the episodes leading up to the finale. What was the process like in deciding when and how they should get their bits of closure pre-finale? 
I agree, you can’t save everything for the last episode or the penultimate episode and so as you get near the end of a season you want to make sure that each character is getting their time to shine and that nothing feels too rushed. So as we were arcing out the last batch of episodes we were asking, “Who can we peel off for their own story? Who doesn’t need to be involved in the case? Who hasn’t been front and center in a story in awhile?” It’s funny but each of those stories had been in the idea box for awhile, with a couple even stretching back to last season.

There was a gorgeous, albeit extremely menacing, shot of Bedrosian realizing how rapidly he lost control of everything near the end of the episode. If the series had continued on, what can you share about how he would have factored into season 6 and the threat he posed for Magnum/Higgins?
One idea was that he would run for Governor in a special election and win. Then next season he could make life really difficult for Magnum and Higgins, as well as Katsumoto. But you could also envision a one-off story or arc where he might need Magnum and Higgins to do something off the books for the good of the island, forcing them into an uneasy temporary alliance. So it felt like there were some fun possibilities with our guys now having to contend with a foil who, in addition to being wealthy, ruthless and cunning, now has unchecked power. 

And what’s also interesting is that it’s because of a choice they made. Their decision created an opening for Bedrosian to take over the Governor’s mansion. Maybe a better idea would have come along or we would have pivoted to something else but that was the plan before we learned our fate.



Rick and TC professionally split—but Kumu is now a partner in La Mariana. What appealed to you about that, and what were the stories you hoped to see with the bar with the change in ownership?
The idea of TC cashing out of La Mariana and Kumu stepping up to join Rick was something that actually came up very late. In fact, Dave Wolkove and I were already outlining at that point. It’s always good to platform stuff for the next season and outside of Bedrosian I didn’t feel like we had much else. It felt organic for Kumu to become partner given that she had been working there all season and helped save the place last season. 

But unlike TC, Kumu wouldn’t be a silent partner and we get a sense of that in her exchange with Magnum near the end. She’d have strong opinions and it would have been fun to see her and Rick try to navigate this new partnership.

What else had you hoped to do in season 6?
It was going to be more Magnum-centric, like the first season was. We were going to unpack more of his past, meet his mom in flashback and send him back to Tidewater where we could meet his mentor. Nuzo and Nuzo’s family would also return. There were going to be a couple of new regulars. 

I was also hoping to do a big Afghanistan arc. I thought season 6 could be the last season so I was approaching it with that in mind. There were a lot of other ideas and everyone was really excited about what it could be. 

In a perfect world, where you got a season or so of warning, what are the storylines you wish you had been able to incorporate into the show? 
In addition to meeting Magnum’s mom and his mentor, it would have been nice to have met Higgins’ dad. We’d been kicking around a story involving her dad since the second season and we just never got to it. I would have loved to have brought Nuzo back for more episodes. Dom is just so terrific and Nuzo has always been part of the ohana even though we’ve only seen him on a handful of occasions.



Did you ever plan to dive into the Robin of it all?
We talked about bringing in Robin so many times. There were so many different pitches over the years but the question that we kept asking ourselves was, “Does anyone really care to see him?” We know people are curious but are they really that invested in seeing him? Will it be a let down when they do? 

I suspect we would have seen him eventually, especially if we could have gotten a “name,” but there were other stories and other characters that took priority. 

Looking ahead five years in the MAGNUM world, where do you think all of the characters are now?
I think they’re all in a good place. Magnum and the guys and Higgins all came to Hawaii to heal and start over and they have. They’ve all found happiness and peace and love. I don’t know if all of them are still on the island but wherever they are in the world they’ll always be Ohana. 

I’d like to think that Kumu and Katsumoto each found love as well. Katsumoto might be retired and restoring motorcycles. 



Fans are still holding on to hope the show might be saved, again. Where do things stand as of now? 
Right now, there are no moves being made. We all desperately wanted to continue. There were enormous concessions, sacrifices and compromises made to bring the show back for a fifth season and I would have cut the budget again if it would have gotten us a sixth.  

I think in the future, if there’s a really strong demand for it, if the cast is willing and available, if UTV and CBS are both on board and if the math works for both, then I could see there being more episodes. Obviously those are a lot of very big “ifs” but anything can happen.

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