‘Magnum P.I.’ Star Jay Hernandez Wants Standalone Film; Says He Doesn’t “Love The Show Ending How It Did”

Rosy Cordero
·4 min read
16

SPOILER ALERT: Major plot points from tonight’s series finale of Magnum P.I. can be found below.

NBC’s Magnum P.I. said goodbye tonight and series star Jay Hernandez is opening up about how he feels about the ending and whether or not there are talks of continuing the story.

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“I actually floated the idea of a standalone film. I suppose it’s still possible. If I’m being totally honest I didn’t love the show ending how it did,” Hernandez told a fan via Twitter who said they’d have liked to have seen the show continue.

He added, “That being said, to all the #magnum #ohana thank you for always supporting us! Y’all have been AMAZING. We’re humbled by your dedication…”

In June, Deadline announced exclusively that NBC would not be ordering more episodes of the Hernandez-led reboot series. Magnum P.I. cheated death once. After CBS canceled the reboot last year, lead studio Universal Television found a new home for the drama at its sister network NBC.

The series follows Thomas Magnum (Hernandez), a private investigator and former Navy SEAL, who solves crimes in the state after returning home from Afghanistan and repurposing his military skills.

Perdita Weeks, Zachary Knighton, Stephen Hill, Tim Kang and Amy Hill star alongside Hernandez. Showrunner Eric Guggenheim, Justin Lin, John Davis and John Fox are executive producers. The series is a co-production between Universal TV and CBS Studios, which have split rights, with Universal TV.

L to R: Emily Alabi, Stephen Hill, Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks
MAGNUM P.I. — “The Big Squeeze” Episode 520 — Pictured: (l-r) Emily Alabi as Mahina, Stephen Hill as Theodore “TC” Calvin, Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins, Amy Hill as Teuila “Kumu” Tuileta

Tonight’s action-packed series finale kicked off with Higgins (Weeks) discovering Magnum has in his possession a sparkly diamond engagement ring and doesn’t know how to react. Magnum could tell Higgins had something on her mind before realizing she must’ve spotted the bauble. He shared with her that the ring belongs to Rick (Zachary Knighton) who will propose to his lady love Suzy (Betsy Phillips). Higgins is relieved Magnum isn’t going to propose to her but maybe too relieved for Magnum’s liking.

Later, Magnum finds a worthy sparring partner in Neil McRae, played by the real-life martial arts baddy, Jesse Kove. They go head-to-head in an elevator but when McRae gets a hold of a knife he brought to a fistfight, things start getting tricky. McRae and Magnum get out of the lift but the former uses the knife to take a hostage. It was just a ruse to steal the woman’s car which worked for McRae, who fled the scene.

But McRae is just one piece of a chess game that involves the blackmailing of powerful men with Sam Bedrosian (Patrick Fabian) at the head of it all—oh, and so is the governor. The governor was tricked into having a sexual encounter recorded secretly so Bedrosian could use it as blackmail. McRae was able to get his hands on the drive to keep for himself but it all led to him going to jail.

Katsumoto (Tim Kang) arrests McRae and gets the drive which is full of incriminating evidence. He offers it to Magnum and Higgins to trade it for a secret audio recording of them that’s currently in the hands of Bedrosian. They opt to do the right thing but the pair still ends up helping get the dirty governor fired thwarting Bedrosian’s evil plan.

Elsewhere, Kumu (Amy Hill) decides to buy out T.C.’s (Stephen Hill) part of the bar and she’s looking to collect on Magnum’s open tab.

The episode wraps up with a big speech from Magnum followed by a dance with Higgins, who brings up her unusual reaction to the idea of marriage. She admits that things between them are perfect and she doesn’t want to change anything but if he ever did ask, she would say yes. The final moment is a kiss shared between them and a lot for them to think about as it pertains to the future.

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