The return of “Magnum PI”

Everything old is new again. Such is the case with “Magnum PI”, that venerable detective show from the 1980s that was re-booted last year.

It is obvious from the pilot the creators did their research because, although it has been updated, there are some things that only someone very familiar with the original series would incorporate.

Paying tribute

One of my favourite episodes of the original series was called, “Did you see the sunrise?” It starts with an old friend of Magnum, Rick and T.C.,  named Nuzo who comes to visit. He talks about old times in Vietnam and keeps giving T.C. gum. Over the course of the two-hour episode we learn more about how Magnum, Rick and T.C. were tortured as prisoners of war in Vietnam, and especially tortured by a Russian named Ivan.

Along the way, Magnum’s friend Mac is killed when his car explodes. Mac had always been the naval officer Magnum bribed, usually with food, to get information. This time, Mac was with Magnum, and they were going to go drive somewhere to watch the sun rise. The bomb was meant for Magnum, so he carried that guilt.

Meanwhile, things escalate, as Nuzo seems to be having flashbacks, drawing T.C. into his nightmare. Eventually, the two of them snap, and hijack a military helicopter. T.C. is having flashbacks to Vietnam, manipulated by Nuzo, to carry out an assassination using the machine guns on the chopper.

Magnum is able to stop this, at the same time discovering this was not Nuzo, but a Russian spy, and the plot was engineered by Ivan. However, Ivan has diplomatic immunity, so he is going to leave, untouched by the law.

Magnum confronts him in the last scene. Ivan tells Magnum there is nothing he can do to him, then turns and walks away.

Magnum calls after him.

“Ivan, did you see the sunrise?” he asked.

Ivan turned and said he had.

The camera zooms in on Magnum as he fires his gun.

In the pilot for the re-boot, Nuzo is actually one of Magnum’s friends, along with Rick and T.C.

And the title of the pilot episode: “I saw the sun rise”.

They had to know.

Re-booted

Although writer Robin Masters is still Magnum’s benefactor, in the re-boot Magnum and his friends are the characters in Robin’s latest novel. They are veterans – from Afghanistan or Iraq, not Vietnam. Magnum is still Robin’s security consultant, living free on the estate and using and abusing Robin’s vehicles and other privileges such as the wine cellar.

Higgins is still, essentially, Robin’s major domo, but now he is a she. One thing that is the same is that Juliet Higgins was part of MI-5, just as Jonathan Higgins had been.

Rick still owns a bar, and T.C. still owns and operates a chopper service called “Island Hoppers”. Lieutenant Tanaka is on the Honolulu PD but unlike the original who was pretty friendly to Magnum, this one is much less so. There is still a grudging respect though. However, instead of Tanaka being recurring, his role has been taken over by Lieutenant Katsumoto who has a love-hate, well more a like-hate relationship, with Magnum.

I have only watched the first season, but they have already begun to introduce old characters from the original series. The first was Luther Gillis who, in the original, was an older, rumpled private eye from St. Louis. In the re-boot, Luther Gillis is from Hawaii, and more sleazy than rumpled and bumbling. And he is much younger. He is actually nothing like the original Luther Gillis at all. I hope they don’t do more of this dredging up old characters, if it ends up this way.

Updated

The show has been updated since it went off the air 30 years ago in 1988. One obvious change is the opening credits. The original show’s opening credit, with that driving score, were more than two minutes long. The new show’s credits have been trimmed considerably for the Twitter generation.

The other noticeable update is in the pacing of the show. In the original show, if Magnum said he was going some place, or T.C. was flying him some place, they would show them driving or flying there set to music. It was one way they made Hawaii a character in the show.

However, it really slowed the show down. Now, that is all gone. It is lightning cut from one place to the next, just like every other show on TV.

Parting thoughts

Seeing an old classic re-booted always brings me mixed feelings. There are successes like “Battlestar Galactica” but busts such as “Charlie’s Angels”.

What has unfolded over the course of the new Magnum’s first season has been a show that, like “Battlestar Galactica” stands on its own. The dynamic between Magnum and Higgins is compelling, as is the way in which the writers have devoted a fair bit of time to the plight of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. This has been done primarily in sub-plots involving Rick and TC, but it has been very good. I have had a tear in my eye more than once watching the show.

Ultimately, that is what I hope for in a re-boot, especially one that holds a special place in my life. It cannot be a regurgitation of the original show. That never works. It has to stand on its own, telling stories that are engaging both to fans of the original show, and to people who have no connection to the original show or have never even heard about it.

The new “Magnum PI” has done that.