Magnum Reloaded: Ghosts from past return for yet another betrayal on ‘Magnum P.I.’

If you are one of the rare humans who have never had their heart broken or been betrayed by someone they loved — then you should head to Vegas and place your bets. If you are like the rest of the normal heartbroken folks who seem to function relatively well day after day, then you probably understand the complicated and emotional dilemma Magnum (Jay Hernandez) struggles with in this week’s episode of “Magnum P.I.”

The episode, titled “Day the Past Came Back,” was written by executive producers Peter M. Lenkov and Eric Guggenheim, and directed by co-executive producer Bryan Spicer, who also directed “Day of the Viper.” Spicer is known for his powerhouse directing of “Hawaii Five-0” and the expert handling of action, stunts and drama in his episodes. He certainly has carried these skills over to “Magnum P.I.” Add in the strong writing by Lenkov and Guggenheim — and the episode is one of the season’s best.

The episode starts off with Magnum M.I.A, and his crew of former special operators, Rick (Zachary Knighton), TC (Stephen Hill) and Higgins (Perdita Weeks), along with Kumu (Amy Hill) and Det. Katsumoto (Tim Kang) working to find him. Their investigation into his kidnapping has them revisiting the case from the pilot episode of the series, “I Saw the Sun Rise,” which was also written by “Magnum P.I.” creators Lenkov and Guggenheim.

The original case has Magnum, Rick and TC looking into the death of their teammate and friend, Sebastian Nuzo (Domenick Lombardozzi), whose salvage company had been hired to find a wreck called the Roselita filled with stolen Iraqi gold bars. This week, Magnum and his friends are faced with a new crew wanting to return to the sunken ship to salvage more of the gold, as well as another ghost from their past — the woman who betrayed them, Hannah, played by special guest star Jordana Brewster, who Magnum loved and wanted to marry.

NO RANSOM FOR MAGNUM

When Magnum is kidnapped, Rick and TC are waiting for him at the guest house, making Spam sandwiches while Magnum picks up his dress whites from the dry cleaners. They are headed, with Higgins and Kumu to an event honoring military veterans. Rick and TC are dressed in their Marine Corps dress blues and are singing along to the Martha and the Vandella’s classic, “Dancing in the Street.” It’s pretty funny watching two dressed-up Marines singing into ketchup and mustard bottles like two high school girls lip-syncing into hairbrushes at a slumber party.

Poor Rick is terrible, but Kumu is right, he does look very handsome. So does TC — even with his extra pounds, as he laments about putting on some weight since he last wore his blues. Still, we all agree with Kumu, everyone loves “a fella in a uniform.” The scene is sweetly lighthearted — even though most Hawaiians would never put mustard, or cheese, on a Spam sandwich. But the two dressed in their dress blues, which is akin to black tie, is a subtle reminder they are former military men, who like the veterans they are honoring that night “have made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Rick’s friend, Kawika, played by “Hawaii Five-0” recurring cast member Kala Alexander, calls and tells him that one of his guys found Magnum’s Ferrari off the 72, which is Kalanianaole Highway, his door open, engine still running. It’s nice to see Alexander return to “Magnum P.I.” as he played the same unnamed chop shop owner in the pilot. As he seemed to be a good connection for Rick to get information in order to help Magnum’s cases, we would love to see more development of Kawika on “Magnum P.I.”

The team arrives at Kawika’s shop to check out the Ferrari and they find Magnum’s Detroit Tigers cap, his dry-cleaned Navy whites, and a spot of blood on the camel-colored leather of the driver’s seat. As Katsumoto joins them in the search for the private investigator, the friends work their connections to try and find Magnum. Higgins is concerned he was kidnapped because he was driving Robin Master’s Ferrari and perhaps someone thinks he has access to more money beyond the high-performance vehicle.

Really Magnum has been kidnapped by two baddies, Kyle Foley (Scott Michael Campbell) and Nathan Brackett, who want the coordinates to the Roselita to salvage the rest of the gold left on the ship. Magnum laughs and says it’s all gone and in a police evidence warehouse. But Foley tells them there’s more on the ship in a secret hold and forces Magnum to help them bring up the rest. Magnum gets away, killing Brackett, and wounding Foley.

Rick and TC get Lara, Nuzo’s wife who continues to run the salvage company, to help them get the rest of the gold so they can turn it over to Katsumoto, and Higgins finds the boat that took Magnum out to the coordinates of the Roselita. Magnum calls an old friend from the Navy to help him find out about his kidnappers.

THE DAY THE PAST CAME BACK

Magnum’s friend is Lt. Josie “Mac” MacReynolds (Ammie Masterson) and she has some interesting information for Magnum. It seems as if, like they did Perdita Week’s version of Higgins, they have chosen to change the gender of the Mac character for Masterson, as in 1980’s version of the show, Mac was played by actor Jeff MacKay.

Masterson plays Mac pretty straightforward and is an obvious friend to Magnum. She seems to know about his past and cares about him enough to defy Capt. Greene, Magnum’s former C.O. who would court-martial Mac if he knew she was talking to Magnum. She tells Magnum and Higgins that Brackett spied for the Chinese and his partner Foley used to be a CIA case officer.

She also tells him that both men have a connection to Hannah, Magnum’s former love. She looks sad when she tells him of their connection, and we get the feeling that Mac knows everything about what Hannah did to Magnum and his team.

Magnum finally tells Higgins about Hannah, who “was a CIA case officer … embedded with me and the guys in Afghanistan.” When Higgins presses and asks him if that was when things got personal between them, he changes the subject. She leaves him to ponder how Hannah is connected to his kidnapping and the gold that got Nuzo killed.

Magnum opens his footlocker and finds a picture he took of Hannah and flashes back to a happier moment when they most likely started their love affair. It looks like they are in a makeshift military barracks and Magnum has just woken a sleeping Hannah by taking her picture with a Polaroid camera. She mentions Magnum’s favorite coffee from a place called Milly’s and that she wanted to see the Luray Caverns (located near Luray, Va.) with him since it was a place Magnum would go with his dad. It’s obvious from their intimate talk that she knows a lot about Magnum. Perhaps this is why he feels so completely betrayed by her.

And Magnum admits as much to Higgins telling her that he didn’t expect to fall for her and that he was going to propose until they were captured during a recon mission. He says the worst part about being a POW was thinking he would never see Hannah again. But then she showed up at their camp and instead of negotiating their release, she takes an envelope of money from his guards and leaves them there — for the next 18 months and 11 days.

He has strong reason to think it was Hannah who gave them up because she was “one of the very few people who knew the details of the mission” and where they would be. But when Higgins asks Magnum why she would do that, he admits he has been asking himself “that same question since the day she drove away.”

ALOHA GOODBYE, NOT ALOHA HELLO

When Rick and TC find out their case has a connection to Hannah, TC wisely says “forgiveness is the best form of revenge. But in this case, the only payback is that woman rotting in jail for the rest of her life.” And we are all in agreement. If there are no other cases solved for the rest of the season, the only thing we’d like to see is Hannah caught and sent to prison for much longer than the time they all spent in the POW camp.

And that feeling is only confirmed when Higgins and Magnum are stopped by Hannah and a group of balaclava-wearing thugs. As Magnum is ready to shoot the lead gunman (Rob Mars) in the head, Hannah gets out of the car and says to Magnum that he’s “always the hero” but he shouldn’t resist. She tells Higgins, who she knows is former MI6, that she and Magnum are going to catch up, as her guys lead Higgins away.

The reunion is strange, as Magnum looks incredibly wounded as he tells her, “Me, Rick, Nuzo, TC. You betrayed us. You betrayed me. What for?” To which she has the lamest answer ever — “That’s complicated.” Like all she did to Magnum was change their relationship status on Facebook instead of leaving him to die in a POW camp.

Then she tells him the only thing that matters now is that she is trying to keep him safe. She tells him to remember that she asked him nicely to back down and says goodbye. As she returns to her car and Higgins is let go, I’m sure I wasn’t alone thinking how satisfying it would have been for Higgins to punch her right in the throat.

LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND

Magnum and Higgins chase after Hannah as they know she is going after the gold which is being transported by Katsumoto and HPD to an evidence locker. Rick and TC are following the caravan, perhaps so Rick can have one last look at $60 million in gold. Just as they tell Magnum they are almost through the H-3 tunnel, Hannah’s group attacks and blows up the lead patrol car. They fight it out with the armed police officers, but they seem to be no match for Hannah’s balaclava gang.

Magnum arrives and just as Hannah is driving away with the gold, he tucks his gun into his waistband and jumps on the back of the truck. The stunt is amazing, as Hannah drives on the viaduct which looks insanely narrow as she weaves and goes 100 mph. Magnum crawls to the cabin of the truck and pulls a gun on her and tells her to stop the truck — but does not shoot. They fight and Hannah shoves him out of the cab, but Magnum grabs a seat belt which keeps him from flying over the viaduct into the valley below. He tries to get back into the truck as Hannah grabs his gun where it had fallen in the cab — and shoots him in the shoulder, causing him to finally let go and roll onto the viaduct.

I know what you’re thinking — Magnum needs to pick better women, and for sure, Higgins needs to drop-kick Hannah over the Pali if she ever dares to show up again. Knowing the kind of drama this visit has caused, I’m sure it will happen sometime very soon. But since she seems to have disappeared into thin air, we’re not sure where or when she will turn up again. But like bad pennies and bad luck, it’s sometimes hard to know when bad news will turn up again.

At least we know that Magnum has more on his side than a bunch of faceless thugs to protect and watch his six. And sometimes that’s all a person needs to let the past stay firmly in the rearview.

Wendie Burbridge writes the “Five-0 Redux” and “Magnum Reloaded” blogs for staradvertiser.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.