Magnum Reloaded: Difficult case teaches sacrifice on ‘Magnum P.I.’

For most people, what qualifies as an occupational hazard tends to be a jammed copier or an occasional paper cut. So if people try to run you down or fill you with bullets while you are just trying to do your job — you might want to rethink your profession. Yet this is a pretty typical day in the life of Thomas Magnum (Jay Hernandez). As a private investigator, he is certainly used to this kind of work environment.

In this week’s “Magnum P.I.” Magnum takes on a seemingly run-of-the-mill-lost-relative case and finds himself being shot at, chased by HPD, and trying to save Kumu (Amy Hill) and Higgins (Perdita Weeks) from ex-Russian spies. As always, Magnum calls upon his best friends Rick (Zachary Knighton) and TC (Stephen Hill) to help him work his latest case.

Katya (Vera Cherny) has hired Magnum to find her cousin, Sergei (Ilia Volok), an online journalist, who left Russia after writing disparagingly about his government. Katya wants Magnum to find Sergei discreetly and without the help of HPD so as to not tip off anyone in their country of his whereabouts and put him in more danger.

The episode, “Nowhere to Hide” is a story by executive producer Peter Lenkov and teleplay by Joe Gazzam and is the first new episode of 2019. Directed by Mark Tinker, the episode takes us through a rough day for Magnum, yet it certainly gives us an idea of how much his friends matter to him. Between the car and foot chases, fight scenes and a suitcase nuclear weapon — the action was on a different level for the rebooted drama.

Still, the episode had all the themes we like about “Magnum” — friendship, the team working together to solve a bit of a mystery and an ending that has the bad guys and girl going to jail. We also have a better understanding of the motivation of our main characters — especially Higgins and Kumu. Overall, not a bad start to the new year.

THE IRONMAN

The episode starts with Magnum training for the Ironman. If you are not familiar with the Ironman, it is a world-class triathlon which is held each year on Hawaii island. It includes a 2.4-mile open water swim in Kailua-Kona Bay, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26-mile marathon.

It is called “one of the world’s most physically and mentally demanding triathlons” because of the difficult course, and because athletes battle the wind, the heat, humidity, as well as the obvious strain of the triathlon itself. Magnum is running on the beach and explaining what his father always said — “to reach a goal involves sacrifice, and my goal right now is to complete an Ironman. My father did a triathlon when I was a kid, and to him, it was an honest goal, one he couldn’t rely on others to achieve.”

Magnum often relies on his friends to find information or clues to help him with his cases. It is easy for him to ask Rick to find a source or ask TC to fly over with his chopper and give him a God’s-eye view of where a suspect is headed. Without this expert knowledge, he is without an investigative edge. His goal is always in sight, but without his friends to help him solve the case, Magnum might not be able to complete his mission. Perhaps his desire to complete the Ironman will confirm that he can achieve a goal on his own.

FINDING SERGEI

Being able to find Sergei is important to Magnum for a different reason. As a SEAL, “the mindset of being the best is drilled into your head,” he says, and while he is no longer on active duty, that mindset has never left him. But as a private investigator, while all his cases matter, they may not be life or death. But finding Sergei, who is alone in a strange land, finding him could mean saving his life. And for Magnum, always one to champion an underdog, this matters more than any other case. “Whether he lives or dies could depend on how quickly I can find him,” Magnum says.

Rick brings him to a Russian restaurant, run by his friend Alexi, played by Hawaii actor Mitch Wojnowski, because as Magnum says, “even if you’re in hiding, you always want to find a little bit of home.” Alexi promises Magnum to let him know when he sees Sergei again and Magnum knows it’s the best lead he has. His hunch is confirmed when after leaving the restaurant, he is almost run over by two gents who Magnum correctly thinks have been following him. He and Rick jump into the Ferrari to chase them down and as they race through Chinatown, they are promptly followed by HPD.

When the bad guys are cornered they jump out with very big automatic weapons — but thankfully shoot up the patrol car, and not the Ferrari. Which is a sort of relief as Higgins would probably not forgive Magnum if he brought back Robin’s car full of bullet holes for a second time. Still, it gets Magnum and Rick arrested and Katsumoto (Tim Kang) warns Magnum that he needs to let HPD do their job.

DON’T MESS WITH HIGGINS

Katsumoto releases Magnum, warning him, “I’m done bailing you out of jams. Whatever goodwill credit you’ve built up with me, you’ve spent it all,” he tells the private eye. Magnum agrees and promises he will call Katsumoto when he sees the gun-toting baddies again.

He takes a filthy Ferrari back to Robin’s Nest and only has to sacrifice his T-shirt in order to try and get it clean for Higgins. Really, the only person who appreciates his efforts is Kumu, as Higgins feels a garden hose and a shirtless Magnum is not enough to clean a $350,000 high-performance vehicle. He fills in Higgins as he cleans the car and lets her know that his client who hired him, is not the only one looking for him. Higgins says he’s a magnet for danger, and Magnum agrees, saying it’s an “occupational hazard.”

We see what a real hazard Magnum is when his client returns to Robin’s Nest after Magnum calls to tell her that he was headed to Alexi’s restaurant to pick up Sergei. As Higgins sees her drive up to the front gate, she is curious about Magnum’s client — and runs her face through an old MI6 database. Her real name is Inna Khamatov and she is an ex-Russian FSB agent. She really wants to find Sergei because he has something she wants, not because she is his cousin concerned for his safety.

Higgins calls Magnum and tells him his client is not who he thinks she is, as the real Katya Kudjakova was killed in Finland three days ago. She strongly suggests that Magnum take Sergei straight to HPD, then Inna appears in her office and has other plans. The two women grapple like a couple of expert MMA fighters, but Inna gets an upper hand and is about to stab Higgins’ eyes out when Kumu stops her by shooting a warning shot. Unfortunately for our Hawaiian expert — the two guys who had been following Magnum show up behind her with an even bigger gun. They tie up the ladies and call Magnum.

FRIENDSHIP AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Once Sergei hears that Katya is dead, he carjacks the Ferrari from Magnum and takes off. Still, Magnum gets Rick and TC to find Sergei — and with a little more help from Katsumoto — they catch up to the mysterious Russian. Seems as if Sergei is not really a rogue journalist — he’s a former scientist in Russia’s nuclear program and for the past five years, he was working on a suitcase nuclear weapon, housed in the same suitcase he has stashed in Magnum’s trunk.

Sergei wanted to take the radioactive material to Kahoolawe and bury it there. But he couldn’t find the equipment to do it — and he doesn’t want to turn something that volatile back to the Russians. Yet Magnum convinces Sergei to let him take the suitcase back to Robin’s Nest so he can trade it for his friends. And again — he gets Katsumoto to back him up. It’s a happy ending that took friendship, a bit of sacrifice, a lot of trust and ironman-like grit to accomplish.

All in all, the idea of a suitcase nuke seems a little out of the realm of a typical Magnum investigation. But the overriding theme of his friends being more important than a weapon of mass destruction is the important part of the lesson. Magnum’s dad was right — “reaching goals does require sacrifice, but so does doing something for the greater good.”

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