Spoilers ahead for Episode 13 of Magnum P.I. Season 5, called “Appetite for Danger.”
Magnum P.I. is running out of episodes as the fifth and final season continues, and the stakes were high for Magnum and Higgins in “Appetite for Danger,” although Katsumoto had fun going undercover as a chef. The case of the week had the duo digging up dirty little secrets and leaping into action to save the day as per usual, but a subplot also had Higgins digging for one of Magnum’s secrets: what he does with his money. She finally got her answer and it’s an intriguing reveal, but I find myself wondering if there’s time to really explore the story in the remaining episodes.\.
A running joke of Magnum P.I. has of course been Jay Hernandez’s character accepting absurd cases pro bono (to Higgins’ exasperation) and asking favors that everybody knows he’ll never repay, but Higgins established in “Appetite for Danger” that he makes good money now. What started as an offhand question turned into her needling him for answers off and on throughout the episode. He seemed increasingly frustrated and wanted her to let it go, but she didn’t push so hard that it started a fight.
They ended up on the same page in the final minutes, when Higgins started hinting about how he spends his money again. Magnum finally understood where she was coming from when she admitted that she wanted to know because she thought there weren’t any secrets between them anymore. That was enough for him to open up, and he explained:
You want to know the truth? I have been sending money home to the P.I. I used to do work with as a kid… My mom used to do a lot of good things for people, and she never talked about her good deeds. So I guess I just picked it up from her.
Potential relationship crisis averted! I have to say that it’s been great to see the healthy communication between Magnum and Higgins in Season 5, especially after some of his actions in the spring finale and the duo's “I love you” exchange in the fall premiere. Plus, he wasn’t doing anything wrong or underhanded in keeping the secret, so the reveal was a nice way to end the episode.
The reveal also makes me ask if it was a one-off topic for “Appetite for Danger” or a set-up for a story that will continue to unfold in Season 5. For better or worse, he didn’t specifically say why he’s sending money now when he wasn’t before, or what kind of contact that he’s had with the P.I. he used to work with. Plus, with every passing episode, I wonder more and more about what Jay Hernandez previewed to CinemaBlend following the spring finale:
There will be a character that comes into Magnum's life that is going to be causing him a lot of problems for a number of episodes, and even further into the show as a whole if we get picked up for the sixth season.
If this was meant to be the very beginning of a storyline, I have to wonder if Magnum P.I. will have time to resolve it. Only seven episodes are left of the series, and showrunner Eric Guggenheim previewed that there will be some unresolved stories that would have been addressed in a sixth season. At the same time, he also shared that he wanted to play it safe with the finale and not end on a cliffhanger.
That answers one of the questions I was asking ahead of Season 5B, but doesn’t really clarify whether there’s more to come from Magnum sending money to an old acquaintance. I’m pretty optimistic, whether the story will continue or not. The fall premiere did a great job of handling Higgins’ pregnancy scare, and I truly didn’t think that the show could resolve Rick and Suzy’s romantic storyline as neatly as it did.
You can keep tuning in to the remaining new episodes on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, and revisit earlier installments of Season 5 streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription. For some more viewing options this fall, be sure to check out our 2023 TV schedule.
