Jay Hernandez on What ‘Magnum P.I.’s Finale Wedding Means for Magnum & Higgins
Finale
As the Hawaiian sun sets on the crime drama’s second season, this week’s back-to-back episodes of Magnum P.I. begin with the green-eyed monster showing up at a wedding. The happy couple: MI6 agent turned majordomo Juliet Higgins (Perdita Weeks) and…helicopter pilot T.C. (Stephen Hill)?
Don’t adjust your TV. This is a faux union to keep Higgins, who’s British, from being deported when her visa expires. Thomas Magnum (Jay Hernandez, above), who brought Higgins on as a partner in his private investigation business earlier this season, isn’t pleased and seeks an alternative solution.
“There is a bit of odd jealousy that takes place,” Hernandez explains. “There is something percolating beneath the surface [between them] that I don’t think Magnum wants to explore, but he knows he cares for this person and doesn’t want her to go away.”
The season’s final hour ups the action with the return of shifty Francis “Icepick” Hofstetler (Corbin Bernsen), father figure to La Mariana bar owner Orville “Rick” Wright (Zachary Knighton). The parolee wants one last score — a warehouse robbery — before his terminal cancer takes him out for good. When the plan goes sideways, Magnum and the gang reluctantly help him deal with it.
(Karen Neal/CBS)
Much to Hernandez’s delight, Icepick’s double-crossing partner, Adrian Reese, is played by Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial artist Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. A fan of the sport, Hernandez says the casting added genuine adrenaline to their fisticuffs. “Sometimes you’re staring at a screen or just doing expository dialogue, and that gets boring. But when you’re fighting Cowboy Cerrone on a rooftop…that was exciting!”
Another thrill comes once attention turns back to that immigration dilemma. “At the very end, you’re going to see Higgins in [an unexpected] position, which Magnum is very uncomfortable with and [where he is] not sure about his place,” Hernandez teases. Magnum, uncomfortable? This we’ve gotta see!
Magnum P.I., Season Finale, Friday, May 8, 9/8c and 10/9c, CBS
