Season 5 Episode 7: Birthright (5.7)

[KENJI]

Magnum and Higgins investigate the robbery of an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer's. The ohana tries to help TC overcome a past trauma.
Airing March 26 2023

[Laohu]

Episode title “ Birthright “

[KENJI]

Thanks Laohu!

[Sam]

Clip from 5.7

Magnum P.I.: Season 5 Episode 7 Clip - "You Alrea…: https://youtu.be/EO1fpG03iF4

[Amian]

A few nice twists in this one! Good episode.

TC's storyline with his mother was well done, I thought.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

A few nice twists in this one! Good episode.
TC's storyline with his mother was well done, I thought.

I liked the episode, delving into the characters - in this case TC - humanity makes the series more relatable. Plus it wasn't so downtown Honolulu and estate oriented.
You see more shots of the locals doing normal things like some girls biking down a road, then nice shots of a regular beach with the locals instead of some posh hotel's
beach front. I have never been there but I am guessing these are places the vast majority of locals would know as "their" Hawaii instead of the tourist joints.

I don't know how the series is doing ratings wise. I do know NBC contracted for 20 episodes, ten this year and ten next year. But economically speaking it would make
much more sense to film all 20 now, getting to the magic 100 mark for syndication. Odds are NBC would continue to show these two ten episode
seasons on their Peacock network even if they "canceled" it on NBC after 3 more episodes. I would assume NBC got a piece of the syndication action from this CBS
owned series for continuing production at CBS's Hawaiian studios, so NBC will air it somewhere.
I would just note some blogger I read said the Magnum PI reboot was owned by CBS so I am going by what she claimed.
Anyway, given all of the above I would assume we will get to at least see all 20 of the new episodes.

[Laohu]

Universal owns a big part of Magnum Pi . Universal raised the licensing fee on CBS which is why CBS decided to cancel the show . My understanding is that Universal owns at least half of the show and CBS owns the other half . I am not clear on how much of the show that NBC will actually own for the shows it produces. They might own half and Universal might own the other half or maybe it will be split in To thirds with CBS still getting a piece of the pie . It is unclear as to how many episodes that NBC can make under the deal . All 20 episodes are being written just like a normal season and filming will be done more or less straight thorough will maybe a break or two in the mix to give people some down time .

If you pay attention to the wording NBC has changed things , NBC is now calling the first 10 episodes the first half of season 5 . Does that mean we will get the second 10 episodes as the second half and then they still can make a season 6 under the current deal ? It will be interesting to see what happens .

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Universal owns a big part of Magnum Pi . Universal raised the licensing fee on CBS which is why CBS decided to cancel the show . My understanding is that Universal owns at least half of the show and CBS owns the other half . I am not clear on how much of the show that NBC will actually own for the shows it produces. They might own half and Universal might own the other half or maybe it will be split in To thirds with CBS still getting a piece of the pie . It is unclear as to how many episodes that NBC can make under the deal . All 20 episodes are being written just like a normal season and filming will be done more or less straight thorough will maybe a break or two in the mix to give people some down time .

If you pay attention to the wording NBC has changed things , NBC is now calling the first 10 episodes the first half of season 5 . Does that mean we will get the second 10 episodes as the second half and then they still can make a season 6 under the current deal ? It will be interesting to see what happens .

Laohu,
Thanks for sharing all that information.
Would you happen to know who is the creative force behind the series now, he or she deserves a pat on the back.
For instance if someone new to the series went straight from season one to season four and on to this year they would be struck by the difference in the scripts, and the tone.

Lenkov aka Sauron, had them as soldiers still fighting wars only now in civilian garb(yes I know we don't call the Navy "soldiers", I am talking in the larger sense), period, no human side to their characters.

The series remit - as originally conceived - was supposed to not just show their adventures but their journey back to "normal", achieved when Tom Selleck is about to kill a helpless Quang Ki with a 2 by 4.
TM was for the moment still the SEAL sniper killing the same enemy he did years ago and carrying that same baggage he went to Hawaii to leave behind.
But he drops the heavy timber aka emotional baggage and is redeemed, the war is over, finally. He is reborn. 

The ultimate moment in the entire series, but to an uncomprehending Lenkov it would mean nothing and never will, better to insert more boom booms and car crashes.

I think the dimension of Magnum being a tortured soul is missing from Jay's version, unlike Selleck's Magnum whose dark side was exposed in episodes like Way of the Stalking Horse,
TM lying to TC's face, and as each moment ticked by he became more and more degraded and a mirror image of the killer he was chasing. A very dark, and top 5 episode.

Perhaps the new series may explore that aspect in the future.

[Laohu]

Eric Guggenheim Is the new producer . As far as I know he has been with the show from the beginning but took over when Lenovo was let go . I can’t say for sure that he is why the show has improved . I really think some of the show’s improvements are just a natural progression. I think sharing the writing staff and production staff with Hawaii 5o hurt the quality of the scripts to begin with . Most shows start out a little weak and get better as the writing staff learns the characters. I really think the cast has done a great job with the scripts they have been given.
I think Lenkov did a lot of things right . Casting was one of them another was not trying to do everything thing that the old show did but letting the new show find it’s own way and own voice . Both shows are products of the time period that they are made . These are great characters and that is why we watch .

[ClintBarrett]

Indeed, Eric Guggenheim became the producer of "Magnum, P.I." after Peter Lenkov left, but that was not the only change in the development of the series. There have also been changes in plot, character development and thematic aspects. While the sharing of writers and producers from Hawaii Five-O may be a cause for concern, it does not necessarily mean that the quality of the scripts will deteriorate. Many shows do start out weak but then get better, but there are others that start out strong and continue to develop at that level.