The fifth season of the NBC sequence Magnum P.I. will in the end be its final, however till then, there’s nonetheless loads of motion and loads of relationship dynamics to discover amongst Thomas Magnum (Jay Hernandez), Juliet Higgins (Perdita Weeks), TC (Stephen Hill) and Rick (Zachary Knighton). Whereas persevering with to tackle circumstances of all types, Magnum and Higgins’ love for one another is strengthening and the brotherhood is stronger than ever.

Throughout this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, showrunner Eric Guggenheim talked about their season finale changing into a sequence finale, leaving some issues unresolved whereas giving a satisfying finish to followers which were loyal, the frustration in not attending to discover the concepts that they had for Season 6 however being happy with what’s nonetheless to come back in Season 5, what he realized about capturing an ensemble sequence in Hawaii from his time on Hawaii 5-O, why lastly getting Magnum and Higgins collectively romantically was the correct choice, probably the most difficult second they pulled off this season, and what stands out about working with this solid.

Collider: You’ve beforehand talked about the way you assume the ending of this season is satisfying and that you just’re actually happy with the finale. Are you the form of showrunner and storyteller that approaches every season finale as a attainable sequence finale, which means that possibly you allow a few threads, but in addition give a way of decision?

ERIC GUGGENHEIM: It’s query. Within the case of this season, the finale was not written to be a sequence finale, however as a result of we hadn’t gotten a pickup, we did take that chance into consideration as we have been crafting it. While you watch it, you’ll see that we have been clearly teeing up some stuff for a Season 6. However at the beginning, we needed to ensure we coated our bases and that the episode labored as a sequence finale, if want be. The very last thing we would like is for the viewers who’ve been so fantastic and who’ve caught by the present for nearly 100 episodes to go away pissed off. That may not be truthful. They don’t deserve that. So, whereas a few issues are left unresolved, I do really feel like there may be sufficient closure that it really works as a finale.

For those who weren’t glad with it, do you are feeling such as you would have pushed to have the ability to do any extra capturing? Would which have even been an choice, should you’d felt prefer it was obligatory?

GUGGENHEIM: We went in realizing this might need to work as a sequence finale, so we wanted to construct it with that in thoughts. You all the time wanna depart some issues unresolved, which you could choose up, if there’s one other season. I received’t lie, it was a really tough needle to string. I do assume we managed to do it and I do assume that, if this has to work as a finale, it does and it rewards the followers who’ve invested a lot time within the present.

You’ve stated that this isn’t essentially how you’d have chosen to finish the sequence, should you had gotten to do a Season 6, or much more seasons past that. Did you could have a concrete concept for some greater ending in thoughts that you just have been working towards, or had you by no means gotten that particular?

GUGGENHEIM: We actually had no scarcity of thrilling concepts. I can truthfully say that I really feel prefer it had the potential to be our strongest season. We have been actually enthusiastic about a few of the concepts that we have been kicking round. It was gonna take the present to some fascinating locations. So far as an finish sport, I did have some concepts. It wasn’t fairly locked into something for Season 6, however there have been loads of concepts and it’s disappointing, actually. However it’s what it’s and I don’t need to dwell on it an excessive amount of as a result of there are nonetheless eight extra episodes to air and I hope folks will proceed to take pleasure in them. Additionally, I’m actually hopeful now that we lastly have a streaming deal in place, in order that viewers who haven’t seen the present will get curious and test it out. That’s what I’m targeted on proper now.

What are you able to say to tease what followers can anticipate from the finale? Would you say that everybody is left in place by the top of the season? Will followers be left with a way of being reassured that these characters shall be okay?

GUGGENHEIM: Yeah, I might say that I feel we’re leaving the characters in place. I wanna be very cautious right here as a result of I don’t need to give away an excessive amount of. We’re not gonna have a “Who shot JR?” model ending. There have been so many exhibits which have gotten burned on cliffhanger endings, whether or not it’s the unique Quantum Leap or ALF or Legends of Tomorrow or Lucifer, earlier than they acquired rescued by Netflix. This finale just isn’t a kind of endings. There’s some unresolved stuff, however there may be closure. I do assume that the followers will depart glad. It’s a tricky query for me to reply as a result of I actually don’t wanna give away an excessive amount of, however I additionally wanna reply your query.

You labored on Hawaii 5-O previous to doing Magnum P.I. Was there something you realized about capturing in Hawaii and doing a sequence that has a group and motion and massive moments, that you just have been in a position to carry over to Magnum? Are there challenges distinctive to doing a present like this, on this location?

GUGGENHEIM: Yeah, there was. I realized rather a lot. That was 5 seasons on 5-O, co-running it for 2 seasons. And a whole lot of the crew who labored on 5-O adopted us over to Magnum, so I’ve been working with a whole lot of that crew for 10 years now. Even Dave Wolkove, who was a author on 5-O for that whole run, came to visit in Season 3. So, I did study rather a lot on that present. It’s Hawaii and it’s Oahu, which actually is paradise on earth. You wanna be outdoor as a lot as attainable, and it may be a little bit tough, particularly for us this season. We cross-boarded a lot of the season – 14 out of 20 episodes have been cross-boarded – and we shot 6 and a half days. Most exhibits shoot eight days. So, we had this very accelerated schedule, however I don’t really feel prefer it affected the standard of the present, in any manner. I really feel like we had as a lot scope as we’ve all the time had. Simply realizing that island and realizing these areas so properly actually helped. We have been in a position to transfer actually quick as a result of we do know that island so properly, which was enormously useful. For those who work on a present for any size of time, you’re gonna make errors and also you’re gonna study from them. Issues that won’t have labored out on 5-O, we realized from that. Issues that labored out very well, we have been in a position to duplicate. 5-O was an unbelievable expertise. In some methods, it did make making this present a little bit simpler as a result of we had a crew that knew shoot on that island, which will be tough. By the point Magnum began, it was a reasonably well-oiled machine, and that has rather a lot to do with the truth that so many people came to visit from 5-O.

You made the choice to lastly get Magnum and Higgins collectively in Season 5, which positively modified the dynamic, and I feel it did so in actually constructive methods. It usually provides a playfulness between these characters {that a} present like this must steadiness out a few of the seriousness of the roles they’re employed to do. Have been you ever hesitant about getting them collectively, or did it really feel such as you had stored followers ready lengthy sufficient?

GUGGENHEIM: Initially, thanks for saying that it appears to be understanding. I’m very glad to listen to that. Actually, day one in every of Season 4, the very first query I posed within the writers’ room was, “Is that this the season we get them collectively?” That began a dialogue earlier than we dedicated to it, which we actually didn’t do till the center of Season 4. We had a whole lot of conversations about what it will appear to be. I didn’t wanna simply go forward and do it with out realizing what it will appear to be, and the extra we talked about it, the extra excited we acquired. It gave the present a brand new dimension. I do assume it’s the most effective choices we’ve made. I talked about it with Jay [Hernandez] and [Perdita Weeks] rather a lot, earlier than we dedicated to it, so by the point we did, we knew what it will appear to be and we knew the probabilities that it provided. The primary factor was that I felt like we have been attending to a spot the place we have been beginning to repeat ourselves, and that made me very nervous. I keep in mind saying to Jay and [Perdita], “I really feel like I’m writing scenes which can be simply variations of scenes that we’ve completed earlier than on the present.” If we hadn’t gotten them collectively, issues would have gotten a little bit stale. Greater than that, all the brand new prospects that getting them collectively provided us have been simply so engaging and so thrilling that I felt actually assured in regards to the choice we made to place them collectively. It was 76 episodes of, will they or received’t they? That’s fairly some time. Additionally, storytelling on community tv has modified. I don’t assume you may get away with holding characters separate, who you assume needs to be collectively, for six or seven seasons. I don’t assume you are able to do that anymore. So, it positively felt prefer it was time. Most individuals agree that it has labored, however we spent a whole lot of time speaking about it and ensuring that it will work, earlier than we dedicated to it.

They’ve such a enjoyable, simple chemistry that it actually helps the viewers to be all in with them.

GUGGENHEIM: Yeah, I might agree with that. And now that they’re collectively they usually’ve stated, “I really like you,” now could be after we’re gonna begin to see some obstacles put of their path. You’ll see that maybe they’re not as in sync as they might have thought. The primary half of the season was the honeymoon part, and now they’re within the “we’re actually a pair” part. {Couples} have ups and downs, and challenges, and there’s battle, and that’s been actually enjoyable to discover.

There are a whole lot of challenges in pulling off a present like this. You’re rebooting a present that individuals have sure expectations for, you could have an ensemble solid to service, you need to hold the weekly circumstances fascinating, you could have motion happening, and also you need to hold all of it contemporary. What are you most happy with, in the case of what you’ve been in a position to accomplish with this sequence?

GUGGENHEIM: There are such a lot of issues. From a manufacturing standpoint, this previous season was very tough. We cross-boarded most of our episodes, so we have been capturing two episodes without delay, we have been in six and a half days, we have been doing fixed double-ups, and this was the smallest funds that we’ve had on the present, by far, and but I really feel that there was no dip in high quality. I don’t assume we minimize any corners. I feel it nonetheless looks like the identical present that we’ve been making for 5 years. We had much less cash and fewer assets and fewer time, however everybody actually gave it their all this season and I’m enormously happy with our solid and crew, and what we have been in a position to accomplish underneath tough circumstances. After which, additionally, I really feel like this model of the present honors the unique model that Don [Bellisario] and Glen [Larson] created. They created a present that was about veterans returning residence, and it was an optimistic and hopeful portrayal of vets. We’ve tried to proceed that with this present. It’s nonetheless a present about beginning over. All these characters have had trauma of their lives they usually got here to Hawaii, and there’s a rebirth for every of them. So, I’m actually proud that we’ve been in a position to honor the unique whereas, on the similar time, I do really feel prefer it’s its personal factor. I feel a whole lot of that has to do with a few of the new characters we added to the present, after which the choice to make Higgins feminine and so as to add the potential for a relationship between Magnum and Higgins. That separated it from the unique sequence and gave it its personal dimension. It added an additional layer and hopefully permits this model to face by itself.

Is there a particular scene or a second from this season, that you just’re stunned you have been really in a position to pull off and have it end up in addition to it did?

GUGGENHEIM: It is a small one, and it’s on my thoughts as a result of the episode lately aired, however the scene the place Magnum and Higgins are simply on the seashore. You wouldn’t assume that may be powerful to tug off, however having that scene happen on the seashore with the sundown was so exhausting. It stored bouncing across the schedule. Taking pictures two episodes in 13 days, and on that thirteenth day, you’re additionally beginning two extra episodes, to attempt to get all of it completed and to attempt to get it with the sundown, I’m nonetheless amazed we pulled it off. I actually thought that we have been gonna must compromise and shoot it on a stage, however we have been cussed and we knew that it was an enormous second within the sequence. They’re saying “I really like you” to one another. That was an enormous second on the finish of the midseason premiere, and we needed to get it proper. One way or the other we pulled that off. And we have been capturing that in January, so that you lose the sunshine sooner and also you’re racing. It’s not like whenever you’re capturing through the summer season and you’ll shoot eight o’clock at night time. You’ve gotta be completed by 5:30, otherwise you’re simply not gonna get it. And should you punt one scene, it simply creates this domino impact that makes it so exhausting to make up floor. That’s only one instance. Each episodes, truthfully, had its challenges.

What’s going to you are taking with you, from working with this solid? You had a lead actor, in Jay Hernandez, who was additionally a producer who directed a pair episodes, and also you had a solid that’s had such nice chemistry. What’s going to you are taking from working with them?

GUGGENHEIM: This solid bonded virtually instantly, and that bond solely grew stronger over time. They might hang around with one another on the weekends and on their days off. They might surf collectively and cook dinner collectively. It was simply such an extremely tight group, and also you don’t all the time see that. They have been genuinely actually keen on one another they usually have been all actually good mates who supported one another. When Jay was directing, everybody rallied round him, when [Zachary Knighton] was directing, everybody rallied round him, and when [Perdita] was directing, everybody rallied round her. It was such a pleasant factor to see since you don’t all the time see that on exhibits. This group was very particular. I loved a whole lot of lunches and a whole lot of dinners with them. They’re simply actually good folks and a whole lot of enjoyable to be round.

Magnum P.I. airs on Wednesday nights on NBC.