‘Magnum P.I.’ Recap: ‘Welcome to Paradise, Now Die’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

MAGNUM P.I. -- "Welcome to Paradise, Now Die" Episode 505 -- Pictured: Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum -- (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 505 of ‘Magnum P.I.’ To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve discussed some incredible changes to the overall structure of the highly beloved NBC series, Magnum P.I. Such as how the show has added serialized storytelling to Thomas Magnum’s adventures, courtesy of the whole mess with Captain Greene and the monster that is eager to harm Magnum and his friends. Plus, there’s been some deeper context to the cases, courtesy of unique commentary and of course… there’s the whole matter involving Magnum and Higgins’ newfound love. Which has added a new wrinkle to how they interact while working cases and how they approach the danger they sometimes encounter. 
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But while that has indeed made for a vastly richer experience with this series, it has at its core always been about just solving amazing cases that engage us and wow us, and this series knows that’s what fans tune in for, and that now and again… a show has to stay true to its roots. Which is why last night’s episode was of note, because outside of a couple of musings on the Greene case and Higgins and Magnum’s love… ‘Welcome to Paradise, Now Die’ is an episode that really went back to basics and gave Thomas and Juliet some epic cases to solve. The kind that didn’t require too much thought, and it was a story that also featured silly shenanigans. Since Rick almost lost Thomas’ beloved mouse.

A story that basically served to transition us between those aforementioned wild cases. One of which was quite unique in nature. Simply because Higgins was hired by a grieving dog mom named Patty, (played wonderfully by comedy legend Rita Rudner), to see who might have hurt her baby pup. Since she believed that precious dog was poisoned well before his time. A possibility that seemed far-fetched at first, and perhaps grounded in grief. That is until poison was indeed found in the deceased’s pup body, prompting Higgins and Kumu to dig deep as to how that poison found its way into a sweet baby puppy, and as it turned out… a jilted ex-husband that was angry he still had to make alimony payments to Patty, was the culprit. Only his target was never the dog and well… thanks to some clumsy moves on his part, the evidence quickly mounted against him and led to his arrest. Giving Higgins and Kumu the win while bringing peace to a broken dog mom. 

Which was… the easy case in this episode. Because while Higgins and Kumu were dealing with that, Magnum and Gordon were dealing with a missing person case. For a husband named David just disappeared while on vacation with his family. Which at first, seemed like a down moment regarding his mental health, and since the police wouldn’t dedicate any resources to that, Gordon and Thomas were on the case. But a few gunshots from David when our heroes found him, revealed that something was quite amiss with this case. In that, David was harboring some secrets, epic ones as it turned out. Such as how his name was actually Cliff, and that he stole the from Mob and was on the run in this story, because he spotted his old boss and was trying to protect his family from strife. But of course… that all went to pot, forcing Thomas and Gordon to get creative to bring down a mob kingpin and save the day. Which they did. Because they are awesome. 

Not to mention… this episode was awesome as well. Because it was just plain fun and downright entertaining, and we all easily lost ourselves in the world of Magnum P.I. courtesy of these engaging cases and you can never go wrong with a show staying true to its roots, nor can you go wrong with a grand tour of the exotic and beautiful islands of Hawaii. Plus, going this route… allowed for us to process some of the heavier themes present this season and it let our minds soak up that a big foe is still eager to attack our heroes. So that we are ready to handle the ugly stuff when it comes, and it will come. But for now, we can just bask in the wonder of one wild ride. One that also implied that a secret love affair for the ages, might be brought to light… come next week. Until then.

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