Jay Hernandez returns as Thomas Sullivan Magnum, private investigator for Season Two, released today on DVD from Paramount Pictures. While Hernandez continues to make the role his own, and I’m becoming more and more of a fan of this reboot, I am still completely committed to the original, starring Tom Selleck (which leads to this aside, both the original T.C. – Roger Mosely and Rick – Larry Manetti have now appeared on the reboot, what if Selleck ended up being the mysterious Robin Masters?).

Season two gives twenty new episodes in the life of Magnum, Higgins (Perdita Weeks), Rick (Zachary Kingston), T.C. (Stephen Hill), Kumu (Amy Hill) and Katsumoto (Tim Kang). There are nice character through lines, and callbacks to previous events and episodes, something that didn’t always work so well for 80s television, but now is expected fare.

Hanging over the opening of the season is whether Higgins and Magnum will partner up professionally, something that would never have happened in the original series, while Rick leaves his job at the King Kamehameha Club to take on a new venue – which was unexpected for me, but delivers a nice character beat for everyone, as well as a nice cameo surprise.

It seems remiss not to release this series on blu-ray, especially considering the fact that a lot of people now own HD televisions and expect really sharp pictures. The DVD transfer is solid, but it would serve the series better to show Hawaii in all its glory in high definition, so this feels like a bit of a step back.

That being said, I still loved working my way through the episodes, and as always, digging into the extras that are included. This time out there are a variety of deleted scenes, paired with their respective episodes, a gag reel, Stephen Hill’s video diary, and a brief featurette on the season, with interviews with cast and crew, as well as highlights of the season.

Also included is a Hawaii Five-0 crossover episode. I was curious about this, and learned that the series apparently exists in the same television universe as the rebooted Five-0, MacGyver, and the numerous NCIS series. And while I think that’s pretty cool, I can’t get behind the new Mac yet.

I can, however, get behind Hernandez’s interpretation of Magnum, he’s not Selleck’s Thomas, he’s very much his own person, but it’s always cool to see the similarities and nods that the new show does to honour what has gone before.

So until I can get to Hawaii again (hey Paramount, how about flying me out for a week for a set visit?) I will say mahalo for the chance to see familiar sights on the screen, and new interpretations of some beloved characters.

Magnum P.I. (no comma, unlike the original series) Season Two on DVD is available from Paramount Canada today!