‘Hawaii Five-0’ & ‘Magnum P.I.’ Boss Previews Crossover Conflict & Easter Eggs

Wait, if private investigator Thomas Magnum (Jay Hernandez) is in the passenger seat of that famous cherry red Ferrari, then who’s driving? That other island crime fighter, Lt. Cdr. Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin, above left, with Katrina Law, Hernandez, Perdita Weeks, and Meaghan Rath), which means the long-awaited Hawaii Five-0–Magnum P.I. crossover is finally happening!

The story begins on Five-0 when a possibly philandering husband being tailed by Magnum and his partner, Juliet Higgins (Weeks), turns out to be a spy whom McGarrett and his team suspect of stealing a list of undercover CIA agents.

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“It’s like the old commercials where somebody trips and the chocolate falls into the peanut butter jar,” executive producer Peter Lenkov says with a laugh. “They stumble onto each other in this action sequence.” Recovering the top-secret info becomes a joint effort, and even though Magnum and McGarrett are both former Navy SEALs, “there’s definitely conflict at the beginning,” Lenkov teases.

On Magnum, Five-O officers Tani (Rath) and Quinn (Law) try to help when the baddies kidnap fellow officer Junior (Beulah Koale) as leverage to get said list back. Once the CIA puts Five-0 on lockdown to stop their interference, Magnum and Higgins take over rescue duty.

(Karen Neal/CBS)

“It’s detective work that saves the day here, not just gunfire and mayhem,” Lenkov explains.

He advises fans watch both hours closely. “There are a lot of Easter eggs that are nods to the shows,” he says. “We’re playing into the fact that the audience knows the shows well and these characters are discovering each other for the first time. It’s very fun.”

Hawaii Five-0–Magnum P.I. Crossover, Friday, January 3, 8/7c and 9/8c, CBS