Magnum P.I – Season 5 Episode 2 “The Breaking Point” Recap & Review

The Breaking Point

Episode 2 of Magnum P.I. Season 5 starts with Magnum preparing Higgins breakfast. He is trying to sweeten her up before informing her that he let Rick move in with him. Higgins has no problem with Rick moving in but is surprised Rick is already on his way.

Rick employs the help of TC and Jin to help him move. TC and Jin are on their way to bid on a storage unit that is up for auction. As Jin jokes around about starting a relationship with Higgins, they get a call from Kumu informing them their client has arrived.

Magnum and Higgins meet with a young man, Tan who wants them to look into his late sister’s tragic overdose. Karina was a recovering drug addict but she was doing well and had been clean for three years. Karina used to work as a lifeguard. The police ruled it as an accidental fatal overdose but Tan wants to know what triggered her to relapse.

Magnum and Higgins head to HPD to ask to see Karina’s death report. They run into Childs and ask him for a favour. Childs allows them to see the file and Higgins brings up the importance of being honest. She is feeling a bit flustered that Magnum didn’t tell her in advance about Rick moving in. She thinks Magnum having a roommate will complicate their secret romantic relationship.

As they go through the file, they realize that something was off about how the knot on Karina’s arm was tied. They believe that Karina didn’t take the drugs willingly, the killer staged it to look like an overdose. They call Katsumoto and ask to meet at Rick’s bar. They ask Katsumoto to get them a job as lifeguards at Karina’s former workplace.  They want to go undercover and find out the truth.

Meanwhile, Jin and TC get into an intense competition over the storage unit Jin wants. Finally, Jin wins the bid. It turns out, Jin knew that the storage unit belonged to a thief who was recently incarcerated. He knew that there will be valuables in the storage unit. As they rummage through their little fortune, they find a Purple Heart Military Award. TC insists on giving it back to the original owner.

After Katsumoto gets them in, Magnum and Higgins start their job as lifeguards. They report to work and are welcomed by the supervisor, Cole.  Cole tells them that he was hoping to retire and leave Karina as his replacement.  Generally, he seems saddened by the loss.

Magnum and Higgins set about to collect evidence and find information. Magnum learns that some people had it out for Karina. Higgins finds out that Sharon will take Karina’s place once Cole retires.  She also finds out that during Karina’s death, another phone pinged near where she was found.

They also rescue a young boy and Magnum gets a woman who tries to flirt with him. Higgins is not jealous and Magnum finds it strange. However, Higgins tells him that she trusts him and sees no need to be jealous. After saving, the boy, Higgins asks to take a break and Cole says they have earned it. She goes through Karina’s M.E. report and discovers that the M.E. found two different types of sunscreen on Karina’s neck and hands. They believe someone held her down and choked her. Higgins argues they should check the other lifeguards’ sunscreen to identify their killer.

Elsewhere, Katsumoto meets with his lawyer to see if he stands a chance of fighting for his badge. The lawyer tells him that it will take a lot of time and money. Kumu and Rick offer their support.

Jin and TC also arrive at Rick’s bar and they tell them about the Purple Heart Award. Katsumoto tells them that it is most probable that the thief sent one of his guys to win the auction. Jin remembers the guy who gave them stiff competition for the unit. Rick tells them to check the bidders who registered for the auction and find the guy. TC and Jin leave to find the man and ask if he knows who the military award belongs to.

They meet with the suspicious bidder. The man is elated to meet Jin who is a legend among thieves. Jin and TC trick the man to tell them where they stole the Purple Heart from. They track down the soldier and return the award to him.

Back at the beach, Magnum runs into a bit of trouble with some surfers while sneaking around.  Luckily, the surfers buy his story and they tell him that they were close with Karina.  They give him footage from the day Karina died. From the footage they see Karina saving a man from drowning one hour before she was killed. The man hurriedly leaves without thanking Karina. It also looks like he was carrying something with him.

They trace his truck and identify the man as Jessie. Magnum heads over to Jessie’s last known address and breaks in. He finds drugs hidden in Jessie’s second fridge. They call in  HPD and Childs takes over the case. Jessie has been posing as a fisherman to smuggle drugs inside fish and Karina discovered his operations while saving his life.

They find a sales calendar in Jessie’s house and realize the next sale is at the Oahu fish market. Magnum asks to be part of the takedown but Childs offers them a chance to watch from afar. Jessie notices the police and tries to flee but Magnum and Higgins chase him down and make a citizen’s arrest.  However, they realise something is still off as Jessie is adamant that he didn’t kill Karina.

After a deeper investigation, they discover that Cole was in the drug smuggling business too. After Karina came to him to report Jessie’s drug operation, he killed her to hide the truth. Cole is arrested and Tan finds the answers he was searching for.  They hold a celebration to honour Karina and spread her ashes at sea. While at the celebration, Childs gets a call about a body found at the sea. Sadly, the body turns out to be Captain Buck Greene.

The Episode Review

This case was sad; Karina did everything right to get her life on track again and ended up dying in such a tragic way. Her killer tried to take away all her efforts and made it look like she relapsed and overdosed. I am glad Higgins and Magnum were able to find out the truth.

TC is honourable and I hope that rubs off on Jin too. To be fair, Jin has changed a lot since we first met him. He is a working progress and I am sure that if he continues to hang with the squad, he will be fine.

The next episode will be interesting as the group comes to terms with Greene’s murder and chase down his killers. Childs is about to learn firsthand why he should watch out for them. I am sure they won’t rest until they find the truth and that means they will break a few laws.