Magnum P.I. Boss Breaks Down That Big 'I Love You' Moment, Teases More Baby Talk Ahead

Magnum P.I.'s Thomas and Juliet crossed another milestone in the island drama's midseason premiere, when they each uttered those three not-so-little words.

Having spent the entire episode each grappling with the possibility of Juliet (played by Perdita Weeks) being pregnant, the lovebirds in the final scene learned that it was just a false alarm. Magnum (Jay Hernandez) then caught Higgins a bit off guard — yet clearly touched her — by acknowledging that he would have been "intimidated," yes, by the prospect of fatherhood, "but also really happy."

"Whatever way this turned out, it would have been the right way," Thomas explained, "because... I love you." And Juliet without missing a beat responded in kind: "I love you, too — and I think I have for a really long time."

Breaking down the purpose of that near-pregnancy twist, Magnum P.I. showrunner Eric Guggenheim tells TVLine, "We wanted to get to Magnum saying 'I love you' and Higgins saying it back — but we didn't want it to be a throw-away. We wanted to earn that moment and wanted it to be motivated by something, by an event.

"A possible pregnancy felt like a good catalyst for that. It felt real," the EP adds. "For these two characters to get that place, something like that would need to happen. And I like that they say it before we start throwing obstacles in their way."

Guggenheim also notes that said baby talk was not a passing plot contrivance. Rather, "That topic does come up again in a future episode," he teases.

Elsewhere in the midseason premiere — the first of 10 final episodes, given NBC's decision to not order a Season 6 — T.C. (played by Stephen Hill) began physical therapy after being shot and left paralyzed from the waist down. Yet by episode's end, a randomly wiggling big toe put a big smile on the big guy's face.

Or... did it give him false hope? "I think that's fair to say," Guggenheim nods. "He had a small but pivotal win and then there's a glimmer of hope at the end, but the road ahead is going to be difficult. And there will be setbacks and frustration."

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