For some reason, there are many reviewers here who are upset about Higgins being portrayed by a woman. I don't really care about Higgins being cast as a woman. What I miss is the relationship in the original show, a relationship which cannot exist in this reboot of the show.
In the original series, Magnum and Higgins represented two archetypes.
Higgins, the elder of the two, represented a warrior of an older, for formal era. As we learned more about him, we discovered that his stiff upper lip concealed an action-packed history of service.
Magnum, the younger, represented the Viet Nam era. During this time, military service was changing, reflecting the less formal society of the 1960's and 70's. Service people came home with the memories of a wet jungle war and were no longer considered heroes.
Over the course of the series, we saw a grudging growth by both, each gaining respect for the other. While almost never a central element of any story, the ongoing subplot enriched the series. As well, Higgins age and experience allowed the character to be both a hero and a damsel in distress without negative impact.
In this reboot, Higgins is younger than Magnum. She is intelligent, attractive, supremely confident and competent in almost all things. By resetting the structure in this way, she becomes an antagonistic partner and an ongoing potential love interest. Moreover, if we consider Magnum a competent protagonist, she cannot bring the element of greater experience to the relationship.
The Higgins character could easily be played by by either a male or female. I suppose that casting Perdita Weeks, who plays what she is given with some skill, was to appeal to middle aged men who enjoy the scenery. Had they cast a woman 20 years older, a different older chemistry could have blossomed, one of respect, cooperation and affection. In this remake, we are stuck with another will they/won't they relationship.
This remake is unexceptional and it hardly required watching for me. Still, it had potential.
