The "Hawaii Five-O" season 7 finale left a lot of unanswered questions in the air and included on the list is about Steve McGarett's (Alex O'Loughlin) health. As revealed previously, the character got radiation poisoning from handling a dirty bomb last time. Could this spell the end of his time as Five-o's leader?
Fortunately for his fans, O'Loughlin's character will not be saying goodbye just yet. Executive Producer Peter Lenkov assured this, revealing to Entertainment Weekly that the health scare would be pivotal to his legacy as a cop instead.
"Everybody assumed we were killing him off and it was like the last season, which was absolutely not on anybody's mind," Lenkov explained, adding, "Clearly it shows that he's mortal, and it's going to affect his legacy of what he wants to do post-being a cop."
However, it won't only be Steve who will ponder on what he wants for himself when he retires. Despite everyone telling him not to, his partner, Danny (Scott Caan), will still pursue his dream of opening his own restaurant; and this will be a part of the story arc next season.
According to Lenkov, the duo will decide "whether that's a real viable option for the two of them, to maybe have a retirement game plan in mind down the road."
Aside from discussing retirement plans, the new season will also be introducing new faces to the team to fill in the big hole former cast members Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park left.
The two notably decided to leave the show before the production of the new season kicked off due to salary issues.
According to TV Fanatic, the new characters include Meaghan Rath as Tani Rey, the task force's newest member, and Beulah Koale as Junior Reigns, who asks McGarrett for a job. Ian Anthony Dale, who has been promoted as series regular, will be joining as well as longtime character Adam Noshimuri.
"Hawaii Five-0" season 8 will premiere on Friday, Sept. 29, at 9 p.m. EDT on CBS.
