Japanese actor Masi Oka is scheduled to exit "Hawaii Five-0" after his six-season stint with the CBS show.
Entertainment Weekly exclusively broke the news after it was confirmed that the "Heroes" alum would be dropping out of his Dr. Max Bergman role after joining the show back in season 1's fifth episode. After a couple of episodes in a recurring role, he was promoted to a series regular. The character went on leave by the end of season 6 but eventually returned during the Halloween episode of the show. This way, he will have a proper send-off which will happen in the 13th episode of the season.
As for the reason why Oka decided to step down from his post in "Hawaii Five-0"? The actor chalks it up to his busy schedule working in Los Angeles and Japan, traveling back and forth, and then filming the series in Hawaii, making the commute too much for him.
"I'm probably the only one who really commutes to Hawaii, maybe 18 times a year, round-trip," he said.
As for what will happen to his character, he reasoned that it seems like Max's story has already run its course, saying, "I just thought the character went through a major journey... Character-wise, I felt like Max had done too much of everything he can do."
"Hawaii Five-0" is doing okay even after six seasons and is now currently airing its seventh one. The procedural reboot also just celebrated its 150th milestone episode which is a rare feat in this day and age of television. However, it seems like other cast members also want to jump off the ship despite it floating really nicely.
Similar to Oka, show lead Alex O'Loughlin has expressed his desire to exit the show after the current season citing physical exhaustion due to shooting action-packed stunts as his main reason. This has already been addressed by executive producer Peter M. Lenkov saying that they will be forging on even without Steve McGarrett in the lore as he believes that they are still good for another full run before wrapping up the show
"Hawaii Five-0" season 7 airs every Friday, 9 p.m. ET on CBS.
