Magnum needs a kick in the butt to move on with his life.

Thomas received that message from both new and old friends on Magnum P.I. Season 4 Episode 18.

One of Magnum's newest friends didn't last long. Vietnam vet Bob Braddock, introduced on Magnum P.I. Season 4 Episode 17, died from cancer that put him into hospice care, where Thomas met him.

Although not unexpected given Bob's condition, starting with his military funeral did make for a somber opening. However, it was uplifting to see Magnum, T.C., Rick, and Shammy attend in their dress uniforms.

Bob's brother Danny was the first to advise Thomas, mentioning that he should live for the day and not have any regrets in the end. Cut to Magnum, glancing longingly at Juliet.

It was a nice touch that Bob left Magnum a bottle of the same liquor over which they bonded. It gave Thomas and the gang something with which to toast to Bob.

Naturally, the narrative then swerved to another veteran, who meant much more to Magnum: Sebastian Nuzo.

Thomas's closest friend, Sebastian, was killed off on Magnum P.I. Season 1 Episode 1. This episode hammered home the point of how much Magnum blamed himself for Sebastian's death.

That's because Sebastian's reputation was threatened by suspicion after Katsumoto was assigned the case of a skeleton found in the woods.

Discovered with the skeleton was a cell phone, from which a police tech extracted a threatening voicemail from Sebastian.

The phone also helped to identify Bruce Fletcher, who had borrowed money and diving equipment from Sebastian.

When Gordon called in Thomas to talk about the case, Magnum lied, denying Sebastian had ever talked about Fletcher when he hired Thomas to track him down. Magnum gave Sebastian the address where Fletcher was staying and forgot about it.

Thomas went home and told all his friends about the relationship between Sebastian and Fletcher.

They all jumped on him about lying to Katsumoto. Still, Magnum feared that any policeman, even Gordie, would jump to the conclusion that Sebastian was guilty and his good name and benefits would be at risk.

So he was determined to solve the murder and clear Sebastian's name even before the police, accompanied by his subconscious in the form of Sebastian.

Apparently, Thomas forgot that Katsumoto was good at his job because, by the time he reached Sebastian's office, police were cleaning out the records.

Worse yet, Gordon was aware that Magnum had lied to him and tore into Thomas as a result. He got why Magnum was trying to protect his friend, but Katsumoto had to follow the evidence wherever it led.

Of course, Thomas didn't back off but rather redoubled his efforts to find the real killer.

One by one, little clues appeared. Rick found out that Fletcher had been bragging about striking it rich from one of Fletcher's gym buddies.

Then, noticing the squirrelly behavior of Fletcher's temporary host, Juliet and Thomas broke into his shed and found the grid search map that Fletcher had been using to search for the treasure on a sunk ship he and Sebastian had been seeking.

But Fletcher had been searching nowhere near the suspected crash site. So the former SEAL went diving to check out the location where Fletcher had been diving.

The treasure that Fletcher had located was a shipping container full of the skeletons of dead illegal immigrants, dumped by those hauling the container as the Coast Guard threatened.

That certainly didn't sound like something that a diver could readily cash in, does it? Magnum came to the same conclusion.

Thomas also told Gordon that he was walking away after Sebastian's name was cleared. But naturally, he didn't. Fletcher's former host was a dockworker, and it made sense that the human trafficker would be as well.

After working out, Fletcher going to a bar didn't make sense, so Higgins ran Magnum's photos of those meeting with Fletcher and scared up a likely candidate about to split the area on his boat.

After a courtesy call to Katsumoto, the pair reached the boat first and took down the four smugglers, however unlikely that was.

Once again, Gordon had to settle for cleanup, although the bust gave him a good lead on breaking up the entire human-trafficking ring.

Before Subconscious Sebastian vanished, he did get Thomas to realize that he was suffering from survivor's guilt, and while everyone else had moved on, Magnum wasn't living his life.

So he, too, pushed Magnum to admit his feelings to Juliet. So some part of Thomas knows what he has to do.

And he needs to stop stalling, as he has something of a rival, as Ella's dad Cole has been texting with Higgins.

Why would a cop's widower begin dating another woman in a dangerous line of work? Yeah, Phoebe died of cancer, but still ...

After a couple of weeks pre-empted for Come Dance With Me (yup, even less scripted programming on Friday), Magnum P.I. returns for two more episodes this season, starting April 29.

Will that give Thomas enough time to open his mouth and tell Juliet how he feels finally?

To revisit Magnum and Higgins' relationship, watch Magnum P.I. online.

Were you surprised to see Sebastian resurrected (sort of )?

Will Thomas deal more with these issues?

Will he finally confess his feelings to Juliet?

Comment below.

Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.