The gang should know by now to avoid helping Rick's sketchy friends with favors.

But instead, they had to learn another hard lesson on Magnum P.I. Season 5 Episode 3.

Blame Juliet. She should know better than to do Rick a favor without understanding what it is and who it's for. She's smarter than that.

But she and Magnum need Rick and his contacts. If that means accepting cases sight unseen, so be it.

This outing would turn out to be one of those cases, although Higgins' radar had to be on after Rick described his liquor distributor Kona as dodgy.

Higgins learned from Rick, Magnum's temporary housemate, that he had determined that Thomas was seeing someone. Fortunately, the former spy resisted blurting out that she was that someone.

Then Juliet was troubled when Rick described Magnum as a hopeless romantic who goes into relationships too hard and is often disappointed. This can't be a revelation to her, can it?

Finding Kona shot and bleeding out, they should have called 911 from outside. It turned out that whoever Kona had associated with didn't want to hear that the item they had consigned to him had got stolen.

All the hand-to-hand combat training those two possessed meant nothing when the two men they were facing were armed and remained at a distance.

Higgins realized that it was likely that their captors were searching for the same stolen item that Kona had called Rick about, which turned out to be a case of expensive Japanese whiskey.

It must have been that clipped British accent that convinced those thugs that she was the real deal and that they should call her partner, Magnum, to locate the missing case.

Honestly, it was disappointing that those two didn't get close enough for Juliet and Rick to take them out with shovels. But apparently, they weren't as dumb as they looked.

Not surprisingly, Thomas and T.C. made short work of those in contact with the stolen booze. First up was that idiot who posted a photo of himself with the case on Instagram.

They had to explain to this car-detailing poser that borrowing items from clients to take images for his Insta was criminal. It was little wonder he folded and gave up his client's name with the whiskey.

Then came that client who stupidly thought he could bargain with Magnum and T.C. after they asked nicely for his help. He deserved to be restrained for his chutzpah.

The client's phone also enabled Thomas to figure out that one thief betrayed the other, and the two morons shot each other, closing that case. Those two crooks were too dumb to succeed.

Magnum also began an investigation more important than this case of the, well, case. He was determined to uncover why and how Buck Greene died.

Thomas was right to be angry when he heard that no autopsy had been ordered by the police, who decided, based on how his boat appeared, that Buck had died by overdose or suicide.

Magnum badgered the medical examiner into performing an autopsy rather than having his commander's memory stained.

It was good that he did, as the medical examiner determined that Buck had been waterboarded and died from cardiac arrest following poorly done CPR.

Thomas also discovered a clue hidden among Buck's effects. He wondered why the date on Buck's watch was so out of whack. But Higgins and Rick being abducted distracted him from that mystery for a time.

He later realized that the date on the watch matched the one on which his black ops team successfully eliminated a high-value target.

So now the three-quarters of that black ops team still alive know that someone is after them. What they don't know if they've been exposed yet or no, depending on what Buck's captors tortured out of him.

Having an ongoing storyline with risk for the former teammates will be intriguing. It certainly promises to have more meat than the question of "When will Thomas and Juliet get exposed?" which largely got passed over this episode.

It's also rewarding to see Katsumoto trying different work throughout the grind of attempting to regain his HPD badge.

It's impossible to come up with a less likely assignment for Gordon than security for a K-pop star.

The best moment during that storyline came when Katsumoto flat-out told Rae that he had never heard of her before that day. It must be a generational thing.

She appeared to enjoy the fact that Gordon wasn't another yes man and opened up to him as a result. He was a refreshing change of pace for her.

Her appreciation for her was magnified when he was injured while taking down her attacker. It was great when his son Dennis was exposed as one of Rae's fanboys in his hospital room afterward.

This episode also answered the question of how Gordon could work with his replacement, Childs.

Despite his recent suspension, Katsumoto earned Childs' respect by bringing him Rae's case, and Chris gained Gordon's respect by acting on it. Game respects game. It proves there is room for both of them at HPD.

To follow Buck's short history, watch Magnum P.I. online.

Should Magnum and Higgins get more details from Rick before taking on one of his cases?

Shouldn't Rick be more careful now that he's a father?

How should the former teammates handle those coming after them?

Comment below.

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