Oh, Jerry.Hawaii Five-0 star Jorge Garcia confirmed he is leaving the CBS show, for now, but the door is open for fans to see Jerry Ortega sometime down the road. Maybe once he's finished his book?
The Hawaii Five-0 Season 10 premiere was bittersweet for fans of the CBS drama. We knew per the first episode synopsis that the team would "say goodbye to one of their own," and after the gunshot cliffhanger of the Season 9 finale, that led fans to fear for Jorge Garcia's Special Consultant Jerry Ortega. Fears were fueled by Jerry being missing from CBS's early intel and photos promoting Season 10.
Answers came last night with the Hawaii Five-0 Season 10 premiere, "Ua 'eha ka 'ili i ka maka o ka ihe," aka "The skin has been hurt by the point of the spear."
Jerry was shot and in recovery for most of the premiere. It gave him time to think. When he was shot, he said his first thought was of letting his Dungeons & Dragons team down. That made him think maybe he hadn't done enough living. (Hey, don't knock D&D, man!) At the end of the episode, the healed Jerry revealed that he didn't plan to rejoin the team. He planned to leave Five-0 to write a book. However, the door was open for him to pop in from time to time.
On that note actor Jorge Garcia shared a statement with TVLine on his exit:
I’m grateful for my time on Hawaii Five-0. I loved getting to return to the islands, and creating a character that connected with so many people. Playing Jerry was a blast, and I look forward to popping in again to play with my TV ohana.
Hawaii Five-0 showrunner Peter M. Lenkov also praised Jorge Garcia and said there will always be a place for him on the show, saying they'll miss him very much. So it sounds like it was the Lost alum's choice to take a step back from the show, but also leave one foot in the door.
Hawaii Five-0 has lost a lot of characters and their actors across 10 seasons. But, as Peter Lenkov has said in the past, if they don't kill a character off, there's a solid chance you'll see them again someday.
As Jorge Garcia exited, Arrow vet Katrina Law entered as Sergeant Quinn Liu. There were other changes on Friday night in general, as many fans wondered where MacGyver Season 4 was hiding on the CBS schedule. (Here's the answer.)
Hawaii Five-0 Season 10 will continue without Jerry, with episodes airing Fridays at 8 p.m. on CBS. Magnum P.I. will continue to air after the show, with Blue Bloods to follow at 10 p.m. Keep up with everything airing to TV this year with our handy 2019 fall TV premiere schedule.
