"Hawaii Five-0" is losing one of its major cast members. Masi Oka has decided to depart the long-running cop drama after seven seasons.
Oka, who plays Dr. Max Bergman, is exiting "Hawaii Five-0" later this season. He was introduced back in season 1 as the Chief Medical Examiner who assisted McGarrett and co. solve crimes. In season 2, he was promoted as a series regular. According to Entertainment Weekly, this season's 13th episode of Hawaii Five-0 will mark as the actor's last appearance.
Speaking with the publication, Oka addressed his nearing departure from "Hawaii Five-0." The actor explained that character wise, he thinks that Max has already evolved as a fully-developed character. Further, he shared that his commute to Hawaii is already affecting his businesses in Japan and in Los Angeles.
"I just thought the character went through a major journey, the actor said.
"He got married, now he's going off to Africa, so I think character-wise I felt like Max had done too much of everything he can do. And we've been so blessed to work for seven years on a great show, but a lot of my business has been in Los Angeles and Japan and it's been increasingly difficult to really commute to Hawaii."
As to how his character will be written off from "Hawaii Five-0," Oka teased that the episode will feature "a little bit of the greatest hits" that made Max unique as a character. His relationships with the remaining characters such as Sabrina and McGarrett will also be explored, he added.
An all new episode of "Hawaii Five-0" titled "Ka Luhi (The Burden)" is slated to air on Friday, Dec. 2 at 9PM on CBS.
