But as Alex Drake, a cop caught in a similar time-shifted quandary, she made the show the equal of its predecessor, repurposing the format from butch Sweeney homage to a deranged riff on Moonlighting with extra shoulderpads and speedboats.
Tourists, whisked in speedboats from the airport to remote islands, were sheltered from its ugly politics.
The High-Powered Microwave, as it is called, is reported by Aviation Week to be powerful enough to disable all of the motors in a swarm of up to 30 speedboats.
The result is kit that can take down enemy missiles and aircraft, stop tanks in their tracks and bring speedboats to a halt.
After releasing a score of their hostages, reportedly in exchange for up to $1m a head in ransom from various sources, including Libya, the Abu Sayyaf's members have equipped themselves with better weapons and speedboats.
The more mundane kind takes place in inshore waters, perpetrated by ill-organised gangs in speedboats, "rascals" as such hoodlums are called in Papua New Guinea Their ranks include underemployed fishermen or idle roustabouts.
But now the beefy, heavily-tattooed repo men at Gulf Coast hoot about the red Corvette they have just towed away; and their lot contains Cadillacs, $40,000 Harley-Davidsons, even speedboats.
Such is the passion for shooting that speedboats are used to hunt birds at sea.
These days the pirates are a lot more sophisticated and better organised, with powerful speedboats, mother ships in the high seas, heavy weapons, satellite equipment, and negotiators abroad who handle ransoms.
A local youth leader says that young men, who used to hijack oil-company speedboats for a living, now see more future in learning to read.
They kept their word.Last month, using speedboats with mounted machineguns, a group of Ijaws attacked villages inhabited by the Itsekiri tribe, the relatively well-educated minority who dominate local politics.
