Normally, Hawaii Five-0 opens a new season with a sunset premiere on the beaches of Waikiki.

This year, due to the departures of Daniel Dae Kim (Chin Ho Kelly) and Grace Park (Kono Kalakaua) from the series, CBS has kept everything hush-hush until the series’ eighth season premiere.

Still, viewers of the series will notice something of the familiar in the character arcs of newcomers Meaghan Rath and Beulah Koale.

Rath stars as Tani Rey, a lifeguard at the Hilton Hawaiian Village who was kicked out of the police academy. Shade of Kono. Though Kono was not kicked out of the academy, she was hired to be a member of the Five-0 Task Force as a police cadet from the academy.

Rath is also set to star as Eliza Radley in the TV comedy “The Trustee,” which she is currently filming, where a detective and an ex-con working out a prison sentence in the precinct become unlikely partners.

Viewers may recognize Rath for her work in “New Girl,” “Being Human,” and “Banshee.” She is a Canadian actress (like Grace Park). Her nickname is “Meg.”

We meet Tani Rey in the season opener of Five-0.

The second newcomer to the series is Beulah Koale. Though a Pacific Islander, Koale is originally from New Zealand, so he should have lots in common with Aussie Alex O’Loughlin.

Koale plays Junior Reigns, a former Navy Seal (shades of McGarrett) who seeks out McGarrett for a job with the Task Force.

Koale was nominated for Best Actor at the New Zealand Film and TV Awards in 2014 for “The Last Saint.” He has a background in the theatre through Massive Company [religious productions “Havoc in the Garden” (2011) and “The Brave” (2012)].

He and his partner have twin boys, Isaac and Xavier. His only appearance thus far on Five-0 will air October 13.

Though Ian Anthony Dale (Adam Noshimuri) is no newcomer to the series, his status as a regular is new. Though his claim to fame has thus far been on the outskirts of the Task Force as a member of the Noshimuri family, then Kono’s husband, this season McGarrett will ask him to join the team.

Dale has been fortunate enough to star in several well-known projects in both film and television, including Mortal Kombat and, most recently, Salvation. He has graciously granted mytakeontv interviews in the past for both these projects.

Hawaii Five-0’s Season Eight premiere airs Friday, September 29, at 9 P.M. on CBS.