Memories Are Forever (1)

Episode Number: 23
Season Number: 2.5
Air Date: 11/5/1981
Writer: Donald P. Bellisario
Director: Ray Austin
Producers: Rick Weaver, Andrew Schneider
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Marta DuBois (Michelle Hue), Jeff MacKay (Lt. MacReynolds), Lance LeGault (Col. Buck Greene), Soon-Tek Oh (Gen. Hue), Patrick Bishop (Keoki)

Guest Stars

Clyde Kusatsu (Col. Ki), Paul Burke (Admiral Kitchner), Brian Fong (Tan-soo), Soo Yong (Old Woman), Wesley Ogata (Boy), Yankee Chang (Priest)

Episode Brief

While working on a routine case, Magnum believes he has spotted Michelle, the woman he married while he was serving in the Vietnam War and who he thought had been killed in a bombing raid. T.C. and Rick are suspicious of the sighting but Magnum begins a thorough search of the area to find her. However, his search for Michelle places him in uncomfortable political territory.

Rating

9.4

(69 votes)

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Notes

¹ Originally broadcast as a two-hour movie, this episode is broken up into two parts for syndication runs.

² This episode won an Eddie for Best Edited Episode from a Television Series. The recipients were Michael Berman & Ed Guidotti.

³ "Memories Are Forever" draws on many elements of the classic 1942 film Casablanca, with Magnum as Rick/Bogey, Michelle as IIsa, and General Hue as Victor Laszlo, and themes of love and virtue.

⁴ This special two-hour episode was included in the 2011 The Best of the 80s: Magnum P.I. 2-disc DVD set from Universal, along with six other classic Magnum P.I. episodes ("Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii", "Home From the Sea", "Blind Justice", "The Kona Winds", "Limbo" and "Resolutions").

⁵ Higgins is seen writing his memoirs for the first of many times in the series. (Noted by Jay-Firestorm)

⁶ Michelle (played by Marta DuBois), General Hue (played by Soon-Tek Oh) and Col. Buck Greene (played by Lance LeGault) appear for the first time in the series. We learn that Magnum was once married to Michelle (in 'Nam). Michelle was presumed dead in a Saigon bombing, but that turned out to be a ruse. Michelle was married to North Vietnamese General Hue before she married Magnum (they both are actually Anti-Communist spies). She thought her husband (Hue) was killed in the Tet Offensive. When she found out he wasn't dead, she coordinated with Buck Greene to make it appear she died in a bombing a week before the Fall of Saigon. She did this because of her strong Catholic beliefs and so Magnum would leave Vietnam with everybody else. The Michelle-Magnum storyline will continue five years later in "Little Girl Who" (7.7), "Limbo" (7.22) and "Unfinished Business" (8.8). Magnum served with Buck Greene on his last tour in 'Nam. Buck was a Marine S2 Officer attached to his TOC ("very gung ho"). Col. Buck Greene will be seen in ten episodes total.

⁷ Magnum cries on-screen for the first time. He'll shed tears in Season Four's "Distant Relative" and Season Eight's "Unfinished Business". (Noted by Timmer33)

⁸ "Little Siagon" is fictional. There is no such place in Oahu. All of the "Little Siagon" scenes were filmed on location in the Chinatown section of downtown Honolulu.

⁹ The boy who steals Magnum's wallet is played by a local kid named Wesley Ogata. Wesley will have a lead role in Season Four's "Jororo Farewell" (4.11) as Danny Lin, the Crown Prince of Jororo.

¹⁰ Magnum & Michelle's wedding was filmed at the Oceania Floating Restaurant on Pier 6 in Honolulu Harbor. Dick "The Giant" Jensen (Chief Mano in "Kapu") used to perform at the Oceania in the mid-1970s. (Noted by rubber chicken)

¹¹ Part of the opening dream sequence in Vietnam, aside from the stock footage, was filmed on Hotel street in Honolulu. (Noted by Tim)

¹² The "Naval Intelligence Headquarters" scene (including the exterior establishing shot) was filmed at the JAIMS (Japan-America Institute of Management Science) building in Hawaii Kai (6660 Hawaii Kai Drive). (Noted by rubber chicken)

¹³ Emmy nominated actor Paul Burke (Naked City, Twelve O'Clock High) plays Admiral Kitchner. He will play a different (yet identical looking) Admiral (Admiral Hawkes) in two later episodes, "Did You See the Sunrise?" (3.1 & 3.2) and "Blood and Honor" (6.10).

¹⁴ The setting for the meeting between Gen. Hue and Admiral Kitchner was filmed at the Dillingham Ranch on the North Shore. This locaton was also used in Season One's "The Black Orchid" (1.16).

¹⁵ Rick is seen smoking cigarettes again. In "The Woman on the Beach" (2.3) we saw him smoking while under stress, commenting that he had given it up. Rick smokes in only a handful of (early) episodes.

¹⁶ We get a close-up shot of Magnum's driver's license during this episode. His drivers license shows the following info:

STATE OF HAWAII
DRIVER'S LICENSE
546 10 8740 (SSN)
Magnum Thom Sull
11435 18th Ave
Honolulu HI 96016
205 (lbs.) 6/04 (height) 1/05/46*

* The 1/05/46 birth date will be contradicted in several later episodes.

Quotes

¹
(Magnum is swimming in the tidal pool)
Magnum: Dreams are supposed to represent your subconscious wishes and conflicts. It's sort of a private movie you write, produce and direct. Only you can't hide your eyes in your dreams, even when they are scaring you to death.
(waves at Zeus & Apollo)
I know what you're thinking... and you're wrong. The dogs and I have had a truce for a couple of months now. They let me alone and I give them a steak once a week. Of course, this week all I could afford was hamburger. (Narration)

²
Magnum: Higgins, I am getting a little tired of playing Little Eva on the ice floe.
Higgins: Magnum, you are dripping all over Robin Masters' Persian carpets, salt water at that.
Magnum: Well, that's usually what happens when one swims in the ocean.
Higgins: One usually showers with fresh water before entering the house. Some people have even been known to towel themselves off.
Magnum: Well, that's a little hard to do when these two (Zeus & Apollo) are on my butt. No offense, guys.

³
Magnum: That little turkey stole my wallet!

⁴
Lt. MacReynolds: Well, look at the bright side of this, there is a positive side. The Navy will release you from active duty just as soon as you testify and Washington is beautiful this time of year, and filled with lovely ladies, just especially for a Navy Commander.
Magnum: I was a Lieutenant.
Lt. MacReynolds: Aha, well not any more! The President just promoted you to full Commander ... Sir.
Magnum: And they give the condemned man a terrific last meal, too.

Flubs

¹ When Magnum takes the picture of Michelle to the club and approaches the table that Rick and T.C. are sitting at, T.C. says "fourteen bucks up on you" to Rick, but his lips are definitely saying something else. (Noted by seahawks1)

² Magnum and Michelle's wedding reception bar scene in Saigon has three flubs:

• Magnum is in his dress whites and above his ribbons above his left breast pocket, you can see a gold badge, which is not a SEAL badge, it appears to be a "surface warfare" insignia/badge. This is the same one he had in the Pilot Movie. In the Pilot Movie, he did not have a SEAL badge either. However, later when Mac tells Magnum he has been reactivated to testify about his old unit, and Mac delivers a kahaki uniform complete with ribbons and insignia, note that the "surface warfare" badge Magnum had in the Pilot Movie, and when he flashed back during this episode, is not on this uniform. In its place is the SEAL badge which should have been a part of Magnum's uniform from the start. (Noted by IslandHopper)

• Rick raises his glass to make a toast. He says, "and I got one more toast." After he says this, he says, "and this one is gonna kill ya." You can tell this last line was looped in post production, because the sound quality is totally different. (Noted by IslandHopper)

• Rick notes that Magnum and Michelle have "...been married only three hours..." during the conversation. Then, after the bar is shelled, Magnum and Michelle huddle together under the table. Offering Michelle comfort with an embrace, Magnum puts his left arm around her. At this point, Magnum is not wearing his wedding ring. Michelle is wearing her wedding ring. Where's Magnum's wedding ring? (Noted by Jim Gossweiler)

³ When Magnum, Rick and T.C. are fighting in the alley and T.C. knocks over the cart, you can tell that it is Roger E. Mosley's stunt double. Also, the stunt double is not wearing a bracelet on his right wrist as Mosley was in the alley just before the fight. When Roger E. Mosley returns he is again wearing the bracelet. (Noted by Mark Seaman)

⁴ During one of the Vietnam chopper flashback scenes, Rick is holding a machine gun left-handed style, shooting down into the jungle. A quick scene change shows the shooting taking place from Rick's vantage point, but the gun is now being held right-handed. The scene changes so quickly that he would not have been able to change the gun around in such a short period of time. Plus, people who are "weapons specialists" rarely shoot 'both-handed' so to speak, especially when they are taking aim down the sights, above the barrel, as Rick is doing. (Noted by Wally)

⁵ Just after Col. Ki is given Magnum's wallet, Magnum gets up after his second night without sleep and heads outside. When he reaches the bottom of the guesthouse stairs he is greeted by "The Lads" who promptly chase him back up the stairs. At this point, you can see a dog trainers hand (probably the hand of Scott E. Hart) in the upper right of the screen hitting the balcony calling the dogs up the stairs in pursuit. (Noted by artie)

⁶ At the 42:39 mark, Magnum is met by Zeus and Apollo at the bottom of the guesthouse stairs (outside). In the top right screen, you can see someone's hands motioning or clapping. This was more than likely Scott E. Hart, Magnum P.I.'s head animal trainer. (Noted by John W. Heitzenrater II)

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