Magnum Mania!

Texas Lightning

Episode ID: 36
Episode Number: 2.18
Air Date: 2/18/1982
Writer: Robert Hamilton
Director: Mike Vejar
Producers: Rick Weaver, Andrew Schneider
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars

Julie Sommars (Jeannie Lowry), Jack Hogan (Matt Thompson), Seth Sakai (Chan), Danny Kamekona (John), Tony Brubaker (Eric), Todd Camenson (Ted)

Plot Outline

Card shark Jeannie Lowry (aka "Texas Lightning") hires Magnum as her bodyguard at a high-stakes poker game aboard a luxurious yacht. But Magnum soon learns that the poker game is just a facade and Jeannie is hiding something about her true intentions. Magnum and Jeannie are forced to make a hasty escape from the yacht and become stranded on a deserted island, and are presumed dead.

Rating

8.0 (16 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 This episode takes place during Magnum's birthday and contains some of the series' best helicopter stunts, highlighted by a climactic chase involving T.C.'s Hughes 500D and a Bell 206 JetRanger.

2 The opening scene takes place at Miami International Airport. Stock footage is used for the establishing shot of the airport. The scene is set in present day, but based on the cars seen, the establishing shot appears to be from the 1960s [pic].

3 Jack Hogan (Matt Thompson) also played the villain in the early Season Two episode "The Woman on the Beach" (2.3). Jack was also one of the casting directors on the show (1981-1983). The villain he plays in this episode, Matt Thompson, is notably heinous and unsavory, even for MPI. He works on his marksmanship by releasing and shooting live pigeons, and he orders his henchmen to kill two people by knife (strongly implied, but not seen on screen)!

4 T.C. wears the camouflage SEAL cap that Magnum wore in the previous episode "One More Summer" (2.17).

5 The estate's greenhouse is seen for the first time. It will only be seen a handful of times in the series.

6 Veteran Hawaiian character actors Seth Sakai (Chan) and Danny Kamekona (John) make their first appearance on the show. Both will appear numerous times to come.

7 The ending scene at the hospital (where Jeannie Lowry catches a cab) was filmed at the Shriners Hospital for Children at 1310 Punahou St.. (Noted by Sam)

8 Higgins mentions the Battle of El Alamein in the Western Desert Campaign of WWII again - "Victory will turn on strong leadership and supreme organization".

9 In the chopper, while searching for Magnum, Higgins talks about the time in WWII when they captured an SS Officer just after the Siege of Tobruk (1941). Higgins' comrades "worked on him for a week", but nothing. Then they brought Higgins in to do the interogation. Here, Higgins has his headset audio cut off by Rick.

Guest Stars

1
Magnum: Life on the islands has an irresistable ryhthm; Days merging together like waves on the beach. That's why I never understood why people get excited over artificial events. For example, a birthday should be a private time, with maybe a run on the beach to celebrate, not the big, embarrasing fuss a person's friends always make over it. I should know because it was my birthday, and I knew Rick and T.C. would be planning something special. What I did'nt know was that the day would be one of the biggest disasters of my life. (Narration)

2
Chan: I've been admiring your most unusual ring all evening Mr. Magnum. May I ask its origin?
Magnum: Oh, it's a souvenir of a visit to your part of the world, sir.

3
(On finding Magnum alive)
Higgins: Oh my God, the bloody tuxedo! ... Magnum, get your head down or you're going to get it blown off!

4
Magnum: And that, as they say, is the hell of it. [wav]

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