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Episode Screen Caps Episode Number: 38
Season Number: 2.20
Air Date: 3/4/1982
Writer: Andrew Schneider
Director: Alan J. Levi
Producers: Rick Weaver, Andrew Schneider
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars
Robert F. Lyons (Taylor Hurst), Joanna Kerns (Mary Kanfer), Kam Fong (Cam Chung), James Edgcomb (Ed Kanfer), Tommy Fujiwara (Hiramoto), Sonia Nilsen (Linda), Elizabeth Smith (Landlady), Dave Kimura (Yo Yo)
Episode Brief
A Vietnam veteran, whom Magnum distantly knows from a mission they both served on during the war, hires him to supposedly find his missing girlfriend. Unbeknownst to Magnum, the man actually has an ulterior motive and is using him to track down an old adversary with whom he has an old score to settle.
Rating
8.3(45 votes)Rate Episode
Notes
1 This episode features a strong Vietnam War theme, and opens with a graphic (for its time) flashback scene of a U.S. soldier being killed by a Claymore Antipersonnel Mine. The climactic ending also features a Claymore, used to powerful effect.

2 The "stalking horse" motif is used for the first time in the show. It will be used again in "The Eighth Part of the Village" (3.4), "Birdman of Budapest" (3.16), "Way of the Stalking Horse" (6.17) and "Laura" (7.18).

3 Local Oahu-based actor, and Hawaii Five-O veteran, Kam Fong (Cam Chung) makes his first appearance on the show. Kam played Det. Chin Ho Kelly for ten seasons on Five-O. He will later appear in Season Five's "The Love-For-Sale Boat".

4 Higgins' cannon is a genuine 1890's signal cannon built by the Strong Fire Arms Company of New Haven, Connecticut. The cannon was featured in a 2011 episode of the hit cable show Pawn Stars. It was valued at between $20K-$40K. After the cannon was fired, Rick Harrison of Pawn Stars made a final offer of $15K, the seller (Rob from The R.H.A. Collection) wouldn't go lower than $35K, so no deal was made. You can watch the entire episode ("Cannons & Klingons") online here. The cannon will be seen in two more Magnum episodes (Season Five's "All For One" and Season Seven's "Paper War") and was also used by Mr. T in an A-Team episode. (ID'd by Robert Albrecht)

5 Icepick is mentioned for the first time, although he is not seen on screen. When Rick calls him on the phone he asks, "How's Tricks?" Upon overhearing this, Magnum mouths "How's Tricks?" (without saying it) in disbelief. "How's Tricks?" was a little catchphrase of Selleck's character Lance White on the Rockford Files! "How's Tricks?" is slang for "how are things?" (or "how's it going?"). (Noted by DigitalMan)

6 Magnum's call sign in Vietnam was "White Knight". Ed and Taylor were "Castle".

7 Per Higgins, the King Kamehameha Club has 3,247 members.

8 List of notable filming locations: 9 Rick mentions his hometown for the first time, but it's not Chicago. While getting a massage, Rick tells Hiramoto that if he "is ever in Brooklyn and needs anything" to give him a call, strongly implying he is from Brooklyn. This is the only time Brooklyn is ever mentioned in the show in regards to Rick's hometown. All future references to his hometown mention Chicago. (Noted by IslandHopper)

10 Magnum imitates Higgins for the first time. First, he addresses "extraordinary" in Higgins's accent to the empty dressing room at the "Wild Zebras" club after hostess Celeste exits (24:10). Then, when discussing assisting Higgins at the club, he responds to Higgins's "you must be joking" with an accented "not at all" (29:45). (Noted by Eric Denny)

11 Higgins is "Chairman of the Membership Committee" at the King Kamehameha Club.

12 Joanna Kerns (Mary Kanfer) will later guest star in Season Three's "Two Birds of a Feather" (3.20), as will James Edgcomb (Ed Kanfer) in "Mr. White Death" (3.9).

13 The chopper that T.C. flies in the Vietnam War flashback scenes is a "Huey" (UH-1 Iroquois). In the "Pilot Movie", he flew a OH-58 Kiowa. (Noted by IslandHopper & golfmobile)

* The legendary Wo Fat Restaurant can be seen briefly.
Quotes
1
Magnum: Have we met somewhere before?
Taylor Hurst: We were briefed together once, in Da Nang. Operation Chessboard, I was a medic in Castle Team. Your buddy T.C. flew us in.
Magnum: Yeah, that's right. Our Teams never hooked up.
Taylor Hurst: Well we got hit. Friendly fire, sort of.

2
Magnum: The case had started off easier than I had expected. However, my first lead was hardly the place I wanted to find Taylor's girlfriend. You couldn't even trust the beer in a joint like that. (Narration)

3
(Higgins fires a cannon)
Magnum: What are you doing!?
Higgins: Really Magnum, it's only powder.
Magnum: Higgins, I still could have gone into cardiac arrest! Do you have any idea what you are doing!? Any conception! A grown man playing with a cannon!?
Higgins: The club's Regatta is next week. I'm simply determining the proper charge to salute the winner. Did the sound carry?
Magnum: Oh, it was just fine! Now if you are finished on the firing range, I wanna talk to you!
Higgins: Just a minute, while you are here take a few steps back.
(fires cannon again)
(Magnum ducks)
How was that?
Magnum: Just perfect! My ears are still ringing!
Flubs
1 In this same scene, T.C. is flying the Huey in the right seat and Rick is the door gunner. We know T.C. and Rick are Marines, and Taylor and Ed are presumably Marines since they are flying in a Huey flown by a Marine pilot, and neither Taylor or Ed's uniforms display any U.S. Army insignia (i.e., unit patches such as 1st Air Cav, 101 ABN., 1st Inf. Div., etc). The flub is the fact that when Taylor first meets Magnum at the cemetery, he tells Magnum that he was a "Medic" in Castle Team. The term Medic is typically an Army term. Marine and Navy medics are called "Corpsman", not medics. (Noted by IslandHopper)

2 When Magnum is in Chinatown following the general, he is passed on the street three times by a girl in a purple dress; twice she has her handbag over her left sholder and the third time she has it in her right hand, walking quicker. There is also an old lady standing against a wall, where times seems to stand still! (Noted by Paul Strike)

3 The Huey T.C. is flying in the opening scene is a U.S. Army Huey, not U.S. Marines. This Huey can be distinguished as a U.S. Army Huey for two reasons: (i) You can see the crossed swords toward the front of the Huey on the pilot's door. This is an insignia for U.S. Army Air Cavalry (Air Cav). You can see it clearly after the Huey lands at the LZ and as it takes off again; (ii) toward the rear of the Huey you will see the words "United States" painted on the helicopter. It appears that it once read "United States Army" (as is standard on all U.S. Army helicopters), but the word "ARMY" is covered over in black paint, so it just reads "United States". It appears that the word "ARMY" was painted over intentionally with black paint because it would look funny that Marines were flying a U.S. Army Huey? The Huey is painted od-green with the exception of the crossed swords and the patch of black paint covering the word "Army." This is the only black paint on the helicopter, so it appears it was an obvious attempt to cover the word "Army." This seems to have been done to cover the fact that Rick, T.C., Taylor and Ed were Marines, and it would not have been consistent for a Marine pilot to be flying other Marines in a U.S. Army helicopter. (Noted by IslandHopper)

4 When Taylor tells T.C. he needs a helicopter ride to the island to go fishing, the helicopter skids are thin when they take off. It then changes to thicker (or padded) landing skids when they are flying over the water. It then changes back as he lands. Also, when the chopper takes off and lands the doors are off, but in-flight the doors are on. (Noted by Mark Seaman & Garth R. Segroves)



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