Little Games

Episode Number: 96
Season Number: 5.12
Air Date: 1/3/1985
Writer: Deborah Pratt
Director: Arthur Allan Seidelman
Producer: Reuben Leder
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Jeff MacKay (Jim "Mac" Bonnick)

Guest Stars

Jenny Agutter (Krista Villaroch), Cesar Romero (Doc Villaroch), Jimmy Borges (Officer Lee), Jo Pruden (Lenor Vandercliff)

Episode Brief

Hoping to make up for crashing the Estate's security system, Magnum has Mac fix it and challenges Ms. Krista Villaroch, a beautiful insurance security specialist, to certify it's acceptable for the Estate to host a jewelry competititon.

Rating

8.5

(46 votes)

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Notes

¹ The legendary Cesar Romero (Doc Villaroch) doesn't make an appearance until 35 minutes into the episode and only has about four minutes of screen time total.

² Knockout English film and television star Jenny Agutter (The Railway Children, Logan's Run, An American Werewolf in London) makes a memorable guest star appearance as security expert/professional thief Krista Villaroch.

³ The DVD version of this episode has all of the act breaks abridged.

⁴ The episode title and opening credits are in white instead of the customary yellow. Also, oddly enough, at the police station, Magnum's "VMO2 DA NANG" cap also has white lettering and insignia instead of the usual yellow. (Noted by N1095A)

⁵ The script for this episode was written by Deborah Pratt who also plays T.C.'s girfriend Gloria in several episodes. Deborah was married to Donald P. Bellisario at the time and worked in a number of capacities on various Bellisario shows (she played the recurring Marella in the first two seasons of Airwolf, for example). This is her second script for a TV series, following Airwolf's second season episode "Fallen Angel".

⁶ In the opening scene, Krista is seen using a Casio handheld "pocket" computer (possibly a PB-100) to crack a safe. (Noted by massimo piai)

⁷ The computer role playing game that Magnum plays on Robin's $100,000 "Dracos III" computer security system is referred to in the episode as "The Dungeon Master". Despite the similarities, this game is NOT the classic computer game Dungeon Master. Dungeon Master wasn't released until 1987 (Atari ST), a full three years after this episode was filmed. The game seen in the episode is not a real game at all. It is a mock animation sequence, complete with original artwork, audio and text made to look like a real game. The 3D graphics are too advanced for anything seen in a circa 1984 computer game. The game audio is not from a real game either, amusingly hightlighted by the fact that the game calls out Magnum's name ("Hurry Magnum, or you will forfeit the game!")! The fictional game is clearly inspired by the classic, landmark 3D first-person perspective games 3D Monster Maze (1981) and Dungeons of Daggorath (1982).

⁸ The Kahala Hilton is used as a filming location for the King Kamehameha Club for the fifth and final time. It was previously used in "Echoes of the Mind" (5.1 & 5.2), "Mac's Back" (5.3), "Tran Quoc Jones" (5.9), and "Luther Gillis: File #001" (5.10). The Marks Estate in the Nuuanu Valley is also again used for an establishing shot of the King Kamehameha Club.

⁹ Jo Pruden (Lenor Vandercliff) makes her fourth and final appearance on the show. Jo is a well-known local Oahu theatre actress. Since 1967, she has appeared in over 75 roles on island stages and has been honored with 11 Pookela Awards. She's also appeared in ten Hawaii Five-O episodes.

¹⁰ Magnum has an aunt named "Mildred". She joins "Aunt Margaret", "Uncle Richie", and "Uncle George".

¹¹ Another Robin Masters novel is identified, Tales of the Voyeur. The novel is seen being read by a security guard.

¹² When Magnum first meets Krista at the King Kam club beach, Krista is seen reading a copy of Logic & Memory Experiments Using TTL Integrated Circuits (by David G. Larsen), an electronics book from the 1970's.

¹³ Higgins mentions the "Kona Winds" which later will become the subject of the Season Six episode of the same name. (Noted by N1095A)

¹⁴ At the end, Magnum tells Krista he will meet her "at La Mer", which is a very expensve 5 star restaurant serving mostly French Cuisine and located at the Halekulani on Waikiki Beach. The brief scene with Magnum waiting for Krista to arrive appears to have been filmed at the La Mer. (Noted by Robert Gorham)

Quotes

¹
Dungeon Master Game: Warning, there is a Red Dragon behind this door.
Magnum: Turn left six paces.
Dungeon Master Game: Oops, passageway blocked. Try again.
Magnum: Ok then, turn right.
Dungeon Master Game: False exit. There is a trap door two steps in front of you.
Magnum: Cmon, I've been trapped in this corridor for over two hours....Ok, secret door.
Dungeon Master Game: Wrong again. You have used all of your warning wands. One more wrong choice will unleash a White Demon. Hurry Magnum, or you will forfeit the game.
Magnum: Calm down you little turkey. Give me some time to think.
Dungeon Master Game: The Dungeon Master says you have 10 seconds... (counts down to zero)... Too late, you lose!
Magnum: (types and says) Drop dead!!!!
(Robin Masters' Dracos III computer system crashes!)

²
Higgins: Problem!? Problem!?

³
Higgins: Oh my God! You've crashed the Dracos III! You were playing games again.
Magnum: Games?
Higgins: Don't lie to me Magnum. You were playing some insipid game on Robin Masters $100,000 computer system!
Magnum: It made me do it!
Higgins: It what?!
Magnum: It made me do it!
Higgins: It made you do it?!!
Magnum: I came in here to do my nightly check and when I entered my pass code the computer said, "Hi, Magnum. Want to finish our game?"
Higgins: You said you had erased all those games.
Magnum: Well, I must have missed one!
Jim "Mac" Bonnick: Don't worry Higgins, I'll have this thing re-programmed before the competition.
Higgins: (points at "Mac") You told him! Him!!
Magnum: I had no choice! It had to be re-programmed before it was too late!
Higgins: It is already too late! A representative of the insurance company breached the estate last night, including the safe! That won't insure the competition, so there will be no competition! And its all your fault!!

Flubs

¹ When Krista Villaroch (Jenny Agutter) breaks into the Estate the first time, it is painfully obvious that they used a male stuntman for the wall jumping shot. (Noted by Frodoleader)

² There are several lock-related flubs in the scene where Higgins opens the safe:

• Higgins would have had to first spin the tumbler of the locking device around several times to reset it. He did not.
• Higgins only used a three number code for the lock (instead of four), which is unlikely, if not unheard of, in a UL-approved combination lock.
• The operation of the combination lock is silent, not like the loud clicks heard in the episode.

(Noted by Tim)

³ When Doc Villaroch makes a toast to his daughter Krista, the level of liquid in his glass is higher when he takes the sip. (Noted by Mark Seaman)

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