Magnum Mania!

Mac's Back

Episode ID: 87
Episode Number: 5.3
Air Date: 10/11/1984
Writer: Donald P. Bellisario
Director: Alan J. Levi
Producer: Reuben Leder
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Jeff MacKay (Jim "Mac" Bonnick), Lance LeGault (Col. Buck Greene), Glenn Cannon (Doc Ibold), Carmella Barut (Carmella), Esmond Chung (Sgt. Kenny Chung)

Guest Stars

Robert Harker (Jeweler), Darryl Ferrera (Fr. Jim Hiller), Fred Ball (Ice Cream Store Manager), Winston Char (Duc-Ho), Tara Clark (Olga)

Plot Outline

Diane's suicide triggers memories of others that Magnum has loved who have been killed, sending him into a spiral of depression. Magnum's sanity comes into question when he thinks he has seen his old friend Lt. Mac MacReynolds walking down the street. But Mac is dead, so who did he see?

Rating

9.0 (15 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 This is the first "Mac-centric" episode of the series.

2 An alternate version of the standard theme song can be heard in this episode! The guitar and drums work, in particular, are very different in this version. This is the only episode where this version can be heard. With this alternate version there are now six different versions of the theme song:

• Original (Extended Version) (opening Pilot only)
• Original (Closing Credits Version) (ending Pilot only)
• Original (Normal Version) (Episodes 2-11)
• Standard (Closing Credits Version) (closing credits of Episode 8 only)
• Standard (Episodes 12-86, 88-162)
• Standard (Alternate Version) (Episode 87 - "Mac's Back"- only)

3 This episode stands on its own, but has a greater impact when viewed immediately after "Echoes of the Mind (2)" (5.2), as events from that episode are referenced.

4 We see flashbacks to several scenes from previous episodes:

• Diane's suicide in "Echoes of the Mind (2)" (5.2)
• Michelle's near death at the hands of Col. Ki in "Memories Are Forever (2)" (2.6)
• Mac's death in "Did You See the Sunrise? (1)" (3.1)
• Rick's sister Wendy's death in "Distant Relative" (4.4)
• Dan Cook's death in the "Pilot Movie" (1.1)
• Magnum's father's death in "Home From the Sea" (4.1)

5 The Kahala Hilton is used as a filming location for the King Kamehameha Club for the second time, following "Echoes of the Mind" (5.1 & 5.2).

6 Jeff MacKay returns to the series as con man Jim "Mac" Bonnick after one year of filming for Tales of the Gold Monkey, a Bellisario show that failed to make it in the ratings, and was cancelled. Jim was recently medically discharged (bad eardrum) from the Navy as a Lieutenant Grade Pilot. Jim uses several aliases in this episode, including Fr. Jim Hiller, Lt. Neville Thompson (NIA), Lt. Briggs (Pilot), and Cmdr. Broderick (Shore Patrol). Jim "Mac" Bonnick will appear in 8 more episodes.

7 Future longtime KGMB (Hawaii) news reporter Jade Moon makes a brief uncredited appearance in the poker game scene [pic].

8 Doc Ibold mentions three works of fiction from Higgins' study, Harvey (1945 Pulitzer Prize winning play by Mary Chase), the 1929 Hardy Boys novel The Mystery of Cabin Island, and Ernest Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940).

9 Always suspected, but never confirmed until now, Higgins and Magnum first met in 1979.

10 In 1949 in India, Higgins was Lord Mountbatten's batman while the regular batman recovered from a mishap with a sacred cow. While getting figs for Monty, he saw a holy man who looked exactly like his mother! It was "bloody frightening"!

Quotes

1
Higgins: If you're going to drink yourself into a stupor, wouldn't whiskey be more effective?
Magnum: Too hard to keep an even buzz on with whiskey.

2
Magnum: It's not just Diane! It's Michelle and Mac, Rick's little sister, Dan Cook, the little Vietnamese kid whose name I can't remember....My Dad. All people I loved, or who counted on me, and they're gone.
Higgins: Death is part of life. I know that sounds trite, but the very nature of life means that the older we get, the more loses we can expect. And, if we go to war, or choose a profession such as yours, those loses are going to be higher.
Magnum: Look, Higgins. I know you are trying to help and I appreciate it, I really do. I know this isn't going to solve anything, I know I'm being morose, and stupid, but I just don't give a damn.

3
Higgins: The two of you are as nervous as a pair of Devonshire schoolgirls.
T.C.: And you're not?
Higgins: No.
T.C.: Then why have you been sipping tea from an empty cup for the last half-hour?

Flubs

1 In the scene where Rick, T.C. and Higgins meet Jim "Mac" Bonnick, and they explain to Magnum that they didn't think he was crazy, there is an audio/video sync error - their lips don't match the words spoken. (Noted by Mike Barnes)

2 At the end, when Mac's ghost is lighting Magnum's cigar, we very briefly see the medals on his uniform. Although it is a super quick look, you can see a Vietnam campaign ribbon. Mac never once mentions being in Vietnam, and according to Magnum in "Did You See the Sunrise?" (3.1 & 3.2) Mac "wasn't in 'Nam". (Noted by N1095A)

Wish to add something? Got a correction? Shoot me an email.

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