Magnum Mania!

Way of the Stalking Horse

Episode ID: 123
Episode Number: 6.17
Air Date: 2/20/1986
Writer: Bruce Cervi
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Producer: Chris Abbott
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Elisha Cook Jr. (Icepick), Glenn Cannon (Doc Ibold), Kwan Hi Lim (Lt. Tanaka), Kathleen Lloyd (Carol Baldwin)

Guest Stars

Morgan Stevens (Driscoll), Marta Kober (Mary Elizabeth), Clu Gulager (Theo Wolf), Mie Hunt (Kim Nakamura Wolf), Ron Wood (Reporter #3)

Plot Outline

Magnum takes on a case to find a man's missing father, and soon finds himself the target of a ruthless hit man.

Rating

9.0 (19 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 This episode begins with a flashback to Miami in 1975. Stock aerial footage of Miami is used, but no scenes were actually filmed there. Miami (1955) was also used in the opening flashback scene of "Mr. White Death" (3.9).

2 The "stalking horse" motif is used in three other episodes, "The Last Page" (2.20), "Birdman of Budapest" (3.16) and "Laura" (7.18), although here the effect is much more dramatic in this dark, gritty, suspense-filled episode.

3 Magnum is shot just below his left collarbone and goes into cardiac arrest. He comes close to death, and has almost heavenly-like visions of his friends. This is a forerunner to the infamous Season Seven closer "Limbo" (7.22), where he seemingly dies and goes to heaven. One of his "visions" involves "Bogie-Rick", complete with white suit, stache and bowtie! [pic]

4 Six years into the show's run, Magnum finally straps on a seatbelt while driving the Ferrari! [pic] We won't see another seatbelt in use until later in Season Seven.

5 Higgins casually mentions Ernest Thayer's classic 1888 baseball poem "Casey at the Bat".

6 Magnum name-checks New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden.

7 Honolulu International Airport is again used as a filming location.

8 Magnum has an "Uncle Jim" who lived in his hometown of Tidewater (Region), Virginia. He coached Magnum's little league team when he was in the 4th grade. No mention as to how he relates to Uncle Richie, Uncle George, Aunt Margaret, Aunt Mildred, or Aunt Phoebe.

9 For many years, the IMDB (and other sources) incorrectly credited the Rolling Stones' Ron Wood as appearing in this episode (as Reporter #3), as well as three other MPI episodes. After numerous attempts, the correct Ron Wood was finally added to the IMDB in 2007.

10 T.C. is seen wearing a Super Bowl XX hat. Super Bowl XX was played a little over a month before this episode aired. The Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots 46-10.

Quotes

1
Magnum: After the first time I was wounded in Vietnam, I'd noticed a weird series of reactions to being shot. I'd wondered if anybody had ever written them down like Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' "Stages of Death". First, there's denial. Then comes a giddy kind of relief, shock and surprise at still being alive. All the senses working together in Technicolor and Hi-Fi at the joy of actually having survived. And then, the paranoia sets in. If it's happened once, it can happen again. Suddenly, every sound is an approaching enemy, every smell a lethal gas, and no way of knowing whether it's a mind game, or a clear and present danger. And no way of stoping the heart racing, the palms sweating, until the paranoia stage has slipped into revenge. (Narration)

2
(Icepick walks into Magnum's hospital room)
Icepick: You outta get a tennis ball. It'll bring that grip back in no time. I've seen guys lose a hand. A tennis ball, makes the other hand twice as strong.
Magnum: Tennis ball?! Right.
Icepick: You are wondering why I am here?
Magnum: No, well, yes, I'm glad to see you.
Icepick: Ethics Magnum. Nobody knows about ethics no more. In the old days there would never be this kind of garbage where everybody gets hit. The guy that got hit, he got hit thats all, not everybody around him. There's no ethics!
Magnum: I know you didn't just come here to talk to me about ethics.
Icepick: No I didn't, no. Just let me talk. All you have to do is listen.
(Magnum shakes head up and down)
Icepick: Now, the "hitter's" name is Driscoll. He's new in the "business", looking to make a name for himself. He took on a contract that nobody has been able to fill for ten years. Now Theo Wolf, he's been a mark ever since he did a job in Miami ... [snip]
Magnum: Why are you doing this?
Icepick: Ethics, that piece of dirt. He "hit" a friend of mine.
Magnum: Theo Wolf?
Icepick: I didn't know Theo. You never saw me. (walks out)

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