Magnum Mania!

The People vs. Orville Wright

Episode ID: 148
Episode Number: 7.21
Air Date: 4/1/1987
Writer: Bruce Cervi
Director: Burt Brinkerhoff
Producer: Rick Weaver
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Kathleen Lloyd (Carol Baldwin), Elisha Cook Jr. (Icepick), Kwan Hi Lim (Lt. Tanaka), Carmella Barut (Carmella), Esmond Chung (Sgt. Kenny Chung)

Guest Stars

Lyman Ward (Frank Foley), John Lansing (Det. Reggert), John Zarchen (Rick's Attorney), Maria O'Brien (Manager Applicant #2), Leo Gordon (Mobster), Kirk Matthews (Mr. Finch)

Plot Outline

Rick just can't seem to catch a break when he is arrested for the murder of a hit man contracted to kill Icepick.

Rating

8.0 (12 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 This is the seventh "Rick-centric" episode of the series.

2 Seven years into the show's run and we finally get to see what the outside of Rick's house looks like! [pic] It appears to be a ground-floor unit in a condo complex of some sort. The filming location for the scene appears to be at a spot just off Kalanianole highway on Kawaihae street, near the Kuliouou Beach Park [map]. (Location Noted by rubber chicken)

3 Rick mentions his younger sister Wendy again. She was murdered in "Distant Relative" (4.4). He also mentions New York Mets pitcher Sid Fernandez (who was born and raised in Oahu - Kaiser High School).

4 Icepick's house is seen for only the second time. The house seen here is different than the one used in "Death of the Flowers" (7.12).

5 Magnum mentions a cousin named "Rainy". He had a pet bird who was named after the Canadian actor Walter Pidgeon. One summer, Walter had a chance to fly to freedom, but he couldn't find his way around a non-enclosed glass partition [see quote #4 below].

6 T.C.'s chopper is seen with a new registration number - N4943T.

7 Magnum says Rick spent three Tours of Duty in Vietnam, the same as him.

8 The "Hawaii Metro Police" station establishing shot is used again. This shot was filmed at the Territorial Office Building in Honolulu (425 South King Street), built in 1926 and on the National Register of Historic Places (1978). This shot has been used in several other episodes, sometimes with different names (i.e. "Circuit Court" and "KEKUANAOA"). The address is always the same, "465" (which is different than the current address of "425" today). (Noted by Island Hopper & rubber chicken)

9 This episode has an unusual, unexpected, twist cliffhanger ending. After the murder charges against Rick are dropped, he is arrested on illegal weapons charges and sent to prison! Roll end credits.

10 The jail that Rick is sent to at the end was filmed at the Halawa Correctional Facility in Aiea [map]. (Noted by rubber chicken)

Quotes

1
Magnum: Hi, Higgins.
Higgins: (looks at Magnum) I see you have been beaten up again.

2
Magnum: And don't tell me you were momentarily confused! Just explain to me how you kept your head in three tours of Vietnam, got us threw "Bien Loc", and then got somehow momentarily confused into confessing murder!? Or don't you think the prosecution is smart enough to bring any of that up!?

3
Rick: Hey Thomas, you read about Sid Fernandez?
Magnum: No.
Rick: He did even better in spring training than he did in the series. Everybody's watchin'. You know, it makes you feel proud, eh, local boy makes good. The guys here look up to him, that's important.

4
Magnum: A cogent note about Walter Pidgeon, not the actor, my cousin Rainy's pet bird. One summer, Walter got out of the house, onto the deck. He would have flown away except there was a glass partition he couldn't get through. He kept trying and trying, but he kept hitting up against the glass. Now, two feet to the left, and two feet to the right, the partition ended, but he couldn't see the obvious, that there was a glass wall in front of him. The difference between me and Walter Pidgeon was I had finally seen the wall that Frank Foley had thrown up in front of me and I was taking two steps to the left to get around it ... (short time later) ... One last thought about Walter Pidgeon and the "glass wall". I'd always wondered what would have happened if "Old Walter" had gone around the partition and found his freedom. What would he have done with it? Maybe it was better that he never knew what was beyond the wall? (Narration)
[audio]

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