Kapu (7.10)

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
1
1%
9.5 (One of the Best)
6
8%
9.0 (Excellent)
14
18%
8.5 (Very Good)
18
23%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
21
26%
7.5 (Decent)
10
13%
7.0 (Average at Best)
5
6%
6.5 (Not So Good)
5
6%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
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No votes
 
Total votes: 80

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Tesza
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#76 Post by Tesza »

As already mentioned - for me, this episode is the parade example how they somewhat exaggerated TSM being slightly too intuitive regarding his inner voice - he wakes up, doesn't even know what's phase in the hood, and is already sure he's in great danger. Sometimes, he's a nuance too much of psychic ... however, I wouldn't even be too strict there, most likely I wouldn't feel a lot differently in his situation, especially when drugged. (No, I don't know what it's like - I'm just imagining)

I like this episode mainly because it deals with the native Hawaiian culture - which, as already pointed out and pretty obvious, is quite rare in the series. It also makes a clear difference to the presentation of Hawaiʻi as a "mainly white" place the series somewhat liked to come up with - emphasized by Higgins saying, "a young Hawaiian girl can live anywhere" (in the German version put as "Hawaiianerinnen gibt es hier überall" = "Hawaiians (females) are everywhere in here"). We even hear some Hawaiian language, a language that somehow fascinates me.

What I also noticed is that the makers of MPI obviously rather preferred to make up fictitious islands instead of using real ones. Here, we have a fictitious Kapu island in the north of Molokaʻi (somebody already stated that in that case Magnum and Rick would have been able to see neighboring islands, or both would have seen Molokaʻi - Magnum from Kapu, Rick from Oʻahu), although they just could have used Niʻihau (since that island is a kapu, and was even more at the time this episode aired, nobody would have noticed it wasn't filmed there). In "Operation: Silent Night" they also made up that "French Island" instead of using Kahoʻolawe, which has been used as a military training area for the U.S. Navy at that time, before it became a natural reserve in 1993. It doesn't bother me a lot, but I do notice it, for the reasons already pointed out.

Au contraire - in this case, they did a good job convincing the audience that Kapu existed, by showing the group of islands on a map in a short scene. Nowadays, you can search for it at Google Maps - 30 years ago you either had a precise map of Hawaii, or you'd never find out if that island group was real or not (let's skip that "dammit how I feel young" part ^^). I immediately had to think about exactly this part when I read about phantom islands and how they still influence our way of thinking - even despite the modern possibilities.

Regarding the "Thomas and Rick look at each other synchronously without genuinely seeing each other" scene - do they even look into the right direction? I mean, even if there was a Kapu island in the north of Molokaʻi, wouldn't Magnum look northwards (away from Molokaʻi, since he can't spot it) and Rick southwards (since you can't see Molokaʻi from Honolulu)? - However, great scene, which shows how close their friendship actually is.

Speaking of both the scenes I've dealt with above - I adore these 2-to-4-minute scenes with music they came up with in the later seasons (also, the "Genesis music scenes" and other ones of that kind in the same era). Especially the way you see Rick describing Magnum just raising his hand to indicate his size and forming his mustache to show a prominent feature everyone would remember. - What I especially adore about said scene is the music played in the background of this scene - you have that typical 1980s sound combined with these "tropical" sounds and the moll version of "Higgins's Theme" - interestingly enough, you hear it once when seeing Higgins in the museum and twice in the "Magnum and Rick look at each other" part, where Higgins isn't seen - it resembles the short tune you hear when Higgins leaves the Estate in "Mad Dogs and Englishmen". As I am a big fan of audio play and film music, I just love the whole part - it's one of my favorite music pieces in the whole series. Sometimes I just start the episode just to listen to this special part (without even watching it, although I did like it as I stated - just listening ^^). They really should have used it more frequently.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#77 Post by PickledEggPlease »

Did I miss a posts or did I catch my first flub? (excited!)

Doing the described video (for people with low/no vision) for this episode now. Describing the visuals, I initially described Alea and Mano in the boat as wearing a pink sarong and beige cloth respectively... When I went to describe the man in the beige cloth a minute later...he was wearing red. And Alea was wearing blue! Then when Mano called her from the dock, he was back in beige, she was in blue.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#78 Post by J.J. Walters »

Gotta give some props for Dick "The Giant" Jensen here. Native Hawaiian who appeared in 5 Magnum episodes and several Hawaii Five-O episodes. Released several albums in the early 70's and was a regular performer at the Outrigger Waikiki and the Oceania Floating Restaurant (among others). Wikipedia says he opened for The Stones in '68. but that's hard for me to wrap my mind around (I can't verify that with my limited ability).

Anyway, here he is on the Ed Sullivan show...


youtu.be/Usfarvebv4A
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#79 Post by brianw »

Weak plot, but not a bad episode. The shootout could have been done a little better at the end, and why the hell didn't TM just return to Hawaii with TC and the guys in the chopper, instead of paddling?

The scene with the dog pooping in the background, although I didn't even notice, is hilarious. It reminds me of a Baywatch episode where the scene was in slow motion on the beach and someone in the background can be seen mooning the camera.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#80 Post by K Hale »

Milton Collins wrote:Ok, so the guy playing the angry Hawaiian who doesn't like TM being there, how many different guys has this guy played over the many episodes he's appeared in? I can place him in at least the following: The Kona Winds (the guy who says "if you can't bring Magnum to the party then you bring the party to Magnum" and brings TM a pitcher of booze in Rick's office) Blind Justice (as Willie "K" the car salesman who sells TM the lemon) and theres probably a couple others that I'm missing. I just find it funny that they used the same actor so many different times to play different characters. That's part of the charm of the show though and makes it more likable, just pointing out the obvious I guess. This was not one of my favorite episodes but was interesting and different at the same time.
He was also a cop in “Three Minus Two.” He shows up at the estate to investigate a murder possibly committed by Jan Kona the swimsuit designer, thereby annoying Higgins with a “police raid.”
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#81 Post by K Hale »

On my trip to Oahu a couple of weeks ago, I visited the Bishop Museum, which appears in this episode. It is not named in the episode but there are exterior and interior shots. Higgins is volunteering as a tour guide. My goal was to find the room where he talks to Rick, but it seems there have been changes and I was never sure I had found it.

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I did find the staircase Higgins and his tour group descend, but I had not thought to watch the episode ahead of time before going there, so I didn't get the same angles.

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I also looked for the tattoo implements Higgins demonstrates with:

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And the large one in this case may be the same one.

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The tapa cloth may be this one.

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Exterior shots. Here is Rick and his cousin arriving.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#82 Post by The Birdman »

I watched this episode today.
So I was sitting there watching and I saw the part where the hitman takes the shells to that guy and the guy gos over to a huge map/poster on the wall and points to some small islands north of maloka'i. I promptly go to Google Earth (I was already surfing the web on my tablet) and to my surprise the islands don't exist. I found it kinda weird that they'd make a fake map for the show. Kinda disappointing.
I already read through this thread and saw where people are speculating that it was based on Ni'ihau. Way off in terms of location.

Something else I noticed is how these people are supposed to be isolated and nothing from the outside, yet they live in stick built houses. Kinda weird.

I don't like how fake it is that they want people to believe people still live like this in Hawaii. No outsiders allowed? It sounds more like North Sentinel island.

I rate this episode low.
Uh PHRASING!!!!

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#83 Post by No need to know! »

The Birdman wrote:I watched this episode today.
So I was sitting there watching and I saw the part where the hitman takes the shells to that guy and the guy gos over to a huge map/poster on the wall and points to some small islands north of maloka'i. I promptly go to Google Earth (I was already surfing the web on my tablet) and to my surprise the islands don't exist. I found it kinda weird that they'd make a fake map for the show. Kinda disappointing.
I already read through this thread and saw where people are speculating that it was based on Ni'ihau. Way off in terms of location.

Something else I noticed is how these people are supposed to be isolated and nothing from the outside, yet they live in stick built houses. Kinda weird.

I don't like how fake it is that they want people to believe people still live like this in Hawaii. No outsiders allowed? It sounds more like North Sentinel island.

I rate this episode low.
Same here. I never liked this episode. One of the weakest of this season.
Onion´s extra?

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K Hale
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#84 Post by K Hale »

If you do a little reading on Ni’ihau, it is kinda like that. It is privately owned and not exclusively limited to Hawaiians but other than that... yeah, I can see the comparison. No electricity, no running water, no paved roads. It even has its own dialect of Hawaiian.

Of course they had to invent the islands for the show, since it’s fictional.
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#85 Post by ENSHealy »

marlboro wrote: Fri Nov 22, 2013 8:38 pm Was Magnum actually injured at all? I saw blood in the water when the assassin shot at them, but I never saw an actual wound.
SignGuyHPW wrote: Thu May 08, 2014 5:03 am I was also puzzled that it was implied Magnum was shot, but when he's on the island they just say he'd hit his head. It didn't really make much sense to me that the injury was so different.
Based on these images, I've always gathered that we're suppose to assume a bullet grazed his forehead, knocking him out and giving him a concussion. Although most of the actual symptoms we observe I think are supposed to be from whatever mickey they are slipping him. And my assumption also has been that the girl keeps sneaking in and replacing whatever they're giving him with fresh water, in order to try to bring him out of it.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#86 Post by ENSHealy »

EPISODE: 7.10 Kapu

Famous guest stars:
Hawaiian shirts:
Tigers Cap:
Island Hopper shirts: 1
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Shirtless Magnum: 1.5 (I was unsure how many points to give here: one, for for an episode in which he appears shirtless - similar to how Tiger Cap points are assigned - or three, for three separate scenes in which he appears shirtless. I compromised with 1.5.)
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OMG:
Higgins Organizations:
Higgins musings:
Negotiations:
Gun Play: 1
Bullet wounds: 1
Body Count (by Magnum): 1
Little Voice:
I know what you’re thinking:
When I write HTBAWCPI:
Investigator corrections:
4th wall breaks:
Magnumometer: 5.5
Magnumometer Moments: https://vimeo.com/671675357

If you listen closely at the 15:53 mark…you can hear that they have Kudu buck on Kapu!

Oops…looks like they aren’t really on Ni’ihau, or some fictitious island north of Molokai named Kapu…as that is clearly Honolulu on the horizon. I know, I know…pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#87 Post by Gorilla Mask »

ENSHealy wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 5:15 pm

Oops…looks like they aren’t really on Ni’ihau, or some fictitious island north of Molokai named Kapu…as that is clearly Honolulu on the horizon. I know, I know…pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#88 Post by charybdis1966 »

charybdis1966 wrote: Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:29 am What occurred to me watching this is how the present day 40 something me perceived this episode and compared to how the early 20's me would've done when I first saw it.

Back then I would have found this tedious due to the lack of Ferrari car chases, bikini babes and light hearted comedy and the focus on native Hawaiian culture.

Watching today it is precisely this focus on Hawaiian culture that is so fascinating and, on the whole, sensitively done. Looking back on this thread I see the similarities with TOS Star Trek episode which made me subconciously wonder if Thomas brandishing his gun would be a violation of the prime directive.

Aside from how the hitman found his target on Kapu so quickly I can say that overall I enjoyed this one.
Looking back at my comment on this a few years back (February 2016) and, having watched this on DVD tonight it shows I must be changing as I found it a slow, overly talky episode.
There were some nice touches here and there but overall I’m not sure what I saw in this previously.
Last edited by charybdis1966 on Fri Apr 28, 2023 9:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#89 Post by Victor DiGorgio »

ENSHealy wrote: Sun Jan 30, 2022 4:37 pm
marlboro wrote: Fri Nov 22, 2013 8:38 pm Was Magnum actually injured at all? I saw blood in the water when the assassin shot at them, but I never saw an actual wound.
SignGuyHPW wrote: Thu May 08, 2014 5:03 am I was also puzzled that it was implied Magnum was shot, but when he's on the island they just say he'd hit his head. It didn't really make much sense to me that the injury was so different.
Based on these images, I've always gathered that we're suppose to assume a bullet grazed his forehead, knocking him out and giving him a concussion. Although most of the actual symptoms we observe I think are supposed to be from whatever mickey they are slipping him. And my assumption also has been that the girl keeps sneaking in and replacing whatever they're giving him with fresh water, in order to try to bring him out of it.

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In this scene she says something like "you have to be more careful diving/swimming around coral" inferring that he hit his head when they jumped in the water.

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#90 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

eegorr wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:31 pm
Frodoleader wrote:Interestingly, just recently I heard a comic on the Bob & Tom Radio Show (can't recall his name), that was a Native Hawaiian. He joked that when in Charlotte, NC, about 20 Hawaiians came to his show: "More Hawaiians that were ever on 8 years of Magnum PI!".

...I beg to differ...
Yeah, so much for comedy being based on reality! :lol:

You could say that about just about any other show (except maybe Hawaii Five-O). but not MPI! Even the average episode has several Hawaiians in it, some of them with recurring roles and others who play different supporting parts in different episodes. Not to mention the number of extras they employed!
And this episode featured plenty of Hawaiians... more than showed up for his comedy show, I'll bet!
I beg to differ. "Hawaiian Eye" (1959 - 1963) featured many Hawaiians in all sorts of roles, many being authority figures. Star Robert Conrad's character was half Hawaiian, Tom Lopaka.
The Hawaiian culture and history was always respected, no Hollywood actors made up to look Polynesian. It was mainly filmed in Burbank, the set for the PI's HQ was beautiful, set in
the real Hawaiian Village Hotel along with the Shell Bar. Stock footage was used but they did once in awhile film segments in Hawaii. In the last season 4 episodes were filmed on
location, one featured the mayor of Honolulu, Don Ho and Hawaii Five-O's "Kono" (Zulu).

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