Unfinished Business (8.8)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the eighth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
37
29%
9.5 (One of the Best)
60
47%
9.0 (Excellent)
9
7%
8.5 (Very Good)
12
9%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
5
4%
7.5 (Decent)
2
2%
7.0 (Average at Best)
0
No votes
6.5 (Not So Good)
0
No votes
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
3
2%
 
Total votes: 128

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arri
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#46 Post by arri »

MACattack wrote:I'm sure Magnum wasn't thinking about the consequences of sneeking into the military compound. He was bent on revenge because he thought Lily had been murdered. He had nothing to lose at that point. Had that been my daughter, I would do the same thing. I was really impressed how Magnum had a change in conscience at the end. He did the right thing by walking away, so the woman could be reunited with her father. This episode touched me emotionally, when usually I watch MPI for the car chases and gunfights.
My point about the military compound is the whole episode was great, sneaking into a military compound is out in left field. I wish he got the information another way...it just seemed too far-fethced. This is one of my favorites, along with "Sunrise"

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#47 Post by MACattack »

I still think this episode was hardcore. Only Magnum could get away with what he did. He supposedly was a navy seal in nam and he worked in N.I.A. before becoming a private investigator. I have no doubt he could sneak into any military compound if he wanted to. I'm also confident he could execute any personal mission to completion. Episodes 'Did you see the sunrise?' and 'Tigers fan' are proof of that.
On another note, its just a TV show. After 9/11, I don't think anybody could pull that infiltration off today, at least not without a court martial!

When logic fails, pop open another COOPS beer and watch MPI! 8)
I just don't give a damn!

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Kana
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Unfinished Business

#48 Post by Kana »

I consider this to be the most intense episode of the series. It shows TM at his most determined and operating with a single mindedness seldom displayed on the show.
Definately one of the best, if not THE best.
Yes, the avatar is me standing outside Robin's Nest wearing my Magnum red parrot shirt!

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Agatha
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#49 Post by Agatha »

Oops, Carmen. I watched The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company today. It's the episode just AFTER Unfinished Business. Thomas is wearing an MIA bracelet. I don't know if he went back and picked up the one he took off or got another one but he's wearing it.

?????

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Carmen
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#50 Post by Carmen »

That`s strange, Agatha. IMO it wouldn`t make sense. Did he wear it just once in 'the great Hawaiian...', that way it seems to be a mistake by TS or whoever told him to wear it :?: :!:
Sometimes I get so lucky, even I don`t believe it (TSM)

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Agatha
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#51 Post by Agatha »

No, he wears it throughout the episode. At least I see it whenever he isn't dressed up to promote the Adventure idea.

It occurred to me that maybe they filmed The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company before they filmed Unfinished Business...but then it would have been a HUGE flub to air it AFTER they had already established that Thomas "took off" his MIA bracelet in Unfinished Business. For good, I mean.

So I kind of assumed that you were mistaken. However...I haven't seen the rest of Season 8 yet so you know better than I do about whether or not he wears the bracelet in the rest of the episodes.

Interesting....very interesting...

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Isn't the ocean beautiful at sunset? So soft....so peaceful...so romantic!

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Carmen
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#52 Post by Carmen »

...indeed... :?
Sometimes I get so lucky, even I don`t believe it (TSM)

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Jay-Firestorm
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#53 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

Wednesday’s review.

[rating=9.5]

Magnum prepares for the trial of Quang Ki, who tried to kill both him and Michelle. But when the case is unexpectedly dismissed, Magnum receives a videotape showing terrible information about Michelle and daughter Lily, and goes out for revenge. A great ep…

-----

This review contains spoilers.

Although most episodes of ‘Magnum, p.i.’, while maintaining a lot of continuity, are very much ‘stand alone’ stories, ‘Unfinished Business’ concludes a on-going plot, tying up the seventh season’s finale ‘Limbo’ and the season eight opener ‘Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts’, although the threads of it go even further back, to the classic second season feature-length / two-parter ‘Memories Are Forever’.

As I mentioned on my review for ‘Limbo’, when Five here in the U.K. ran the series each weekday morning in 2002-3, I had never seen this far down the show’s run. I religiously both watched and videotaped each day’s episode, but a couple of minutes into the key episode ‘Limbo’, the street was hit by a power cut and I missed it! As a result of that, I was unable to fully follow ‘Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts’ and unable to fully get my teeth into ‘Unfinished Business’. It’s not until watching the series on DVD that I am finally able to follow the story right though and get into it more.

Quang Ki’s case suddenly being dropped comes as a surprise, but is nothing compared to the terrible moment when Magnum watches the videocassette sent to him and sees Michelle and Lily Catherine blown up in a car bomb.

This episode is a favourite with many fans, and I have to agree it is a very good one. Seeing Magnum breaking every rule and law imaginable to plan the killing of Quang Ki is excellent (although he must have been *really good* to walk onto a Military base undetected!), and the moment at the end where he can’t bring himself to take a pot shot at Ki, realising the political implications it would have in the P.O.W. return programme, is a powerful one.

Many fans rank this amongst their all-time favourite episodes – indeed, at time of writing (October 2009), it ranks first place on the Top 10 most popular episodes on TV.com; personally, I really like it, although am not sure if it would quite scrape my personal Top 10; Top 20 possibly. (For the record, as I’ve mentioned in a number of previous reviews, my personal all-time favourite MPI episode is the classic fourth season opener ‘Home From the Sea’). But even so, I really like ‘Unfinished Business’ – it is a strong contender as best episode of the eighth, final season, and showcases MPI at it’s best.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* It’s returned – more abridged act breaks, aaargh. (Okay, little things like that bug me!)

* This episode features no narration as such from Magnum, but we do hear his letters to Lily Catherine.

* A document in this story is dated Mon 18 1988 – Which would seem to be two days before this episode originally aired.

* Rick only appears in one scene (well, two, if you count inside and outside the courtroom separately) in this story.
JAY FIRESTORM

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J.J. Walters
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#54 Post by J.J. Walters »

What kind of rifle does Magnum use in this episode?

Image

Image
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#55 Post by MaximRecoil »

James J. Walters wrote:What kind of rifle does Magnum use in this episode?
It is a Steyr SSG 69 with a butter knife bolt handle and double set triggers, probably chambered for the .308 Winchester cartridge (commercial version of the military 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge).

Here is one that also has a butter knife bolt handle and double set triggers:

Image

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J.J. Walters
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#56 Post by J.J. Walters »

You're the man Max! Thank you so much. :)

So, this is an Austrian rifle? It doesn't appear to be very common in the U.S., correct?

I wonder why The Mag is using this particular sniper rifle? :?
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#57 Post by MaximRecoil »

James J. Walters wrote:You're the man Max! Thank you so much. :)

So, this is an Austrian rifle? It doesn't appear to be very common in the U.S., correct?

I wonder why The Mag is using this particular sniper rifle? :?
Yes, it is Austrian. In fact, you can just barely make out "Made in Austria" in those screen shots.

It is a very nice rifle, and they are generally very accurate out of the box (1/2 MOA is common). I don't believe they have ever been officially issued by the U.S. Military (they've used e.g., the Winchester Model 70, Remington Model 700, M1 Garand, M14 as "sniper rifles"), but Special Operations Forces may have more leeway when it comes to selecting their weapons than the typical GI does.

Former U.S. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper (now deceased) was quite fond of the Steyr rifles. He worked with them to realize his concept of the "Scout Rifle", which Steyr now sells as the "Steyr Scout".

Cooper was quite influential in the gun world. He is the one that published the "Mozambique Drill" (mentioned by Higgins in "Mad Buck Gibson"). He was also the man behind the "Bren Ten" (Sonny Crockett's pistol in Miami Vice) and its 10mm cartridge; a 10mm pistol which was based on the legendary CZ-75 platform (which Cooper also helped to popularize).

Cooper was most famous for his promotion of the 1911 platform and its native .45 ACP cartridge for use in close quarters combat. He had a training school called "Gunsite" and also offered a specially customized 1911 (usually based on a Colt or Springfield) called the "Gunsite Service Pistol". We know that Magnum agreed with him on the 1911 .45.

Maybe someone involved with the show (perhaps Selleck himself) payed attention to Jeff Cooper and made some suggestions; though he often violated Cooper's "Golden Rule" of firearms safety:
Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target. This is the Golden Rule. Its violation is directly responsible for about 60 percent of inadvertent discharges.

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Agatha
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#58 Post by Agatha »

I have no clue about why I'm posting to a discussion about guns...which I know nothing about...but don't I remember that Thomas took that gun from Buck's gun cabinet? I mean his personal gun cabinet? While he was "ghosting" into everyone's houses trying to figure out what happened with Ki's trial? Yes? No?

And...Magnum may have have violated Cooper's Golden Rule but I'm sure I remember Jesse Stone teaching Suitcase about it. Aren't I? Sure, I mean? The quote in the post is SO familiar. I just feel that Jesse says that to Suitcase while they're practicing on the target range right after he becomes Chief in Paradise.

Oh good. An excuse to watch Night Passage again!!

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J.J. Walters
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#59 Post by J.J. Walters »

Ah, you're right Agatha! I totally forgot about that! :oops:

So I wonder why Buck has that rifle? Seems an odd choice for a Marine Colonel, but what do I know.
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Agatha
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#60 Post by Agatha »

You know A LOT, James!!

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Isn't the ocean beautiful at sunset? So soft....so peaceful...so romantic!

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