It is similar to the question of whether Higgins really is Robin Masters. If you only watched the last 4 seasons of MPI, you would probably say yes, Higgins is Robin Masters, but the problem with that is the writing in the first 4 years of the show eliminated any possibility that Higgins is Robin. I don't think the writers thought of that possibility until year 5.
I think so, too. But in the end, I liked the idea that Higgins was (for me) Robin Masters. Higgins was from a noble kind of family and writing the kind of books that Masters was writing was "shocking". So I like to picture Higgins creating that alter ego and fooling everyone, until Magnum unmasked him.
Maybe some members of his family knew and played the game.
From a writing point of view, I agree that the idea to make Higgins be Robin Masters came late in the game, but I thought it was so funny! And in the end, it was left open enough so that the fans could have their own opinions.
I'm of the opinion that Robin Masters isn't Higgins (or Higgins isn't Robin Masters - whichever way you look at it). Other than the fact that both characters had totally different personalities you also had the facts that Higgins was busy in the army or some other military organisation when Masters' first novel was published and then there are the different styles of presenting the draft of something. Masters preferred to record his books onto tape while Higgins was more inclined to use a typewriter to note down his memoirs.
Zudobug wrote:I'm of the opinion that Robin Masters isn't Higgins (or Higgins isn't Robin Masters - whichever way you look at it). Other than the fact that both characters had totally different personalities you also had the facts that Higgins was busy in the army or some other military organisation when Masters' first novel was published and then there are the different styles of presenting the draft of something. Masters preferred to record his books onto tape while Higgins was more inclined to use a typewriter to note down his memoirs.
But if the guy we saw as Robin Marsters, recording his "books" onto tapes, was just faking it?
And about Higgins being in the army while writing, plenty of people write while having another job. Higgins just needed a pen and a piece of paper to write, back then and then send what he wrote to his alter ego.
Couldn't have been better. I am glad my Season 8 (purchased @ Amazon) has both bar scenes, the one in Annapolis and the bar fight in Honolulu. The latter provided some comic relief and served to bond TM, Rick, TC and Higgins. Tim Rossovich, TS's roomate at USC, makes his last appearance as Hank. By the way, Tim was renowned for eating glass during his college days. This exploit made it into SI! Crazy guy. All those hits as a linebacker at SC and the pros took a toll.
I hope nobody in the forum reveals the ending. I even told my wife that it was incredible and actually somewhat believable. However, I will never tell her how it ends. She is only through season 4 and still has to endure seasons 5 and 6. I say "endure" only because the series seems to bog down there despite having some great episodes.
Please, producers out there, bring back a TV special, a 2 hour reunion at the estate! Include all the wives and kids and maybe grandkids. It was so hard to say goodbye to the series. Season 8 is now back on the bookshelf and Season 1, disc 1 is loaded and ready to go, in front of my eliptical trainer for another 45 minute session! Our friends vacationing in Hawaii just made it to the tidal pool thanks to the map on the site. I'm envious. My visit will have to wait until October!
A footnote....my Season 2 had a defective disc. I purchased all the episodes at Amazon.com. Amazon replaced it quickly and without cost despite being well past the warranty date. Their prices seem fair, also.
Lastly, JJ, thank you for your site and your dilligence in maintaining it. It is appreciated by alot of folks out there who are still "Maniacs."
I really miss a tv serie with this friendly atmosphere and so great dialogues (so far from today's f...k and other vulgarities... i really enjoyed this well-mannered hero who shouts "turkey" at the people who nearly killed him with their boat on Home from the sea)
Magnum-Higgins is for me the best things ever shown on tv!
Your post here REALLY sums up why so many people loved this show and still do!
The Magnum-Higgins dialogue is truly exceptional acting. Classic!
Watched this episode probably for the first time since it aired in 1988. To me there are actually two story lines going on: TM's "resolution" to go back into the Navy, and the Linda Lee Ellison story. The Linda Lee thread is totally superflous to the end of the series. It was merely something to tie into the story.
Noticed a couple of things: at the strip club, Rick asks TM Linda Lee's name, but earlier he barged into her hospital room, when TM returned from Va. to be by her bedside. Didn't Rick know who TM was visiting?
Also, after the bar fight, when our heroes are sitting on the curb, one of TC's shoes are missing!
One thing about the DVD version that bugs me, is the omission of the clips that showed during the closing credits. Clips from past episodes were shown, giving a final homage to a great show!
"You are three months at Dak Wei and still you crack jokes?" - Ivan
OMG, I think I returned my disc # 3 from season 8 to the video store with a few video rentals!!! Is there anyone out there willing to help me out with just needing one disc?
Phew… after part one, I thought the series might go out on weak point, but thankfully this concluding half is FAR better. Warning – this post is LONG!
[rating=9.5]
With Rick’s wedding to Cleo impending, Thomas continues to try and protect Linda from the psychopath who is stalking her, and also receives some momentous news about the fate of daughter Lily. A much more satisfying conclusion to the series…
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This review contains spoilers.
Wow, after seeing the first half of ‘Resolutions’, I was very disappointed, and really feared that such a great series would go out on a real damp squib – thankfully, the conclusion is far better, and a much more satisfying conclusion to the show’s run.
Although originally shown as a feature-length episode (broken into two parts for syndication and some overseas broadcasts), this second episode almost feels like a completely different story in terms of quality. It is with delight that the old ‘Magnum, p.i.’ magic returns for this concluding instalment.
The fight in the strip joint is a highlight. Actually, I found the spark that caused the fight to be a bit forced and unconvincing, but it didn’t matter as it not only lead to one final bar-room brawl, but one of the best of the series!
The plot regarding Linda Lee Ellison’s stalker is still very unfocused, and as I said with my review of Part I, I’m still rather mystified why of all characters, they chose to bring her back for the finale; surely Cynthia (Dana Delany) from season seven’s feature-length ‘L.A.’ and follow-up ‘Out of Sync’ would have worked far better; failing that, why not finally get Magnum and Carol together – they would make the perfect couple!
But either way, thankfully there is enough else going on in this story that the weak plot regarding Linda and her attacker does not matter too much.
One thing that thankfully does make a return to this half of the story, is the show’s wonderful humour (which had been sadly lacking from the over-serious first part). There are some great moments here, and Higgins finally reveals that he is in fact Robin Masters – or is he? His final line to Magnum leaves it once again in doubt.
Of course, the big revelation is that daughter Lily, thought killed in a car bomb, is still alive. Part of me was hoping that it would be explained that Michelle was still alive too, so that Magnum could walk off into the sunset with his family complete, but alas it wasn’t to be.
It is T.C. who actually gets the full family reunion – as well as daughter Melody coming to visit himself and son Bryant, there is an unexpected visit from ex-wife Tina. In a way, this felt a little unconvincing and thrown in at the last minute, but I was willing to forgive this, as it was nice to think that things would work out for ol’ Theodore Calvin.
There has been light-hearted speculation amongst fans over the years that in Magnum’s climatic battle with the psycho killer, that he actually gets killed and the rest of the story is a dream (you need to see the scene in question to get why this could be a theory). Personally I disregard this, but it is still a nice point to look out for.
The final scene is very satisfying, with just about every recurring character (bar Lt. Tanaka, unjustly killed off in ‘Tigers Fan’ earlier in the season) at Rick’s wedding. I really like the closing moment – will Rick say “I do” or not?
As mentioned on my review for Part I, I was very disappointed to find that the DVD version of ‘Resolutions’ is an edited syndicated version, not the original slightly longer version. In particular, there is a two minute montage during the closing credits, that I was really looking forward to – as my off-air version recorded from Five here in the U.K. also had this sequence missing.
Anyway, all-in-all, after a poor opening half, this is a very pleasing end to a wonderful series. Now, if only we could have a reunion movie or two…
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Other notes, bloopers and misc.: (some of these apply to both parts of the story)
* The in-episode credits in this episode unusually appear on the right; they are usually on the left.
* On the two-part DVD version (and presumably some syndicated versions), the version of opening credits used is from seasons 6-7, not season 8.
* Shavar Ross (Bryant) is unusually credited as Shavar M. Ross for this story.
* This is the only time in the show’s run, including her appearance as a different character in the third season’s ‘Almost Home’, that Kathleen Lloyd does not receive ‘Special Guest Star’ billing.
* This is one of the few episodes in which there is no narration from Magnum. The only other examples I can think of are: ‘The Big Blow’ (season 3), ‘One For All’ part one (season 5; part two has one single piece of narration at the very end); ‘Out of Sync’ (7); and ‘Unfinished Business’ (8, although we do hear Magnum’s readings of his ‘letters’ to Lily).
* Magnum smokes his seventeenth, final cigar in this episode. His grandfather joins him.
* Oddly, Jeff MacKay only has one line of dialogue in this episode, but receives an opening guest-cast credit and not the closing credits ‘with thanks to’ credit that given to some others making a cameo.
* When Five broadcast this episode in 2003… I recorded all of the episodes in sequence on numbered videocassettes (as I was still using then), but this episode was ‘left over’ (i.e. would not fit on final cassette) so I recorded it down the end of other tape. And I can’t remember what tape it was, so I can’t dig it out to compare!! But I’m quite certain that, as with most of Five’s feature-length stories edited into two halves, there were a couple of edits for time in order for to fit the time slot; I’d also imagine that the phrase “piss ant” in the strip club fight was also edited out. I do know that the closing credits montage (absent from the DVD version) was also edited out for this broadcast. Anyone know if this is available to watch on-line anywhere?
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Eighth season overview
The producers had ‘painted themselves into a corner’ by killing Magnum off at the end of season seven, so however they brought him back to life was going to be awkward. The final result, ‘Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts’, is not one of my personal favourites, but at least it meant that our favourite P.I. could continue for another (half) season.
Following on from ‘Infinity…’ is ‘Pleasure Principal’, which sees Magnum and Higgins effectively swapping characters. Although it didn’t go down well with some, this is possibly my personal favourite episode from the eighth season.
‘Innocence… A Broad’ is a goofy but fun escapade that could slot about anywhere in the show’s run, but I was disappointed that ‘Tigers Fan’ saw the killing off of one of my favourite recurring characters, Lt. Tanaka.
‘Forever In Time’ is a (sort of) ghost story that has some good ideas but ultimately doesn’t quite work, and ‘The Love that Lies’ – very drama based and not usually my type of story – is a great Carol-centric episode.
Supposed comedy ‘A Girl Named Sue’ is one of the most excruciating episodes of the show’s run in my opinion, but things return to form with the dramatic ‘Unfinished Business’, which sees Magnum planning to go on the rampage to avenge the killing of Michelle and Lily.
The rest of the episodes until the finale are pretty much interchangeable, with only Indiana Jones-spoof ‘Legend of the Lost Art’ standing out. ‘The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company’ is very much a story about nothing, and ‘Transitions’ (featuring the return of Luther Gillis) is an odd and awkward penultimate episode.
The series finale, ‘Resolutions’, starts off extremely disappointing, but thankfully the second part sees a real turnaround, resulting in it becoming a pleasing conclusion to the show.
In a way, it feels like we never fully got to know season eight (the reduced episode count was due in part to a writer’s strike). For the most part, I like it; the majority of the episodes are of reasonable quality, and it rounds off the series nicely.
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Series overview
I won’t write an in-depth analysis of the series here (that’s already in the works for elsewhere), but I will say that ‘Magnum, p.i.’ ranks in my Top 5 all-time favourite U.S. shows.
Maybe unusually, the early episodes were extremely good (some series take their time to find their footing), and I really like the first season – it has such a fresh feel, and comes across as sophisticated yet easy going.
The second season saw the show settling down for its long eight year run. Although there is a definite sag mid-season with some very silly stories, the overall quality of the second year is again high. Highlights include the introduction of Magnum’s ex-wife Michelle, and the first of Higgins’ several half-brothers.
The third season sees the show entering its ‘golden age’, with a really polished and well-rounded feel. Most of the stories are of excellent quality, and things really feel to be ‘firing on all cylinders’ this year.
This continues for most of the fourth season, which again mostly sees high quality episode. The opener, ‘Home From the Sea’, is my all-time favourite MPI episode.
Sadly, the fifth season fell from these heights to rock bottom, with a number of unmemorable stories and guest characters, a real ‘thrown together’ feel, and is miles away in quality from the previous seasons. The episode ‘Mac’s Back’ is the only standout episode of the season for me. Most of the other episodes from this year have little of the MPI flair or sparkle, many being more straightforward and uninteresting dramas.
Although I didn’t like it when I first saw it, considering it to be an extension of the fifth season, I’ve come to reevaluate the sixth season as I’ve come to re-watch it to review. It sees some better stories, but is still not classic MPI.
Thankfully, season seven sees a full return to form, with some of the best episodes of the show’s run; many fan favourites lie in this season. But by the end of the season, the producers felt the show had run its course, and decided to kill Magnum off. This move was met by outcry from fans; eventually, an eighth (half) season was commissioned to round the series off more definitively.
After Magnum was ‘brought back to life’ in ‘Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts’, the rest of the season had a definite feel of beginning to tie up the loose threads. Although there are a few forgettable episodes later in the season, for the whole I like the season. Although the first half of the finale, ‘Resolutions’, is very disappointing, thankfully the second half really picks up to round the show of nicely.
I love MPI because it has something for everyone – drama, action, comedy, mystery – the sort of mix you just don’t seem to get on TV much nowadays. It is also one of those shows that I can watch again and again, as I’ll spot something new every time. But seriously… it must be time for a reunion movie now, surely??
Amazing job Jay! I have loved reading your reviews. Too bad we don't have anymore Magnum's for you to review, and I finally got my Magnum cigar count for the entire series (17). Thanks!
I'm planning to go through the series a second time - there is loads more I want to note on. The great thing with MPI is that there is new stuff to spot each time you watch.
I'm currently trying to make up my mind what my all-time Top 10 episodes are.
