Rembrandt's Girl (4.14)

[J.J. Walters]

This is the official MM thread for Rembrandt's Girl (4.14). All discussions and reviews for this episode should go here. If you wish to rate the episode, please do so with the poll. The avg. score will be the official 'community rating', which will be used on the episode page (updated monthly).

This thread is also linked in the episode page of the Episode Guide.

Original Air Date: 2/2/1984
Magnum finds himself locked into a mystery when a bank teller accidentally traps the two of them in a time-release vault at Robin Master's bank. Inside, they find large amounts of counterfeit bills, which the teller believes is proof that her father, a world-famous painting forger, is back in business.

[J.J. Walters]

I know a lot of people don't care for this episode, but I truly enjoyed it. Carol Burnett and Tom Selleck, I mean Susan Johnson and Thomas Magnum, locked in a bank vault with a bottle of champagne. What's not to love about that? Of course, hilarity and mad, uncontrollable laughter transpires! The end with them belly laughing together for what seems like minutes is priceless! Carol's character with return again in Season Eight's A Girl Named Sue.

[Tom]

Agree, one of the best. Especially thanks to that particular scene.
Maybe not the best action in this episode but I like it. In it are some nice shots of the Rolex 16750 gmt he wears.

T.

[Magnums Little Voice]

Have just watched this episode i thought it was a good one.
The story was great what with TM getting locked in the safe (only him) and all in all pretty good.
Loved the bit near the end when the party was over and Higgins is walking down the stairs in Thomas's apartment and 2 of the people who were ment to be meditating were a sleep or drunk!!

[J.J. Walters]

That's because the fruit juice had fermented in the bottles.

The earlier scene with an agitated Higgins storming into the guesthouse party is one of my all-time favorites. Agatha kills me every time in this scene!

http://magnum-mania.com/Video/Guesthouse_Party.html

[rubber chicken]

You just have to love Agatha. Such a great person. Although since I haven't been able to find the location of her home after much time and effort, I've started thinking of her as The Chuminator. But I know I shouldn't hold it against her personally.

The "First Anglo Hawaiian Bank" is located here just west of Harold Farber's office building (Honolulu Municipal Building) in Ghost Writer (2.12). It's actually the historic Mission Memorial Building (558 South King Street), built in 1915 and on the National Register of Historic Places. Here's an awesome full screen VR.


It's also seen as an ambulance passes by, in The People vs. Orville Wright (7.21). Harold Farber's office building is in the top right.

[lutherhgillis]

Cool episode. Carol Burnett is brilliant, as usual. I suppose banking security was slack in the 80s. Today, cameras see your every move inside a bank. No one could possibly remove real money and replace it with funny money today. Plus, all money is under dual control these days. It would take two working on the inside to even attempt such a heist. They would be caught by the cameras, however.

[DarCA]

I loved this episode - have to admit I really like and admire Carol Burnett and I think she liked and admired TS and wanted to be on the MPI with him. And I have to admit spending the weekend locked in a bank vault with TS would not be all that bad.

[Jay-Firestorm]

This episode seems to divide fans’ opinions. I have to say, it’s not one of my favourites.

[rating=8.0]

A woman hires Magnum to prove that her father, a famous forger recently released from prison, is back in business. Thomas refuses the case, but soon after, the woman locks herself and him into a bank vault, trapping them both inside. A love it or loathe it ep…

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This review contains minor spoilers.

‘Rembrandt’s Girl’ (working title: ‘For Love or Money’) is an episode that seems to split the vote with fans – some love it, some loathe it. Personally, I have to confess that it is one of my lesser favourite episodes.

Being a Brit, I don’t really know who Carol Burnett is; I wonder if my opinion of this episode may be different if I was more familiar with her? Anyway, I must admit that, while she has the odd amusing moment, I find her a bit annoying for much of this story.

The plot of being stuck in a bank vault, with the air supply running out, could have potentially been quite good, but I didn’t think it is as sharp as it could and should have been. Also, I felt it was a bit too soon after the classic ‘Home From The Sea’ at the start of the season, to do another “time running out” plot.

Also in this episode, Deborah Pratt makes her first of a few appearances in the series as T.C.’s sometime girlfriend, Gloria. Pratt was married to series co-creator Donald P. Bellisario at this point, and would go on the pen the fifth season episode ‘Little Games’ and season seven’s ‘Little Girl Who’. She was also involved in several other Bellisario productions (she played the recurring Marella in the first two seasons of ‘Airwolf’, and would go on to serve in several capacities on ‘Quantum Leap’).

Not only that, but playing party guest Sherry is Jillie Mack, who Tom Selleck would go on to marry in 1987. Mack is uncredited for this role – maybe she was embarrassed about her truly terrible English (if that’s what you can call it!) accent. She would go on to play a bigger role in the fifth season’s ‘Professor Jonathan Higgins’.

Anyway, back to the plot itself… part of me wants to like it, but for the most part I find the story tedious. The scene where ‘Bill’ becomes stuck in the vault with Magnum and Susan, with the two of them laughing insanely, plays like it should be really hilarious, but personally I found it very grating – and a bit embarrassing.
The b-plot, of Rick and T.C. holding a party in the guest house, upsetting Higgins’ spiritual readings weekend, could have been amusing, but comes off as little more than filler material.

It was about this point, with episodes such as this and ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ before it, that the series started to lose some of it’s freshness in my view. It still offered up some good episodes, but the sharpness and quality that had gone before started to tarnish a little around this point, and would even more so in the fifth and sixth seasons. (Thankfully, things would pick up a bit before the end of the show’s run).

All-in-all, while I can think of far worse, this is not one of my favourite episodes. It just feels as if it should have been much sharper than it actually is.

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Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* After the bank vault’s control panel shots out, the doors still open and close several times through the course of the story. If the controls were fried, it’s unlikely that this would happen.

* Susan’s radio can pick up a signal in the bank vault. Such vaults are typically constructed by thick metal and such – getting such a clear reception (if any) is unlikely.

* I was going to comment that the plot of this episode would be totally different if they had cell phones back then, but regarding my above point about the radio reception, it’s debatable whether they would get a phone signal in the vault.

[Frodoleader]

Jay - Carol Burnett is probably the greatest American comedienne ever. Granted, this role and when she reprises it in season 8, are not her best work. But she truly is an American classic!

[lutherhgillis]

I actually had the opportunity of doing some work inside bank vaults for a while. There is no radio or cellphone reception inside bank vaults. The only exception might be AM radio reception if the transmitter was nearby because the AM waves might penetrate the walls. FM is totally out just like cellphones because of line-of-sight functionality.

Vaults are airtight. This is why they have the emergency air supply valve. It is doubful however that the emergency air supply would malfunction. Walls are typically brick and/or concrete and go from floor to roof. The easiest way into a vault aftet the dorr is closed and locked in through the roof...

Note to Jay:

Yea, Carol Burnette is one of the greatest women in American comedy. Having her guest star on the show was right up there with having Frank Sinatra as far as star power is concerned. Her character in the episode was very quirky like most of the characters she played in her career. It was totally in form for her. I think MPI did this out of respect for her career.

[Jay-Firestorm]

Jay - Carol Burnett is probably the greatest American comedienne ever. Granted, this role and when she reprises it in season 8, are not her best work. But she truly is an American classic!

I know, I feel ashamed not knowing who she is! (Hangs head in shame).
I always liked Lucille Ball personally.

[Doc Ibold]

Its all good man, I'm sure there are a ton of famous British people who we have no idea about!

[J.J. Walters]

No worries Jay. I didn't know who Arthur English was until I saw"Deja Vu".

[Jay-Firestorm]

No worries Jay. I didn't know who Arthur English was until I saw"Deja Vu".

I still laugh when I see Bruce Forsyth in season six's 'A Little Bit of Luck, A Little Bit of Grief'. (He's a well-known British entertainer).