Compulsion (5.14)

[Turkey]

Nice ep, funny stuff with Magnum and the lads too.

Had to laugh seeing Thomas buttlering too

[Coops]

BTW, I never did hear back from Ms. Swift. I'm not sure why. I didn't press the issue.

[KingKC]

I had absolutely no recollection of this episode until I just watched the rerun. It wasn't a bad Carol-Centric episode. I know a lot of people don't care much for the Carol Baldwin character but I think she fit in. I cringed at the scene where Carol seemed to be making a play for TM, though. That would have been seriously wrong for them to hook-up. I particularly like the scene where Higgins is reminiscing about Sandhurst and his dashed dreams of becoming a military officer. That may be one of the most, if not the most, serious scenes between TM and Higgins in all of the series. It was a telling one especially since "the guys" came together for Higgins. An epitome of camaraderie.

[brianw]

Meh, another barely average episode. Didn't hate it, didn't love it.

[ENSHealy]

Higgins' photo is not of Churchill nor Mountbatten, it is Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. It's not a particularly well-faked photo either - the facial shadows do not correspond. A thoroughly enjoyable episode though, particularly the scene where Higgins' Sandhurst 'chums' arrive at the estate, which was wonderful.

Actually, both:

[ENSHealy]

EPISODE: 5.14 COMPULSION

Famous guest stars:
Hawaiian shirts: 1

Tigers Cap: 1

Island Hopper shirts: 2

Shirtless Magnum:
OMG:
Higgins Organizations:
Higgins musings: 1
Negotiations: 1
Body Count:
Bullet wounds:
Little Voice:
I know what you’re thinking:
When I write HTBAWCPI:
Investigator corrections:
4th wall breaks:
Magnumometer: 6
Magnumometer Moments: https://vimeo.com/553439617

We see Magnum park the Ferrari right next to the bad guy’s car when he arrives at the cabin, and (based on the way the scene was cut, at least) it appears to be a relatively short walk from where the cars were parked to the cabin. Why didn’t Magnum just take Carol back to the Ferrari, instead of leading her off into the woods?

I thought I was being clever when I spotted the chauffeur from Lest We Forget, but it turns out he’s a regular, having been in six episodes over the years.

[Treadwell]

I gave it a 8.5, but would've given it a 8.25 if I could.

I usually am annoyed by Carol but I almost even liked her in this one. Maybe because she wasn't being pushy and manipulative with TM.

The creep was so obvious that I thought he had to be a red herring. But then I thought, what if he's a DOUBLE red herring?

Is there a missing scene (either as broadcast, or in the Amazon Prime version that I watched)? When Thomas is listening to his messages, Rick says he ran plates. When did they encounter a car to run plates ON? And when he got to the ranch, he asked where Carol and Steven were, as if he knew he'd abducted her. But neither he, nor US, had been given that information! The last we saw of them was in her office, with her about to call Magnum.

I agree about TM being stupidly unarmed, and also about him not subduing Steven back at the house. Waiting just to the side of the back door after he freed Carol would be my choice. Steven charges out, Thomas trips him and takes him out.

Magnum the butler should have offered cigars to his master's guests.

I always used to loathe Agatha but I have to say there have been episodes such as this one where she is completely correct and of upstanding moral character. Good on Higgins to acknowledge that.

[80s Big Hair]

I gave it a 8.5, but would've given it a 8.25 if I could.

I usually am annoyed by Carol but I almost even liked her in this one. Maybe because she wasn't being pushy and manipulative with TM.

The creep was so obvious that I thought he had to be a red herring. But then I thought, what if he's a DOUBLE red herring?

Is there a missing scene (either as broadcast, or in the Amazon Prime version that I watched)? When Thomas is listening to his messages, Rick says he ran plates. When did they encounter a car to run plates ON? And when he got to the ranch, he asked where Carol and Steven were, as if he knew he'd abducted her. But neither he, nor US, had been given that information! The last we saw of them was in her office, with her about to call Magnum.

I agree about TM being stupidly unarmed, and also about him not subduing Steven back at the house. Waiting just to the side of the back door after he freed Carol would be my choice. Steven charges out, Thomas trips him and takes him out.

Magnum the butler should have offered cigars to his master's guests.

I always used to loathe Agatha but I have to say there have been episodes such as this one where she is completely correct and of upstanding moral character. Good on Higgins to acknowledge that.

Hi Treadwell. I just watched the episode again and there are two prior scenes where Magnum could have gotten plate numbers. The first was when TC took him up in the chopper to survey the last known residence of the Lazarus clan. He takes pictures. The second scene is when Magnum is picking Carol up at the courthouse after she testified against Lazarus. The clan arrives and the camera does a closeup of their jeep's license plate. This seems to be the more likely scene due to the closeup. I saw this on some European Blu Ray edition.

Also of note, Carol's idea of a late night snack is raw broccoli. To be fair, that is better than cooked broccoli, but it more reason to dislike the character.

[Treadwell]

Thanks! Just rewatched some of it myself. Yeah, TM looking at the Jeep the ranch people were in was the key. And finding out it was owned by the mail room guy. All adds up.