The Last Page (2.20)

[J.J. Walters]

This is the official MM thread for The Last Page (2.20). 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: 3/4/1982
A Vietnam veteran hires Magnum to find his missing girlfriend. But, as Magnum continues to work on the case, he realizes that the vet has ulterior motives that have nothing to do with the girlfriend and everything to do with settling an old score.

[IslandHopper]

This is one of my favorite episodes from season 2. The tie in to the Vietnam War was very interesting and well done. At the end of the episode, while standing over Taylor Hurst's grave with Magnum, Joanna Kerns' character (Mary Kanfer), said "Tell me Thomas, when's the war going to end?", implying that Taylor was a casualty of war even though he died after the war had ended, because he was so determined to avenge his friend's death. Then the scene fades from Magnum and Mary at the cemetery to the Huey and Taylor and Ed. Great ending.

I believe this is the first episode where Magnum is used as a "stalking horse", even before "The Way Of The Stalking Horse" (season 6) which is arguably one of the best episodes of the entire series. After hiring Magnum to supposedly find his girlfriend, Linda, Taylor follows Magnum during his investigation because he knows if Magnum finds Linda he will find Kam Chung who was responsible for his friend's (Lt. Ed Kanfer) death in Vietnam. After Taylor finds Kam Chung thanks to Magnum's investigation, he blows Kam Chung up with a claymore anti personnel mine (the same type of mine that killed Ed), killing himself in the process.

There are some notable flubs in this episode.

1. In the opening scene while riding in the "Huey" (UH-1) which is being flown by TC, Lt. Ed Kanfer is seen with his M-16 rifle pointed upward toward the roof of the helicopter. This is not done, because if a round accidentally goes off, it could bring the helicopter down. Usually weapons are pointed downward with the barrels on the floor.

2. In this same scene, TC is flying the Huey in the right seat and Rick is the door gunner. We know TC and Rick are Marines, and Taylor and Ed are presumably Marines since they are flying in a Huey flown by a Marine pilot, and neither Taylor or Ed's uniforms display any U.S. Army insignia, i.e., unit patches such as 1st Air Cav, 101 ABN., 1st Inf. Div., etc. The flub is the fact that when Taylor first meets Magnum at the cemetery, he tells Magnum that he was a "Medic" in Castle Team. The term Medic is typically an Army term. Marine and Navy medics are called "Corpsman", not medics.

3. The Huey TC (USMC) is flying in the opening scene is a U.S. Army Huey, not U.S. Marines. This Huey can be distinguished as a U.S. Army Huey for two reasons: (i) You can see the crossed swords toward the front of the Huey on the pilot's door. This is an insignia for U.S. Army Air Cavalry (Air Cav). You can see it clearly after the Huey lands at the LZ and as it takes off again; (ii) toward the rear of the Huey you will see the words "United States" painted on the helicopter. It appears that it once read "United States Army" (as is standard on all U.S. Army helicopters), but the word "ARMY" is covered over in black paint, so it just reads "United States." It appears that the word "ARMY" was painted over intentionally with black paint because it would look funny that Marines were flying a U.S. Army Huey? The Huey is painted od-green with the exception of the crossed swords and the patch of black paint covering the word "Army." This is the only black paint on the helicopter, so it appears it was an obvious attempt to cover the word "Army." This seems to have been done to cover the fact that Rick, TC, Taylor and Ed Kanfer were Marines, and it would not have been consistent for a Marine pilot to be flying other Marines in a U.S. Army helicopter.

4. This one may not technically be a flub, but it is worth noting. After Taylor, Ed and the others get off of the Huey and make their way into the jungle, they stop briefly and radio that they are in place and moving out. After they get up to move out Ed hands the hand-set to the RTO (Radio Operator). The RTO has the hand-set in his right hand (can attach the hand-set to your web gear) and his M-16 in his left hand. The RTO is carrying the M-16 by the "carrying handle" in his left hand like a piece of luggage. Although that part of the M-16 is techinally known as a carrying handle, you don't carry the M-16 by the carrying handle like a piece of luggage, especially while on patrol in enemy territory.

5. While Rick is trying to get information on Kam Chung from Mr. Hiramoto, he is getting a massage and he tells Mr. Hiramoto that he doesn't expect the information "gratis" and that if Mr. Hiramoto is ever in Brooklyn and needs anything to give him a call. Brooklyn? I thought Rick was from Chicago. I don't recall any other geographical reference to Rick, other than Chicago and Vietnam.

[J.J. Walters]

Wow IH, you never cease to amaze me!

You are right about the "stalking horse" motif. This is indeed the first episode to use it, followed by The Eighth Part of the Village, Birdman of Budapest, Way of the Stalking Horse and Laura.

Nice catch on the Rick/Brooklyn reference. I missed that entirely. At first I thought maybe Rick was "in character" and was making this up, but after viewing it again that doesn't appear to be the case. I could be wrong, but I believe this was the first time in the show that Rick mentions his "hometown". I guess they initially wanted him to be from Brooklyn, but then later changed it to Chicago.

Love your observation on the RTO carrying his M-16 like a "piece of luggage"! Who carries their M-16 like a "piece of luggage" while trudging through enemy territory!?

And I concur. This a great episode with a fantastic ending! One of the best from Season Two for sure.

[IslandHopper]

Thanks James. You are too kind.

[J.J. Walters]

Just saw this again recently. Great, great episode!

One thing I didn't really notice before (or didn't remember too well as the case may be) was all the on location scenes filmed at the infamous vice district "Hotel Street", and the Chinatown area. The famous Wo Fat restaurant can be seen briefly, as well. As I understand it, the "Hotel Street" area of Honolulu has undergone a major "clean up" in recent years. So here you get to see what it looked like when it was "seedy".

Also, another Island Hoppers location can be ID'd in this episode - Ala Wai Harbor.

[mc25a]

Magnum's meddling saves Higgins' life. Is this the first time? I wonder why he didn't become more forgiving of him? That's all it would have taken for me.

I like trying to figure out the locations more than the flubs. I noticed the Wo Fat restaurant too. I didn't realize it was famous (locally?). I thought it was a throwback to the former resident of the estate (5-0).

I also noticed the reloading setup beside the cannon. Looks like a RCBS powder measure (or maybe a redding) there with some (about 20) shotgun shells. Could have been that the cannon fired shotgun blanks. It was nice they added these details. I would bet that the crew really used that equipment to load the cannon.

I know that later on in the series Magnum thought that Higgins was cutting off match heads for the cannon. Higgins said something like "brilliant...., but wrong" and threw them in the trash.

I'm a few years behind most of you guys. Almost time to order season 3.

[Operation Chessboard]

This episode is one of my favorites for sentimental reasons. I became a huge Magnum fan in early 1990 when I was a freshman in high school and early that summer this episode aired late one night on WGN. This was the first episode I watched with my dad, who is a Viet Nam Vet. He had never watched Magnum before. I could tell that this episode deeply resonated with him. From that moment on, we watched Magnum together nearly every night that summer.

[J.J. Walters]

When Rick talks to Icepick on the phone, he asks him, "how's Trix?". Upon overhearing this, Magnum mouths "how's Trix" in apparent disbelief. The phrase "how's Trix" was used several times by Lance White (when inquiring about certain people's wives), the character he played in two Rockford Files episodes.

[Jay-Firestorm]

Thursdays review; another decent ep.

[rating=9.0]

A Vietnam veteran, who Magnum distantly knew in ‘Nam, hires him to find his estranged girlfriend. But the man has an ulterior motive, and is actually trying to track down the drug dealer who was responsible for a comrade’s death. Surprising good…

-

This review contains spoilers.

Although I often tend to overlook it, I really like this episode. It has some nice ties to the Vietnam War, and is surprisingly not written by Donald P. Bellisario, who was usually the expert at dealing with such subjects.

Thankfully, once again, the opening trailer on the episode does not spoil the story, and I am glad for this – I’ve seen too many TV shows that spoil the whole plot in just a few seconds of the trailer.

Robert F. Lyons puts in a good performance as Taylor Hurst, the old Viet vet with a score to settle. The character is likable, and in a strange sort of way I found myself cheering for him to get even with the drug dealer who was indirectly responsible for the death of his comrade.

A small but notable touch in this episode is that, on the phone, Rick talks to Ice Pick, an underworld contact. Although not seen here, Ice Pick would be seen in the third season episode ‘Past Tense’, before becoming a recurring character from the fourth season onwards.

There is also a nice Magnum / Higgins scene, with Higgins firing the canon (which would be used on the opening credits of future seasons of the show). And not for the first time, Magnum winds up saving Higgins’ life – you’d think by this point, Higgins would be a little more grateful to T.M.!

Not much more to say on this one, other than to say, it is a very reasonable episode, with a good plot and decent performances.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* Regarding Rick talking to Ice Pick on the phone, his comment should really be spelt “How’s tricks” I believe.

* On the DVD version, all of the commercial breaks are abridged in this episode.

* When T.C. flies Taylor to the island, his helicopter has the door panels removed. Then as they are flying over the ocean (stock footage), the doors are in. As they land, they are gone again.

* Just a reference to that other great 1980s show that I love – Joanna Kerns and Robert F. Lyons both appeared in ‘The A-Team’s first season closing episode, ‘A Nice Place to Visit’.

[J.J. Walters]

* Regarding Rick talking to Ice Pick on the phone, his comment should really be spelt “How’s tricks” I believe.

You're right Jay! My mistake.

[Jaybird]

This is a fav of mine because of the Vietnam war connection and the psychological stress it placed on many vets. The episodes that deal with war issues add a note of believablity to the series. It is this believability that gave TM a real depth of character and endeared him to many fans. Without it MPI may have just been another detective show from the 80s. No fan club. No Magnum Mania.
Anyway, the actors did a great job, Robert Lyons (Taylor Hurst) especially. Good story line. Trust me. Alot of vets had fantasies about evening the score regarding the death of a buddy. 1982 wasn't that far away from the end of Vietnam.

[IKnowWhatYoureThinking]

I love the way the show, in general, does an excellent job of dealing with the Vietnam War, and they also do it in a positive manner. Kudos to all involved for taking this approach.

[SelleckLover]

"How's tricks?"

This is a question one usually asks hookers who "turn tricks." It means how are things? Or how is business?

Source: Urban Dictionary

[gmt16750]

During the cannon powder tryout, Magnum imitating Higgins' accent with his "not at all!" so british and his face
few images are better than my poor english
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GgydWH6g-Q

[Frodoleader]

I think this season 2 episode sealed the deal for me, in making me a lifelong MPI fan. I love the intersection of the Viet Nam War, life after the war and the Magnum-Higgins interplay. I always loved the ending, of the still photos of the guys in the Huey. Very moving.