Solo Flight (7.16)

[KingKC]

I am slowly getting around to those episodes that I did not care that much for and this is definitely one of them. Many of my comments from "Home From the Sea" are appropriate here. I watched MPI for the private investigation aspects, even the lighthearted ones. I understand about developing characters but that was accomplished throughout the series. If my memory serves me correctly the episode did not show how TM freed himself from under the plane, did it? He just kind of appeared limping down the hillside at the end.

[thechickinthemiddle]

I honestly feel for the person just flipping channels and coming across Harvey with the fly's head completely without context.

[Big Kahuna]

Given there was already a 4th July Magnum-goes-all-solitary episode in season 7 with Death and Taxes, was this one really a 4th July episode? I got the impression that Magnum was just super pissed off about a few things and they got the better of him until he went to clear his head. There's no mention of the 4th July at any point...and no one else is making plans...

[Gatchaman]

Given there was already a 4th July Magnum-goes-all-solitary episode in season 7 with Death and Taxes, was this one really a 4th July episode? I got the impression that Magnum was just super pissed off about a few things and they got the better of him until he went to clear his head. There's no mention of the 4th July at any point...and no one else is making plans...

Agreed. It must be labeled that because all the flashbacks. But I don't think we get a real sense of when this episode took place at all, except that it's baseball season.

[Kevster]

I've always liked Norman Fell, so that was a positive thing in this episode. This one was also pretty crucial in the TM evolution of the last couple seasons. This was a catalyst episode that sets up the end of the series (Both Season 7 and . TM was acting with more conviction after his experience.

But (!!!!), the fly in the three-piece suit tanked this episode in every way for me. I get what the artistry was meant to be, but it was bad TV then (and is more obvious now).

[metalmoose]

There is an episode of Little House on the Prairie, from season 1 called Money Crop that is oddly similar to Solo Flight. The writer of Solo Flight must have taken inspiration from the Money Crop episode. There is a man who is pulling a wagon with a pair of horses in a remote area and the horses begin to pull too fast down a hill, crashing the wagon and flipping it over on top of the man's leg. The man is trapped all alone on the hillside. He begins to experience many similarities to Magnum's plight beyond just the leg being trapped. He becomes dehydrated and his lips looked shriveled just like Magnum's. The man uses a stick similar in length to the plane's metal hydraulic line that Magnum finds, also for the purpose of trying to reach something with it. In this case, his water jug not a pipe. Then the man starts talking to a toy wooden horse that he brought along to give to his new child. It seems that he may be hallucinating just like Magnum is with the "sleepytime gal". It gets weirder. A crow flies down and wants to eat from one of the man's sacks of corn that are strewn around the crash site. The man man yells at the crow and tosses things at it to get it to leave just like Magnum tries to get the spider "Herman" to leave. Finally, the man uses a stick that is eerily similar to Magnum's pipe, as a lever to try lift the wagon off his leg. The similarities in these episodes can't be just coincidences! There is some serious "borrowing" of ideas! Let me know what you think.

[K Hale]

WOW. That’s far beyond coincidence. That’s almost beyond homage, flirting with knock-off!

[T.Q.]

[ENSHealy]

I do hope that was sarcasm tigers fan, because there is much in Hawaii that exemplifies our daily life and culture, that has been happily ignored Through the magnum years. The Tingler is exactly what comes to mind on a weekly basis when one of dees buggahs makes his way toward my inviting ankle. And believe you me, they are big and disgusting And they are dangerous and they're damned near everywhere.

Good lord. I had no idea these were a real problem. I actually thought during the episode, "Well, that can't be a real thing, can it? It's gigantic!"

This has me reconsidering my life long dream of traveling to Hawaii. Another reason why hard winters are a good thing. It sucks when it's -20, but it turns out there's an upside. Kills all the really nasty stuff. I'll take the occasional rattler, at least they warn you.

[Pahonu]

I do hope that was sarcasm tigers fan, because there is much in Hawaii that exemplifies our daily life and culture, that has been happily ignored Through the magnum years. The Tingler is exactly what comes to mind on a weekly basis when one of dees buggahs makes his way toward my inviting ankle. And believe you me, they are big and disgusting And they are dangerous and they're damned near everywhere.

Good lord. I had no idea these were a real problem. I actually thought during the episode, "Well, that can't be a real thing, can it? It's gigantic!"

This has me reconsidering my life long dream of traveling to Hawaii. Another reason why hard winters are a good thing. It sucks when it's -20, but it turns out there's an upside. Kills all the really nasty stuff. I'll take the occasional rattler, at least they warn you.

A year-round growing season and warm weather mean abundant food, and are reasons that big insects thrive in the tropics. For animals, such as mammals, that rely on internal heat, it’s a benefit to be bigger in colder climates.

If it makes you feel any better, these insects have actually grown smaller. Fossil records from the Permian era show dragonflies with wingspans over two feet! https://ibb.co/mH7yDFn

The rise of bird species descended from various dinosaur groups replaced the large insects.

[charybdis1966]

My season 7 DVD journey progresses to Solo Flight which is a new story to me.
What I empathised with here was when TM felt everything was getting on top of him(Rick and the bar bill; TC being let down by TM at team practice, getting fired by his last client and Higgins undermining TM as he usually does).
Sometimes in life everything gets on top of you and you feel everything you do is wrong.
This leads to why I’m not too keen on this one - I have a personality type that needs lightness and humour in my TV as dark viewing material brings out introspective and negative thoughts.
I like MPI for its clever plots and mix of action and comedy - this episode felt like grunge TV. Slightly self absorbed and feeling sorry for itself.
Maybe it’s focus on ageing and becoming more responsible was a reminder of one’s mortality. No wonder I was deflated at the end of this one.

[ENSHealy]

EPISODE: 7.16 Solo Flight

Famous guest stars: 1 Norman Fell – I was on the fence about whether he was famous enough for a full point but decided to give Mr. Roper the benefit of the doubt.

Hawaiian shirts:
Tigers Cap: 1

Island Hopper shirts: 1

Shirtless Magnum:
OMG: .5 Only a half point for leaving off the “Oh”
Higgins Organizations:
Higgins musings: .5 Seems like this one’s only worth half a point, because it probably isn’t an actual Higgins memory – only existing in Magnum’s delirium.
Negotiations:
Gun Play:
Bullet wounds:
Body Count (by Magnum):
Little Voice:
I know what you’re thinking: 1
When I write HTBAWCPI:
Investigator corrections:
4th wall breaks: 1
Magnumometer: 6
Magnumometer Moments: https://vimeo.com/700043392

If the producers and writers (did they even have a continuity director?) couldn’t keep track of TM’s birthday, his mother’s first name, when his father died (It must have been the ghost of TSM III giving the “however long that summer is” speech in Mad Buck Gibson) it shouldn’t surprise us that they don’t get the correct rank insignia on his fatigues.

I really don’t get the reference to slipping in the bathtub. Other than pure remnant delirium? But he seems to have gotten his faculties back at that point in the episode. Is he just messing with Higgins? And if so, what's the reference?

I love this episode, although it’s always bothered me that he spends a full night under the plane before “discovering” the long piece of metal that helps him defend the fly and then reach over for what I believe is a landing gear strut. How did he not reach under the plane to see what he could find in the first 5 minutes he was trapped? Also, as with other’s here, I thought the “deus ex plane lifting” was a bit of a cop out, but since there was so much other “inner Magnum” going on in the episode, we will forgive it its flaws.

And…I know this is totally inappropriate and I probably shouldn’t mention it…but that fly’s mouth is…how shall I say it? Pornographic. Maybe I just have an unredeemably adolescent, dirty mind, but I think if I had been an exec at CBS I’d have put the kibosh on that particular version of a fly head. An image only Larry Flynt could enjoy….

[CanadianP1]

I don't recall ever having seen this one until I saw it recently on DVD. I think I agree with the others who have said it is essentially "Home from the Sea", but I still liked it. Whilst HFTS showed us something about how Magnum ended up in the Hawaii living the life he was and established the bond between the main cast, this one really focused on Magnum maturing and standing on his own. I am not sure what to rate it however: maybe I'll wait a few days.