All Thieves on Deck (6.15)

[Milton Collins]

This is a fun episode an 8.0 for me.

- Love seeing Seth (William Windham) from Murder She Wrote!

- Probably couldn't have hated the Danny Frye character or actor much more but I guess that was the point lol

- Totally love Rick talking about old school Cubs to the amakua, the addition of the guys love for sports is one of my favorite parts of the show!

- Just an overall fun whodunnit on a cruise ship atmosphere. The denouement with Magnum drinking brandy and smoking a cigar while talking to Apollo was incredibly well done and very cool!

[KingKC]

I clearly remember this one as "Magnum meets the Love Boat." A little overacting all through it. I hate to see animals "suffer" even though I know it is just a TV show. Being on the ship sure took the Hawaii feel away from this episode. Alan Hale is a pretty good actor though and made this one a little more memorable but just an OK episode.

KingKC

[K Hale]

I had read the description of the ending ahead of time, and so knew who Magnum was talking to--but it was still cute. It looked to me like Tom Selleck stayed where he was for a while like he was waiting for the dog to lick his face or something--and when it didn't, it just seemed strange that he stayed down there for an extended time. Maybe the dog was being difficult or something. But it was a cute "twist" ending, and both Magnum's and Higgins' concern over the dog was well done--expressed differently, and both in character.

Most (not all) dogs don't like people to stick their faces in the dog's face. Apollo looked a little uncomfortable with the situation. Similarly, most (not all) dogs don't like to be hugged, and there were a few scenes in the show's run where somebody, such as that Marine boxer's daughter, hugged one or both of the lads and they clearly were showing discomfort. Of course these are well trained working dogs but still.

I loved all the lads-related scenes in this, I found them very touching. The scene where the vet asks Higgins, "Would you like to see him?" and we can hear Apollo whining in the next room is really poignant. And the ep itself is fun to watch. The would-be novelist captain was great.

[K Hale]

I thought this one was pretty good. It did seem odd that Higgins was so non chalant about Apollo having been shot in parts of the episode.

He's not nonchalant, he sat there in the waiting room the rest of the day and apparently all night long before he finally headed for the boat with the evidence to apprehend the man who shot Apollo. (My fav line here was when he tells Magnum "Please direct me to him.") He may not be weeping and freaking out, but that wouldn't be Higgins.

[HTWoodson]

My favorite quote from this episode: "We're from Idaho. Potatoes."

[Little Garwood]

Totally love Rick talking about old school Cubs to the amakua, the addition of the guys love for sports is one of my favorite parts of the show!

A great missed opportunity was Magnum, P.I. *not* mentioning the Detroit Tigers' legendary 1984 championship-winning season. Why was this not given a "shout out"? After all, they did have Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker on an episode--great players both, playing themselves; though they acted as badly as the 1989 Detroit Tigers played.

[nha trang]

All Thieves on Deck, well... entertaining, a bit silly

But...

the skipper too!

Nha Trang

[ENSHealy]

Hey, nice pickup on Tom Lupo IH! What does a stuntman have to do in order to get a screen credit?!*

* I guess the answer is "he needs a speaking line"!

But as Island Hopper pointed out in the post before yours, Roland Nip doesn't have a line either, and he is credited. Or are you saying that a stuntman requires a line for a credit, but an established actor can get one without a speaking line? Because purely based on what happens in this episode, either they both should have been credited or neither.

While we're on the subject of Tom Lupo, it looks like William Windon isn't the only Star Trek connection in this episode:

[ENSHealy]

Unfortunately, this whodunit approach is rendered pointless by the decision to show the killer in the opening scene. If the physical clues weren't a dead giveaway, they even reveal his voice!

I think they did attempt to insert a little confusion about who it might be. First, in the opening scene Alan Hale didn't use his "Skipper" voice. His tone was a little gruff and left some doubt as to whether it was him or not.

Second, the captain had a similar body shape to Russell Tater, and I think they were using him as a possible killer alternative in some scenes. Note the pinky ring variations.

In the first scene, the killer has a pinky ring:


The next time we see Russell Tater, no pinky ring:


Then we see Russell Tater with what looks like a wedding band, albeit on the wrong finger:


The captain definitely has a pinky ring. Not the same one as the killer, but it's a pinky ring.


Whoever it is breaking into this room has the killer's pinky ring on, we've seen Russell and the Captain without different rings on, could the killer be a third person?


Granted, I haven't come up with a good theory on why the Captain would have been in Hong Kong a month previous...maybe he was on vacation.

[ENSHealy]

Yeah, that's one big band aid! LOL!

I don't know, it looks like a regular band aid to me, especially in this shot. It just looks outsized because it's on his face, and we don't usually see band-aids in that perspective. Or maybe he just has a really small head!

[ENSHealy]

To me, I reckon this ep is strange one.
JQH loves his "lad's"...Apollo & Zeus.
Why would JHH show such indigdation toward his 'own' boy....upon finding him wounded?
And JQH is constantly indifferent to Apollo's condition.
God bless Apollo.

I initially had a thought along similar lines, why did he tell Magnum to wait on calling the vet? But later, it occurred to me that Higgins is always attentive to his duty first and foremost, and what was his first duty? To attend to and protect the aumakua that Robin had put in his charge. So he makes sure the aumakua is safe, before attending to his "friend".

That being said, he totally could have told Magnum to call the vet, seeing as how they both went into the study, where there is a phone, and the first thing Higgins does is pull a big gun out his desk. Presumably he would have been OK checking on the aumakua in the wine cellar on his own once he was packing heat.

[ENSHealy]

EPISODE: 6.15 All Thieves On Deck

Famous guest stars: 1 The Skipper!

Hawaiian shirts: 1

Tigers Cap: 1

Island Hopper shirts:
Shirtless Magnum:
OMG:
Higgins Organizations: .5 Governor’s Conference on The Preservation of Historical Hawaiian Fauna and Flora – Half point since it seems as if it’s Robin’s organization and Higgins is just attending for him, but this feels like something Higgins may have gotten Robin in to?
Higgins musings:
Negotiations:
Gun Play:
Bullet wounds:
Little Voice:
I know what you’re thinking: 1
When I write HTBAWCPI:
Investigator corrections:
4th wall breaks:
Magnumometer: 4.5
Magnumometer Moments: https://vimeo.com/633192369

Somewhere out there in a parallel universe, is there a website called Mandan-mania.com that follows a show about Timothy Mandan, and his sidekicks R.C. and Dick?

They appear to imply a different location for the study. Previously, it’s been implied that one of the doors facing the ocean opens on to the study, but here they show TM and Higgins entering a door that faces the courtyard and ending up in the study. And of course in at least one episode (possibly more, Mac’s Back comes to mind) they imply that the study door to the left side of Higgins desk (left side as you face the desk) opens out onto the dining veranda which can also be accessed from the living room with the fireplace where the Gaugin hangs. https://vimeo.com/633176405

Anyone else flashback to Bubba's shrimp speech in Forrest Gump during this shot: https://vimeo.com/633185266
Here's Bubba on shrimp: https://vimeo.com/637506406

Apollo has “fangs”? https://vimeo.com/633181326

[Blackmamba]

JUst watched this episode. Started well but became quite boring with over the top characters (kind of reminds me of a matinee performance of a stage show where everyone is over acting). I did like some scenes such as the TC telling the vet that the dog works out a lot, and Selleck looked good in his suit. Have to say the most funny scene was when Selleck is talking to (SPOILER!) the dogs at the end. He is wearing a nice shirt/top (the kind one buys at Fat Face, a nice clothing store here in the UK) I said to my wife, "That's a nice top" and then Selleck gets up to reveal he is wearing one of the most obscene pair of shorts yet! My wife squealed "Oh my god!, look at him!" Selleck certainly liked his shorts spray painted on.

I’m glad someone finally commented on his shorts “wardrobe!” I remember when I started watching the MPI reruns a couple of years ago and the very short shorts bothered me, until I remembered that my ex-husband wore them in the 80’s too. I got so annoyed when shopping for him and I could only find those short shorts in the stores. Probably a pacific coast beach thing at the time.

[CanadianP1]

Selleck certainly liked his shorts spray painted on.

I’m glad someone finally commented on his shorts “wardrobe!” I remember when I started watching the MPI reruns a couple of years ago and the very short shorts bothered me, until I remembered that my ex-husband wore them in the 80’s too. I got so annoyed when shopping for him and I could only find those short shorts in the stores. Probably a pacific coast beach thing at the time.

Maybe I wasn't cool enough to understand in the 80s, but even then Thomas wearing shorts all the time struck me as odd. I suppose I just assumed that Hawaii was really, really hot so the only way to be comfortable was in shorts.

[Pahonu]

Selleck certainly liked his shorts spray painted on.

I’m glad someone finally commented on his shorts “wardrobe!” I remember when I started watching the MPI reruns a couple of years ago and the very short shorts bothered me, until I remembered that my ex-husband wore them in the 80’s too. I got so annoyed when shopping for him and I could only find those short shorts in the stores. Probably a pacific coast beach thing at the time.

Maybe I wasn't cool enough to understand in the 80s, but even then Thomas wearing shorts all the time struck me as odd. I suppose I just assumed that Hawaii was really, really hot so the only way to be comfortable was in shorts.

I think it was intended to show casualness, as in, he wasn’t a typical PI. In the 70’s, the TV detectives Jim Rockford and Harry Orwell still wore coats, but no tie or kept their tie loose. All other professionals wore suits so this was a similar nod to their personalities. The length of the shorts was just a product of the time. They were popular. Higgins would occasionally wear long shorts and at the time they looked funny to me. The other thing that I thought odd was TM tucking in the aloha shirts. I had seen many aloha shirts before the series began and not once were they tucked in. It has been speculated earlier on the forum somewhere that this was a product of his being in the navy. I don’t know, but I have never seen it since either.