Was Higgins a stand-in for Magnum's mom?

[Algernon Farnsworth]

Something Magnum said in "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" got me thinking about this:

"I mean what am I really saying goodbye to? I'm saying goodbye to constant complaints, constant arguments... put-downs! Threats! Early wake-ups, long boring stories -- and always, always, somebody coming into MY HOUSE without knocking!"

If you replace "house" with "room", this sounds a lot like something a teen would say about their mom. (It also sort of makes the Higgins-as-Robin-Masters subplot make more sense to me, as the surprise twist is "Mom is really Dad".)

Anyone thought about this? Am I being delusional?

[K Hale]

I feel like Higgins is a dad figure more than a mom figure. But certainly there’s a parental element. Meanwhile Magnum acts like the teenage kid Higgins doesn’t have.

Your avatar made me laugh, by the way.

[K Hale]

Also, isn’t it funny how Magnum complains about Higgins not knocking, even though Magnum never knocks either? He is always entering the main house without knocking! Ha!

[Macho Taco]

My kids and I often refer to my wife as "Higgins" due to all the, er, nagging she does. Naturally, she only does this when I am acting like a slob, not cleaning up after myself, you know, all the usual TM kinds of stuff.

[ConchRepublican]

I feel like Higgins is a dad figure more than a mom figure. But certainly there’s a parental element. Meanwhile Magnum acts like the teenage kid Higgins doesn’t have.

Your avatar made me laugh, by the way.

I agree . . . to me that was a big part of the depth of the series, the older authority figure with a military background who, when not being an adversary, is a mentor to Thomas. Steps in well for the missing father who was shot down during the Korean War.

[K Hale]

I feel like Higgins is a dad figure more than a mom figure. But certainly there’s a parental element. Meanwhile Magnum acts like the teenage kid Higgins doesn’t have.

Your avatar made me laugh, by the way.

I agree . . . to me that was a big part of the depth of the series, the older authority figure with a military background who, when not being an adversary, is a mentor to Thomas. Steps in well for the missing father who was shot down during the Korean War.

And going back to the rest of what I said, Magnum fills the other half, the kid Higgins doesn't have, from any of those failed relationships with all those women who kept leaving him. We see in "Luther Gillis #001" that he might ache a little about what he sees as a missed opportunity to be a father.