The Last Page (2.20)

[ENSHealy]

2.20 THE LAST PAGE
Hawaiian shirts: 1 – dark blue with white flowers
Tigers Cap: 1
Island Hopper shirts: 1 - light blue on yellow
Body Count:
Bullet wounds:
Shirtless:
Little Voice:
I know what you’re thinking:
When I write HTBAWCPI: 1
Investigator corrections: 1
Higgins musings:
4th wall breaks: 1
Negotiations:
OMG/Extraordinarys: 1 from Thomas!
Higgins Organizations: 1 Chairman of the Membership Committee, King Kamehameha Club
Famous guest stars: 1 Joanna Kerns
Magnumometer: 9

Potential magnumania usernames: East Winds Import
Magnumometer moments: https://vimeo.com/374449392

Rick appears to say “do you know how many clubs there are on Honolulu?” The subtitles say “in” but I’m pretty sure he actually says “on.”

Plot Hole: how does Taylor find out where Chung’s island is? Rick finds out and tells Thomas, but Thomas never speaks to Taylor after that. He goes to Taylor’s hotel and to Mary’s house looking for him, and in the next scene Taylor is hiring TC to charter him to the island.

This episode had some great moments, but overall, I think it wasn’t the best. It’s like a lot of episodes: the good moments are SO good, that they make it impossible to dislike the thing as a whole. Those moments in this episode are of course the cannon scene, the first conversation with Icepick, and the “extraordinary” from Thomas.

On the other hand, I thought the intro scene in Nam, while necessary, was way too long. All we needed to see was the photo of the wife and kid, and establish that a good guy didn’t make it home. There was a lot of filler, especially the coin thing. And I thought that the episode should have ended with Thomas and Mary walking away in the cemetery. I found the closing black and white scenes to be overly melodramatic.

I always love to track “real time” versus “screen time” when there’s a bomb timer in play:
Timer is at 9:58 at 41:43
7:58 at 42:57 (2 mins elapsed in 1:14 screen/real time)
4:58 at 43:49 (5 mins elapsed in 2:06)
2:03 at 45:01 (7:55 elapsed in 3:18)
1:05 at 45:58 (8:55 elapsed in 4:15)
:10 at 46:24 (9:48 elapsed in 4:41)
It’s fun to watch time bend when a bomb is in play.

I love the dummies. Frame-by-frame is awesome.

SPOILER ALERT:- There is something puzzling about this episode which is probably obvious but hopefully one of you guys can explain. Early in the episode, Taylor gives Magnum the names of Linda Greer and Celeste to help in his search but where did he get these names from?
When Thomas is eventually "introduced" to Linda in the alleyway she denies all knowledge of Taylor. Thomas later states that he thinks she was telling the truth, so if that is the case, how did Taylor get her name? Are we to assume that Taylor visited the Wild Zebra Club beforehand and saw Linda with Kam, and if so, why didn't he subsequently track Kam himself? Similarly, how did Taylor know that Kam Chung was in Hawaii in the first place?

I had the same questions! And where did the picture of Linda come from?

[ENSHealy]

And finally, a question for those of you who might be more familiar with military burial requirements: would they have given Hurst a spot in a national cemetery after he just murdered someone? Do crimes committed after your service count against you for military burial? Just wondering.

e. Persons Found Guilty of a Capital Crime
Under 38 U.S.C. § 2411, interment or memorialization in a VA national cemetery or in Arlington National Cemetery is prohibited if a person is convicted of a Federal or State capital crime, for which a sentence of imprisonment for life or the death penalty may be imposed and the conviction is final. Federal officials may not inter in Veterans cemeteries persons who are shown by clear and convincing evidence to have committed a Federal or State capital crime but were unavailable for trial due to death or flight to avoid prosecution. Federally funded State veterans cemeteries must also adhere to this law. This prohibition is also extended to furnishing a Presidential Memorial Certificate, a burial flag, and a headstone or marker.
So he could have had a Military funeral at a non-state or non-federally funded Cemetery, or maybe the Govt. didn't pursue it.

Great information, thanks tmt! Obviously, he wouldn't have been convicted, as I'm sure they wouldn't have bothered with the expense of a trial post mortem, so I still wonder if/how the rule would apply.

Clearly I didn’t read tmagnum.t’s response closely enough the first time around, as it’s obvious from it (“Federal officials may not inter in Veterans cemeteries persons who are shown by clear and convincing evidence to have committed a Federal or State capital crime but were unavailable for trial due to death…”) that Taylor could not have been interred at Punchbowl. So I guess that counts as a flub.

[Gorilla Mask]

I was really moved by this episode, not only because of the 'Nam story and dramatisation but also due to well tuned playing, especially from Robert F. Lyons. The scenario is especially well tied except for some shortcomings (ENSHealy already enumerated it so i won't spread on it more).

Tha is on reason why i like MPI so much; that particularly good balance between humour/action and drama.

For the anecdote, Robert Lyons will star in another Vietnam War related motion Picture in 1988: Platoon Leader: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platoon_Leader_(film). i have no rating concerning that movie except that it is loosely inspired by O. Stone's Platoon.

I will just finish with Magnum last word (from the french version. I didn't check it in the OV) as an epilog: "The more difficult was to be the man who came back".

[Little Voice in Your Head]

SPOILER ALERT:- There is something puzzling about this episode which is probably obvious but hopefully one of you guys can explain. Early in the episode, Taylor gives Magnum the names of Linda Greer and Celeste to help in his search but where did he get these names from?
When Thomas is eventually "introduced" to Linda in the alleyway she denies all knowledge of Taylor. Thomas later states that he thinks she was telling the truth, so if that is the case, how did Taylor get her name? Are we to assume that Taylor visited the Wild Zebra Club beforehand and saw Linda with Kam, and if so, why didn't he subsequently track Kam himself? Similarly, how did Taylor know that Kam Chung was in Hawaii in the first place?

I found this forum in my search for an answer to these questions.

anyone? anyone?

[Little Voice in Your Head]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRcUFvbcWCw

[charybdis1966]

SPOILER ALERT:- There is something puzzling about this episode which is probably obvious but hopefully one of you guys can explain. Early in the episode, Taylor gives Magnum the names of Linda Greer and Celeste to help in his search but where did he get these names from?
When Thomas is eventually "introduced" to Linda in the alleyway she denies all knowledge of Taylor. Thomas later states that he thinks she was telling the truth, so if that is the case, how did Taylor get her name? Are we to assume that Taylor visited the Wild Zebra Club beforehand and saw Linda with Kam, and if so, why didn't he subsequently track Kam himself? Similarly, how did Taylor know that Kam Chung was in Hawaii in the first place?

I found this forum in my search for an answer to these questions.

anyone? anyone?

I know what you're thinking and you're right - that doesn't make sense.

If Taylor had located Kam already when he saw Linda with him why not just exact his revenge at a time of his choosing ?

I can only guess he couldn't locate where Kam was staying and wanted TM to find where Kam's base was so he could then get TC to fly him there.

Maybe I'm missing something too as TM's involvement seems possibly unnecessary to me.

[Gorilla Mask]

So I carefully reviewed the episode to try to give my 'two cents' on three questions:

- Is Kam Chung 'clean' ?
- Was Taylor sane?
- Was TM suspicious of him and when?

I won't have the time to go into too much detail: only a summary here. Then we can discuss it.

A/ is Taylor's claim against Kam Chung well-founded or reasonably probable?

I answer in the affirmative.

Indeed, it is known that Chung was a general in the ARVN in 1971, that is to say the South Vietnamese army, trained and equipped by the US. This American support only increased, especially during the policy of Vietnamization of the conflict with the arrival of Nixon in power. Meanwhile, in Laos, the hidden aim was to give training support and armament to Laos Hmongs against North Vietrnam and Pathet Lao Communists. The fact that Taylor refered to Bhin Loc in 1971 is not random : Nixon unleashed his drugs wars precisely that year.

The links that existed between the opium producers of the Golden Triangle (the Hmong), the French (Operation X in the 50's), the Laotian military junta, but especially, after the departure of the French, with the South Vietnamese (post dictator Diem era) and with CIA support, are quite well documented.

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-mag ... wined-asia

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10. ... 3.10406336

(in French) https://vih.org/20170925/histoire-et-ge ... u-sud-est/


a translated extract : "It was then that the American intelligence services returned to the scene, taking up the habit of the murky collaborations of their French colleagues. Collecting numerous testimonies in Laos, this is what Alfred McCoy demonstrated in his book in 1972. The Air America airline, used by the CIA for its clandestine operations in Asia since 1946 (support to the Chinese nationalists, then to the anti-communist forces in Indochina), already transporting supplies, was mobilized to transport... opium cultivated by the Hmongs and the Thais. The war aims were the same as ten years earlier: to ensure the support of the Hmong maquis against North Vietnam and to be able to count on brilliant leaders like General Vang Pao. The traffic thus set up lasted from 1965 to 1971. But it was fraught with perverse effects: produced up to 200 tons annually, opium was refined into heroin in clandestine laboratories in Ventiane or Long Tien, under the cover of Laotian generals like Rattikoun. Then the product found its way into the veins of American soldiers in search of an artificial paradise in the hell of the jungle. These secret CIA operations stopped (curiously...) the same year that President Nixon launched the "war on drugs" in the United States. On the other hand, the agency continued to support the fiercely anti-communist Thai government, turning a blind eye to the involvement of certain military personnel in the opiate trade."

One can imagine that the CIA buy its opium to the Hmongs and montagnards of Northern Laos, in exchange for weapons and military advisors. In return, this opium transits through South Vietnam and Saigon before being "dispersed" in Asia and South-East Asia, probably to allow occult support actions of other US allies in a logic of containment of the communist influence... Before hitting me , let me specify that this is a personal hypothesis... In this logic, it does not seem aberrant that high dignitaries of South Vietnam and/or generals have been "bribed" and have made a place for themselves in the juicy traffic.

It is therefore plausible that an ARVN general, with his influence, his autonomy and his level of responsibility, participated directly, or even covered up, indirectly in trafficking operations with northern Laos.

The link between the U.S.-origin mines, the smugglers and the ARVN is, therefore, not implausible.

Of course, some will object: "Why did you lay mines in the area of operations of the American special forces? How could the U.S. Army determine the link between these mines and such and such traffickers? This will remain one of the mysteries, or rather one of the postulates (and there are many) of the MPI scenarios... It is difficult to fit everything into 45 minutes! There are many ellipses...

B/ Regarding Taylor's mental state, I can only answer from the point of view of my profession. I will therefore rephrase the question: would Taylor's mental state have been considered sufficient to escape a criminal conviction?

In other words, is Taylor's will abolished or sufficiently impaired that he may not have been 'discerning' at the time?

From the elements of the episode we can't say that Taylor is acting like a nutcase (or 'crackpot'). Judge for yourself:

From start, he sets up a whole false scheme and story to convince TM to go investigate Chung's girlfriend. So yes, at 16:29 he holds a very good acting game with TM to make him hear that he is the still delusional boyfriend who wants to fight to get his love back, right. Until 34:00, one could think that Taylor is somehow psychotic and out of reality, but his embarrassed fleeing in front of his girlfriend when TM bursts into her house, removes all doubt: He talks about 'another important matter' and leaves... he knows full well that he set up this story to reach Chung, nothing else.
Taylor tells a new and totally different story to TC to get to Chung's private island. We can see that this is more the work of a manipulator (or perhaps also somewhat a pervert in a sense), but not of a person who has lost his mind in the sense of precise and voluntary direction of his actions ;
44:56 : Taylor comes out of his bush, gun drawn, shouting "this is an execution". He is certainly in a very strong emotional state at this point, but he is not acting like a mad man. Moreover, when he asks Chung to explain himself, Chung does NOT deny his version of the facts, but rather tries to play it down: "my subordinates maybe". Moreover, it is only at this moment that we realize that Taylor knows MUCH MORE about Chung's account (including his Swiss bank account...) than the episode can tell us.

Of course, a judge would ask for a psychiatric expertise before submitting the question to a jury, but the prosecution would have no problem demonstrating that Taylor's acts, all his acts, were logical, caused, directed, piloted with a precise goal and that by alluding to "an execution", he is perfectly conscious of the offence and of the criminal fraud he is committing: more than a murder, moreover, an assassination, whatever the reason and its justification.

From a legal point of view: it is highly likely that Taylor would be found fully responsible for his actions at this level. I don't think that what seems to me to be a deep state of manic depression is such as to take away the discernment of his actions.

Of course, there might have been mitigating circumstances to the criminal sentence, but the proven art of deception he used is also against him.

C/ On closer inspection, I didn't find that TM was suspicious of Taylor at first sight. It is only after talking with Higgins, behind his smoking gun , and getting information from Rick, that the pieces of the puzzle form in TM's mind (28:43). So it's not a distrust, but rather a suspicion, sorry ,Mark, so I revise my initial assessment!

[Mark de Croix]

So I carefully reviewed the episode to try to give my 'two cents' on three questions:

- Is Kam Chung 'clean' ?
- Was Taylor sane?
- Was TM suspicious of him and when?

I won't have the time to go into too much detail: only a summary here. Then we can discuss it.

A/ is Taylor's claim against Kam Chung well-founded or reasonably probable?

I answer in the affirmative.

Indeed, it is known that Chung was a general in the ARVN in 1971, that is to say the South Vietnamese army, trained and equipped by the US. This American support only increased, especially during the policy of Vietnamization of the conflict with the arrival of Nixon in power. Meanwhile, in Laos, the hidden aim was to give training support and armament to Laos Hmongs against North Vietrnam and Pathet Lao Communists. The fact that Taylor refered to Bhin Loc in 1971 is not random : Nixon unleashed his drugs wars precisely that year.

The links that existed between the opium producers of the Golden Triangle (the Hmong), the French (Operation X in the 50's), the Laotian military junta, but especially, after the departure of the French, with the South Vietnamese (post dictator Diem era) and with CIA support, are quite well documented.

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-mag ... wined-asia

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10. ... 3.10406336

(in French) https://vih.org/20170925/histoire-et-ge ... u-sud-est/


a translated extract : "It was then that the American intelligence services returned to the scene, taking up the habit of the murky collaborations of their French colleagues. Collecting numerous testimonies in Laos, this is what Alfred McCoy demonstrated in his book in 1972. The Air America airline, used by the CIA for its clandestine operations in Asia since 1946 (support to the Chinese nationalists, then to the anti-communist forces in Indochina), already transporting supplies, was mobilized to transport... opium cultivated by the Hmongs and the Thais. The war aims were the same as ten years earlier: to ensure the support of the Hmong maquis against North Vietnam and to be able to count on brilliant leaders like General Vang Pao. The traffic thus set up lasted from 1965 to 1971. But it was fraught with perverse effects: produced up to 200 tons annually, opium was refined into heroin in clandestine laboratories in Ventiane or Long Tien, under the cover of Laotian generals like Rattikoun. Then the product found its way into the veins of American soldiers in search of an artificial paradise in the hell of the jungle. These secret CIA operations stopped (curiously...) the same year that President Nixon launched the "war on drugs" in the United States. On the other hand, the agency continued to support the fiercely anti-communist Thai government, turning a blind eye to the involvement of certain military personnel in the opiate trade."

One can imagine that the CIA buy its opium to the Hmongs and montagnards of Northern Laos, in exchange for weapons and military advisors. In return, this opium transits through South Vietnam and Saigon before being "dispersed" in Asia and South-East Asia, probably to allow occult support actions of other US allies in a logic of containment of the communist influence... Before hitting me , let me specify that this is a personal hypothesis... In this logic, it does not seem aberrant that high dignitaries of South Vietnam and/or generals have been "bribed" and have made a place for themselves in the juicy traffic.

It is therefore plausible that an ARVN general, with his influence, his autonomy and his level of responsibility, participated directly, or even covered up, indirectly in trafficking operations with northern Laos.

The link between the U.S.-origin mines, the smugglers and the ARVN is, therefore, not implausible.

Of course, some will object: "Why did you lay mines in the area of operations of the American special forces? How could the U.S. Army determine the link between these mines and such and such traffickers? This will remain one of the mysteries, or rather one of the postulates (and there are many) of the MPI scenarios... It is difficult to fit everything into 45 minutes! There are many ellipses...

B/ Regarding Taylor's mental state, I can only answer from the point of view of my profession. I will therefore rephrase the question: would Taylor's mental state have been considered sufficient to escape a criminal conviction?

In other words, is Taylor's will abolished or sufficiently impaired that he may not have been 'discerning' at the time?

From the elements of the episode we can't say that Taylor is acting like a nutcase (or 'crackpot'). Judge for yourself:

From start, he sets up a whole false scheme and story to convince TM to go investigate Chung's girlfriend. So yes, at 16:29 he holds a very good acting game with TM to make him hear that he is the still delusional boyfriend who wants to fight to get his love back, right. Until 34:00, one could think that Taylor is somehow psychotic and out of reality, but his embarrassed fleeing in front of his girlfriend when TM bursts into her house, removes all doubt: He talks about 'another important matter' and leaves... he knows full well that he set up this story to reach Chung, nothing else.
Taylor tells a new and totally different story to TC to get to Chung's private island. We can see that this is more the work of a manipulator (or perhaps also somewhat a pervert in a sense), but not of a person who has lost his mind in the sense of precise and voluntary direction of his actions ;
44:56 : Taylor comes out of his bush, gun drawn, shouting "this is an execution". He is certainly in a very strong emotional state at this point, but he is not acting like a mad man. Moreover, when he asks Chung to explain himself, Chung does NOT deny his version of the facts, but rather tries to play it down: "my subordinates maybe". Moreover, it is only at this moment that we realize that Taylor knows MUCH MORE about Chung's account (including his Swiss bank account...) than the episode can tell us.

Of course, a judge would ask for a psychiatric expertise before submitting the question to a jury, but the prosecution would have no problem demonstrating that Taylor's acts, all his acts, were logical, caused, directed, piloted with a precise goal and that by alluding to "an execution", he is perfectly conscious of the offence and of the criminal fraud he is committing: more than a murder, moreover, an assassination, whatever the reason and its justification.

From a legal point of view: it is highly likely that Taylor would be found fully responsible for his actions at this level. I don't think that what seems to me to be a deep state of manic depression is such as to take away the discernment of his actions.

Of course, there might have been mitigating circumstances to the criminal sentence, but the proven art of deception he used is also against him.

C/ On closer inspection, I didn't find that TM was suspicious of Taylor at first sight. It is only after talking with Higgins, behind his smoking gun , and getting information from Rick, that the pieces of the puzzle form in TM's mind (28:43). So it's not a distrust, but rather a suspicion, sorry ,Mark, so I revise my initial assessment!

Excellent analysis, GM, excellent. If we look at the original dialog we can draw further support:
>Bin Loc.

1971.


I don't understand.

 I commanded a division which was
>Louder!
I commanded a division which was operating in the area. 

And running drugs.

 Some of my subordinates, perhaps.


>But you're the one with the Swiss bank account, General.


It was a long time ago.

 Some things were unavoidable.


You're buying time.

You're gonna hit him the same way.
>

Don't come any closer.

Magnum!

The general does not deny the possibility that drug running existed within his ranks. And he says "some things were unavoidable," dovetailing with your account. I draw the line though with the Swiss bank remark because it is more likely Taylor meant it only figuratively.

However wonderful your analysis is, I don't believe it sufficiently overturns the view Taylor was "crazy." Surely not in the informal sense of crazy. Within American culture many references can be found how some Vietnam vets were viewed as crazy because they might for example suddenly jump into some bushes at the sound of a fire cracker or something loud. Of course they were not clinically crazy but that is the colloquialism to refer to extreme behavior though still possibly sane. This is why I ended my post with the query--
how did the TV audience in '81 view Taylor? Would they have used "crazy" or similar language about him?

Moreover, clinical insanity cannot be dismissed out of hand about Taylor. For instance randomly googling came up with the first hit, one from a nurse: "there [are] countless cases where people suffering from severe cases of [mental disorders] who live perfectly responsible lives." Because Taylor is so strategic or manipulative does not preclude him from being a prime candidate for psychiatric testing. Surely someone who murders another would be considered for testing. Ultimately it is not what we think but the original TV audience of '81. This relates to my broader question--Did MPI really do service by balancing out society's negative view of Vietnam vets or actually reinforce it?! Great job otherwise, GM.

[Gorilla Mask]

I'm glad you liked this analysis, thanks I do appreciate . I just want to clarify that my point was not to say whether Taylor was crazy or not from a medical point of view, I would not be competent on that issue, but only, from a legal point of view and in the place of the attorney, how I would have turned my demonstration to conclude that the murder was premeditated, that the violation of the law and the harm to the person (the murder) was identifiable in Taylor's mind and that the latter was discriminating while acting.

From the facts stressed by the scenario, i would plead that mental illness has not been decisive in abolishing his conscious will.

Again, on the face of it, from a legal standpoint, there is nothing to distinguish Taylor from a man whose insanity has not been demonstrated in his quest for revenge. It is not because a man commits an act that seems unreasonable (here, first degree, premeditated murder) that he is necessarily insane.

Besides, for me, the word "insane", by itself, means nothing in law.

As far as the Swiss bank account is concerned, I am only basing myself on Taylor's statements as if it were a fact, nothing more. It is obvious that in a proper criminal investigation, this point would have been verified.

Thank you for a rich and interesting debate.

[MagnumsLeftShoulder]

I watched this one yesterday for the first time in a long time. I had forgotten how good it is! But I also want to know how Taylor Hurst knew about Linda and Celeste.......