The Woman on the Beach (2.3)

[J.J. Walters]

This is the official MM thread for The Woman on the Beach (2.3). 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: 10/22/1981
Rick, sad over a failed love affair, finds solace in the company of a beautiful woman named Sara. As the two walk along the beach, she vanishes into thin air. When Magnum investigates the woman's strange disappearance, he learns that Sara actually committed suicide 35 years before. Is someone impersonating the woman or is there some other logical explanation for her puzzling disappearance?

[grundle]

I've rated all the episdes from the first 2 seasons. "The Woman On The Beach" is the only one that I gave a 10 to.

The script is outstanding. Lots of action, adventure, romance, and mystery. And Judith Chapman really knows how to act.

She was also in "The Black Orchid" from season 1. It's interesting that in both episodes, she plays a character who likes to dress up as a woman from the 1940s - althouth for a very different reason in each of the two episodes. I saw her on an episode of McGuyver once, too. I read that she was in daily soap operas, but I never watch them.

[eegorr]

According to IMDB, the last name of the character played by Jack Hogan is spelled "Ellyson", not "Ellison", as is indicated here on the Magnum Mania site.

Also, the tv.com page for this episode indicates that the caretaker's name is spelled "Josef", not "Joseph".

Does anyone know for sure what is the correct spelling of these characters' names? Is this indicated in the DVD box set?

[J.J. Walters]

Hi eegorr,

The characters names are not shown on screen, as both of the actors received "guest star" billing. In MPI, the guest stars names are shown at the beginning and very rarely are accompanied by the name of the character they play. This is why sometimes different sources will list different spellings of the characters names.

[wilko]

One of my favorite episodes.....and Judith Chapman really is a looker!

[grundle]

The Pittsburgh RTN station played the complete original broadcast version of "The Woman On The Beach" yesterday. It had the opening teaser and the season 2 opening. There were only 3 commercial breaks.

I see that "Vulgarian Visigoth" is a ranking that posters here get after a certain number of posts. That's from this episode.

They never did an official Halloween episode, but in terms of the spirit of what the episode is about, I think this one was the closest. I know that "Of Sound Mind" had a costume party, but storywise, "The Woman On The Beach" is more Halloween themed.

I really love the weather in this episode too. More than any other episdoe, this one does the best job of consistently showing how great the weather in Hawaii is, in every single outside scene. I guess part of that is due to the fact that so many scenes that take place in the garden.

[Doc Ibold]

The Pittsburgh RTN station played the complete original broadcast version of "The Woman On The Beach" yesterday. It had the opening teaser and the season 2 opening. There were only 3 commercial breaks.

I see that "Vulgarian Visigoth" is a ranking that posters here get after a certain number of posts. That's from this episode.

They never did an official Halloween episode, but in terms of the spirit of what the episode is about, I think this one was the closest. I know that "Of Sound Mind" had a costume party, but storywise, "The Woman On The Beach" is more Halloween themed.

I really love the weather in this episode too. More than any other episdoe, this one does the best job of consistently showing how great the weather in Hawaii is, in every single outside scene. I guess part of that is due to the fact that so many scenes that take place in the garden.

Hey grundle,

It's not necessarily a rank that you can attain through a certain number of posts (technically). When I reached Admiral, and noticed IH's "Master Flub Spotter" rank, I asked how he got it, James got generous, and then all of us Admirals had the choice to get a custom rank. My offbeat sense of humor chose "Vulgarian Visigoth", right after I saw that episode.

I kinda think it fits, given my posting style

[grundle]

The Pittsburgh RTN station played the complete original broadcast version of "The Woman On The Beach" yesterday. It had the opening teaser and the season 2 opening. There were only 3 commercial breaks.

I see that "Vulgarian Visigoth" is a ranking that posters here get after a certain number of posts. That's from this episode.

They never did an official Halloween episode, but in terms of the spirit of what the episode is about, I think this one was the closest. I know that "Of Sound Mind" had a costume party, but storywise, "The Woman On The Beach" is more Halloween themed.

I really love the weather in this episode too. More than any other episdoe, this one does the best job of consistently showing how great the weather in Hawaii is, in every single outside scene. I guess part of that is due to the fact that so many scenes that take place in the garden.

Hey grundle,

It's not necessarily a rank that you can attain through a certain number of posts (technically). When I reached Admiral, and noticed IH's "Master Flub Spotter" rank, I asked how he got it, James got generous, and then all of us Admirals had the choice to get a custom rank. My offbeat sense of humor chose "Vulgarian Visigoth", right after I saw that episode.

I kinda think it fits, given my posting style

That's great!

Thanks for explaining that.

[Tom_Magnum]

This episode is one of my favourite in Season Two. I loved how mysterious it was at the end.

[Jay-Firestorm]

According to IMDB, the last name of the character played by Jack Hogan is spelled "Ellyson", not "Ellison", as is indicated here on the Magnum Mania site.

Also, the tv.com page for this episode indicates that the caretaker's name is spelled "Josef", not "Joseph".

Does anyone know for sure what is the correct spelling of these characters' names? Is this indicated in the DVD box set?

IMDB is often wrong - and trying to get them to correct it is like trying to get Higgins to allow access to the wine celler! For ages they had Mac mk. II, Jim Bonick, spelled as 'Bonig'.

When I tracked down an entered the names for TV.com (TVTome as it was back then), I used a number of sources, including old TV Times magazines (TV Times listed ITV shows, which is where Magnum was originally shown in the UK). 'Josef' seemed to be the most consistant, but that's not to say it's definately correct.

[J.J. Walters]

IMDB is often wrong - and trying to get them to correct it is like trying to get Higgins to allow access to the wine celler!

LOL!

For many years the IMDB incorrectly had the Rolling Stones' Ron Wood listed as appearing in four MPI episodes. It was a different "Ron Wood". After several attempts, they finally corrected it.

[Jay-Firestorm]

Another week, another batch of episode reviews. I think this is a very good episode.

[TV.com rating=9.5; Fine example]

Late one night, a down-on-his-luck Rick meets a mysterious, beautiful woman who suddenly vanishes. Magnum is persuaded to investigate, and they find the woman supposedly died in mysterious circumstances 35 years previously. A very good episode…

-----

This review contains moderate spoilers.

‘The Woman on the Beach’ is a very good second season episode. While I found some of the season’s episodes to be a bit so-so, this one stands out, with an interesting story and being well performed.

This is the first ‘Rick-centric’ story of the series, and Larry Manetti delivers the goods quite well. (Some consider the first season’s ‘The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club’ to be the first Rick-centric story of the series, but personally I don’t, as most of the screen time was given over to Magnum and T.C.).

Early in the story, before Rick finds out that his latest ‘love’ is about to get married, we see an unusual side to Thomas and T.C., as they as they try to persuade Rick to accompany them to a red light bar and ask him what’s wrong with “booze and one-night stands”. This is a side of the characters that we seldom see, as neither of them drinks heavily (in fact, T.C. is teetotal) and generally show more respect for their women-friends.

Judith Chapman gives a great guest performance as Sara / Lisa. Chapman had previously played another eccentric in the first season’s ‘The Black Orchid’, and here again proves that she is great at playing such oddball characters. Sadly, this is the last time she appears in the series; I would have loved for her to turn up as another eccentric later in the show’s run.

In the library when T.M. is doing research, there is a strange moment as the librarian comments that “pretty (women) probably wouldn’t mean anything to you”. Presumably it is where she has been rearranging her hair and clothes during the conversation and he hasn't noticed, but it comes out sounding like she thinks T.M. is gay! Far from it.

Especially considering there is a scant guest cast, the story unfolds well. It takes a little while to really get going, but once it does, it develops into a very interesting tale.

The only character I wasn’t sure about was Kenneth Mars as gardener Josef. He plays the character over-the-top, like an extra from a pantomime. Thankfully, the rest of the episode is strong enough for it to not do any real damage.

The climax of the story is good, although it doesn’t come as a surprise much at all as to who the villain is (especially with such a small guest cast).
The excellent last scene, when Magnum leaves Lisa in the bar, only to see the ghost of Sara on the shore, is the first of a number of occasions in the series when Thomas will encounter the supernatural.

All-in-all, this is a very good episode. Although I didn’t quite realise it when I first watched / recorded it (many years ago now), on hindsight it probably stands out as one of the best of the second season.

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Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* I didn’t pick up on much extra from this story, but the main page for this episode is incorrect. It says that this is the first time Magnum enjoys a cigar in the series, but he had previously been seen with one in the first season’s ‘No Need to Know’.

* Just a small thing, but in the final scene, Rick says to Lisa “You’ve got to stop playing these games”. I wonder if this was an inside nod to Judith Chapman’s previous character in ‘The Black Orchid’?

[Jaybird]

The librarian, Rebecca Clemons, too bad we didn't get to see her in other episodes. That was one hot scene and poor TM, was so clueless. I would have like to see her character appear in other episodes as "The Hot Librarian."

This really was an entertaining episode, verging on classic status. The scene where Rick and TC are digging in the hothouse and get startled by TM certainly is a classic scene.

[308GTS]

Easily one of my favs of any season. I've already mentioned this in another post but the scene with TC and TM laughing at Rick, "when it's right, it's right" is just classic. Plus as others have mentioned, Judith Chapman is simply yummy. Great script, great ending.

10/10

[Higgy_baby]

The librarian, Rebecca Clemons, too bad we didn't get to see her in other episodes. That was one hot scene and poor TM, was so clueless. I would have like to see her character appear in other episodes as "The Hot Librarian."

Well, give TM credit for eyeing her up and down briefly at the end (similar to the Stone shower scene). He did miss most of her show though. I agree she would have been a great recurring character. Instead we got Carol and Agatha. What were they thinking?