Holmes Is Where the Heart Is (4.18)

[Jodykmg365]

All I can say is Magnum was a real jerk in this episode. Why couldn't he just mind his own business and give Higgins his privacy?

[A P Leyland]

Manum was quiet a classy show wasn't it? First The Mikado and now Sherlock Holmes. Patrick McNee is always good value and a nice chance for John Hillerman to shine also. Is there a reason there were a few 'Magnum-lite' episodes this season?

Andy

[Doc Ibold]

Manum was quiet a classy show wasn't it? First The Mikado and now Sherlock Holmes. Patrick McNee is always good value and a nice chance for John Hillerman to shine also. Is there a reason there were a few 'Magnum-lite' episodes this season?

Andy

My take is that Season 4 allowed for the exposition of the other characters on the show. Magnum took them so far over the first 3, so we could focus on the other 3.

(Also, I think Sellecks movie schedule had something to do with it)

Somewhere in the deep, dark depths I have a character-centric thread....

Season 4 had 6 "Magnum Lite" episodes, featuring on Rick, TC and Higgins

[Jay-Firestorm]

My first review of the week; I LOVE this episode. Patrick Macnee (I’m a big Avengers fan – yes, I know I’m a fan of a LOT of shows!), great Higgins episode, classy story… what’s not to like

[rating=10]

Higgins recalls an event in 1976, when at the funeral of a comrade, an old friend, David Worth, suddenly reappeared. David seemed to be suffering shell-shock, beliving that he was Sherlock Holmes, and that Moriarty was close at hand. A wonderful episode…

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This review contains spoilers.

This is the third of three ‘Magnum-lite’ episodes of the season (the other two being ‘Smaller Than Life’ and ‘A Sense of Debt’), and it is by far the best of the three of them. (The final episode of the season, ‘I Witness’, also features less Magnum than usual).
The opening trailer is quite funny, in that is shows virtually all of the Magnum moments from the story, almost like “Magnum’s still in it, keep watching, folks!”.

It’s strange, in ‘Smaller Than Life’ and ‘A Sense of Debt’, part of me was irked wondering where Magnum was, but with ‘Holmes Is Where the Heart Is’, it didn’t occur to me once, thanks to Higgins being such a strong character, and such a great guest star…

…Which leads me on to Patrick Macnee. I am a big fan of the classic British series ‘The Avengers’ (especially as I’m a Brit myself), and it is great to see him in this episode. Surprisingly, he doesn’t get Special Guest Star billing, being credited as just a regular Guest Star. Either way, he really brings the role of the troubled David Worth to life, and I found myself really caring about what became of him.

One thing I really like is the nice changes to the study and guest house décor in the 1976 setting. We also get to see that before the Audi, Robin 2 was a Jaguar (which I personally prefer). Oh yes, and we see Gillian Dobb as Agatha in a terrible wig trying to make her look eight years younger, but the less said about that the better.

The story is a charming one, and John Hillerman and Macnee work really well together. It also shows what a caring character Higgins is, as he really worries about his troubled friend.

The scenes in-between Higgins' recollections, of Magnum desperately trying to find out what Higgins is so tied up with, aren't really necessary – but this is his show, I suppose, so he has to be in the episode somewhere!

The ending, when it is revealed that David has recently died, is very bittersweet, and perfectly played by Hillerman.

All-in-all, this is one of my favourite episodes from the seasons, and probably my all-time favourite Magnum-lite story.

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Other bloopers, notes and misc.:

* T.C. and Rick only appear in one scene of this episode.

* On the DVD version, the final act break is abridged.

[Italian Ice]

Good review Jay. Would I rate this one a 10? Probably not, mainly because Magnum wasn't involved. Maybe what could have made this better is to have Higgins and Magnum "tell the story" about this while talking in the study room, and throw TM into the whole story somehow. That alone would have made this one a 10, but because it was just a story about someome from Higgins past, and the show is called Magnum PI, it didn't seem to fit like it could have. Still, a solid episode, but I don't think it's worthy of a 10, a 9 - 9.5 tops.

[Jay-Firestorm]

Good review Jay. Would I rate this one a 10? Probably not, mainly because Magnum wasn't involved. Maybe what could have made this better is to have Higgins and Magnum "tell the story" about this while talking in the study room, and throw TM into the whole story somehow. That alone would have made this one a 10, but because it was just a story about someome from Higgins past, and the show is called Magnum PI, it didn't seem to fit like it could have. Still, a solid episode, but I don't think it's worthy of a 10, a 9 - 9.5 tops.

I think it is the only Magnum-lite episode that I would rate a 10. I just find it so charming, with a great performance from Hillerman, and the fact that it features another actor, Patrick Macnee, that I really like, tops it off.

[Quigley Down Under]

This is probably one of my favourite episodes, definitely giving it a 10 - even though it is Magnum-lite.

Other than what has already been said, what I like about this episode is how we get an insight into what the estate was like prior to the series starting. This is something I was always really curious about!

If anyone can think of any other episodes with this similar theme let me know as it would be great to go back and watch these also!

[Hawaii84]

This is one of my favorites also....The premise reminds me of "Black on White", my absolute favorite episode...Something about friendship, duty, and Higgins' very interesting past gives this episode that same feel....Any time Higgins and Magnum put away their differences and lower their defenses, you get a feeling for how much they really respect and like each other.

[Coops]

If I could I'd give this episode an 11 based solely on the amazingly brilliant performance John Hillerman gave in it I would. You just don't see this kind of acting on tv anymore, certainly not today. There are some good actors out there but I find it hard to believe any show on today would have such a myopic and narrow topic dedicated to one character like this one. And most of its narrative is in the past-tense. This is a sublime, moving, tour-de-force performance by Hillerman and it also illustrates the brilliant writing and creativity behind the scenes of M.P.I. It also demonstrates how cerebral they were, I mean after all the theme melody is "Meditation" from Massenet's 'Thaïs' opera, a hauntingly beautiful melody perfectly underscoring the character of David.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtiIpIJ5J2Q

[robspace54]

A wonderful script and one that showed that Higgins could have his own show!

As a long time Holmes fan (I have the Annotated Sherlock Holmes 2 volume set by William Barrie-Gould copyright 1967) it was great to see a Holmesian mystery, inside a Magnum p.i. framing story, with Jonathan Higgins playing the bemused Watson to David Worth. Higgy doesn't get it for a while and at the end of the piece I was wishing that he had let Holmes (Worth) get away.

A wonderful tribute to Sherlock and Conan Doyle. Clearly the writers had done their homework.

Interesting to see Agatha Chumley in a blonde wig (circa 1976) too. And Robin had a Jaguar then as well.

"Look for news accounts of a Norwegian violinist named Sigurson!"

Rob

[AmandaByNight]

It's such a bittersweet episode for me. I like it a lot but I also find it profoundly sad.

I love the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes stuff. I think someone said it's on Netflix. I just watched Hound of the Baskervilles about a month ago. It was solid!

[zebra3]

I find it difficult to swallow the episodes of the series that stray from the formula; typically if I put on an episode I'm looking to see some typical Magnum fare. So this episode, until it's ending that neatly gave all the came before it meaning, dragged on for me, and there were multiple times I considered fast forwarding.

One thing I will say, John Hillerman can grow a shadow like no one else.

[robspace54]

I agree that this episode was not the usual cars, guns, girls and palm trees fare of Magnum, but to see Hillerman as a stand aloner chacter, and in a back story, was great. The Higgins character, who was laid out as a boorish, authoritarian, stick in the mud, developed into a person of feelings, depth, and a history all his own. He was a serious counterpoint to the "Hawaii" feel of the rest of the show.

And yes this episode is slooowww - just like the Sherlock Holmes stories - which were all rather cerebral...

Rob

p.s. Happy Thanksgiving

[No need to know!]

So good episode this one, and as a huge Sherlock Holmes fan it can´t go wrong for me.
I just love Jeremy Bretts version of Holmes. I was recently in London at the museum and bought the entire series on dvd. Went home and got sick and watched the first 30 episodes in one week home from work

[Pahonu]

I just noticed the actor who plays the vicar at the funeral scene in the beginning, Bruce Atkinson, is the same as that listed as playing Robin Masters in J Digger Doyle. Not the voice provided by Orson Welles, but the body getting in and out of TC's helicopter. This means we have actually seen Robin Master's face! Sort of? Not really , but still interesting.