I Never Wanted to Go to France, Anyway (6.12)

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#1 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:52 pm

This is the official MM thread for I Never Wanted to Go to France, Anyway (6.12). 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).

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Original Air Date: 1/2/1986
The Inky Gilbert Traveling Carnival brings fun, glamour and tragic accidents to the island.

#2 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 2:42 pm

This show never ceases to amaze me. I always regarded this as the worst episode ever. Now, this was based on one viewing over 15 years ago. Revisiting this episode now, I'm shocked at how much better I like it!

The carny scenes are all quite enjoyable, especially the ones with "The Gang" in costumes. There are a couple of really good dialog sequences referencing carnivals and side shows - Magnum's narration about his memories of the county fair as a kid and Inky's speech lamenting the upcoming demise of the traditional traveling carnivals.

And every scene inside the "Tower of Terror" is fantastic. It's dark, spooky, and is inhabited by a creepy, disfigured carnival geek who wears a Jason Voorhees mask and kind of looks like Freddy Krueger! It's light horror, something rarely seen in the show, that actually works quite well! Even the "blaze up" ending was better the second time around. And fantastic make-up work on Geoffrey Lewis. Creepy.

There are some bad scenes, however, and some pacing issues, but overall a decent episode, much better than I remember it!

Shermy · #3 Post by **Shermy** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 5:23 pm

The best part of this episode is that you spend the entire time trying to figure out the title! By the time they reveal it, you've almost forgotten that it's still a mystery.

I also like how Magnum links the final clue to the one incident Higgins never talks about.

#4 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Sun Apr 15, 2007 1:29 am

Yeah, I really liked that, too! "I never wanted to go to France, Anyway!" Whoosh! Place goes up in flames!

Frodoleader · #5 Post by **Frodoleader** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:52 pm

I don't remember this episode when it first aired, so it was kinda like watching it the first time. It wasn't as bad as I thought it could be. Geoffrey Lewis is a great character actor.

golfmobile · #6 Post by **golfmobile** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 6:37 pm

The only thing I thought was more improbable than all the others in this episode is how quickly the Tower of Terror gets engulfed in flames -- I think it takes a little longer than instantly to get the whole thing burning. Plus when they come out, the fire engines are already there pumping water!

Otherwise, it seemed to me to be "pushing" the Magnum-Higgins friendship a little TOO hard. We know it's there, the show/script doesn't need to clobber us over the head with it. I think that "relationship" is better when it's a little more subtle.

JMHO

golf

wilko · #7 Post by **wilko** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 12:23 am

Is it just me or does Higgins come across as the most psychotic looking clown ever?

#8 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:58 am

He sure is wilko! He's downright frightening!

If I was a kid, and I saw him, I would just drop my ice cream cone and run in the opposite direction!

#9 Post by **Doc Ibold** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:05 pm

Yeah, i was never one of those kids who was scared of clowns, but Higgo the Clown would certainly freak me out.

Why does he have the bloody tear?!

Why is he all in Black and White?

Couldn't he be a friendly clown?

IslandHopper · #10 Post by **IslandHopper** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 7:54 pm

Doc Ibold wrote:Yeah, i was never one of those kids who was scared of clowns, but Higgo the Clown would certainly freak me out.

Why does he have the bloody tear?!

Why is he all in Black and White?

Couldn't he be a friendly clown?

It's gotta be some sort of symbolism due to the fact that his friend's business is going under as many of his performers are being murdered, as well as Inky himself. However, I like what Jerry Seinfeld said in one of his episodes when he and Elaine were confronted by a clown while waiting for the opera. "That's one angry clown."

wilko · #11 Post by **wilko** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:08 pm

Does'nt it also look like the makeup he wore as the Lord High Executioner for the Mikado in "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime"?

#12 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:16 pm

No, he's even more scary as "Ko-Ko"!

#13 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Sun May 25, 2008 11:58 pm

I just found a flub, which is rare for me.

Magnum says that one of the clues that helped him solve the mystery of "Donald Gilbert" is the fact that Higgins never mentioned "North Africa, August of 1942" in all of his years of "ramblings". August of '42 was when "Inky" and his brother Donald, as Americans, were with Higgins' unit (when Donald got flamed).

Magnum must have forgotten that when he was hanging out with "Willy" in "Basket Case" (3.15), Higgins tells the story of when he was in Tripoli in August of 1942 (Higgins actually says "August of 1942). After enduring heat, malaria, and bad food for weeks, he tried to raise morale by organizing a basketball game and created what was later known as the 'floating zone', or sphere defense.

I guess one could argue that Magnum just plain forgot about this story, but I suspect that it was really the script writer who forgot.

Carmen · #14 Post by **Carmen** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:01 pm

IMO this episodes is filled up with flubs. For example when Rick wakes up Thomas he says it`s 6.00 a.m., they hear voices, go outside and half of the crew tells Inky they are leaving. Clowns in full makeup?? That early in the morning? Next minute they start "to go" - nobody has a suitcase.

Other scene: Magnum talks to Inky Gilbert in Inkys office, drives to the estate immediately, talks to Higgins who tells him Inky was strangled.
When??? Magnum drives back, no police there, he sees that Beardlady and a guy leaving. Really?? Would the police let anybody go just like that?When several people were killed??

It goes on and on like this and that`s why I don`t like this episode.

#15 Post by **J.J. Walters** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:48 pm

I wouldn't necessarily call those "flubs" Carmen. Time is a tricky thing in TV shows. Even though cetain scenes cut together quickly, you don't really know how much time has elapsed between them. Between the estate and the carny, Magnum may have stopped off at the "Day-N-Dark" store for a slushy, followed by waiting in line for an hour at the Hall of Records, or something. You just don't know. Plus, remember, Magnum has to constantly drive back and forth from the North Shore to the South Shore! It's usually safe to say, however, that not TOO much time has elapsed, but it could be longer than you think.

Regarding crimes scenes and police, there is ALWAYS an element of "suspension of disbelief" there - the police come and go quickly and crime scenes are processed in a blink of an eye.

I love the "clowns in full makeup at 6:00AM" bit, though! That's hilarious and probably is a flub. This is a small travelling carny. There wouldn't be two different shifts running for an operation like this. The carny would probably run from like noon to nighttime to maximize the number of visitors. After working all day and into the night, no way those clowns would be up, running, and ready to go by 6AM the next morning! Heh!

I Never Wanted to Go to France, Anyway (6.12)

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I Never Wanted to Go to France, Anyway (6.12)