China Doll (1.3)

[J.J. Walters]

This is the official MM thread for China Doll (1.3). 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: 12/18/1980
Magnum is hired by a beautiful Chinese antiques dealer to protect an ancient vase known as 'The Soul of Soong' until its buyer arrives in Hawaii to collect it. What he doesn't know is that the vase is also wanted by a Tong gang and a deadly martial arts assasin who will stop at nothing to get it for them.

[J.J. Walters]

A nice follow-up to the pilot. This first official episode further introduces us to the main characters and features some great on-location Hawaiian settings, including Waikiki and Kapiolani Park. Asian characters feature prominently here, including a great villian, Chinese enforcer Choi! And the episode features a great climax with Magnum getting his hand impaled by a throwing star! Ouch!

[IslandHopper]

This is one of the my favorite episodes from season 1. Did you notice the flub? The flub occurred when Magnum entered the Treasures of the Dove at the beginning of the episode. When he entered, the narration by Magnum/Selleck referred to Mai Lin's "Uncle" Ho, when in fact it was her "Cousin" Ho.

[grundle]

Magnum said, "Hi Ho!"

[eegorr]

When he entered, the narration by Magnum/Selleck referred to Mai Lin's "Uncle" Ho, when in fact it was her "Cousin" Ho.

I watched this episode this morning and was just about to post that!

It could be either way, actually: Ho could be her cousin or her uncle. I don't think there was any other mention of him, and it is more likely that Selleck screwed up memorized dialog (when he referred to Ho as her cousin) than narration, unless there was a problem with the script.

[IslandHopper]

eegorr,

I haven't watched the "China Doll" episode in a while, but I believe that there was a reference to "Ho" as Mai Lin's "Cousin." I think it was after TC gets attacked by the Tong-Warrior and Magnum and Mai Lin are driving to her Grandfather's house, and Mai Lin was explaining her family's legacy of protecting the "Soul of Sung" to Magnum, and how all or most of her relatives before her have died protecting the "Soul of Sung" and then Magnum refers to "Cousin Ho." The last time I watched this episode was on DVD. The television version may have edited that scene out for time.

[eegorr]

...Magnum refers to "Cousin Ho."

You certainly have a good memory!

That scene was in the show as presented on WGN this morning. It is what I referred to as memorized dialog. The narration near the beginning of the show, when Magnum referred to Ho as Mai Lin's Uncle, was probably read from a script without having to be memorized, so it is more likely to be correct, IMHO.

Unless there was a error in the script, of course!

[IslandHopper]

I see what you mean eegorr. I always thought the reference by Magnum to Ho as "Counsin Ho" was how it was meant to be, and that there was either a mistake in the script that referred to Ho as "Uncle Ho," or TS just made a mistake in the narration, because Ho looks about the same age as Mai Lin, if not younger. However, I understand it is possible for a niece to be older than her uncle.

I just find it interesting how many flubs and continuity errors make it past the film editors. Of course, this is a TV series and I'm sure they have demanding time limits to deal with and probably let some flubs slide rather than taking the time to correct the error.

[eegorr]

Okay, same topic, new subject.

The scene in which Magnum is wearing his trademark red/blue parrot shirt, half turns to look at the camera (Higgins), wiggles his eyebrows, and grins appears near the end of this episode, when Magnum wins his bet (a free dinner) with Higgins that he can get into the safe. I believe this scene (or one like it) is used later in the lead-in to the show.

I hadn't noticed before, but this scene actually appears twice within a few minutes, except the scene is mirrored (right-to-left) the second time.

I was wondering if someone who had this episode on DVD could post pictures from the two scenes or at least compare them to see if they were just reverse prints of each other or the scene was actually shot twice. It looks to me like they are different, but it is hard to tell without looking at them side-by-side.

Also, which of the scenes is used later in the lead-in? I think it is the one where he looks over his right shoulder, or one shot with the same orientation.

I know, this clearly falls into the category of stupid trivia!

Oh, and one more thing, how many of you have bought one of these shirts? It doesn't look exactly the same to me, but it is pretty close. I am tempted, but I wanted to know what others here thought about it first. Maybe I'll just put it on my Christmas list!

[IslandHopper]

I always thought that these two shots of Magnum were the same shot with the negative reversed.

[SelleckLover]

I think I can shed some light on the subject of flubs and continuity errors. Back in the early 1980's almost no one had a VCR. You watched an episode one time and maybe you might see it one more time in reruns during the summer. By the time you saw the rerun, most of the episode flubs were forgotten, if any were detected. After the summer was over and the new season started, you never saw the previous season's episodes....EVER! We didn't have video tapes and DVD's to watch over and over again. If you wanted to watch a certain TV show, you literally had to plan your life around it. Just thought I'd share! =)

[eegorr]

I think I can shed some light on the subject of flubs and continuity errors. Back in the early 1980's almost no one had a VCR...

That explains why hardly anybody noticed them, but not how they came to be. In the days before the IBM PC and MS-DOS, scripts were mostly typewritten, so proof-reading was done by hand. Even the dedicated word-processors that were available at the time had minimal proof-reading capability, if any.

Today, no doubt, there is special software written to comb a script for inconsistencies. The truly amazing thing is that flubs still abound, even in the 21st century!

[Shermy]

Back in the early 1980's almost no one had a VCR. You watched an episode one time and maybe you might see it one more time in reruns during the summer.

This surely affected the mindset of the show's creators as well. You know the audience isn't going to be heavily scrutinizing each episode, so it's easier to treat each script as its own story. (For example, so what if T.C. contradicts something he did back in season two?)

The original Star Trek is filled with such flubs in continuity, and the actors would often point them out to the director. Of course, the director's usual response was "no one will really notice".

But even more than dvd, the internet has really led to continuity becoming a huge issue. I'm sure the writers of something like Lost or Heroes really feel the pressure to make sure all of their t's are crossed.

[IslandHopper]

Oh, there are still plenty of flubs around today. I was watching Braveheart (1995) last night on TV and in the big battle scene with the English, Mel Gibson's character is leading a charge on the English forces running full speed. One clip shows him running full speed with his sword drawn ready to swing and then the scene immediately cuts to Mel Gibson running like a sprinter with no sword in his hand. I'm sure he didn't re-sheath his sword in a full sprint prior to engaging the English soldiers.

You can watch any movie or tv show and find flubs, especially in scenes where there are car chases and such, e.g., in one scene the car will be damaged severely on the left side after crashing into something, and then as it drives away there is no damage. If these flubs are caught by the editors, I'm sure they must decide from an economical stand point whether to re-shoot the scene or just let it go, as most people will never notice the flub.

[Shermy]

Not really a flub, but I always found this amusing:

When Magnum returns to the graveyard to search for the buried vase, pay attention to the soundtrack. For some reason, Magnum suddenly turns bionic! This may explain his ability to withstand Choi's attack.