Pleasure Principle (8.2)

[rubber chicken]

Anybody else notice what looks like crampon holes in the coconut trees? This must have been visible in other episodes but for some reason I took notice of it here. I'm guessing this is evidence of Mrs. Anderson's coconut tree trimming. I wonder if she sold/sells the coconuts to local markets.

(Here's where Mrs. Anderson's coconut tree trimming was brought up.)

[lutherhgillis]

I suppose this was a so-so episode. I do give them credit for dealing with Magnum's coma and recovery instead of going back to normal too quickly. He was understandably shaken by it as well he should have been. I love the way he changes into a responsible person and Higgins wigs out into a loafer.

It was also cool how they led us to believe there was a villan in the story even there there was not.

[arri]

way over the top, too much cheese. The "one eye" thing was annoying. The exploding Macs and stuff was mind numbing, Doctor Pateint relationships, Higgins disco dancing....ehhh ...I want my 19.00 back for buying the enitre season and having this show on it. It's no wonder why they were type cast and didn't do much after MPI

[Paniolo]

What's up with the tiki-torch sized flames jetting up from the votive wedding candles??? LOL

[Jaybird]

Thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the role reversals. John Hillerman is truly a great actor!

The characters are maturing as they age. The brush with death is life changing for TM.

All in all, a very good and watchable episode.

[gmt16750]

Magnum to the shrink, i never saw that or i forgot it!
what a great scene and also Higgins dancing, hawaian shirt fits to him too!
best scene: when Magnum nearly hits Higgins and seems so confused and explain he can't see with his left eye

[Jay-Firestorm]

I remember this one as a perfect 10; while maybe not quite that, I still personally really enjoy this one!

[rating=9.5]

It’s a case of role reversal, as Magnum begins dressing smartly and acting reserved, while Higgins starts wearing loud Hawaiian shirts and staying out late. But Magnum is convinced the woman Higgins is secretly seeing is up to no good. I really like this one…

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This review contains spoilers.

After Magnum was brought back to life in ‘Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts’, this episode serves to start putting things back to normal. Well, by the end at least – it takes a wayward route to get there.
After the seriousness of ‘Infinity…’ and much of ‘Limbo’ before it, ‘Pleasure Principal’ calms things down by being a gentle comedy, and personally I think it works.

I am surprised that this episode isn’t held in higher regard – although not unpopular, it often seems overlooked, but I personally think it is really good.

Magnum and Higgins effectively swapping places is a novel – and overdue – plot device, and I think it works well. Yes it could be argued that more could have been done with the premise, but even so I think it is pulled off quite well, and works for its subtlety.
It is amusing to see Magnum dressed smartly and acting reserved, while Higgins effectively becomes all of the things he dislikes about Magnum.

There is a ‘main plot’ in there, about the woman that Higgins is secretly meeting at dance clubs supposedly being up to no good and planning to rip him off, but for much of the episode, that main thread is very much incidental, as we instead get a number of scenes showcasing Magnum and Higgins’ role reversal.

I particularly like the afternoon tea scene between Magnum and Agatha – a near replica of many Higgins / Agatha scenes from previous episodes, just with Magnum in Higgins’ place. Magnum even has Higgins-like dialogue and speaks with a faint British accent – it is explained at the end of the episode that after such a trauma as Magnum’s (near) death, people involved sometimes subconsciously start imitating those close to them; but beyond that, I think the director was just having fun and not taking it too seriously.

Only in the final ten minutes or so do the ‘main’ plot, regarding Higgins’ mysterious woman friend, kick in, and it turns out to be a series of explainable incidents and misunderstandings. Although I love a good action-adventure ep of MPI, at the same time I like that not every episode has to end in an explosive shootout, and like this episode all the more for not going that route.

I remembered this episode – which, like most season eight episodes, I haven’t seen for quite a while until coming to review them – as being a solid 10. I’ll admit, it isn’t quite that, and it does have its sillier moments (I wasn’t sure about the exploding Mac!). But personally I like this one enough to give it a very decent 9.5.

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Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* My old bugbear – the DVD version having abridged act breaks. But at least they didn’t do it until the final act break, with a classic (off-camera) “Oh my God!” from Higgins.

* At first, I thought Magnum’s opening hurricane narration was identical to another episode (possibly season six’s ‘The Kona Winds’), but as the episode progressed, with more follow-up narrations, I decided I was mistaken. (But I think it is quite similar)

* Magnum smokes his fifteenth cigar of the series in these episode (I have no idea why I started counting these!!)

* Just a random comment, but I thought that officer Diana (in the first of several small appearances) felt like a stand in for Maggie. The scene, with Magnum asking Maggie if he was “different”, and kissing her at the end, would have worked much better with the familiar Maggie, in my opinion.

[Little Garwood]

Like much of season eight, this is one I'd never seen. I rated it an 8, but it does suffer from the silliness and liberties taken with the show around this time. Still, I enjoyed it more than I thought i would. And as others have mentioned, I, too approve of the way it fits in with the larger "Limbo" "Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts" storyline.

What happened to HPD? Diana (Amy Yasbeck), Magnum’s police officer girlfriend is apparently with the “State Police” and not the Honolulu Police Department according to the shoulder patch on her uniform. This is the first time I recall seeing someone from the “State Police” on the show.

Then wouldn't that make her an officer for Five-O? The size of Hawaii Five-O was never really mentioned on that series (at least through season seven) and often they would "coordinate with HPD" for whatever manpower McGarrett needed (I'm sure HPD just loved having to allocate resources to a "big shot" like Steve McGarrett!)

[Carol the Dabbler]

[From Episode Note 9] Tanaka is seen walking on crutches, but there is no mention as to why he needs them.

In the commentary, Jay Huguely mentions that in real life, Kwan Hi Lim had been injured (he thought in a car crash). It seemed odd to me that Magnum would see his old friend on crutches and not express concern by asking what had happened -- I guess we can assume that they'd had another conversion a while earlier in which that question was asked and answered. But it's unusual for the series that no explanation was offered to us.

Whats cool is that "Limbo", "Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts" and "Pleasure Principle are all like one 3 hour movie. I like how they had the coma scenario play across all three, and they didn't treat it like some one off incident ...

I agree. So many series deal with traumatic events in one episode, and by the next week, everything's all rosy again.

I also liked how when Magnum finally banished the hallucination of Mac, Mac told him that was all he wanted.

I'm still trying to decide whether Mac's appearances in these three episodes were supposed to be hallucinations (which is how Huguely consistently refers to them in the commentary), visions (i.e., Mac's spirit is actually trying to help Magnum), or Magnum's subconscious mind taking on Mac's appearance (i.e., telling him what he already darn well knows, but is trying to ignore). So far, option #1 is losing. (Yes, I realize that Huguely WROTE the episode, so maybe he'd know what was supposed to be going on -- but there's also the interpretations of the director and the actors to consider.)

Apparently "Conga" was the only Latin song in 1988 since they played it like 4 times throughout the episode.

I had pretty much lost interest in current music by the late 80's, so I didn't know the name of that piece -- thanks! It sort of reminded me of The Macarena (same basic beat, I suppose).

In response to Carol’s question “Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, she likes Jonathon?“ Magnum implies that Higgins is a U.S. citizen when he says “Yes, I’ve also considered that she (Rosita) may be trying to get her ‘Green-Card’ the easy way (by marriage).” I’m sure Higgins would never give up his UK citizenship, so he would be a dual citizen (UK & U.S.A.).

Hmm, I don't think he could be (though Magnum may assume that Rosita doesn't realize that). As far as I'm aware, the only way someone born in the U.K. can be a dual citizen is if one of their parents was a U.S. citizen. Higgins could not have become a naturalized citizen without renouncing his U.K. citizenship.

Anybody else notice what looks like crampon holes in the coconut trees? This must have been visible in other episodes but for some reason I took notice of it here. I'm guessing this is evidence of Mrs. Anderson's coconut tree trimming. I wonder if she sold/sells the coconuts to local markets.

Unfortunately, I've heard that a lot of coconut trees in Hawaii (including any planted along streets) are purposely divested of their coconuts long before they mature, in order to avoid any chance of lawsuits from people who might be hit on the head by falling coconuts (not a laughing matter). Just think of all the potential macaroons going into the landfill!

[Tuan Vu]

I really enjoyed watching this episode because it was atypical, and for the last few years of Magnum, p.i., that was...typical. I mean, that was one of the things that made this series great: the fact that not all the episodes followed the same formula, but could venture out into comedy, fantasy, time-travel, and even returning from the dead...and yet pull them all off well. I can't think of a more diverse show that could do that. I suppose the only genre the show did not explore in its stories is science fiction.

Anyway, the last part of this episode was so funny, with Higgins taking out the priest and Magnum running around lighting candles while Rosita explained the convoluted way she and Miguel fell in love. It's almost as if the writers figured they had nothing to lose and just threw caution to the wind with the silliness. But it came across well, I thought. I bet the all the actors had fun with that. They looked like they did.

[nha trang]

I really like this episode...the worst part is the dated portrayal of hispanics and latin music...Higgin's shrink is hardly what would be considered a "sexy latina" woman by today's standards...

Yes Hillerman dancing is quite iconic...

Magnum running around lighting candles like igor...loved it. This episode definitely seemed to play on the whole notion of the series. Magnum with the gun lighter...well something about the episode worked for me.

I like how they addressed the psychological aspect of Magnum's shooting and coma and how it affected the crew. I really enjoyed the twist also, that Higgin's "lover" wasn't quite what she seemed...

I also think they added a bit more oomph to the music in the episode, some orchestral accompaniment with Mag and Higgy running around the abandoned restaurant, and then the way that little Magnum medley runs at the end...it let's us know, Magnum is back!

I wouldn't say that these last 3 episodes (starting with Limbo) are perfect, but they are MUCH better than they could have been, so much so that I can hardly complain....you know my theory, my favorite Magnum episode is the one you dream yourself...

[Carol the Dabbler]

....you know my theory, [your] favorite Magnum episode is the one you dream yourself...

Ditto your favorite Magnum movie!

[Buck]

I finally got to see this episode on MeTV last night and loved the start, but did not like the last 10 minutes.

I voted 9.5.

I loved TC looking after Magnum, much the way a mother/brother looks after a family member. People care about Magnum.

I like Higgins taking the Ferrari for a drive. I like Magnum trying to buy Carols car. It shows evolution.

This is a different reaction than 20+ years ago when I did not like the later seasons. Magnum isn't as much "fun" as seasons 1 and 2 where it was all adventure and no growing up. Magnum is smarter and older and more caring. He has grown as a human into an adult.

I also like Higgins cutting loose and not being so high brow. It was a nice change. I like Higgins does not change who he fundamentally is, but he shows that once in 10 years, he sleeps in.

Oh, how I wish shows in the 1980's did not have to be wrapped up in 1 episode. This episode should have been a half season arc. They should not have tried to wrap this up in the last 10 minutes.

This is a very good episode, and the first half makes it a clasic.

[MaximRecoil]

In response to Carol’s question “Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, she likes Jonathon?“ Magnum implies that Higgins is a U.S. citizen when he says “Yes, I’ve also considered that she (Rosita) may be trying to get her ‘Green-Card’ the easy way (by marriage).” I’m sure Higgins would never give up his UK citizenship, so he would be a dual citizen (UK & U.S.A.).

Magnum's suspicion that Rosita may be trying to get her green card the easy way by marrying Higgins is a continuity error, because it is established in "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" that Higgins is in the US on a visa:

Thomas Magnum: I checked with the British Home Office, I mean, Higgins' visa was canceled when he lost his job; he was ordered back to England, except he never got there.

Did anyone else notice anything different about "The Lads"? Zeus (or is it Apollo?) appears to have shrunken in size! Either that, or Apollo (or is it Zeus?) appears to have gotten bigger!

That's nothing new at that point in the series. I first noticed it in season 6, but I wasn't really paying attention before that. Going by how they are identified in "All Thieves on Deck" where Apollo is shot, the big dog is Apollo, and the small dog is Zeus. The dog portraying Zeus is blatantly a female. The male dog portraying Apollo appears to be about 20 pounds heavier, has a significantly larger head and neck, and a thicker, more square muzzle (plus a pair of large triangular tan markings above his front legs). The head and muzzle on the female looks like a Dachshund's in comparison to the male's. Here are some screenshots from season 6:

[Doc Fred]

Flubs...

Between the 9 and 10-minute marks, when they show again the shooting in the warehouse, when Thomas goes down, his body is mostly in the shadows caused by the outdoor light entering through the door. But, when they switch to the closer shot of him lying on the floor, he's completely out of the shadows.

At just before the 23-minute mark, when TC is talking on the phone and the camera's at a 45-degree angle to him, his shirt is a grayish white. Yet, immediately after that, when the camera is directly in front of him, the shirt has mysteriously turned a very definite blue.