Magnum Mania!

Missing in Action

Episode ID: 9
Episode Number: 1.9
Air Date: 2/5/1981
Writers: Craig Buck, Ken Pettus
Story: Craig Buck
Director: Robert Loggia
Producer: J. Rickley Dumm
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Jeff MacKay (Lt. "Mac" MacReynolds), Remi Abellira (Moki), Patrick Bishop (Pat)

Guest Stars

Rebecca Holden (Laura Frasier), Lance LeGault (John W. Newton), Francisco Lagueruela (Eric Tobin)

Plot Outline

Inspired by her recent visions, a new singer at the King Kamehameha Club, hires Magnum to find her fiance, Eric, a Marine listed as Missing In Action. Thomas discovers that Eric was a member of the top-secret 'Delta Section' and is, in fact, still alive. Someone else, however, is searching for him and they are determined to bring him in and keep him quiet, at any cost.

Rating

7.5 (13 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 Jeff MacKay appears for the first time as Magnum's friend Lieutenant "Mac" MacReynolds, a U.S. Naval Officer who often provides him with key information for his cases. MacKay had previously appeared in the "Pilot Movie" as "Ski", a Navy MP. It is never really confirmed whether "Mac" is really MacReynolds' first name, or just a nickname deriving from his surname. In any event, "Mac" will appear in 11 more episodes.

2 Magnum says he was sent to Vietnam on 7/15/1967. This will be contradicted several times in future episodes, most notably by the fact that he didn't graduate from the Naval Academy until 1968, and he was the starting quarterback for the midshipman in the 1967 season!

3 Higgins is seen performing hypnosis for the first time. He will be seen doing it in several later episodes, including "Try to Remember" (2.15) and "Ms. Jones" (5.19).

4 This is the first episode where Higgins shows himself as the acting Board Member of the King Kamehameha Club. It is revealed that he has Robin Master's proxy. (Noted by Dan Galgano)

5 Laura Fraiser (Rebecca Holden) sings a few lines of the 1979 Dionne Warwick hit "Deja Vu", written by Issac Hayes and Adrienne Anderson. Rebecca Holden will later appear as a regular cast member (Season 2) for another iconic Universal Studios 80s TV show, Knight Rider (1982-1986). (Noted by Jean-Claude Fornier)

6 Lance LeGault (Agent Newton) will go on to play the reccuring role of Marine Colonel "Buck" Greene, beginning with "Memories Are Forever (1)" (2.5).

7 A number of Laura's lines on the beach with Magnum seem to be re-recorded and dubbed over, presumably because Rebecca Holden's soft voice couldn't be heard well enough over the sound of the roaring surf.

8 In a scene on the patio deck of the King Kamehameha Club, T.C. looks and talks directly to the camera. This is one of the few times someone other than Magnum does this in the show.

9 Briefly in 1948, Higgins was in India and learned hypnosis. He later used it when his sister lost the family brooch.

10 Diamond Head Lighthouse can briefly be seen in this episode during an aerial shot of the Ferrari driving along the coast [pic]. This shot is from the "Pilot Movie" and is used as "stock footage" in several future episodes.

Quotes

1
(T.C. has just fixed the Ferrari)
T.C.: That'll be fifty bucks.
Magnum: Fifty bucks? What for?
T.C.: Well, there's something known as parts man.
Magnum: Fifty bucks for spark plugs?! Cmon!
T.C.: That's right!
Magnum: Look, I gotta run. I'll see you this afternoon.
T.C.: Hey man, it's Friday. I need the fifty bucks to buy a fuel pump for my chopper.
Magnum: Well, all I've got is a twenty.
T.C.: Alright man, that will do for right now.
Magnum: T.C.! You mean you'd let me drive out of here broke?
T.C.: Well that's the way you ALWAYS drive in! The money Thomas.
Magnum: Ok, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll loan you ten until this evening.
T.C.: You'll loan me ten? You OWE me fifty!
Magnum: That's right, which I don't have, so I'll loan you ten to keep you afloat. You can pay me back when I pay you the fifty.
T.C.: Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's with this Abbott & Costello routine? - You owe me fifty, you loan me ten? Forget it!
Magnum: Oh, ok. Thanks, I owe you one.
(Magnum drives off)
T.C.: You owe me one? You owe me fifty!!
[audio]

Flubs

1 At the end of the episode, Newton shoots Eric with a rifle. Eric takes one shot to the chest and falls about 30 feet into the water. Magnum then shoots Newton with his .45. For some reason, Magnum makes no effort to pull Eric out of the water, despite the fact that they have been looking for him the whole episode, and his sister Laura is present. Why would Magnum assume he is dead after one shot from a rifle? Why didn't he make an effort to pull him out of the water?

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