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From Moscow to Maui

Episode Screen Caps Episode Number: 22
Season Number: 2.4
Air Date: 10/29/1981
Writer: Andrew Schneider
Director: Mike Vejar
Producers: Rick Weaver, Andrew Schneider
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars
Jeff Pomerantz (Yuri Dolgov), Susan Heldfond (Nina Markova), Allan Rich (Kalugin), Jan Ivan Dorin (Mikhail Fillipovitch), Marianne Muellerleile (Olga), Robert Apisa (Mortician #1), Richard McPherson (Mortician #2), Jim Grimshaw (Major)
Episode Brief
A year after escaping from Moscow in a MiG-30 fighter jet, a Soviet defector hires Magnum to help his girlfriend defect from an Olympic track team visiting Hawaii. She is under close watch of undercover KGB agents, and Magnum, T.C. and Rick, with assistance from Higgins, must carry out their plan with military precision to free her.
Rating
7.8(46 votes)Rate Episode
Notes
1 Magnum's "little voice" returns for the second time after being introduced in Season One's "Adelaide" (1.14). It won't make "regular" appearances until midway through Season Three, however.

2 "Higgins' Theme", a little 7-note Mike Post & Pete Carpenter motif is used for the first time (right before Magnum approaches Higgins as he is working on his scale model of a battlefield with his little toy soldiers). This melody will be used throughout the rest of the series whenever a sentimental view of Higgins is required. It is Higgins' "audio signature".

3 List of notable filming locations: 4 Yuri's "MiG" is actually a U.S. McDonnell Douglas F-4C/D Phantom II, as were the other two U.S. planes that were escorting the "MiG".

5 This is Marianne Muellerleile's (Olga) first credited TV or film role. She has one line of dialog (in russian). As of 2010, she has over 170 distinct television credits on the IMDb.

6 Higgins mentions "hot tub" previleges when bargaining with Magnum, indicating that a hot tub is on the Estate somewhere. This hot tub will never be seen in any episode. In the previous episode, "The Woman on the Beach", a "sauna" is mentioned (and it will never be seen either).

7 The denouement features a delightful scene inolving Higgins and Magnum on the upper balcony of the main house at the estate. The scene offers a great, rarely seen view of the estate grounds (looking towards the guesthouse).

8 This is the first time we hear of Magnum's fondness for the Army-Navy football game; it will be mentioned in a number of future episodes.

9 After the war (WWII), Higgins was liason to the Soviet Army of Occupation in Vienna. The Soviets tried to recruit him as an agent, but they failed, of course.

10 The closing credits contain the following acknowledgement:

We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the HAWAII AIR NATIONAL GUARD during the filming of this epsode

* The Makai Reseach Pier will later be used as the home base for T.C.'s Island Hopper business.
** The Kaiser High School track will later be used in Season Seven's "Straight and Narrow" (7.4).
*** The Kuilima Hyatt will be used extensively in Season Three's "Mixed Doubles" (3.10). Today this resort is known as the Turtle Bay Resort.
Quotes
1
(Pow! Magnum knocks out "The Turk" with one punch!)
Nina: Is he going to be alright?
Magnum: Yeah, he just won't be eating any solid foods for a while. Come on, let's go!

2
Magnum: Gee, can I play too?
Higgins: This is hardly a game Magnum.
Magnum: Well, you could have fooled me. Toy soldiers, toy horses, toy carnage.
Higgins: This is a faithful reproduction of the Battle of Austerlitz. I'm lecturing on it at the Hawaiian Napoleonic Society.
Magnum: Oh, of course, that's every other Weds. isn't it?
Higgins: It's the first Tues. of every month.
Magnum: Oh, ooh, is this the little General himself? (laughs)
Higgins: That's General Kutuzov and I wish you'd put him down.
Magnum: Quite a student of tactics arn't ya?
Higgins: Strategy and tactics, yes. What do you want Magnum?
Magnum: Oh, I need you to help with a case.
Higgins: Me? (laughs) Magnum, you know how I feel about your work.
Magnum: Yeah, I need you to talk to a guy in a hotel.
Higgins: Why me?
Magnum: Oh, I need a special kind of conversationalist, a scholar, and you're the only guy I can think of.
Higgins: Does this business fall anywhere within the parameters of the law?
Magnum: Absolutely.
Higgins: Then you will be willing to negotiate for my participation?
Magnum: Not in the least.
Higgins: Good, we'll start with your use of the hot tub...What did you say?
Magnum: "Not in the least".
Higgins: Good night, Magnum.
Magnum: Of course. Oh, Higgins, you served in Vienna after the war didn't you?
Higgins: I was liason to the Soviet Army of Occupation, yes. You know of that?
Magnum: Yeah. They kind of pushed you around a little, didn't they? The Russians. Made you hand over defectors, POW's. Hate to think of what happened to those poor people.
Higgins: The Soviets were our allies then. We were carrying out national policy.
Magnum: Yeah, I know. How did you feel about it?
Higgins: Magnum, a soldier often has to do things that are disagreeable.
Magnum: Yeah, there is disagreeable, and then there's 'disagreeable'.
Higgins: It was loathsome and I shall never forgive them. Are you satisfied?
Magnum: How would you like to get even?

3
Higgins: It is eminently satisfying to know that as a result of this... a few heads will roll in Moscow. You know, when I was in Vienna the Soviets tried to recruit me as an Agent. Unbelievably crude, I came home one night to find a naked woman in my bed. I knew immediately she was Russian. They use stainless steel... [points to his teeth] instead of gold.
Flubs
1 An air traffic controller identifies Yuri's MiG as a "MiG-30". There is no such thing as MiG-30. There's a MiG-29 (Fulcrum) and a MiG-31 (Foxhound), but no MiG-30. In fact, all MiG's use odd numbers, never even numbers. (Noted by IslandHopper)

2 As Yuri opens the canopy and starts to take off his shoulder harness, you can just see a watch on his left wrist, under the left sleeve of his flight suit. However, after he descends down the ladder you can see he has a watch on his right wrist and nothing on his left wrist. (Noted by IslandHopper)


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