Magnum Mania!

Texas Lightning

Episode ID: 36
Episode Number: 2.18
Air Date: 2/18/1982
Writer: Robert Hamilton
Director: Mike Vejar
Producers: Rick Weaver, Andrew Schneider
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars

Julie Sommars (Jeannie Lowry), Jack Hogan (Matt Thompson), Seth Sakai (Chan), Danny Kamekona (John), Tony Brubaker (Eric)

Plot Outline

Card shark Jeannie Lowry (aka "Texas Lightning") hires Magnum as her bodyguard at a high-stakes poker game aboard a luxurious yacht. But Magnum soon learns that the poker game is just a facade and Jeannie is hiding something about her true intentions. Magnum and Jeannie are forced to make a hasty escape from the yacht and become stranded on a deserted island, and are presumed dead.

Rating

8.0 (16 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 This episode takes place during Magnum's birthday and contains some of the series' best helicopter stunts.

2 Jack Hogan (Matt Thompson) also played the villain in the early Season Two episode "The Woman on the Beach" (2.3). He was also one of the casting directors on the show (1981-1983). Veteran character actors Seth Sakai (Chan) and Danny Kamekona (John) will also make several more appearances on the show.

3 T.C. wears the camouflage SEAL cap that Magnum wore in the previous episode "One More Summer" (2.17).

4 The villain in this episode, Matt Thompson, is notably heinous and unsavory, even for MPI. He works on his marksmanship by releasing and shooting live pigeons, and he orders his henchmen to kill two people by knife (strongly implied, but not seen on screen)!

5 The ending scene at the hospital (where Jeannie Lowry catches a cab) was filmed at the "Shriners Hospital for Children" at 1310 Punahou St.. (Noted by Sam)

6 In preparing for their search for Magnum, Higgins mentions the Battle of El Alamein again - "Victory will turn on strong leadership and supreme organization".

Guest Stars

1
(On finding Magnum alive)
Higgins: Oh my God, the bloody tuxedo!

2
Magnum: Life on the islands has an irresistable ryhthm; Days merging together like waves on the beach. That's why I never understood why people get excited over artificial events. For example, a birthday should be a private time, with maybe a run on the beach to celebrate, not the big, embarrasing fuss a person's friends always make over it. I should know because it was my birthday, and I knew Rick and T.C. would be planning something special. What I did'nt know was that the day would be one of the biggest disasters of my life. (Narration)

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