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The Woman on the Beach

Episode Screen Caps Episode Number: 21
Season Number: 2.3
Air Date: 10/22/1981
Writer: Andrew Schneider
Director: Donald P. Bellisario
Producers: Rick Weaver, Andrew Schneider
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars
Judith Chapman (Sara Clifford/Lisa Page), Jack Hogan (Henry Ellison), Kenneth Mars (Joseph), Rebecca Clemons (Librarian)
Episode Brief
Rick, sad over a failed love affair, finds solace in the company of a beautiful woman named Sara. As the two walk along the beach, she vanishes into thin air. When Magnum investigates the woman's strange disappearance, he learns that Sara actually committed suicide 35 years before. Is someone impersonating the woman or is there some other logical explanation for her puzzling disappearance?
Rating
8.7(62 votes)Rate Episode
Notes
1 The original script for this episode was titled "She Walked in Beauty".

2 This is the second "Rick-centric" episode of the series, following Season One's "The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club" (1.11).

3 This is the second (and last) episode to be directed by series co-creator, writer, and executive producer Donald P. Bellisario. His first episode was Season One's "China Doll" (1.3).

4 Judith Chapman (Sara Clifford/Lisa Page) previously appeared in Season One's "The Black Orchid" (1.16).

5 Kenneth Mars (Joseph) will make another memorable guest star appearance in Season Five's "Fragments" (5.6). Mars is best-remembered for his roles in several Mel Brooks films: the insane Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in 1968's The Producers, and the relentless Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Fredrich Kemp in 1974's Young Frankenstein.

6 This is the first episode to acknowledge the possible existence of ghosts within the context of the series. This will be touched upon several more times, most notably in "Mac's Back" (5.3), "Rapture" (6.11) and "Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts" (8.1).

7 The name of the book Lisa Page is writing is called The Woman on the Beach, the same title as the episode.

8 Jack Hogan (Henry Ellison) is one of the casting directors for Magnum P.I. (1981-1983). Jack was a regular cast member of the 1960's television show Combat!.

9 A sign on the outside wall of the King Kamehameha Club states that the club was established in 1905.

10 Higgins quotes Mercutio from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet while fencing on the estate lawn, "I am hurt. A plague a' both your houses! I am sped. Is he gone and hath nothing?"

11 The scene with the librarian (Rebecca Clemons) changing her appearance from a wallflower to a sultry babe behind Magnum's back while he reads a newspaper mirrors a scene from the 1946 classic movie The Big Sleep that featured Humphrey Bogart and Dorothy Malone. Selleck and Bogart's reactions are priceless! (Noted by Mark Lawrence)

12 Higgins mentions that the Estate has a "sauna". This sauna will never be seen in any episode, and will not be mentioned again. In the next episode, "From Moscow to Maui", a "hot tub" is mentioned (and it will never be seen either).

13 The ocean liner SS Constitution is briefly seen docked at Pier 9 in Honolulu Harbor in an establishing shot. The Constitution will be used extensively in Season Six's "All Thieves on Deck" (6.15).

14 Lots of smoking in this episode: Magnum, Rick, Mr. Ellison and Lisa Page all light up. (Noted by Tim)

15 The house used for Lisa Page's residence was previously seen in "Skin Deep" (as Erin Wolfe's house) and will later be seen in Season Eight's "Forever in Time" (as the house where the Hawaiian princess had lived). (Noted by golfmobile & Sam)

16 Higgins was in Gwangju, South Korea in the summer of 1945. He transferred there from Beirut, Lebanon. (Noted by Stephen Huntley)
Quotes
1
(Higgins is practicing his fencing moves on the estate lawn)
Higgins: "I am hurt. A plague a' both your houses! I am sped. Is he gone and hath nothing?"
Magnum: Higgins, what are you doing?
Higgins: Was your American education so lacking? That's Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 3, Scene 1.

2
Magnum: If I believed in ghosts, I'm sure I'd be frightened by now, but, since I didn't, the pounding in my chest must have been due to exertion.

3
Higgins: She disappeared from home during a party one night. They found the car the next day in the waters off Koko Head. Evidently, she had driven it over the cliff. Never found the body, currents carried her out to sea. Of course, there have been some hysterical reports that Ms. Clifford now haunts her old estate, but I tend to disregard rumors of the netherworld.
Magnum: The netherworld?
Higgins: Have you grilled me sufficiently?
Magnum: Yes, I think so Higgins - family scandal, affair d'coeur, and links to the netherworld. Thank you very much.

4
Higgins: Lydia Shaftsbury is a vulgarian. A Visigoth! Who ever heard of playing Romeo and Juliet as Samoans.
(Higgins leaves, short while later)
(to Magnum)
T.C.: Psst. What's a "vulgarian Visigoth"?
Flubs
1 After Rick gets shot, Magnum ask's him if he's ok and Rick says, "I'm ok, I'm fine." When Rick says this line his lips are not moving! (Noted by Mark Seaman)


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