Magnum Mania!

Compulsion

Episode Number: 98
Season Number: 5.14
Air Date: 1/24/1985
Writer: Chris Abbott
Director: David Hemmings
Producer: Reuben Leder
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Kathleen Lloyd (Carol Baldwin), Gillian Dobb (Agatha Chumley)

Guest Stars

John Pleshette (Steve Elliott), David Hemmings (Lord Binkie Smythe-White), Susan Swift (Sunshine), Richard McPherson (Moody), David Palmer (Freddie Baxter)

Episode Brief

Appearances can be deceiving when Magnum tries to convince Carol that she's not seeing signs pointing to the next case as being her last, and Higgins finds himself in a rough spot when his former Sandhurst comrades believe he's the owner of Robin's estate!

Rating

8.4

(26 votes)

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Notes

¹ This is the third "Carol-centric" episode of the series, following "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (4.13) and "Blind Justice" (5.7).

² This episode features several scary "stalking" scenes involving Carol; another foray into light horror for the series.

³ Episode director David Hemmings (a British cinema star from the 1960's) also makes an on-screen appearance as Lord Binkie Smythe-White, one of Higgins' old schoolmates from Sandhurst. David Hemmings will later have a small recurring role on another Bellisario TV show, Airwolf, as Dr. Charles Henry Moffett (the creator of the Airwolf helicopter).

⁴ Carol's last name (Baldwin) is referenced for the first time. It is seen on a plaque in her office. We also learn that she works in the Honolulu City Prosecutors Office as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney (as indicated by the job title posted on her office door). Her father was also a Prosecuting Attorney. She likes opera music (especially Verdi). She once owned a Pekinese dog that went by the name of "Chelsea". Her house is also seen for the second time.

⁵ Carol propositions Magnum with a seductive look and a glance to the bedroom [see quote below]! Magnum declines over fear of breaking up their friendship.

⁶ The estate's kitchen is used for a brief scene, a rare sight.

⁷ We hear two different Giuseppe Verdi opera pieces in this episode, all in the presence of Carol - "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (Drinking Song) from La traviata and "Caro Nome che il mio cor" from Rigoletto. (Noted by Bernd-Christian Schulze)

⁸ Higgins was a student at The Royal Military College (RMC) at Sandhurst, probably starting in 1931 or 1932. He was "sent down" in the winter of his third year when he was falsely accused of causing the partial paralysis of a fellow student during a school prank (Lord Binkie was responsible for the accident). The following spring, he enlisted in the British Army.

⁹ Magnum smokes his tenth cigar of the series in this episode. (Noted by Jay-Firestorm)

Quotes

¹
Carol: You know ... sometimes ... you remind me of my father.
Magnum: Me?
Carol: (shakes head) I guess it's just the way the light reflects off the armor.
Magnum: Night blindness.
Carol: Yeah. (widens eyes, glaces towards the bedroom)
Magnum: There's only one cure for it...(steps closer) Sleep, and the harsh reality that comes with it in the daylight.
Carol: You sure?!
Magnum: (shakes head)
Carol: Yeah. (smiles, walks away)

Flubs

¹ A mop falls toward Carol in an open area, with the mop head in the air, and she's still not 100% sure someone else was there? The mop head was in the air while the mop stick was touching the ground! It made for a cool scene (the mop head briefly appeared to be someone's head, with long hair), but Carol surely would have figured out that someone must have pushed the mop. A little too much suspension of disbelief!

² In the scene where Steve Elliot has Carol hostage in the cabin, if you look at the window of the cabin, it is supposed to be raining outside. But when Magnum comes in to rescue her, it is nothing but sunshine outside! (Noted by Justin Watts)

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