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Episode Number: 127
Season Number: 6.21
Air Date: 4/10/1986
Writer: Bruce Cervi
Story: Chas. Floyd Johnson
Director: Burt Brinkerhoff
Producer: Chris Abbott
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Gillian Dobb (Agatha Chumley)

Guest Stars

Cassie Yates (Shelly Faraday), Denny Miller (Agent Longdon), Geoff Heise (David Kirk), Rose Marie Barbee (Kristin), James Cromwell (French Policeman - uncredited), Jake Hoopai (Truck Driver)

Episode Brief

Photographer Sally Faraday, looking to hire Magnum, meets him in undesirable circumstances when she bangs the front of the Ferrari while being pursued in a car chase by two men, an incident which also leaves Agatha with a broken ankle. Sally wants Magnum's help when it seems that she is being followed since returning from France with some photographs for a new book, in which she seems to have caught something on film that someone has reason to not want to ever be published.

Rating

7.8

(39 votes)

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Notes

¹ Main guest star Cassie Yates (Shelly Faraday) previously appeared in Season Five's "Kiss of the Sabre" (5.11) where she played a very similiar (and highly annoying) character.

² Future Academy Award-nominated actor James Cromwell makes a brief uncredited appearance in the opening scene as a French policeman.

³ The estate's main house "living room" is seen for only the second time, following "This Island Isn't Big Enough" (6.16). The room has a new addition, satellite TV hookup! Higgins enthusiastically uses the new satellite hookup to watch the World Championships of Snooker.

⁴ This is Denny Miller's (FBI Agent Longdon) third and final appearance on Magnum P.I.. He previously appeared in Season Two's "Three Minus Two" (2.22) and Season Four's "A Sense of Debt" (4.8), where he had a lead guest star role as bare-knuckle fighter Leon Platt. Denny briefly played Tarzan in the late '50s and had some memorable roles on Gilligan's Island (as lost surfer Duke Williams, and as a method actor playing "Tongo the Ape Man") and The Brady Bunch (as Carol Brady's egomaniacal high-school boyfriend Tank Gates).

⁵ Agatha breaks both ankles (at different times) in this episode.

⁶ T.C. wears his purple L.A. Lakers cap for the fourth and final time. He also has a new girlfriend named Kristin. She will never be seen again.

⁷ Magnum had a cousin named Claude who had a long-haired Persian cat. They used to play "Spin the Cat" with him, a game where they would spin him around on the kitchen linoleum, slide him across the floor, and watch him try to walk back. The cat loved it! [see quote below] Magnum also mentions an "Uncle Tom".

⁸ The Air Inter jet seen in the opening scene is a very rare Dassault Mercure. The Dassault Mercure was an unsuccessful French airliner built to compete with the Boeing 737; only 12 were built with Air Inter as the only operator. Its range with maximum payload was about 500 miles which made it perfect for flights within France but limited its appeal elsewhere. (Noted by Christopher Iwane)

⁹ Agatha says she survived "The Blitz", which means she was in the UK in the early 1940s.

¹⁰ The carpeted Kahala Mall near Diamond Head is used as a filming location. The rooftop parking lot and the now defunct Liberty House department store (now a Macy's) are also seen. (Noted by Tim)

¹¹ Higgins uses a Sony Betamax video recorder to tape the snooker games. At the time this show aired Sony's Beta was quickly losing to JVC's VHS tape system. (Noted by Phil)

¹² The Ferrari suffers front-right quarter panel and bumper damage after being hit by some bad guys. Magnum sends it to "Lefty's" for repair.

¹³ While riding in Shelly's car, Magnum tries to put on a seatbelt, but he finds that the seatbelt is broken. Magnum almost never wears a seatbelt in the show.

¹⁴ Rick's answering machine greeting is "When it beeps, speak. Ciao."

¹⁵ Detroit Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker is seen on TV and mentioned by name again. Whitaker made a brief guest appearance as himself, along with Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell, in Season Four's "A Sense of Debt" (4.8).

Quotes

¹
Higgins: Not important? This is the first time in the long history of the game that those of us on "this side of world" can observe the snooker championships on "that side of the world", and you want me to squander this opportunity to hear some speech abouts cats?

²
(Magnum receives an award from the "Cat Admirers Society" for saving a drowning cat)
Magnum: ... Anyway, I never had a cat for a pet. I never did. I don't what happened, but I had this cousin Claude, and he had this long-haired Persian. We used to play this great game with him on the kitchen linoleum. We called it "Spin the Cat". (laughs) See, you'd take the cat (chuckles) and you'd spin him around, about eight or ten times. Then see, you'd just slide him down the kitchen floor, all the way to the door (laughs). You should see the cat when he tries to walk back to you. It's great.
(stunned silence from the "Cat Lovers" crowd)
Oh, it didn't hurt the cat. I mean, he, no, he liked the game. No, honest. He loved it. He loved it! He used to try to get us to play it with him, all the time.
(short time later, walking back to the car)
Agatha: Well, I wouldn't feel so badly Mr. Magnum. Actually, parts of your speech were quite amusing.
Magnum: Let's face it Agatha, it was a disaster.
Agatha: Well, look at it this way. Each person is only alloted so many times to fall on his face in his lifetime. Now, you have one less.
Magnum: (puzzled look) Thanks.

³
Shelly Faraday: Road signs are the windows of the world. A chance for us to get closer together, globally.

⁴
Agatha: You may be a terrible speech maker Mr. Magnum, but you're still a hero to me.

Flubs

¹ The French police uniform and badge that James Cromwell wears at the airport is a very poor replica of a real French uniform and badge. (Noted by Vanity)

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