Magnum Mania! Banner



Previous Episode Next Episode

Rapture

Episode Screen Caps Episode Number: 117
Season Number: 6.11
Air Date: 11/28/1985
Writer: Bruce Cervi
Director: Russ Mayberry
Producer: Chris Abbott
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Guest Stars
Haunani Minn (Llima Parker), John Bennett Perry (Stephen Parker), Eddie Barth (Harry Granger), Robby Weaver (Wesley), Josie Over (Shirley)
Episode Brief
As he and T.C. deep sea scuba dive, Magnum sees a young boy who appears out of nowhere with no breathing apparatus and signals him to follow. Determined to prove that the boy was real, he learns that his vision matches the description of a young boy killed five years earlier in an explosion at sea.
Rating
8.0(39 votes)Rate Episode
Notes
1 The episode title "Rapture" is a reference to Nitrogen narcosis, or the "Rapture of the Deep". Higgins gives a description of the condition and refers to it as "The Rapture".

2 This is the third episode in which Magnum "perceives" ethereal presences (ghosts), following "The Woman on the Beach" (2.3) and "Mac's Back" (5.3), although this time it appears to be caused by "The Rapture", or is it?

3 Magnum mentions (in voice-over narration) training he received as a U.S. Navy SEAL. This is the first time that he actually says he was a SEAL, although visual evidence (uniform insignia, swim shorts, etc) has been shown throughout the series. In "All For One" (5.15) Tyler McKinney directly implies that Magnum was a SEAL.

4 This is the third episode to feature underwater scuba diving scenes, following Season Two's "Dead Man's Channel" (2.2) and Season Five's "Under World" (5.5). This episode features the most scuba diving scenes, with four separate scenes taking place underwater. All of the dive scenes were filmed in the "Hawaiian Reef" tank at Sea Life Park. Tom Selleck and Roger E. Mosley did their own scuba diving in the reef tank (no stunt doubles used).

5 Magnum wears a Seiko SQ quartz 200m divers watch during the diving scenes. This is the first time he's seen wearing this watch. He will wear it a couple more times in future episodes. (Noted by Henk Hoving)

6 The Robin's Nest library set (since "Round and Around") no longer has the more contemporary boardroom style table and chairs. It now has older, heavy antique looking furniture. The bookshelves have also changed; they are fewer, and spaced further apart. (Noted by Tim)

7 List of notable filming locations: 8 Note how the library scene is basically a complete reversal from events of a few episodes earlier. In "Round and Around" (6.6), Higgins is upset by Magnum's filing system, and asks, "Haven't you ever heard of the Dewey Decimal System"? But here, it is Magnum who cannot figure out how the books are arranged. When he suggests that Higgins should use the Dewey Decimal System like everyone else, Higgins implies that the System doesn't work! This is classic Higgins. In just a few short episodes, he has not only implemented the Dewey Decimal System, but found it lacking as well! (Noted by Shermy)

9 There are several references to military aircraft in this episode. The JRB Expeditor, the F4U Corsair (submerged) and the A-6 Intruder ('Nam) are all either mentioned and/or seen.

10 Magnum mentions a "Cousin Mike" who took him scuba diving for the first time when he was in high school.

11 The rarely seen computer room at Robin's Nest is used for a brief scene.

12 When Magnum is talking to Stephen Parker at the Koho Bar, T.C.'s Island Hoppers vanagon drives past in the background!

13 John Bennett Perry (Stephen Parker) is Matthew Perry's (Chandler on Friends) father, and was the Old Spice "sailor" in numerous commercials in the 1970s.

14 Robby Weaver (Wesley) previously appeared in "Let Me Hear the Music" (5.18) as country music legend George Lee Jessup.

15 Josie Over (Shirley) makes her second of four appearances on the show. A local actress, Josie has appeared in over a dozen episodes of Hawaii Five-O and will later appear in a handful of episodes in another popular TV show filmed in Oahu, Jake and the Fatman (1987-1992).

16 While in the Gulf of Martaban (date unknown), Higgins and his comrades pulled a Lt. Crosley out of the ocean. When they removed his diving helmet, he began "babbling on about the beautiful women he'd seen living in the sea". Sirens was the term he used. He said he saw an entire city of them, including a caravan of elephants!

17 While in Burma (date not mentioned, but probably 1945), Higgins and a zaftig American Army clerk invented a library cataloging method that improved on the Dewey Decimal System in a night of literary passion when they found themselves alone after hours at the base library. (Noted by Stephen Huntley)

* Interestingly, the "Secret Beach" scene is the only known MPI filming location on the west coast of Oahu!
Quotes
1
(Magnum and T.C. are scuba diving together)
Magnum: There is something very soothing, almost mystical about the world under the sea. I've always felt drawn to it. And even though T.C. and I had learned to identify all kinds of sea life over the years we've been diving together, each time had its own surprises. (Narration)

2
Magnum: Oh please, Higgins. Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit? I mean, they're just books.
Higgins: Just books? Just books!? Proust, Somerset Maugham, Balzac. You can refer to them as "just books"?!
Magnum: Oh come on, Higgins.
Higgins: I'm afraid your blatant disregard for the world's finest literature leaves me no choice but to make this room off-limits to you from this moment forward.

3
Higgins: I have studied Aristotle, Socrates, Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Bertrand Russell. I have toured college campuses debating the virtues of dialectic versus symbolic syllogism. I have written scholarly articles for the need for a new, more dynamic logic. But nothing in my life has prepared me for the workings of the Thomas Magnum mind.
Flubs
1 In the chopper scene with T.C. and Magnum, the type of headsets they wear change several times (marks 27:30, 27:51, 29:38). (Noted by Bernd-Christian Schulze)


Shoot me an email if you'd like to have something added or corrected



Magnum P.I. on DVD

All 8 seasons are now available for purchase! External DVD Reviews

Rubber Chicken's Guide Magnum P.I. Locations

Magnum on the Web