Magnum Mania!

Death of the Flowers

Episode ID: 139
Episode Number: 7.12
Air Date: 12/10/1986
Writer: Mary Ann Kasica, Michael Scheff
Director: Jerry Jameson
Producer: Rick Weaver
Exec Producer: Donald P. Bellisario

Recurring Characters

Kathleen Lloyd (Carol Baldwin), Elisha Cook Jr. (Icepick), Kwan Hi Lim (Lt. Tanaka)

Guest Stars

Michael Constantine (Judge Hannibal Kearns), Pat Li (Grace Chang), Jeremy Gosch (Young Rick), William Watson (Donald Hayes)

Plot Outline

After a devastating fight at a florist, suspicion blooms in both Carol and Rick as they question whether their respective mentors may be involved in illegal affairs.

Rating

8.0 (11 votes) MM Episode Forum Thread & Poll

Notes

1 This is the sixth "Carol-centric" episode of the series, following "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (4.13), "Blind Justice" (5.7), "Compulsion" (5.14), "The Man From Marseilles" (5.20), and "A Pretty Good Dancing Chicken" (5.22). Rick and Icepick also receive a lot of screen time, as well.

2 The opening scene is a flashback to Rick's childhood in Chicago circa 1958 (with narration). 12-year-old Rick and 5-year-old sister Wendy (seen in "Distant Relative") are attending the funeral of their mom and dad who were killed in an automobile accident on January 23rd. Icepick, whose real name is again identified as Francis Hofstetler, is also seen at the funeral. He offers his condolences to Rick and gives him some cash. Rick later says that Icepick would see him and his sister every birthday, Easter and Christmas. When he was 14, Icepick "pulled some strings" to get him into military school.

3 The title of this episode is taken from a poem by William Cullen Bryant called "The Death of the Flowers". It is quoted by Higgins and Grace Chang at the florist shop - "The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he bore, And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream no more". English poet Thomas Gray's 1751 poem "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" is also quoted by Higgins and Grace - "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air".

4 Icepick's (oceanfront) house is seen for the first time.

5 The Aliiolani Hale Building and Kamehameha Statue are seen in a brief "establishing shot" [pic]. The building is the current home of the Hawaii State Supreme Court.

6 The KKC "Anuenue Room" (or "Rainbow Room") set is used for several scenes. This rarely used "Party Room" was previously seen in "I Witness" (4.21), "The Kona Winds" (6.4) and "A Little Bit of Luck, A Little Bit of Grief" (6.20).

7 Magnum's high school football coach, and mentor, was a man named Warren McKenzie Grant, nicknamed "General Grant". In a photo album, Tidewater High School's nickname is shown as "The Lancers".

8 The surprise birthday party sign at the "Rainbow Room" spells Francis Hofstetler's nickname as "Icepick", not "Ice Pick".

9 Magnum is seen reading Raymond Chandler's The Simple Art of Murder. He's mentioned Chandler several times in the past, but this is first time we see him reading one of his books.

10 Magnum wears the "Get Wet" cap for the fourth time, all in Season Seven.

Quotes

1
Rick: It was Jan. 23rd, 1958. I was 12 years old and my kid sister Wendy was 5. My mom and dad had just been killed in an automobile accident. My aunts and uncles were arguing about who would have to take care of Wendy and me. Well, any other kid probably would have been scared, but I wasn't. I knew mom and dad would have been happy wherever they were, as long as they were together. I knew Wendy and I would be ok wherever we were, as long as we were together. But the one thing I couldn't stop thinking about is how if I was somebody I could have afforded to get some flowers for the funeral. Boy, I wanted to get them some flowers. (Narration)

2
Carol: This was not the kind of man who would take his own life.
Tanaka: Look around you, the photo album, the empty bottle of whiskey, the nickel-plated .38 with only his fingerprints on it, no forced entry...
Magnum: No suicide note.
Tanaka: Even so, this is a classic case of suicide.
Magnum: Maybe, or maybe someone wants us to think it is.
Tanaka: You told me yourself you thought he was taking payoffs. Looks to me like he spent the night going through his scrapbook of achievements and realized he couldn't live with the scandal of being caught with his hands in the cookie jar.

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