Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

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Orrymain
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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#71 Post by Orrymain »

Well, I don't really believe that. The rest of the series really doesn't support it fully in those terms. That said, we know he had issues. Things popped up all the time. Plus, let's not forget, Magnum committed murder. It shocked me when it happened as it was a bold move for an otherwise 'good guy' at the head of a series, especially one that was heap full of comedic aspects. While I don't buy how PTSD, it's clear Nam stayed with Magnum deeply over the years.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#72 Post by ConchRepublican »

Orrymain wrote:Well, I don't really believe that. The rest of the series really doesn't support it fully in those terms. That said, we know he had issues. Things popped up all the time. Plus, let's not forget, Magnum committed murder. It shocked me when it happened as it was a bold move for an otherwise 'good guy' at the head of a series, especially one that was heap full of comedic aspects. While I don't buy how PTSD, it's clear Nam stayed with Magnum deeply over the years.
I don't either, but I wonder if it's a nugget they placed in there to possibly play with later.

I like to view the series as watching a vet recover from his service time and the things he's seen and done and then come out the other side healed. I think the changing of his dress over the course of the series, from the iconic aloha shirts to more often conventional jeans and polo shirts represent the slow process of things being worked out internally, to the point where he's finally at peace with who he is and what he's done and he can move forward, even if forward is back to the Navy.
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Orrymain
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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#73 Post by Orrymain »

Yes, I like that perspective. It fits the canon and spirit of the show. The one good thing about the last season is that it allowed Magnum to complete his circle, to resolve his history. That was cool (but I still think Limbo was the better ending).

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#74 Post by bobrobertsxxx »

I always had a problem with Higgins being Robin because there were several episodes where Robin would be addressed by others in third person as not being Higgins. Unless Higgins hired people to make-up such stories.

On the other hand, it would also be a good idea for Higgins to pretend he wasn't Robin to keep himself grounded (relatively-speaking) so he could associate with Magnum on a more personal level. If I won the lotto it would be best to not show off your wealth as everyone would treat you differently not based on your character but what you could do for them (future favours).

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#75 Post by bobrobertsxxx »

I've always pondered the "Robin Masters Theory". There were many inconsistencies that would lead you to believe he is not Robin Masters for the duration of the show. However, few reasons I believe that Higgins IS Robin Masters...

1. Robin is a writer and Higgins is a writer - weak evidence but why would a caretaker of the estate be so involved in writing? Of course I have to acknowledge that this was pre-internet and why exactly am I writing right now? As a means of expression that probably is innate in every person.

2. Higgins took extreme interest in Robin's stuff - odd. A less personally-involved caretaker would just add it to the bill unless it was irreplaceable. Even the Ferrari is replaceable (as it must have been after accidents in the show...high-end cars are basically unfixable past a point).

3. Magnum's little voice - greatest indicator to me. How often was his little voice correct? What about the cases that led to dead-ends (yes I understand it would make for a boring show).

4. Higgins education/life experience - as another poster mentioned he was of lower rank on the British royalty system. So he had to work to support himself. However creating an alias that made him a lot of money + allowed him to not ruffle the royalty ranking system that he took pride in would be strongly supportive that he and Robin are one.

And lastly...

5. It fits - There really is no reason to even mention Robin Masters name unless it was integral to the core characters of the show. For example, what if the estate was owned by a limited liability corporation? There would never be a reason to mention it other than for accounting purposes. Robin Masters may as well have been an LLC but his constant mention would lead me to believe that "his presence" was for a reason. In this case to bind the themes of the show and make a convenient showending dovetail.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#76 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Would have been nice to get in touch with Jay Huguely, who wrote Paper War (and a number of other episodes), where the Higgins/Robin theory is introduced. Alas, he died in 2008.
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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#77 Post by waverly2211 »

The setup that Magnum thinks Higgins is RM was nothing more than introducing a storyline to a series that was running its course. And needing to introduce something to spice up the Magnum/Higgins relationship. As the series wore on it is clear they are becoming very good friends and the tit-for-tat was running thin.

There is too much evidence to support they are 2 different people in the first 4-5 seasons. The early character development clearly notes Higgins not wanting him there. If it was a setup from the get go the writers would have set a different tone in the early episodes.

Some things that jump out to me in no specific order
1 Higgins looking to quit. If he was truly RM no need to go through the process
2 Higgins not knowing Digger Doyle. If he were RM he would have already known who she was and would have been expecting her. Because RM set it up, Higgins was clueless
3 Higgins reunion with his father. If he was RM then he would not have to be concerned about his career path and caused the split. If he was RM no doubt he would have shared how successful he was with his dad years ago
4 The club. It is illigeal to have a board of directors where the same person has different names and 2 votes. No way would Higgins ever go along with something like that

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#78 Post by Sam »

Styles Bitchley wrote:Would have been nice to get in touch with Jay Huguely, who wrote Paper War (and a number of other episodes), where the Higgins/Robin theory is introduced. Alas, he died in 2008.
It looks like Huguely made the right career choice.

"The White Knight" is a novelty country music song made famous by Jay Huguely, who - recording as Cledus Maggard & The Citizen's Band - enjoyed a brief run of national popularity with the song when it became popular in 1976.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cledus_Ma ... zen's_Band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh66kDox4R0

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#79 Post by PhoenixM »

As somebody who watched a large part of the series first-run during the 80s, and who himself gave serious thought to the inconsistencies in the JH=RM theory at the time it was happening, I wanted to weigh in. But to express my point well, I first have to give some background.

Like many series, Magnum P.I. didn't suddenly explode into a phenomenon overnight; it got a good foothold early enough to stay on the air, and gradually developed more and more of a following as the years went on. This roughly paralleled my own viewing of the show; I was in my early teens, and watched maybe one out of every few episodes on their premiere nights for the first few seasons, but gradually became more and more dedicated to the show as it progressed. By the time the fourth or fifth season had arrived, I rarely missed a new episode. But my specific recollection (at that time) of the first few seasons was hit-and-miss.

This changed at around season five or so, when the show went into off-network syndication. One of the local networks began showing the older episodes of Magnum five days per week at around 6 or 7pm. Not only that, but they were showing them in order. So I found myself suddenly able to fill in the gaps of my knowledge of the previous seasons nightly, while still watching the new episodes weekly.

Not too long after (mid-80s, figure about season 6), Higgins being Robin Masters actually became a very common fan theory. To me, having seen all of the episodes of all of the seasons relatively recently, it was pretty clear that Higgins could not possibly be Robin (for all the reasons already discussed quite thoroughly in this thread). But to the people in my various social circles (e.g. school friends, neighborhood friends, non-immediate family members), who were not as familiar with the older seasons as I was at that moment, it seems like a really cool (and plausible) theory. I even heard radio personalities and talk show hosts bring up the idea. Quite simply, the "average" casual Magnum viewer was not familiar enough with the earlier episodes to see the continuity problem, so it became a popular idea.

And, sure enough... the show itself started hinting at it during the last couple of seasons; some of this might have been precipitated by the death of Orson Welles, but I do honestly think that a lot of it was simply the result of all of the buzz that the fan theory had gotten by that point. I cringed every time the idea was mentioned in an episode - particularly because Magnum himself should have known better! Unlike the viewers of the show, TM had familiarity and some degree of friendship with Robin, had probably done quite a bit of sniffing into Robin's background before coming to live/work at Robin's Nest, and definitely knew him to be a real person who liked him (as opposed to Higgins, who pretty much couldn't stand TM during the first couple of seasons).

So, yeah. My point, other than the obvious "Higgins isn't Robin" one, is to say that my own memory/experience paints this as a fan theory that gained traction - to the point that it eventually found its way into the show - precisely because so few people had watched (or remembered) the earlier episodes in any detail.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#80 Post by Higgins (aka Bondtoys) »

I've just been reading on a german blog, that Orson Welles was supposed to appear as Robin in the final episode, but did not make it until then.
So they changed the script and came up with the less satisfying resolution.

Is there any truth in this or pure speculation?

Edit: Welles died October 1985 and the last episodes where probably shot in 1987/88 so the blog is obviously talking nonsense....

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#81 Post by SignGuyHPW »

Bondtoys.de wrote:I've just been reading on a german blog, that Orson Welles was supposed to appear as Robin in the final episode, but did not make it until then.
So they changed the script and came up with the less satisfying resolution.

Is there any truth in this or pure speculation?

Edit: Welles died October 1985 and the last episodes where probably shot in 1987/88 so the blog is obviously talking nonsense....
Orson Welles was the voice of Robin Masters in the earlier seasons and it's been speculated that they were going to get him to portray Robin in an episode (previously, the body was that of an extra whose face was never shown). Welles passed away before they ever got to using him so they came up with this running storyline to try to rationalize not having Robin around any longer. Once Welles passed you never even heard a voice as Masters, he'd be referenced as having had lunch with Magnum or flying in for a day or whatever, but they didn't give us physical proof of him again.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#82 Post by ☨magnum.t »

The great debate. I must weigh in :lol: Yes JQH is Robin AND no he is not. Does he in fact write the novels I would say yes, he does, the evidence I have seen points towards it. To those who say Higgins isn't capable of coming up with such writing I recall him telling a "scandalous" story in the chopper in Bird Man of Budapest something about a bearskin rug and finding a "hidden" microfilm? But I have digressed. What if Higgins and Robin have long been friends, lets presume soon after Higgins enlisted and went to war his life was saved by a young Robin and company. Therefore Higgins would almost owe him one but doesn't necessarily get along with the man. So several years later when Higgins comes across the man who saved his life, a struggling writer whose barely able to make ends meet, he offers to help him out and co-write a novel if you will. The catch was that no credit is to go to Higgins in order to protect his good name. After the first novel is such a success they both decide to keep "writing". Now enter Magnum, a well decorated Naval Officer and not very successful PI (at first) who does a favor for Robin in someway and as repayment he gives him a suedo job at the estate helping with security and a place to live. Now as stated before Higgins only tolerates his business partnership with Robin because it allows him to live a somewhat adventurous life, collect art, direct plays, write his memoirs, raise exotic flowers drink VERY expensive wine, and other things he might not be able to do on a retired SgtMaj. salary. So the animosity towards Robin is projected towards TM. He then is forced in a way to go with what ever his business partner (Robin) does Like gambling the estate away lol. And J Digger, well that's easy. Higgins gave the finished edited tape to Robin to give to the Publisher, but Robin gave it to Magnum to safeguard until his next trip. When Higgins found out that he didn't give it to the publisher he was so mad he was going to quit the charade and resign the partnership. Remember Higgins wasn't very mad at Tom? haha well that's my theory anyway. Criticism is very welcomed lol.
That reminds me of the time....

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#83 Post by Cagliostro »

That's a fantastic theory, ☨magnum.t! I can totally see it having worked out like that.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#84 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Watching Summer School recently, I couldn't help noticing some more evidence against Higgy being RM. When R.J. pulls up to the estate in the green Ferrari, Higgins is baffled and wonders where he got the car. R.J. said something about calling Robin, who had it brought to him at the airport. Even if we stretch what is plausible and assume that Robin travels the world, while Higgins writes and lives comfortably in Hawaii, surely Higgins would be on top of all the Hawaiian assets.

In fact, even if we assume that Robin is actually Robin, this is some clumsy writing.
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

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☨magnum.t
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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#85 Post by ☨magnum.t »

I always assumed he just bought it for him before his arrival.
That reminds me of the time....

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