Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

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Reef monkey
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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#41 Post by Reef monkey »

I vote no, too much evidence, especially early on, for them being two different people.

Though the idea of Robin being a guy Higgins partnered with while Higgins does all the writing is compelling, the J. Digger Doyle Episode, with Robin driving around in the Rolls Royce in the South of France, and then Higgins talking to him on the phone, calling him "Mr. Masters", all without Magnum or anyone else except us the viewer being present to witness, seems to be an expensive and unnecessary level of effort to go to in order to keep up the charade.

I think if anything, Higgins is charged with keeping RM's privacy, and when he sees Magnum wondering if he might be, he takes advantage of that by protecting his privacy by making people think he doesn't even exist, and he does that with Magnum by denying it, in a very cryptic way that makes the denial not quite seem genuine - reverse psychology. Plus, I think Higgins just enjoys yanking Magnum's chain.
My essay "In Country: Place and Historical Connection in Magnum PI", about the importance of the Honolulu/Vietnam connection in the show:
http://magnum-mania.com/Forum/viewtopic ... 850#p57850

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Higgins (aka Bondtoys)
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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#42 Post by Higgins (aka Bondtoys) »

SQUEEZE PLAY is imo the best evidence that Higgins is NOT Robin Masters.

Benoit knows Robin for so many years personally - even if Higgins was using an actor - why should he put the estate on jeopardy for the silly softball match. And Higgin's embarrasement that he depends on Magnum and his team is not staged - if it was he must be a really decadent and bored millionaire

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#43 Post by SignGuyHPW »

THIS always bothered me. It was well established, in my view, that Higgins and Robin Masters were not the same person. Some of the things that established it: It was inferred in the pilot that Magnum had known Robin Mastesr and was then hired by him to head security at his Hawaiian estate, there were multiple episodes where Robin, Higgins, and Magnum interacted, Magnum would occassionally reference having seen or talked to Robin recently, Higgins would reference that he'd have to resign or could be let go by Mr. Masters, Higgins seemingly didn't know Magnum when he was hired as security implying he'd not have known and hired him previously, Higgins was working on his memoires and that was used as a recurring comedy bit which would imply Higgins was not an accomplished writer, Higgins replaced a former mayordomo which would imply he didn't own the estate for years after it became Robin Master's property.

To shoot down some of the theories that would support it: Higgins hiring an actor to portray Robin Masters would make the plots of the episodes featuring Robin not make sense due to the actor not interacting with anyone influential enough for it to matter, if Higgins became successful after a novel or two then why wouldn't he just use a fictional name and launch his own brand, why would it matter to Higgins that Robin Masters be living a playboy lifestyle 24/7 when he could just pay occassional trips when the media would be covering things it'd be expected to see a famous writer, why wouldn't Higgins hire a staff to do all of the chores that seem to fall into his job description if he's already paying a guy to live a celebrity lifestyle for him

I always felt that after Orson Wells passed away the writers decided to write off Robin with this storyline. The passing was sudden and they couldn't do the planned episodes with Orson actually appearing completely so they figured they could make Higgins into Robin and combine the two characters rather than completely change actors and introduce a new Robin.

I thought it'd have been better to do an episode where they get news that Robin suddenly passed away and he had it in his will that Higgins would get everything associated with the Hawaii estate. That way you could get Magnum investigating the death to see if it was accidental or murder, you could get comedy out of Higgins suddenly coming into wealth and being the owner of everything he was in charge of for so long, you could tie up the show by having Higgins deciding he would rather work for what he has rather than being given it and sell the estate.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#44 Post by Kwai Bridge »

Today I've come across "The Look" episode again, and it led me to some interesting thoughts while watching it...haven't seen anyone mention anything nearly similar in the dedicated episode thread, so I guess I actually have something to contribute with. I believe it's not bad for a second post and I hope someone responds! I wrote the basic concept for it in less than 5 minutes, but it took me over an hour to make a final version. Anyway, here we go. :wink:

If we take into consideration Magnum's theory that Higgins is Robin Masters, and that he has all the resources, while hiring some random guy to pose as Robin Masters, it would make no sense for Higgins (who is Robin in this case) to phone the guy who's posing as Robin to phone Magnum to construct Higgins (Robin) himself a birthday present, while missing the date entirely! If it was Higgins' doing all along, you would guess that he would tell Magnum the correct date of his own birthday!

That would either mean:
  • That Higgins did it on purpose, for some unknown reason
  • That the guy who's posing as Robin told Magnum to build the castle for Higgins on his own call and gave him the resources to keep Magnum thinking he is the real Robin, and that he simply forgot the date, but then it contradicts the theory that Higgins pulls all the strings and has all the resources
  • That the guy who's posing as Robin actually IS Robin and he simply forgot the date
Higgins himself in this very episode said: "Mr. Masters is frightfully absent-minded about dates." If Higgins isn't Robin then it would makes perfect sense. But if he is, that would mean he's simply lying, since we all know Higgins remembers his entire history by dates, and that he threw himself a fake birthday party for some unknown, selfish reason.

Beside this and other small confusing things, Magnum's theory would work perfectly. In "Resolutions" he even asked Higgins why does he call a guy posing as Robin "Mr. Masters" even when two of them are alone, to which Higgins gave him an explanation, but then at the end of the episode he said that he lied about being Robin. Apparently Higgins likes to lie, but we never know if he's actually lying or not. Ugh, my head hurts so MUCH!

Another thing that boggles my mind is how no one of the invited Higgins' friends didn't know that Higgins actually didn't have a birthday on that date.

Anyway, thoughts, anyone?

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#45 Post by EZiller »

Here's one theory:

Yes and no. Higgins and RM are definitely two separate people and RM’s series of lurid pulp fiction are a collaborative effort of work between them. The person who became the famous celebrity writer was actually Elmer Masterman. Elmer was a British war correspondent in WW2. As a youth he had read hundreds of books about the great military heroes of the Empire, as had JQ Higgins. However, his diminutive size and health problems would prohibit him from serving in any sort of combat role, so he became a correspondent, figuring that to be the closest way to get to the action. He first met Higgins in the N Africa campaign. They were of the same age, grew up not too far from one another and while many of the British officers Masterman came into contact with would ridicule his appearance, Sgt. Major Higgins always treated him with respect and also had a much better knowledge of what was actually happening during the campaigns. Masterman wasn’t a great writer, but he was an excellent listener and he enjoyed nothing better than sharing a bottle of brandy or Scotch with Higgins and listen to him relate what had happened on the front or the strategy involved. Higgins knew he could trust Masterman and over the years, they would quite often run into each other, whether it was the Middle East, India or SE Asia and Higgins would share his tales of adventure and intrigue.

Masterman had been trying to get his novels published, but had nothing but a drawer of rejection letters from various publishing houses for his efforts. One evening in Singapore, after long night of imbibing and listening to his frustrations, Higgins offered to read his latest manuscript and see if he may offer some creative editorial assistance. Higgy had a lot of fun with it-he had become a fan of the Ian Fleming’s Bond novels and Higgy punched up the work with plenty of sex and violence, retitled it “Babes in Babylon” and also suggested that Elmer Masterman use a pen name and came up with the alias of Robin Masters. Robin loved the idea and the finished project-he offered to share co-writing credits with Higgins, who absolutely wanted no part of formally being associated with such trash. [Besides, he never thought it actually would be published] Lo and behold, “Babes” was published, would be made into a movie and the public clamored for more RM novels. Robin and Higgins were now in a bit of a dilemma, since Higgins had totally rewritten Robin’s dull work. Higgins didn’t want to see his friends work discredited and Robin Masters, while an average writer, did prove to be a genius at self- promotion. So, a collaborative union was born. Higgins was getting close to retirement and splitting the royalties from the novels was a windfall for a man who was expecting to live on a modest soldiers pension after retirement. Together they came up with an elaborate ruse. Robin bought an elaborate estate in Hawaii and would install Higgins as the caretaker, who would have plenty of free time in paradise to continue to edit and rewrite Robin’s novels. Of course this would be unknown to everyone but the two of them. Higgins, besides rewriting RM’s work could also begin working on his memoirs, a journal of his 30 years in the British army and intelligence service, which he was sure would outsell any of the RM pulp he had put together, while RM traveled the world and became the darling of the literary and movie industry. Higgins was content to live as the country gentleman in paradise.

This was until RM brought to estate one Thomas Sullivan Magnum, a recently retired USN officer whom he had originally met in SE Asia after the fall of Saigon. And that is another story.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#46 Post by midnightx »

Clearly the final determination as to whether it would be revealed that Higgins was Robin Masters at the end of the series was not determined and planned out at beginning of the series. Without putting too much thought into it, it seems as though the writers originally conceived that Higgins was simply Higgins and Masters was Masters. There are various examples during the first half of the series where the Season 8 revealing makes little sense. As the show evolved and Wells died, it made it easier and perhaps more compelling to move towards the direction that Higgins may have indeed been Masters all along; but again, the events from the first few seasons that separate Higgins and Masters are hard to overcome (particularly in J Digger Doyle episode).

On some level, I like the concept that Higgins was secretly Robin Masters, but it is hard for me to overlook the details from first few seasons. While the idea that Higgins hired some guy to jet set around the world acting like a flamboyant, extravagant, wealthy, playboy to help define the persona of author Robin Masters is not entirely inconceivable, the idea that he would have this character call Higgins and make certain demands and requests seems a bit odd (unless you believe Higgins' assertions that he did it to keep Magnum on his toes knowing that Magnum was secretly trying to listen). I can see Higgins having this hired character call Magnum or even meet with Magnum occasionally so that the estate's security consultant would also be someone who could confirm there was a Robin Masters, but it still seems to me that the show did not originally intend to have Higgins be Robin Masters, and therefore, the concept seems a bit unconvincing as much as I like the concept.

But, at the end of the day, when it comes to television series from previous eras and the development of those story lines and characters, it isn't always good to overanalyze it. It probably comes down to each individual fan and how they want to remember it, and how they would prefer it to be.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#47 Post by Doc Ibold »

midnightx wrote:
But, at the end of the day, when it comes to television series from previous eras and the development of those story lines and characters, it isn't always good to overanalyze it. It probably comes down to each individual fan and how they want to remember it, and how they would prefer it to be.
Love this quote, because I feel the exact same way. I think everyone on the forum prefers to remember Magnum in their own way, and different episodes and themes resonate differently with each of us. For instance, I don't mind the sport themed episodes all that much simply because I think the guys said "Hey, let's go play some softball or volleyball or football and make an episode about it" I secretly suspect the actual sports scenes took longer to film simply because they were having fun with it. And it's no secret that I have a soft spot for Birdman of Budapest simply because of Higgins slowly losing his grip throughout the episode.. Even though it's arguably one of the more patently absurd plots in the series and one of the more cited "Higgins is not Robin Masters" episodes.

To each their own, I say!

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#48 Post by EZiller »

Absolutely agree that the idea of Higgins being RM's ghost writer was not something they originally intended but a gimmick they hit on a bit later down the road.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#49 Post by Styles Bitchley »

midnightx wrote:But, at the end of the day, when it comes to television series from previous eras and the development of those story lines and characters, it isn't always good to overanalyze it. It probably comes down to each individual fan and how they want to remember it, and how they would prefer it to be.
Exactly!
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#50 Post by EZiller »

One more thought-I think the reason they went with this and why it would have any plausibility at all was because the writers changed direction with Higgins character during the first season. Instead of just having him portray Higgins as the major-domo who was stiff, autocratic and rather humorless…they realized that Hillerman was an incredible actor and they had limitless possibilities of what they could do with Higgins character, given his extensive career resume and his background. For me the scenes with Higgins are usually the highlight of every episode.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#51 Post by midnightx »

EZiller wrote:One more thought-I think the reason they went with this and why it would have any plausibility at all was because the writers changed direction with Higgins character during the first season. Instead of just having him portray Higgins as the major-domo who was stiff, autocratic and rather humorless…they realized that Hillerman was an incredible actor and they had limitless possibilities of what they could do with Higgins character, given his extensive career resume and his background. For me the scenes with Higgins are usually the highlight of every episode.
Agreed. And it certainly was an intriguing story line to develop; the issue however becomes the contradictions in early episodes that would make it very unlikely that Higgins was Masters. If those can be overlooked as imperfections before the writers were able to fully develop the direction of the show, then the Higgins as Masters story line becomes more credible as the series progresses.

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#52 Post by Higgins (aka Bondtoys) »

Watching 'J Digger Doyle' tonight.

Higgins taping his resignation while in the Audi.
Why would he do this if he was Masters?

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#53 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Bondtoys.de wrote:Watching 'J Digger Doyle' tonight.

Higgins taping his resignation while in the Audi.
Why would he do this if he was Masters?
Good one, Bond!
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#54 Post by Higgins (aka Bondtoys) »

Thanks, Styles,

It seems that I am on a run :magnum:

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Re: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters?

#55 Post by The Birdman »

Bondtoys.de wrote:Watching 'J Digger Doyle' tonight.

Higgins taping his resignation while in the Audi.
Why would he do this if he was Masters?
Yes, why would he do that? That is exactly what people would ask later when they hear the resignation. It would pretty well prove he was not robin masters. All part of the elaberate hoax. :D Or not.
Uh PHRASING!!!!

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