Magnum Mania!

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.

The great debate. I must weigh in 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's a fantastic theory, ☨magnum.t! I can totally see it having worked out like that.

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.

I always assumed he just bought it for him before his arrival.

Hey guys, maybe I’m missing something here, but Higgins CAN’T be Robin Masters. Here’s TWO proofs. First, there is an episode (for the life of me, I don’t remember the episode title) where Higgins speaks on the phone to Robin, and Magnum is NOT involved with the call, nor is he even in the house at the time. And in case you think Magnum places the call from an outside line, it’s not possible, as that phone only was called from Robin’s personal phone, which Thomas could not possibly have access to. So unless you think Higgins is insane, he CAN’T be Robin. Also, in the episode “The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company”, Higgins is talking to the lads, while working on the typewriter, about a letter he is expecting from his publisher. Magnum is NOT in the room. And Higgins says, “Naturally, I would like to be published. Who wouldn’t?”. Now, if Higgins was Robin, a wildly successful author with countless successful books already published - that line makes no sense whatsoever. No way that a fabulously successful author would say a line about yearning to be published. He would have said “I like to be published”, and not “I WOULD like to be published”. No chance. Higgins CAN’T be Robin. No way....

NaftaliG wrote:Hey guys, maybe I’m missing something here, but Higgins CAN’T be Robin Masters. Here’s TWO proofs. First, there is an episode (for the life of me, I don’t remember the episode title) where Higgins speaks on the phone to Robin, and Magnum is NOT involved with the call, nor is he even in the house at the time. And in case you think Magnum places the call from an outside line, it’s not possible, as that phone only was called from Robin’s personal phone, which Thomas could not possibly have access to. So unless you think Higgins is insane, he CAN’T be Robin. Also, in the episode “The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company”, Higgins is talking to the lads, while working on the typewriter, about a letter he is expecting from his publisher. Magnum is NOT in the room. And Higgins says, “Naturally, I would like to be published. Who wouldn’t?”. Now, if Higgins was Robin, a wildly successful author with countless successful books already published - that line makes no sense whatsoever. No way that a fabulously successful author would say a line about yearning to be published. He would have said “I like to be published”, and not “I WOULD like to be published”. No chance. Higgins CAN’T be Robin. No way....

I think episode you are referring to is J. Digger Doyle.

I wanted Higgins to be Robin Masters, but because of many lines in the early episodes, it didn't make sense. The writers should have planned it out properly from the beginning instead of just stuffing it in in the later seasons.

You could use a whole bunch of convoluted logic to make it work, but it makes Higgins look a bit psychotic.

Higgins IS Robin Masters and vice-versa.

Higgins was created to compartmentalize his early traumatic life. Robin Masters may even be another persona he used to shield himself.

He tries to keep as busy as possible to cover his anxiety and other issues, even breaking into other personalities( to avoid the reality of it.

His friends are "enabling" him as they know of the horrors he's trying to avoid. Maybe some are actors to keep up his psychologically stable persona of Higgins.

He has too many high level connections for a groundskeeper and has many, many visitors to "his" estate.

I've thought this since very early in the series as we never actually see the two of them together, ever. In this whole thread there are only 2 episodes mentioned that make you think they are separate. This is one of the main plot points of the show, made much earlier than orson welles death.

Higgins just knows way too much about the life and property of Masters to be anyone but Masters himself.

And of course Higgins "talks" to Masters, even when there are no other characters around, he is still trying to keep that part of his personality alive.

There are too many inconsistencies for there to be a definitive answer. I for one am not a fan of the "Higgins is Robin" story.

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?

I have an answer for this.

I am of the camp that believes Higgins and Robin cannot possibly be the same person. However, the question is not "Is Higgins Robin?" but rather "What is the nature of the arrangement between Higgins and Robin?" There are three possibilities:
1) Masters writes the novels, and Higgins is the caretaker of the estate. No more, no less.
2) Higgins writes the novels, and the man we see as Robin is some guy Higgins hires to play the role. This was Magnum's original theory in "Paper War."
3) Higgins writes the novels or at least contributes most of the writing, although Robin comes up with the ideas and sends them to Higgins via cassette tapes, which we are told get conveniently destroyed later.

I believe in possibility #3. I've yet to find a situation that I can't explain away and "J. Digger Doyle" is no exception. (Caveat: of course I realize the writers did not come up with the ghostwriting thing until later in the series, but let's have fun with it.)

To understand what Higgins was doing when he taped his resignation in the car, you have to look at what he actually said. Quote: "Perhaps I have reached the age when my experience and techniques have been outdated by recent technological advancements in the field. I assure you, my decision in no way affects... [he sees the accident] Look out!"

The underlying theme here is that Higgins keeps getting shown up by Doyle (unfairly IMO) as being unable to maintain estate security. At one point she says the security system is "as behind the times as a World War 2 soldier" with him standing right there. So in the resignation tape, he's telling Robin he is quitting as majordomo so this hotshot security firm can take over and keep the estate safe. And then he adds "I assure you, my decision in no way affects..." and then never finishes the sentence. What he was going to say was that it in no way affects their other business arrangements, i.e. he's not saying the novels are affected, just his being head of security at Robin's Nest.

Yes K Hale I also share this theory. I often think that for all of Higgins prude acting and judgmental dialog he deep down had an admiration for Magnums aloofness and Robins eccentricities. Vicariously he got to live those lives through them and never even had to admit it. He could be as brash as he wanted .

NaftaliG wrote:Also, in the episode “The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company”, Higgins is talking to the lads, while working on the typewriter, about a letter he is expecting from his publisher. Magnum is NOT in the room. And Higgins says, “Naturally, I would like to be published. Who wouldn’t?”. Now, if Higgins was Robin, a wildly successful author with countless successful books already published - that line makes no sense whatsoever. No way that a fabulously successful author would say a line about yearning to be published. He would have said “I like to be published”, and not “I WOULD like to be published”.

He's talking about his memoirs for which he just got a rejection letter from the publisher saying something like it's not emotionally involved enough. He gets mad about this and asks rhetorically how he would have survived such a long military career if he got emotionally involved in everything. He wants his own story published under his own name so he says "I would like to be published. Who wouldn't?" being sort of ironic about it.

☨magnum.t wrote:Yes K Hale I also share this theory. I often think that for all of Higgins prude acting and judgmental dialog he deep down had an admiration for Magnums aloofness and Robins eccentricities. Vicariously he got to live those lives through them and never even had to admit it. He could be as brash as he wanted .

The events of "The Red-Faced Thespian," where he hints that he was faking the Fearing Pangborn thing, makes it obvious that Higgy Baby has a very strong dramatic streak and enjoys taking the Mickey Bliss out of people, especially Magnum. Writing lurid, ridiculous novels would be a fun way to release that part of himself. Plus he got super personally offended in "Paper War" when Magnum called Robin's novels "cheap."

Through out the series I always wondered about that myself but deep down inside I knew he wasn't Robin Masters. Yes, I know that in the final episode when Rick gets married, Higgins tells him that h is Robin Masters, but at the end of the show, he told Magnum that he had lied and that he really wasn't Robin Masters. You be the judge.

3 The mystery of Robin Masters' identity is never really resolved. In response to Magnum's questions, Higgins (finally) implies that he is Robin Masters, but then later, at Rick's wedding, he enigmatically tells Magnum, "I lied". By saying "I lied", does he mean he lied about saying he was Robin Masters? Or does he mean, "I pretended to be Robin Masters all these years" (i.e. "I lied" the whole time you were here)?