The Aunt Who Came to Dinner (7.20)

[Jaybird]

Katherine Kelly Lang plays the hot maid, Lani, in this episode. She is a soap star these days and as hot as ever.

I am disappointed that, after all the "come hither" glances she and TM exchanged there was no kissing scene. I guess it wouldn't have been in TM's character.

[wilko]

On reflection, I was somewhat surprised that Higgins did not reprimand Lani for showing Dennis Parker all the way into the house when they were having tea without checking first to see if Phoebe wanted to see him.

[Jay-Firestorm]

I can’t decide how much I like this story. Not the best of plots, but a touching twist.

[rating=8.5]

Thomas’s beloved Aunt Phoebe, a famous playwright, comes to stay at Robin’s Nest, but is convinced that someone is stalking her and trying to kill her for her latest play. But a much more upsetting problem soon emerges. So-so story with touching twist…

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This review contains spoilers.

I’m really not sure how I feel about ‘The Aunt Who Came to Dinner’. At points it seems to become a routine, filler plot, until the sad twist revelation that Aunt Phoebe is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease is revealed.

The episode starts off well, with Magnum going to renew his Private Investigator licence at the Hall of Records. Sadly, we don’t get one last encounter with ‘Ms. Jones’ (the recurring clerk, who got her own episode in the fifth season), but even so, Magnum manages to get into a fight with an on-leave sailor waiting to get married!

Once Aunt Phoebe is introduced, the story settles down into a more average fare, with what at this stage seems to be an average, almost slightly filler plot. It is not until the gradual but unexpected twist involving Alzheimer’s, that the episode really picks up again.

Barbara Rush gives a wonderful performance as Phoebe, whose mind and memory is as clear as a bell one minute, but garbled the next.
What could easily have been done as the “message of the week” instead turns into a sad look at Alzheimer’s and its effects.

Even so, the episode is not completely perfect, and does drag in a couple of points. In my opinion, it is one of those stories that could do with a b-plot; indeed, we do get the plot of Magnum having to renew his license, and getting T.C. to act as a character witness, but maybe more could have been done with this, to balance the story up a little.

The episode is penned by Chris Abbott-Fish; I often cite her as someone who seemed to like to drive MPI towards more social-based dramas, which I am not always keen on. However, on the whole, even though the episode is not perfect, this one doesn’t come off too badly.

The scene near the end, where Magnum finds Phoebe on-stage, acting away to herself, and her conversation with him (“Tommy”), knowing that her condition is likely to get worse, is very touching.

So all-in-all, a tough one to sum up. Shaky in places, but saved by a touching, sad tale, and a great performance by Barbara Rush. I give this one a reasonable 8.5.

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Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* I’m really gonna have to get the Region 2 DVDs to compare – I’m SURE that this episode originally had an opening trailer.

* Quite unusually, Kwan Hi Lim (Lt. Tanaka) is billed with the opening guest stars, not during the closing credits.

* Cigar count: Higgins offers Magnum a cigar, which he takes, but we don’t actually see him smoke it on-screen.

* Rick only appears in one scene in this episode.

[Rutledal]

I haven't gotten the region 2 DVD set of this season yet, but I remember that when I watched it on television it had an opening trailer.

[Jay-Firestorm]

I haven't gotten the region 2 DVD set of this season yet, but I remember that when I watched it on television it had an opening trailer.

I haven't seen a televised version for some years (and the Channel Five run didn't use opening trailers), but I too seem to recall that this episode originally had one.

I was disappointed after forking out for the DVD sets that some of the trailers were missing!

[Carol the Dabbler]

[from Episode Note #1] Magnum's Aunt Phoebe was previously mentioned (but not seen) in "Ms. Jones" (5.19). It appears that Phoebe is the sister of Magnum's mother Katherine. She lives in New York City and is a successful, Pulitzer Prize-winning, playwright. Her first play, Murder Came Knocking, was a big hit on Broadway. Her husband "Sully" died around the same time the play came out.

I've been puzzling over Magnum's family tree for years (and suspect that the writers may not have been all that consistent), but I am pretty sure of one thing -- Aunt Phoebe was not supposed to be Magnum's blood relative, but rather an aunt by marriage. There are several references to how much Magnum looks like his Uncle Sully (presumably the same person as Phoebe's late husband Sully), and at one point Phoebe refers to this as a "family resemblance."

So I take it that Sully was Magnum's blood uncle. Since Phoebe is a widow with the last name Sullivan, I assume that Sullivan was also her late husbands's last name. "Sully" is a common nickname for people named Sullivan, so I assume that was the case here. (True, Phoebe was referred to as "Miss Sullivan" at one point, but the speaker was a theater person, and could have been using the theatrical mode of address, where all females are "Miss.")

If Sully had been Magnum's father's brother, his last name would presumably have been Magnum, so apparently he was not. He could have been Katherine's brother (was her maiden name ever mentioned?), but not necessarily. In one episode, Magnum refers to his "Great Aunt Phoebe." Since Phoebe is not a common name, I tend to assume that Aunt Phoebe is the same person, and is actually the aunt-by-marriage of one of TM's parents. (I always referred to my mother's aunts as "Aunt Eva," "Aunt Kate," and so on.) Her apparent age does seem more appropriate for one of TM's own aunts, but then one of his parents could have had a relatively young aunt -- Hubby's mother was the eldest in her family, so several of his aunts and uncles are actually younger than he is.

I realize that I am totally ignoring the issue of TM's middle name being Sullivan, but that raises complications best left for another thread. Perhaps there's one already on one of the non-episode forums.

[J.J. Walters]

I've been puzzling over Magnum's family tree for years (and suspect that the writers may not have been all that consistent), but I am pretty sure of one thing -- Aunt Phoebe was not supposed to be Magnum's blood relative, but rather an aunt by marriage....
...So I take it that Sully was Magnum's blood uncle. Since Phoebe is a widow with the last name Sullivan, I assume that Sullivan was also her late husbands's last name. "Sully" is a common nickname for people named Sullivan, so I assume that was the case here.

Ah, great observation there Carol. I do believe you are correct. I completely missed the ball on that one. Chalk up another flub for 'ol J.J.

Glad to see you working your way through Season Seven. It looks like you're having fun. And thanks for the great posts!

[Carol the Dabbler]

I always feel very flattered when you update the Episode Notes to reflect my comments, James!

One minor quibble on the current wording -- Sully was Magnum's blood uncle.

[J.J. Walters]

If it wasn't for you guys, the site wouldn't be what it is today.

How's this Carol?

It appears that Phoebe is not Magnum's blood relative, but rather an aunt by marriage. Her deceased husband "Sully" (probably short for Sullivan -- and not necessarily connected to Magnum's middle name) was Magnum's blood uncle.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Sounds good to me!

[Carol the Dabbler]

In one episode, Magnum refers to his "Great Aunt Phoebe." Since Phoebe is not a common name, I tend to assume that Aunt Phoebe is the same person, and is actually the aunt-by-marriage of one of TM's parents. ... Her apparent age does seem more appropriate for one of TM's own aunts ....

I'm updating this after seeing Season 8's "Forever in Time," wherein Magnum refers to his "Sullivan side" as being his mother's side of the family.

OK, so Uncle "Sully" was apparently on Katherine's side of the family, and therefore so is Aunt Phoebe. Assuming that she is the same person as "Great Aunt Phoebe" (apparently mentioned in "Ms. Jones," which I will try to watch soon), then she is actually Katherine's aunt, not Magnum's. True, she doesn't look old enough for that (and Barbara Rush is actually two years younger than Gwen Verdon), but Katherine could be the daughter of Sully's much-older brother, and/or Sully could have been much older than Phoebe.

[J.J. Walters]

Ok, I'm thoroughly confused now!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Sorry, James! I realize it's confusing -- I had to draw myself a diagram, to be sure I had things straight, before I hit the Submit button. Maybe trying to be succinct wasn't such a great idea after all!

First, I did make one unacknowledged assumption. It is perfectly possible that Magnum's Uncle Sully is from a different Sullivan family, unrelated to Katherine's "Sullivan side" of the family. But fiction tends to be much tidier than real life, so I assume that Sully is related to Magnum through Katherine. (As explained in my earlier post, Phoebe is related to the family through her marriage to Sully.)

I am 99% certain that Magnum referred at some point (presumably in "Ms. Jones, which I have not seen for a few years) to his "Great Aunt Phoebe." I am assuming that "Aunt Phoebe" is the same person (again, because fiction tends to be much tidier than real life).

Putting the two together, Phoebe is Katherine's aunt (by marriage), and Sully was the brother of Katherine's father (presumably the "Grandpa Sullivan" that Magnum has referred to).

Last question: How can Phoebe be Katherine's aunt, when they appear to be about the same age? I can think of two possible explanations:

1. Grandpa Sullivan could have been much older than his brother Sully, so that Sully was actually about the same age as Katherine, or

2. Sully may have been much older than his wife, perhaps even old enough to be her father. (Or it could have been a little of each.)

If you're now even more confused, please let me know which part is the problem (assuming my explanation is even clear enough that you can tell!).

[IKnowWhatYoureThinking]

Maybe we can put Magnum's family tree on the site somewhere if anyone wants to make an attempt at it. Personally, I'd have it looks like he was inbred by the time I was finished with it.

[Doc Ibold]

For some reason, I thought I took a stab at that somewhere around here.