Laura (7.18)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the seventh season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
21
21%
9.5 (One of the Best)
31
32%
9.0 (Excellent)
20
20%
8.5 (Very Good)
11
11%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
6
6%
7.5 (Decent)
5
5%
7.0 (Average at Best)
2
2%
6.5 (Not So Good)
0
No votes
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 98

Message
Author
User avatar
Jay-Firestorm
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 387
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 12:01 am
Location: Berkshire, United Kingdom
Contact:

#31 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

Oh dear… I confess, I’ve really overlooked this one over the years – until now.

[rating=9.0]

Rick convinces Magnum to take a supposedly easy, high-reward job to track down a missing person, but the man who has hired him turns out to be a newly-retired New York detective, after those who raped and murdered his grand-daughter. Great guest and plot…

-----

This review contains spoilers.

I wonder what was wrong with my when I first watched this patch of season seven – I commented on the previous episode, ‘Forty’, that I liked it more now that I came to re-watch it years later. And that is the case even more with ‘Laura’ – it didn’t do much for me when I first saw it, many moons ago, but coming to see it again now to review, I see that it is one that I have badly overlooked for many years.

The episode is, of course, notable for its special guest star, Frank Sinatra. When Sinatra said he was interested in doing an episode of ‘Magnum, p.i.’, he was given three scripts to consider, out of which he liked this one best.

Sinatra puts in a very good, and very involving, performance – as he hunts for those who brutally raped and murdered his young grand-daughter (the Laura of the title), you really feel for him, and urge him on to get his revenge.
Although I am maybe a little too young to fully appreciate what Sinatra was all about, even so I’ve come to really like his performance as Doheny in this episode, which makes it one of the stand-out instalments of the season.

This episode does not have much of a typical MPI feel, especially when compared to early episodes. It has a much more stylistic feel, and – particularly with its use of music – at times almost feels more like and episode of ‘Miami Vice’. In fact, it is very much in the vein of ‘Death and Taxes’ from earlier in the season (which itself is often dubbed MPI’s ‘Miami Vice’ episode). And like ‘Death and Taxes’, it makes heavy use of a Genesis song, in this case ‘Tonight, Tonight, Tonight’.

The episode is pretty much a serious fare through-and-through, with only T.C. serving as small but welcome comedy relief, when he learns that Magnum is making a documentary about being a Private Investigator, and senses a chance to advertise Island Hoppers.

The climax of the episode is particularly notable, with the aforementioned Genesis track playing for ages and ages, with no dialogue, as Doheny hunts down those who killed Laura.

I can’t believe that I’ve overlooked this episode for some long; As I said in my review for ‘Forty’, maybe my viewing tastes have matured over the years. Many would place this episode on their Top 10 favourite episodes of the series; although I wouldn’t go that far, even so I now consider it as one of the best of the season.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* DVD version … abridged act breaks… blah blah blah

* On the episode’s opening trailer, when Magnum says to Doheny “That’s all you’ve got to say – we got off to a bad start?” in jail, the shot used does not match his speech – it is actually taken from a few moments later in the scene.

* Also on the opening trailer, when Doheny smashes the (what I presume to be) transvestite’s head through the window, the shattering sound is part of the effect that was used to make the sound of ‘Airwolf’s turbos engaging, which can also be heard in several other episodes (such as season six’s ‘Way of the Stalking Horse’, for example). In the scene in the actual episode, the Genesis song is playing and there is no sound effect.

* Magnum comments that missing persons cases are hardest; Is it just me, or have he previously (sometime season five / six) said that missing persons cases are one of the easiest types of case?!

* In the closing credits, after Doheny has put the transvestite’s head through the window, there is a shot of him pouring water over the (whatever); this shot was not used in the actual story. (EDIT – just noticed this has already been mentioned on the episode’s main page).

* When Five broadcast this episode in 2003, they edited it in a way that actually made the outcome of the story seem different. Firstly, after Doheny says “She was my grand-daughter”, they edited out “You slimy bastard. You beat her face to a pulp… you broke her body down to nothing at all… and then you threw her in an alley and left her to die. And I’m going to do the same thing to you”. The following fight is edited down to just a couple of punches before Geiger goes over the edge of the building, but… *they edited out the shot of Geiger pulling out a knife*. This makes it seem when Nolan asks Magnum what happened, that his response that Geiger had a knife was made up to cover for Doheny.

* Also on Five’s version, the episode, minus advertisements, only runs to about 42 minutes, whereas episodes would typically run for about 48 minutes. I’ve been through it (admittedly quickly) but can’t see anything removed other than the above mentioned edits, so don’t know why. I know they can adjust the speed programmes as they play, so maybe that’s what they did this broadcast?
JAY FIRESTORM

Facebook: Jay Gathergood / Twitter: Jay_Firestorm NEW BLOG: http://thea-teamcaptured.blogspot.com/

My A-Team site - http://thea-team.org aiming to be the most detailed A-Team site on the Net - if I ever get around to updating it!!

User avatar
Little Garwood
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 1261
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:53 pm
Location: The Magnumverse

#32 Post by Little Garwood »

I voted "Very Good" on this one. At the time I remember all of the publicity that went into this, that the Legend was doing a guest shot on MPI. I didn't know much about Sinatra then, except who he was. In the twenty-plus years since, I've absorbed the man's music and movies (I'm a "Tony Rome" geek; a Sinatra movie filmed in Miami) and can appreciate the gravitas that FAS brings to the role. Intensity! Sinatra looked like a retired cop! He brought that megawatt star power to the small screen and all that hard livin'.

The Genesis montage was more of a dated distraction for me, and wasn't as powerful as other such pieces in MPI or Miami Vice. I do like how Joe Santos is brought in during these "intense" episodes; he's great as usual here. Effective night scenes as well.

I'm not sure this will make my top five for S7, but it's thisclose.
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

MACattack
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 553
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 11:52 pm
Location: Santa Barbara, CA

#33 Post by MACattack »

For the record, that wasn't a transvestite that Doheny smashed through a window. It was a large Samoan with a bad hair cut eating a late dinner. The fact that Doheny would assault a large man like that shows his lust for vengeance. A harsh move on his part, but I don't blame considering his grief over his grand daughter.
I just don't give a damn!

User avatar
Carol the Dabbler
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 293
Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Indiana, USA

#34 Post by Carol the Dabbler »

Doc Ibold wrote:I like the fact that Magnum allows Doheny's "justice" to happen, even though it goes against every fiber of his being.
If you're talking about at the end, where Laura's killer goes over the edge of the roof, my impression was that Doheny didn't push him, he fell -- that Doheny hadn't meant for it to happen that way (he looked sort of startled). He had just promised the guy that he was going to suffer the way Laura had, and I don't think he meant a quick death. Also, as I recall, Magnum didn't get there till just about the time that the guy fell, so there really wasn't much he could have done to stop it. However, the look on his face was pretty much the way you described his feelings -- sort of "well, the guy should have been allowed to stand trial, but he probably got what he deserved."
sgk4 wrote:Hey I watched this episode again last night... and it only just now dawned on me - does anyone think that Doheny actually pushed that first dude in front of the truck??
Yeah, I wondered about that too, especially later, when I knew where that fellow actually fit into the story. I suspect that it was purposely left ambiguous.
Carol

AmandaByNight
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 238
Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:37 pm
Contact:

#35 Post by AmandaByNight »

Hi all,

I'm new here, but thought I'd start on this thread, because I've been thinking a lot about Laura.

Two things:

What I think I liked most about this episode (which is one of my faves) is at the end where Doheny is at Laura's grave and says, "We got 'em," and then falls into tears. I think this is one of the most poignant scenes ever on televsion. I wondered if the intention was that Doheny had allowed himself to go to the level of the bad guys and in the end, his granddaughter was still dead. That's the impression I got. It reminded me a bit of the closing shot in the original Last House on the Left.

Also, does anyone know what become of the little girl who played Laura? I only ask because it's her sole IMDb credit and I wondered if she knew at the time they took the photo of her with Sinatra that she was next to a legend? I would be curious to read what her memories were of that...

User avatar
IKnowWhatYoureThinking
Macho Taco & Coops Connoisseur
Posts: 1885
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:19 pm
Location: NC

#36 Post by IKnowWhatYoureThinking »

Welcome to the Forums Amanda!

AmandaByNight
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 238
Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:37 pm
Contact:

#37 Post by AmandaByNight »

Thanks! :)

User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

#38 Post by J.J. Walters »

AmandaByNight wrote:What I think I liked most about this episode (which is one of my faves) is at the end where Doheny is at Laura's grave and says, "We got 'em," and then falls into tears. I think this is one of the most poignant scenes ever on televsion.
Welcome to the site Amanda!

I couldn't agree more! A marvelous piece of acting from 'Ol Blue Eyes. It's truly an iconic piece of 80s television.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

User avatar
nha trang
Vice Admiral
Posts: 147
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2010 4:07 am

Great episode

#39 Post by nha trang »

Just caught it on TV, thought about skipping it until I saw it had Sinatra in it. Then I figured it would be super-cheesy (like a lot of the episodes I have been reviewing lately) but to my surprise, this was a really good episode. Not traditional Magnum, but a collaboration that I consider very appropriate to the series, I mean Sinatra fit in well, the episode wasn't unwieldy (the only really awkward moment I think is when Higgins walks Sinatra (Doheny) to the bedroom and admits that Doheny "has a point" as a counterpoint to one of Higgins' long winded stories, yet it really isn't like Higgins to admit that someone else has a point in such a way, except for Frank Sinatra, Higgy Baby isn't going to give him any crap...

The Genesis music was definitely a different tactic than usual on Magnum, but it fit in very well in this episode, and I wish they would take that approach with several other episodes (notably some of the really cheeseball episodes I keep catching lately). The method perhaps takes away some of the intricacies of the written plot, but it also takes the pressure off, allowing the story to have some emotional content without having to write in every detail - a montage if you will.

Really good episode, I had to give it a 9.5, definitely a classic!

CHoch
Ensign
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:15 am
Location: Cincinnati, OH

#40 Post by CHoch »

This was a great episode, one of the best IMHO.

I thought that this episode, thanks to the character Sinatra portrays, could serve as a mini-sequel to Sinatra's 1968 movie The Detective. It's almost the same character, but older and more jaded.

An interesting note, according to IMBD & Wikipedia, the role of Dirty Harry was written for Sinatra. Unfortunately because of an old injury to his hand, Sinatra could not handle the large 44 Magnum handgun, and Clint Eastwood was eventually selected for the role.

User avatar
IKnowWhatYoureThinking
Macho Taco & Coops Connoisseur
Posts: 1885
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:19 pm
Location: NC

#41 Post by IKnowWhatYoureThinking »

Welcome to the forum CHoch!

Bes
Commander
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2010 8:26 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

#42 Post by Bes »

I felt this one was a little too straight forward to be classic Magnum; it was solid all round and had a dark, gritty tone, but it's nothing more than a standard revenge Thriller and I expect more from my Magnum. A touch more moral ambiguity perhaps, more shades of grey.

It's good, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't deserve to be listed so highly in the top episodes of the show IMO. If it fit into my top 40, it would certainly be at the bottom of the list.

However, perhaps I should rewatch it to see if it improves 2nd time around.

Bes
Commander
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2010 8:26 pm
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

#43 Post by Bes »

Having watched this for a second time I have to admit that I got much more out of it on repeat viewing; Sinatra is great in it and the ending was more ambiguous than I gave it credit for. A powerful episode. Wish I could re-rate it now!

MaximRecoil
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 303
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 1:10 pm
Location: Maine, USA

#44 Post by MaximRecoil »

J.J. Walters wrote: Oh, and ah, we have another Coors beer sighting:

Image
Those aren't Coors bottles; they are the same "Beer" brand beer bottles that they used throughout season 7, like so:

Image

They were however, a blatant ripoff of the Coors bottle of the time, aside from the missing top label band:

Image

I don't know of any definite sighting of a real Coors bottle in the entire series, though there was the 12-pack box of Coors bottles in Autumn Warrior where the "Coors" text was partially obscured by the carry handle hole and by a section of the top layer of cardboard being torn away.

User avatar
Doc Fred
Admiral
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:00 am
Location: Pinehurst, NC

Re: Laura (7.18)

#45 Post by Doc Fred »

10.0 If I could give it more, I would.

So many good parts to this great episode... the interpersonal relationships, the pain of losing a loved granddaughter to the scum of the earth, the way Magnum supported Doheny when it counted, and how Doheny took care of the child rapist murderer. Justice was served. I just wish Doheny had more time to torture the punk before finishing him.

I thought Page knew more than his words said, and I applaud him for letting Magnum see the report. Yeah, Page had harsh words for Doheny, but that was for show.

This episode affected me greatly, as my own daughter was the same age as Laura at the same time... mid-80's... and as I watched the show, all I could think of was my daughter, and I KNEW how Doheny felt and the pain he was going through. I'm so glad the punk got what he deserved.

I was never a Sinatra fan, actually didn't like him. But, when I saw this episode the first time, when it was first aired, I became a Sinatra fan. Yeah, he was just playing a character, but I felt he was more than acting and felt he let himself be Doheny, and that in real life he could do what Doheny did in the show... and I'd support him fully.

There only a few episodes that stick with me, only a few that really get to me... this is one. I hated that the little girl died, but I loved that her grandfather delivered justice. I could do the same if I was ever in a similar situation. And, if Doheny had been been on trial for what he did, and I was on the jury, or on a jury in a similar case, I'd sure vote "not guilty".
Woof, woof... thirty years uglier!... woof, woof...

Post Reply