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

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J.J. Walters
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Laura (7.18)

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for Laura (7.18). All discussions and reviews for this episode should go here. If you wish to rate the episode, please do so with the poll. The avg. score will be the official 'community rating', which will be used on the episode page (updated monthly).

This thread is also linked in the episode page of the Episode Guide.


Original Air Date: 2/25/1987
Revenge is bittersweet when Magnum helps a retired New York City police sergeant chase the two men who murdered his granddaughter.
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Fri Dec 28, 2007 3:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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lutherhgillis
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#2 Post by lutherhgillis »

Dark tone to this episode! What a heart breaker. The old cop loses his granddaughter because two thugs raped and beat her. I have to say I enjoyed seeing the old west style of justice for those two.

Did anyone else notice the palm trees in the final scene where Doheny takes the flowers to the grave? Tha graveyard should have been in NY not Hawaii. There are no palm trees in NY...

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Doc Ibold
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#3 Post by Doc Ibold »

That doesn't really matter to me, LHG.

(Although in another episode, I'd TOTALLY agree with you in the inconsistancies).

However, the tone of this story was phenomenal. Dark, gritty, and overall, just REALLY well done.

"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" used to MAXIMUM effect in this episode, just like "Mama" in "Death and Taxes"

I like the fact that Magnum allows Doheny's "justice" to happen, even though it goes against every fiber of his being.

I hadn't seen this episode since '01 when I was in college, so it was a bit fuzzy to me. So, originally, I thought "Oh, Frank Sinatra gimmick episode"....

However, once I watched it again, I REALLY liked it, and can see why it's on the Top 40 episode list.

I actually tear up a little bit whenever I watch the episode (twice since Season 7 is out) and I see that little girl looking up at the guy, and then you learn what happens to her and there's not a damn thing you can do about it!

:?

It's heartbreaking, and even though I don't have any children of my own, if that happened to my goddaughter, I'd go Doheny on their a$$ too!

Excellent writing and cinematography. I can see why Sinatra chose this episode.

Personal thoughts aside, GREAT, GREAT episode!

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Shermy
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#4 Post by Shermy »

Kevyn Major Howard just didn't learn in the 1980's, did he? After he raped and killed Paul Kersey's daughter in LA, Kersey shot him in a church. And when he received a mistrial due to a technicality, Harry Callahan warned him against any further violations in San Francisco.

Yet when confronted with killing another daughter, Howard still expects to escape the legal system. Well, at least he did finally get the hell out of California. :wink:

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J.J. Walters
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#5 Post by J.J. Walters »

Hey Shermy, Steven Keats (Willie Clayton) was in Dirty Harry, not Kevyn Major Howard. ;)

Man, this may be the darkest, grittiest, most depressing TV episode I've ever seen, for any show! And it's really, really well done. A great career capper for the legendary "Chairman of the Board"!

The "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" sequence was phenomenal! Ten times better than I rememberd it.

One thing that really struck me about this episode was the "Jeep Babes" scene. As amusing as it is, it just seems so out of place in this gloomy episode. Yet, oddly enough, it seems to work in a stark contrast kind of way.

Fantastic episode!

Oh, and ah, we have another Coors beer sighting:

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Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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Shermy
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#6 Post by Shermy »

I was thinking of the sequels. Howard was a main punk in Death Wish II, and the cocky guy who gets a mistrial at the start of Sudden Impact. He has the infamous elevator scene with Dirty Harry, where Harry informs him he's nothing but dog****. :lol:

Incidentally, you can also spot a young Camryn Manheim (in her screen debut) standing in the back of the elevator. Manheim will appear with Selleck in the upcoming Jesse Stone film.

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J.J. Walters
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#7 Post by J.J. Walters »

Oh I see that now! Heh, sorry about that! Sudden Impact, now there's a movie a need to watch again! ;)

Speaking of Steven Keats (a great character actor by the way) though, did any of you get the impression that he was slapped for real by "'Ol Blue Eyes" in that scene at the apartment? If it was fake, they sure did a good job with it. I could just see someone like Keats, a journeyman actor, in a scene of a lifetime with Frank Sinatra, say something on the set like, "Frank, let's make this scene as real as possible. Just go ahead and slap me!"
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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Doc Ibold
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#8 Post by Doc Ibold »

I'll bet ya Frank Sinatra just slapped people for the fun of it.

I wouldn't care if Sinatra slapped me.

BTW,

Notice the tie-in with an early seasons Magnum PI writer(or was it director/producer?) Lawrence Doheny = Michael Doheny.

Kinda like Doug and Doc Ibold...

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J.J. Walters
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#9 Post by J.J. Walters »

Hey, did anyone else notice that Magnum is getting smoked by T.C. in their chess game? After T.C.'s Qh5+, Magnum is facing Mate in 2, but he doesn't appear to notice it! He just casually plays Be2 as if everything is ok. T.C. doesn't appear to notice it either and simply calls out "Check", not "Check and Mate in 2".

Image

Looks like he should have used "Uncle Lyle's Castle Blitz" like he did with Higgins.

That's right, I'm a complete and utter geek! ;)
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#10 Post by Danno »

James J. Walters wrote:Hey, did anyone else notice that Magnum is getting smoked by T.C. in their chess game? After T.C.'s Qh5+, Magnum is facing Mate in 2, but he doesn't appear to notice it! He just casually plays Be2 as if everything is ok. T.C. doesn't appear to notice it either and simply calls out "Check", not "Check and Mate in 2".

Image

Looks like he should have used "Uncle Lyle's Castle Blitz" like he did with Higgins.

That's right, I'm a complete and utter geek! ;)
That's pretty funny... you may be the first person in history to have noticed this, James. Well done. :wink:

Sinatra sure had style though...

The entire series seems to have improved dramatically with season seven. I think this episode had more dramatic weight that most of the others so far in the series.
Oh, and ah, we have another Coors beer sighting:
I seem to recall there also being a neon Coors sign in the bar at one point too...
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Chairman of the board rules!!!

#11 Post by dick butkus »

This is a superb episode. It was a true pleasure to watch Ol' Blu Eyes gueststar! I had expected Frankie Boy to have a smaller role, and maybe playing himspelf, or a rather silly role. But ir turned out to be a great serious role and Sinatra to prove himslef once more to be a charater actor - very good!
The story itself is also very good, and a lot of suspense. It is also nice to watch Tom intearct with Frank.
I say this in one of the five best episodes.

P.S. Remember that is is Sinatra's worls, we just live here.

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#12 Post by dick butkus »

I mean:
It is Sinatra's world, we just live here.

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#13 Post by Steve »

This episode is definitely in my top ten and probably even in my top five. I was looking over Frank Sinatra's biography and am shocked that his performance wasn't nominated for an Emmy or a Golden Globe for Guest Star in a Television Drama . It's too bad they never got around to filming the second show with Frank as well, it would have been amazing.......

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#14 Post by Frodoleader »

While watching this episode the other day, I noticed something I don't think I ever noticed before: there was(is) what looks to be a ship's bell in Magnum's bedroom. It was located in the foreground in one shot as he is walking into the room. Never noticed it before.

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#15 Post by Carmen »

Then you have to watch "The arrow that is not aimed" again, there is that one special scene at Magnums bedroom including the bell. :D and later I am not sure, maybe in "Mad dogs and Englishmen" Magnum uses the bell at Higggins bedroom for payback...
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