Forty (7.17)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the seventh season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
1
1%
9.5 (One of the Best)
7
8%
9.0 (Excellent)
17
20%
8.5 (Very Good)
34
40%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
17
20%
7.5 (Decent)
4
5%
7.0 (Average at Best)
0
No votes
6.5 (Not So Good)
1
1%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
2
2%
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 84

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marlboro
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#41 Post by marlboro »

Does anybody think that this would have been a good episode to wrap up season 7 (and the series) with?

I don't think it's a top ten episode or anything, but it is very solid and has everything that a good episode of Magnum needs: camaraderie, humor, action, mystery, and a hot babe.

It isn't an episode that resolves a lot of longstanding plot threads, and I think I kind of like it more because of that. There had been a big push to make Magnum more "mature" in the later seasons. "Resolutions" has Magnum become more mature by rejoining the navy. "Forty," on the other hand, has Magnum accept getting older gracefully, without making huge life altering changes. At the end of the episode Magnum is a little older, and a little wiser, but you get the feeling that life will go on for he and his friends much like it always has. Living in paradise, doing a job you love, and bringing a little justice to the world with the best friends a man could ask for - that's a pretty good life. And one I'd like to imagine Magnum has been living since the show went off the air.

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EZiller
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#42 Post by EZiller »

The shot when TSM picks up Linda Lee's earring and the camera pans her up, as his eyes would, from her high heels, black nylons, slit dress, cleavage and then that incredible face is just incredibly hot. Magnum meets a lot of beautiful, sexy women but I don't recall another time when he's been so clearly mesmerized. I would guess that they intentionally picked someone who hide a slight resemblance to Michelle-part Asian, dark hair, similar figure. [My preference is Linda Lee] TSM and Linda really do seem to have some chemistry and he seems much more interested in her than Cynthia Farrell. I recall that when Cynthia asked if he was married he said yes-at least he thought of himself as being married although he technically wasn't, etc. With Linda Lee, he thought a second, then just said no.

Besides the romance, a great script. The turning 40 angle was good, as was the battle with Costa, the gun dealer who is also romantically involved with Linda Lee. I really enjoyed Higgins trying to be coyly deceptive with Magnum when he catches him looking through his stuff to get stuff for his surprise party. Hillerman is such a good actor that he can insist that he isn't preparing for a party, yet he lets us know that he knows that Magnum has it figured out and keeps a wry smile on his face while proclaiming that Magnum is wrong. And the bit with the replacement of the $2 bill is priceless.

9.5 And Patrice Martinez is a Top Ten MPI babe!

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Re: Forty (7.17)

#43 Post by SignGuyHPW »

I both did and did not like this episode. It was a really strange one for me.

My main problem was that they turned Magnum into a stalker. He went after a few stalkers in the course of his PI days so he should've known better to let himself act this way. It was really alarming to me. He also dismissed the case he was hired to do when it seemed like it was a friend whom was in legitamate trouble. This doesn't sound too much like Magnum. He outright said in his narration that he wasn't working on the case so he could follow this broad around. The thing that struck me about the party was Higgins was the one to try to return the $2 bill, but at no point in the show would he have known about it to go looking. Was something edited out to explain why he'd searched?

I liked the whole missing $2 bill storyline. I can see Magnum being one minded and focused on recovering it even to the dismissal of clients. It was also one of the more surprising moments when Magnum suddenly found himself in the middle of a shootout between the guy he was after and the cops. When pairing this with Resolutions it's odd that Higgins made a point that they had "dated" when it didn't seem like they were together more than a couple of days and part of that she was more in "client" mode for him than girlfriend. Plus Magnum seemed disgusted by her actions at the end which makes it odd that he flew back so suddenly to help her, but perhaps he was recalling the initial stalking part of the relationship. Linda Lee's beaten up face was one of the more convincing ones on TV I thought. It looked painful.

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Styles Bitchley
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#44 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Carmen wrote:I`m confused here. Think they kind of missed a day in the plot.
Magnum told Lee he found her earring "last night" when they have coffee together. But after the night with Rick and T.C. where he lost his 2-dollar-bill (day 1)we saw him following Lee, doing the surf ski race, watching her again and so on(day 2), and then he woke up 7.00 a.m. cause Higgins turn on the music in his livingroom (day 3) and it was then when he meet her again in Chinatown and had coffee with her. Am I wrong or they?? :shock: :?
I was confused by this also, but assumed that Magnum fell asleep during the day 'cause maybe he was up all night?

Watched this over the weekend as I celebrated by 40th. Seems like several of us came to this episode while hitting the mark. Great episode. Nice casting. I love how James Hong mixes in Cantonese mutterings into his speech when he's talking. It creates a cool effect and makes him more believable.
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

- J.Q.H.

J. Rickley Schneider
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#45 Post by J. Rickley Schneider »

Is it just me or did it seem like Magnum was a little tough on the babe at the end? He was mad at her because she decided to get the scoop after all? Isn't that kind of her job? And isn't it even more commendable when reporters pursue dangerous stories?

This might have something to do with the fact that Magnum does not hold the media in high esteem (not unjustifiably). It probably goes back to Magnum's Vietnam experience but Magnum's disdain for the press features prominently in "Death and Taxes" and "Heal Thyself."

marlboro
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#46 Post by marlboro »

I think he was upset because he was in love with her and felt a little betrayed.

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Milton Collins
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#47 Post by Milton Collins »

I'm probably going to be very unpopular for this post but I borderline HATE this episode! A rare 6.0 for me, and I can't even fully explain why but i'll try. I think a big part of it was that Magnum turning 40 = Magnum getting older = almost the end of the show = me being pretty bummed lol. I did enjoy the Gorilla mask birthday party and the fantastic oceanside mansion that Linda was sitting outside of when TM stalked her on his surfski (love that he had beer in tow lol) but other than that I really can hardly watch this one.

- I'm going to have to say while Linda Ellison was undenaiably attractive, she was nowhere near my top 5 or even 10 Magnum babes. Quite frankly, I found her to be very annoying! Just my humble opinion of course but I didn't think Magnum and her fit at all and I didn't care for her character or the actress that played her.

- Magnum as a stalker, really? Pretty sure that is not in TM's character.

- That little skinny chinese store owner dude severely annoyed me and was completely unbelievable to play as a friend of Magnums (and apparently the other guys too as TC told Magnum to tell him hi after hearing that he was gonna meet with him). Maybe it's just that I don't like that actor and can only picture him as the screaming host at a Chinese restaurant in a Seinfeld episode lol.

- I couldn't stand that song that played throughout. I found myself with an extremely strong desire to cover my ears after about the 80th time it came on but unfortunately I was running on an elyptical machine and couldn't.

Ok i'll stop because I love Magnum PI too much to be this negative but I just really can't stand this episode.

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Doc Ibold
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#48 Post by Doc Ibold »

Milton Collins wrote:
- That little skinny chinese store owner dude severely annoyed me and was completely unbelievable to play as a friend of Magnums (and apparently the other guys too as TC told Magnum to tell him hi after hearing that he was gonna meet with him). Maybe it's just that I don't like that actor and can only picture him as the screaming host at a Chinese restaurant in a Seinfeld episode lol.
James Hong? :shock:

He was one of the things that totally made the episode for me. Agree that Magnum's actions seemed a little out of character and forced, ala Kona Winds... but a decent "reflective" episode that started coming to light in the later seasons.

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Milton Collins
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#49 Post by Milton Collins »

Doc Ibold wrote:
Milton Collins wrote:
- That little skinny chinese store owner dude severely annoyed me and was completely unbelievable to play as a friend of Magnums (and apparently the other guys too as TC told Magnum to tell him hi after hearing that he was gonna meet with him). Maybe it's just that I don't like that actor and can only picture him as the screaming host at a Chinese restaurant in a Seinfeld episode lol.
James Hong? :shock:

He was one of the things that totally made the episode for me. Agree that Magnum's actions seemed a little out of character and forced, ala Kona Winds... but a decent "reflective" episode that started coming to light in the later seasons.


What were those little babbling noises James Hong was making? They cracked me up as when Magnum would say something he would laugh and then seem to talk gibberish under his breath lol. I think you are right about "reflective". And maybe instead of looking for a good old classic entertaining episode this one could be viewed as a good character study of Magnum and how he deals with growing older, which definitely adds some merit and makes it more likeable:)

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MagnumsGMTMaster
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#50 Post by MagnumsGMTMaster »

Between the 3:59 and 4 minute mark, you definitely see a breast. It goes by fast, but not that fast. I'd post a screen shot, but I'm not all that motivated. Racy for 1987 for sure.

I was curious about TS and his age when this episode was done. He was 41. He doesn't seem 41. I guess he always seemed the archetype of the 70s-80s adult grown man to me. So he's ageless, old[er] and sort of timeless all at the same time.

[edit]: The character presents as wiser and more lived than someone at 41 years of age.

marlboro
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#51 Post by marlboro »

Milton Collins wrote:

- That little skinny chinese store owner dude severely annoyed me and was completely unbelievable to play as a friend of Magnums (and apparently the other guys too as TC told Magnum to tell him hi after hearing that he was gonna meet with him). Maybe it's just that I don't like that actor and can only picture him as the screaming host at a Chinese restaurant in a Seinfeld episode lol.
Dude, you really need to watch "Big Trouble in Little China."

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Doc Ibold
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#52 Post by Doc Ibold »

marlboro wrote:
Milton Collins wrote:

- That little skinny chinese store owner dude severely annoyed me and was completely unbelievable to play as a friend of Magnums (and apparently the other guys too as TC told Magnum to tell him hi after hearing that he was gonna meet with him). Maybe it's just that I don't like that actor and can only picture him as the screaming host at a Chinese restaurant in a Seinfeld episode lol.
Dude, you really need to watch "Big Trouble in Little China."

Image
Yesssss, and a fantastic reminder for me to do so!

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Milton Collins
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#53 Post by Milton Collins »

Doc Ibold wrote:
marlboro wrote:
Milton Collins wrote:

- That little skinny chinese store owner dude severely annoyed me and was completely unbelievable to play as a friend of Magnums (and apparently the other guys too as TC told Magnum to tell him hi after hearing that he was gonna meet with him). Maybe it's just that I don't like that actor and can only picture him as the screaming host at a Chinese restaurant in a Seinfeld episode lol.
Dude, you really need to watch "Big Trouble in Little China."

Image
Yesssss, and a fantastic reminder for me to do so!

I will do so guys and man, I must have been having a bad day as I was way too harsh on him! I watched this again over the weekend and after thinking about it I think he was pretty damn funny! I was too harsh on the episode too, a decent love interest, a trip to the "gentleman's club" with the guys (love how Rick forces TC to go and he responds with "I haven't been to one of these in years!" The end scene with the gorilla mask party for TM was also fun, so I'm going to recant my harsh review :)

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KingKC
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#54 Post by KingKC »

EZiller wrote: I would guess that they intentionally picked someone who hide a slight resemblance to Michelle-part Asian, dark hair, similar figure.
I am kind of glad someone else thought the choice of Patrice Martinez as Linda Lee was intentional to remind TM of Michele. It seemed extremely obvious to me. Other than that I sympathized with TM when he lost the two dollar bill. The longer I have certain things, especially things given to me by special people in my life, the more memorable and precious they get, even if they are inanimate objects. Yes I agree that this could have been a fairly good ending and since I did not realize at the time the show would come back for an eighth season I really thought this was at least a lead up to the end.

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308GUY
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Re: Forty (7.17)

#55 Post by 308GUY »

Just a personal note of "trivia". Has nothing to do with the plot, any of the characters, or even MPI for that matter, not even sure why I felt motivated to post it but..... :magnum:


It struck a very familiar chord when TM lost the bill...why you ask...(or maybe you didn't :lol: ) the reason is that I have been carrying a two dollar bill for about 25 years...when TM lost his and was fairly concerned with getting it back, it just really "hit home" for me.

I never got to see this episode when it first aired back in the 80's, in fact I didn't see much of Magnum at all during it's initial broadcast. From around 1981 to 1989 we lived waaaay out in the country, with no tv reception till I stuck an antenna on an 8 foot pole out in the front yard...then we got one station from Wheeling WV which only came in two or three days a week. So the point is I had never seen this episode or any episodes till I started getting into the DVD's a few years ago.

Like I said, just a bit of personal "trivia" that has nothing to do with much of anything. Guess I just felt like typing this morning! :lol:

Hope everybody has a great day! :magnum:
"C'mon TC...nothing can go wrong!"

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