Forty (7.17)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the seventh season

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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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Carol the Dabbler
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#21 Post by Carol the Dabbler »

Rutledal wrote:In "Resolutions part 2" you noted that shots of an exposed breast can be seen twice. I'm not a hundred percent sure, because the image quality was kinda poor, but I believe that is the case in this episode too. Except it's only one shot.
I'm not sure we're talking about the same moment or even the same dancer, but yes, I thought I saw a flash of that too. It was when the guys are coming into the club, in a real tight shot of a dancer, and went by very quickly. And of course she would still have been wearing one of those glue-on things anyhow (I always get the spelling & pronunciation confused with the Cornish meat turnovers). But I sure did a double-take.

James, one detail you might want to add to Episode Note 2: In the surprise-party scene at the end, when Higgins "returns" Magnum's two-dollar bill, saying that he had found it in the cash register at Wo Fat's, Magnum examines the bill closely and starts to say something like, "This isn't ...." Then he stops himself and says something else. Clearly, the bill that Higgins had found was NOT Magnum's lucky bill -- it had a different serial number. But Magnum was touched that Higgins had gone to the effort of searching Chinatown for his keepsake, so allowed him to believe he had actually found it.
Carol

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firefly
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#22 Post by firefly »

J.J. Walters wrote:
Rutledal wrote:In "Resolutions part 2" you noted that shots of an exposed breast can be seen twice. I'm not a hundred percent sure, because the image quality was kinda poor, but I believe that is the case in this episode too. Except it's only one shot.
When they first enter the strip club there is a shot of a big breasted dancer with a clear tan line, just making sure you know which one I'm talking about, then there is a shot of the guys and then we return to the dancer, who in this shot pulls down her bra, or top, I'm not completly sure if it actually qualifies as a bra. Well anyways I'm fairly sure that she reveals enough of her breast for it to be a "no-no" on a syndicated show.

Also could you put some Han quotes in the quote section, preferably his wolf speech??
Rutledal, I looked at the bar scene several times. The, ah, well-endowed exotic dancer never reveals her breasts, at least not the parts that are not allowed to be seen on television. ;)

I've added Han's (James Hong) "Wolf" speech to the episode guide.

Thanks
i just watched the episode last night and i could not see anything. usually i am very aware of that sort of thing, not much gets by me :P

as far as the episode itself; i loved the party scene as it, to me at least was a great way of showing the friendship that higgins and magnum have. as was mentioned earlier in this thread seeing higgins wearing a gorilla mask was too funny and as carol the dabbler just pointed out higgins return of the $2 bill was a scene that almost brought a tear to my eye. great work by the writers on that scene as it would have been easy to have it be the $2 bill, but it certainly would have lessened the emotional impact of the scene.

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steveadl
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#23 Post by steveadl »

Agree with others, I'd have to put Patrice Martinez up there with one of the all time hottest girls on MPI.

Just checked her IMDB bio - when this episode was made, she would have only been around 25yo. Magnum was definitely going through a mid life crises chasing her while turning 40! :D

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#24 Post by AmandaByNight »

I love, love, LOVE this episode. I watched about 6 months ago and as someone who also has the big 4-0 hanging over my head, I realized how I love the show in a different way now than I did, say 15 years ago.

I realized that now that I am the same age as the characters, everything resonates with me differently. I understand them differently and I see how well developed they are.

What I liked most about this episode was how 40 held this huge weight (as it does for many of us) and then at the end when he's on the phone with his mom he says something like, "It's no big deal. I just turned 40."

It had a lot impact on me the last time I watched it. I get all those anxious feelings, and I hope they sort of wash away when the moment comes. This episode captured so much of what I am feeling. Crazy and awesome all at the same time!

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#25 Post by nha trang »

While I enjoyed this episode, it was really enjoyment on an entertainment level rather than a real enduring favorite. I think having an episode centered on the Mag's 40th on what was (I read) supposed to be the final season of MPI was a really GREAT idea, and I think the plot was a pretty good MPI action plot, but I think they both should have been done separately.

I think Magnum's 40th should have been wackier - no need to cut away so soon from the gorilla mask party...it should have been more introspective like taking out the surfski July 4th style...just my opinion. They build up many episodes from thin air, but using Magnum's 40th bday should have been less about automatic weapons and more about gorilla masks and surfskis...

I notice the episode "Laura" comes next, kind of surprised me!

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#26 Post by RamblerReb »

The dancer does pull her top down, but covers her... what's a good word, "sweater puppy?" Anyhow, she covers it strategically with her hand as she slips the top down. Still pretty racy for 1987. Not to mention that T-back bottom she was wearing. Anybody recall seeing a T-back on prime-time before this?

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#27 Post by J.J. Walters »

RamblerReb wrote:The dancer does pull her top down, but covers her... what's a good word, "sweater puppy?" Anyhow, she covers it strategically with her hand as she slips the top down. Still pretty racy for 1987. Not to mention that T-back bottom she was wearing. Anybody recall seeing a T-back on prime-time before this?
Prior to 1987, I doubt it. Maybe.... maybe on a Miami Vice episode in the distant background. The lady in this episode is in clear view and, well, she's not wearing much! Definitely shocking for prime time 1987 television! :shock:
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#28 Post by Croix de Lorraine »

Magnum and Otis Redding - it doesn't get much better.

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#29 Post by MaximRecoil »

IslandHopper wrote: A flub of sorts takes place during the gun fight between the SWAT Team and the bad guys at the temple. One of the SWAT members fires his M-16 A1 twice (single shot each time) at the bad guys in the temple. It sounded more like a hunting rifle, but was definitely not an M-16.
I'm not sure what you mean by this. An M16 is a hunting rifle, or at least, it can be, it often is, and is one of the best rifles in existence for hunting varmints and predators (in semi-auto-only "AR-15" form of course, due to legalities). It is one of the most accurate semi-automatic rifle designs straight out of the box, and due to its modularity, doing things to improve its already good accuracy such as swapping the barrel, free-floating the barrel, and dropping in a match-grade trigger group, are all easy to do, even for a non-gunsmith. Additionally, it is very ergonomic and its finish and materials of construction make it well-suited to being exposed to the elements and banging about the woods as often happens when hunting.

As far as the sound goes, as a semi-auto, it sounds no different than any other rifle chambered for the same or similar cartridge. However, we don't hear the real sound of any gun being fired on this show, nor any other TV show or movie that I know of. In reality they are firing blanks, but we don't even hear the real sound of the blanks (because they sound pathetic), we hear sound effects that are dubbed in during post-production. This is why Magnum's "forty-five" has a deeper sound than the bad guys' handguns (which are usually .32s, 9mms, or .38s); it is done intentionally by the Foley artist to give the impression that the "forty-five" is more powerful. They did the same thing in countless other shows and movies (probably using the exact sound effects), such as Dirty Harry (his .44 Magnum got the deep sound effect) and Stallone's Cobra (his "forty-five" [which was actually a 9mm, the same as Magnum's prop "forty-five" was a 9mm in reality] got the deep sound effect).

The Foley artist did make a bit of a gaffe when he chose the sound effect for the M16 in the scene you mentioned (but only relative to how things were typically done by other Foley artists) in that he gave the M16 the deeper, more booming sound effect that was normally used for shotguns and higher-power rifles. The reason I say "only relative to how things were typically done by other Foley artists" is because all of the gunshot sound effects in pretty much any TV show or movie are wildly inaccurate relative to how an audio recording of a real gunshot sounds (countless examples of which can be found on YouTube). If they actually did use unaltered recordings of real gunshots, they would run into the Reality Is Unrealistic problem (see also: Bang, Bang, BANG), because real gunshots sound pathetic on an audio recording, and people would think it sounded fake because they are so used to hearing the "improved" TV and movie Foleys (see: The Coconut Effect).

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Re: 40

#30 Post by Doc Fred »

Frodoleader wrote:You know, the thing about this episode (other than Patrice Martinez... :wink: ) that really got my attention, was TC's behavior. When they wanted to go to the strip club, I had to admire TC and his desire to avoid such a place. While I am no prude, places like that never interested me. Good man TC!
I'm with you, Frodo... TC is portrayed as a very stable, conservative and moral guy, and I like that. Maybe I'm saying that because, like you, I never went to places like that...
Woof, woof... thirty years uglier!... woof, woof...

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#31 Post by Doc Fred »

N1095A wrote:Priceless moment at the end. Higgins in a gorilla mask! I laughed out loud (honestly) at higgins' voice coming from behind the mask he thought was so immature in the past. Probably still thought so, but his wearing it reinforced the fondness for TM we knew was there all the long.
ABSOLUTELY!!
Woof, woof... thirty years uglier!... woof, woof...

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#32 Post by Doc Fred »

Rutledal wrote:In "Resolutions part 2" you noted that shots of an exposed breast can be seen twice. I'm not a hundred percent sure, because the image quality was kinda poor, but I believe that is the case in this episode too. Except it's only one shot.
When they first enter the strip club there is a shot of a big breasted dancer with a clear tan line, just making sure you know which one I'm talking about, then there is a shot of the guys and then we return to the dancer, who in this shot pulls down her bra, or top, I'm not completly sure if it actually qualifies as a bra. Well anyways I'm fairly sure that she reveals enough of her breast for it to be a "no-no" on a syndicated show.

Also could you put some Han quotes in the quote section, preferably his wolf speech??
Regarding the "tan line", there's an expression an old friend of mine had many years ago regarding money and finances, but it applies here also - "If you can't put your hands on it, it isn't worth a damn."
Woof, woof... thirty years uglier!... woof, woof...

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#33 Post by Doc Fred »

Italian Ice wrote:Everytime I see James Hong, all I can think about is when he was the owner of the Chinese Restaurant on Seinfeld.

Seinfeld?? Four !!
I will always remember James Hong as the late Gen. Trau in Chuck Norris' "Missing in Action". As I recall, he was kill number one for CN in the film.
Woof, woof... thirty years uglier!... woof, woof...

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#34 Post by Doc Fred »

AmandaByNight wrote:What I liked most about this episode was how 40 held this huge weight (as it does for many of us) and then at the end when he's on the phone with his mom he says something like, "It's no big deal. I just turned 40."

It had a lot impact on me the last time I watched it. I get all those anxious feelings, and I hope they sort of wash away when the moment comes. This episode captured so much of what I am feeling. Crazy and awesome all at the same time!
For me, it was 30 that was devastating... the end of youth.... I was down and mopey for a month before and after #30. 40 wasn't even a thought, nor 50, 60 or 70. The one that's really going to hit me is 90. :D
Woof, woof... thirty years uglier!... woof, woof...

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Re: Forty (7.17)

#35 Post by Doc Fred »

I very much enjoyed this episode... as most of you did...

And Linda Lee.... Wow... HOT! HOT! HOT!
Woof, woof... thirty years uglier!... woof, woof...

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