Autumn Warrior (7.13)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the seventh season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
3
4%
9.5 (One of the Best)
8
11%
9.0 (Excellent)
13
18%
8.5 (Very Good)
22
31%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
16
22%
7.5 (Decent)
5
7%
7.0 (Average at Best)
3
4%
6.5 (Not So Good)
2
3%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 72

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J.J. Walters
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Autumn Warrior (7.13)

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for Autumn Warrior (7.13). 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: 12/17/1986
It's survival of the fittest when Higgins takes a group of boys from prison camp for a weekend outdoors and somebody tries to sabotage the experience.
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Fri Dec 28, 2007 3:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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IslandHopper
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#2 Post by IslandHopper »

An excellent episode featuring Higgins, the survival expert. 8) I really enjoy the episodes that focus heavily on Higgins. Also featured in this episode was Mr. Belding from "Saved By The Bell."

There a couple of interesting items of note in this episode. First, in one of the early scenes, Higgins is preparing for the survival trip to the island with the boys from the prison farm. We see him throw his duffle bag onto the floor revealing his serial number from his days in the British Army. His serial number was 10576996. Second, there is a "Coors" beer sighting at Robin's Nest. Al Cleary, one of the party guests is in the kitchen with Rick and a couple of girls and he picks up a box of Coors beer.

This episode has also revealed a new candidate for the "Hottest Babe" list. Al's girlfriend who is seen in the kitchen with Rick and Al definitely deserves to be included on the list, if not moved straight to the top of the list. :shock: :wink:
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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308GTS
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#3 Post by 308GTS »

Screenshot please Islandhopper...then we can decide.
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#4 Post by IslandHopper »

308GTS wrote:Screenshot please Islandhopper...then we can decide.
308GTS,

Are you referring to the "Coors" sighting or Al's girlfriend? Unfortunately I am not technically sophisticated enough to provide screenshots. But I'm sure James will oblige us. The shot of the "Coors" beer case (1/2 case=12 bottles), and Al's girlfriend both occur in the kitchen after TC and Magnum have flown to the Island and Rick has remained behind to try to get everyone to leave before Robin arrives at the estate.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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308GTS
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#5 Post by 308GTS »

Hi IslandHopper

I guess I was referring to Al's girlfriend.
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#6 Post by Doc Ibold »

IH, couldn't agree with you more!

VERY attractive woman.

I love this episode because it still shows everyone that Higgins can still kick A$$, even though no one believes that he can make it.

He even ends up having to save Magnum and TC who come to tell him about the Robin party.

Also interesting is that HIGGINS is right about when Robin is coming in.

One facet of the "RM is Higgins" theory is maybe that he had the "Robin" imposter falsely call in so he would foil the party. But then again, he was kind of running for his life, so he would have to have done it prior to leaving on the trip...

Another part of it was that Magnum is trying to fire up the guys to have the party and both Rick and TC are kind of "eh" about it and refer to the fact that there isn't really an "old gang" anymore, and that people might have other things to do. Pretty much a page out of my life right now!Kinda shows you that we all have to grow up sometime.

:lol:

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#7 Post by IslandHopper »

Doc Ibold wrote:One facet of the "RM is Higgins" theory is maybe that he had the "Robin" imposter falsely call in so he would foil the party. But then again, he was kind of running for his life, so he would have to have done it prior to leaving on the trip...
That's a good theory Doc. It makes sense, as Higgins became suspicious of Magnum before he left for the Island due to Magnum's constant inquiries about Higgins' itinerary. Like he knew Magnum was up to something.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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#8 Post by J.J. Walters »

Another great episode from Season Seven. Any episode where Higgins is the protagonist is going to be good in my book, but here it's even better because he's using survival skills and fighting for his life! Love the opening scene with Higgins in the jungle in WWII! We hear about his military history all the time, but how often do we SEE them in flashbacks? Hardly ever. I wish they did it more in the show.
IslandHopper wrote:This episode has also revealed a new candidate for the "Hottest Babe" list. Al's girlfriend who is seen in the kitchen with Rick and Al definitely deserves to be included on the list, if not moved straight to the top of the list. :shock: :wink:
Yes indeed IH, yes indeed!

Image

8)

The same scene also features Pamela Bryant, Playboy Playmate of the Month, April 1978*

Image

* I know this because I looked her up, not because I can instantly identify Playmates of the Month by merely looking at them. ;)

And you are right IH, a case of Coors (not "Coops") is spotted!

Image
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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IslandHopper
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#9 Post by IslandHopper »

Thanks for posting those screen shots James. :) One of these days, I'll need to learn to do it myself. Thanks again.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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#10 Post by SelleckLover »

James J. Walters wrote: I know this because I looked her up, not because I can instantly identify Playmates of the Month by merely looking at them.


And you also read Playboy only for the articles, huh James? (LOL) :D

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#11 Post by J.J. Walters »

Hehe SL!

Not that it matters either way, but for the record, by "looked her up" I meant "online search", not "looked her up in a huge stack of Playboys"! ;)
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#12 Post by SelleckLover »

OK James, glad you cleared that up! :D

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Higgins timeline addition:

#13 Post by Herman »

Higgins made the mistake of cooking fish for his host, Abdul ben Bashi. Bashi, raised in the desert, didn't recognize the fish and thought Higgins had cooked his pet iguanas. He ordered Higgins to be stripped and staked out in the sun to bake until dead. In the face of this punishment Higgins had the wit to request wryly that in deference to the modesty of Bashi's wives, he not be stripped.

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#14 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

Last review of the week for me. Although not quite a classic, this is a pretty good episode IMO.

[rating=9.5]

Survival expert Higgins goes away on a weekend camping trip with a small group of teenage offenders, but things turn nasty when the group leader is shot dead, leaving the offenders hunting down Higgins on the remote tropical island. A good story…

-----

This review contains moderate spoilers.

Season seven through up a number of quality episodes, and I consider ‘Autumn Warrior’ to be one of them. It is a great story, centring on Higgins, and I would say that it is one of the most memorable from the latter end of the show’s run.

I really like Higgins as a character, so it is great to have an episode that shows despite aging, he is still more than capable of defending himself.
In fact, I would say that outside of the “Higgins’ half-brothers” episodes, this is my favourite Higgins-centric storyline from the show.

With Higgins away, back at the Estate, Magnum uses the opportunity to try and arrange a party – even if no-one else seems that interested. This leads to a few mildly amusing moments, although I did feel that after a while these scenes started to get in the way of the main plot slightly.
I would have instead to have seen the time used to develop the teenage offenders a little more – self-appointed leader Doug doesn’t quite seem as bad as he should be.

There is also the interesting note of Robin Masters phoning for Higgins while Higgins is away, throwing into doubt the possibility that Higgins may really be Robin (a notion introduced a few episodes previously in ‘Paper War’), although maybe it was once again an actor that Higgins had hired to play Robin? In fact, I go with the suggestion of some other fans that Higgins may have deliberately got the fake Robin to phone while he was away to botch any plans for a party that Magnum would likely have!
Either way, the fact that Robin phones for Higgins, sending Magnum and T.C. off to the island, does seem a bit over-convenient plot-wise, but does not really spoil the episode overall.

The island scenes are well shot, with some good scenery. Although it is clearly a double used for some of Higgins’ more strenuous shots, it is still good to see ol’ Jonathan Quayle in action and giving the bad guys (or bad teens!) a thrashing.

Despite the couple of dodgy points I have made above about this episode, I still really like it. I wouldn’t say that it is quite a series classic overall, but I’d definitely rank it as a classic in terms of the season.
And it has a classic “Oh… my… GOD!” ending to boot!

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* Nothing else to say on this one, other than: James – a radio ID is called a callsign. :)
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#15 Post by J.J. Walters »

The rarely seen 'Estate Escape Tunnel', built into the fridge in the kitchen...

Image

It's hard to tell, but there appears to be a TV set off in the distance!

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

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