Kapu (7.10)

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)
6
8%
9.0 (Excellent)
13
16%
8.5 (Very Good)
18
23%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
21
27%
7.5 (Decent)
10
13%
7.0 (Average at Best)
5
6%
6.5 (Not So Good)
5
6%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
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No votes
 
Total votes: 79

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KingKC
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#71 Post by KingKC »

What I so vividly remember about this one was the subtle suspense. Will TM get off the island? Will the killer show up? Where is the girl? How is this all going to end??? I really got frustrated with the culture of this secluded island tribe holding someone against his will but I guess part of the Hawaiian culture was to avoid the progress (interruption) of the white race and hold on to the beauty of theirs.

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Sperry
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#72 Post by Sperry »

Why does Icepick seem so indeifferent to Thomas is this episode? Just a few episodes earlier he was giving it the big pal act in the hospital after Thomas was shot

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#73 Post by SignGuyHPW »

Sperry wrote:Why does Icepick seem so indeifferent to Thomas is this episode? Just a few episodes earlier he was giving it the big pal act in the hospital after Thomas was shot
I always thought that the "big pal act" was what was out of character. They normally played Magnum being a little leery of Icepick. It's part of why Magnum would go through Rick rather than talk to Icepick directly. I always took it as Icepick was willing to do favors for Rick even though he knew they were really for Magnum. I don't think he was ever especially close to Thomas.

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Sperry
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#74 Post by Sperry »

SignGuyHPW wrote:
Sperry wrote:Why does Icepick seem so indeifferent to Thomas is this episode? Just a few episodes earlier he was giving it the big pal act in the hospital after Thomas was shot
I always thought that the "big pal act" was what was out of character. They normally played Magnum being a little leery of Icepick. It's part of why Magnum would go through Rick rather than talk to Icepick directly. I always took it as Icepick was willing to do favors for Rick even though he knew they were really for Magnum. I don't think he was ever especially close to Thomas.
yes good point

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#75 Post by MaximRecoil »

J.J. Walters wrote:
Braddah Kimo wrote:(As an aside, Magnum appears as a good example of the stereotypical ubiquitous Ugly American encountered around the world in other countries, as he exhibits anger, frustration, disrespect, ignorance, ingratitude, a disproportionate impatience to get outta Dodge, a basic loud pushy bumbling presence, etc., among a people and a setting that at the least he should be treading lightly with and with SOME degree of interest, respectfulness and appreciation for, and maybe a modicum of familiarity with, as it is the kuleana, the duty... of anyone who calls themselves a resident of Hawai'i, to learn of Hawai'i's past, culture, ways, etc.. Instead, he seems like some New yawk or Californica tourist who just fell FOB.)
Well, he was drugged and held against his will. He tried to talk to the Chief and got pretty much nothing but silence. He tried to leave peacefully and they tracked him down and dragged him back to the island. I'd be a little angry and frustrated if that happened to me, especially after I'd saved the life of one of their own. But it all worked out in the end, didn't it? They respected him and he respected them. The Chief even gave him a ride home in his own canoe. ;)
Exactly. Some of them could have been facing some serious criminal charges if Magnum wanted to press the issue.
Braddah Kimo wrote:'he was drugged and held against his will'
One's will is subjugated when in another land. especially if there may be a threat to the social calm and equanimity or order. If the ali'i consider it best to try heal him and hold him until he is whole, so be it. You don't push and expect things to work as they did in your own society. You are subject to the parameters of the laws of the land you are in.
But it has been a long time... gotta watch it again!
It wasn't Magnum's idea to go to that island in the first place. They took him there without his consent. All he did was save that girl from being shot by the hitman.

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Tesza
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#76 Post by Tesza »

As already mentioned - for me, this episode is the parade example how they somewhat exaggerated TSM being slightly too intuitive regarding his inner voice - he wakes up, doesn't even know what's phase in the hood, and is already sure he's in great danger. Sometimes, he's a nuance too much of psychic ... however, I wouldn't even be too strict there, most likely I wouldn't feel a lot differently in his situation, especially when drugged. (No, I don't know what it's like - I'm just imagining)

I like this episode mainly because it deals with the native Hawaiian culture - which, as already pointed out and pretty obvious, is quite rare in the series. It also makes a clear difference to the presentation of Hawaiʻi as a "mainly white" place the series somewhat liked to come up with - emphasized by Higgins saying, "a young Hawaiian girl can live anywhere" (in the German version put as "Hawaiianerinnen gibt es hier überall" = "Hawaiians (females) are everywhere in here"). We even hear some Hawaiian language, a language that somehow fascinates me.

What I also noticed is that the makers of MPI obviously rather preferred to make up fictitious islands instead of using real ones. Here, we have a fictitious Kapu island in the north of Molokaʻi (somebody already stated that in that case Magnum and Rick would have been able to see neighboring islands, or both would have seen Molokaʻi - Magnum from Kapu, Rick from Oʻahu), although they just could have used Niʻihau (since that island is a kapu, and was even more at the time this episode aired, nobody would have noticed it wasn't filmed there). In "Operation: Silent Night" they also made up that "French Island" instead of using Kahoʻolawe, which has been used as a military training area for the U.S. Navy at that time, before it became a natural reserve in 1993. It doesn't bother me a lot, but I do notice it, for the reasons already pointed out.

Au contraire - in this case, they did a good job convincing the audience that Kapu existed, by showing the group of islands on a map in a short scene. Nowadays, you can search for it at Google Maps - 30 years ago you either had a precise map of Hawaii, or you'd never find out if that island group was real or not (let's skip that "dammit how I feel young" part ^^). I immediately had to think about exactly this part when I read about phantom islands and how they still influence our way of thinking - even despite the modern possibilities.

Regarding the "Thomas and Rick look at each other synchronously without genuinely seeing each other" scene - do they even look into the right direction? I mean, even if there was a Kapu island in the north of Molokaʻi, wouldn't Magnum look northwards (away from Molokaʻi, since he can't spot it) and Rick southwards (since you can't see Molokaʻi from Honolulu)? - However, great scene, which shows how close their friendship actually is.

Speaking of both the scenes I've dealt with above - I adore these 2-to-4-minute scenes with music they came up with in the later seasons (also, the "Genesis music scenes" and other ones of that kind in the same era). Especially the way you see Rick describing Magnum just raising his hand to indicate his size and forming his mustache to show a prominent feature everyone would remember. - What I especially adore about said scene is the music played in the background of this scene - you have that typical 1980s sound combined with these "tropical" sounds and the moll version of "Higgins's Theme" - interestingly enough, you hear it once when seeing Higgins in the museum and twice in the "Magnum and Rick look at each other" part, where Higgins isn't seen - it resembles the short tune you hear when Higgins leaves the Estate in "Mad Dogs and Englishmen". As I am a big fan of audio play and film music, I just love the whole part - it's one of my favorite music pieces in the whole series. Sometimes I just start the episode just to listen to this special part (without even watching it, although I did like it as I stated - just listening ^^). They really should have used it more frequently.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#77 Post by PickledEggPlease »

Did I miss a posts or did I catch my first flub? (excited!)

Doing the described video (for people with low/no vision) for this episode now. Describing the visuals, I initially described Alea and Mano in the boat as wearing a pink sarong and beige cloth respectively... When I went to describe the man in the beige cloth a minute later...he was wearing red. And Alea was wearing blue! Then when Mano called her from the dock, he was back in beige, she was in blue.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#78 Post by J.J. Walters »

Gotta give some props for Dick "The Giant" Jensen here. Native Hawaiian who appeared in 5 Magnum episodes and several Hawaii Five-O episodes. Released several albums in the early 70's and was a regular performer at the Outrigger Waikiki and the Oceania Floating Restaurant (among others). Wikipedia says he opened for The Stones in '68. but that's hard for me to wrap my mind around (I can't verify that with my limited ability).

Anyway, here he is on the Ed Sullivan show...


youtu.be/Usfarvebv4A
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#79 Post by brianw »

Weak plot, but not a bad episode. The shootout could have been done a little better at the end, and why the hell didn't TM just return to Hawaii with TC and the guys in the chopper, instead of paddling?

The scene with the dog pooping in the background, although I didn't even notice, is hilarious. It reminds me of a Baywatch episode where the scene was in slow motion on the beach and someone in the background can be seen mooning the camera.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#80 Post by K Hale »

Milton Collins wrote:Ok, so the guy playing the angry Hawaiian who doesn't like TM being there, how many different guys has this guy played over the many episodes he's appeared in? I can place him in at least the following: The Kona Winds (the guy who says "if you can't bring Magnum to the party then you bring the party to Magnum" and brings TM a pitcher of booze in Rick's office) Blind Justice (as Willie "K" the car salesman who sells TM the lemon) and theres probably a couple others that I'm missing. I just find it funny that they used the same actor so many different times to play different characters. That's part of the charm of the show though and makes it more likable, just pointing out the obvious I guess. This was not one of my favorite episodes but was interesting and different at the same time.
He was also a cop in “Three Minus Two.” He shows up at the estate to investigate a murder possibly committed by Jan Kona the swimsuit designer, thereby annoying Higgins with a “police raid.”
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#81 Post by K Hale »

On my trip to Oahu a couple of weeks ago, I visited the Bishop Museum, which appears in this episode. It is not named in the episode but there are exterior and interior shots. Higgins is volunteering as a tour guide. My goal was to find the room where he talks to Rick, but it seems there have been changes and I was never sure I had found it.

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I did find the staircase Higgins and his tour group descend, but I had not thought to watch the episode ahead of time before going there, so I didn't get the same angles.

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I also looked for the tattoo implements Higgins demonstrates with:

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And the large one in this case may be the same one.

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The tapa cloth may be this one.

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Exterior shots. Here is Rick and his cousin arriving.

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#82 Post by The Birdman »

I watched this episode today.
So I was sitting there watching and I saw the part where the hitman takes the shells to that guy and the guy gos over to a huge map/poster on the wall and points to some small islands north of maloka'i. I promptly go to Google Earth (I was already surfing the web on my tablet) and to my surprise the islands don't exist. I found it kinda weird that they'd make a fake map for the show. Kinda disappointing.
I already read through this thread and saw where people are speculating that it was based on Ni'ihau. Way off in terms of location.

Something else I noticed is how these people are supposed to be isolated and nothing from the outside, yet they live in stick built houses. Kinda weird.

I don't like how fake it is that they want people to believe people still live like this in Hawaii. No outsiders allowed? It sounds more like North Sentinel island.

I rate this episode low.
Uh PHRASING!!!!

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#83 Post by No need to know! »

The Birdman wrote:I watched this episode today.
So I was sitting there watching and I saw the part where the hitman takes the shells to that guy and the guy gos over to a huge map/poster on the wall and points to some small islands north of maloka'i. I promptly go to Google Earth (I was already surfing the web on my tablet) and to my surprise the islands don't exist. I found it kinda weird that they'd make a fake map for the show. Kinda disappointing.
I already read through this thread and saw where people are speculating that it was based on Ni'ihau. Way off in terms of location.

Something else I noticed is how these people are supposed to be isolated and nothing from the outside, yet they live in stick built houses. Kinda weird.

I don't like how fake it is that they want people to believe people still live like this in Hawaii. No outsiders allowed? It sounds more like North Sentinel island.

I rate this episode low.
Same here. I never liked this episode. One of the weakest of this season.
Onion´s extra?

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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#84 Post by K Hale »

If you do a little reading on Ni’ihau, it is kinda like that. It is privately owned and not exclusively limited to Hawaiians but other than that... yeah, I can see the comparison. No electricity, no running water, no paved roads. It even has its own dialect of Hawaiian.

Of course they had to invent the islands for the show, since it’s fictional.
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Re: Kapu (7.10)

#85 Post by ENSHealy »

marlboro wrote: Fri Nov 22, 2013 8:38 pm Was Magnum actually injured at all? I saw blood in the water when the assassin shot at them, but I never saw an actual wound.
SignGuyHPW wrote: Thu May 08, 2014 5:03 am I was also puzzled that it was implied Magnum was shot, but when he's on the island they just say he'd hit his head. It didn't really make much sense to me that the injury was so different.
Based on these images, I've always gathered that we're suppose to assume a bullet grazed his forehead, knocking him out and giving him a concussion. Although most of the actual symptoms we observe I think are supposed to be from whatever mickey they are slipping him. And my assumption also has been that the girl keeps sneaking in and replacing whatever they're giving him with fresh water, in order to try to bring him out of it.

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