Little Girl Who (7.7)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the seventh season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
13
14%
9.5 (One of the Best)
37
39%
9.0 (Excellent)
21
22%
8.5 (Very Good)
12
13%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
5
5%
7.5 (Decent)
4
4%
7.0 (Average at Best)
1
1%
6.5 (Not So Good)
0
No votes
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
1
1%
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 95

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J.J. Walters
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Little Girl Who (7.7)

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for Little Girl Who (7.7). 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: 11/5/1986
Magnum's fatherly instincts kick in when his ex-wife Michelle goes on the run and leaves him in charge of her little girl.
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Fri Dec 28, 2007 3:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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SelleckLover
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#2 Post by SelleckLover »

I like this episode so much I bid on and won a script of it on eBay. It wasn't autographed or anything, but I still treasure it. It is interesting to read, because it wasn't the final script that they filmed for broadcast. It was fun to see how it differed from the way the episode was actually filmed. For instance, Lily's name was Leah in this script incarnation. With all that aside, I think this episode shows Magnum's "softer side", when called upon to take care of Lily.

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#3 Post by J.J. Walters »

Wow, that's really cool SelleckLover. Any other major changes in the script vs. the final episode?
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#4 Post by J.J. Walters »

I finally got around to viewing this episode recently on the Season Six DVD. What an episode! Simply one of the best MPI episodes of all-time. This watershed episode continues the "Michelle/Magnum" storyline and has a little bit of everything - great plot, good pacing, heavyweight recurring characters (Michelle, Buck, Maggie, etc.), apt narration, classic on-location settings (Valley of the Temples, Parke Chapel, Little Saigon) and a near perfect climax/ending! What an emotional ending, with Lily and Michelle walking away, across the bridge, at the Byodo-In Temple. The tears were flowing big time, let me tell you!

A couple of nice touches in this episode: Towards the end, when Magnum is leaning over Michelle, there is nice shot with the camera looking up at Magnum (from Michelle's point of view on the ground) and the sun is peaking out from behind TM's head. This exact same shot was seen in Memories Are Forever, only with the roles reversed (Michelle was looking down at Magnum). Then at the very end, as Magnum and Michelle are saying their goodbyes, there is a very effective long pause and then Michelle begins to walk away. After what seems like minutes, Magnum then finally asks the question we've waiting for him to ask the whole episode - Is Lily my daughter? Great stuff!

And I loved that bright yellow Eddie Robinson t-shirt T.C. was wearing. T.C played Tight End at Grambling. Nice touch!

Higgins said something that confused me, however. Maybe you guys can clarify it for me. Higgins said of Lily, "Yes, you can certainly see her mothers oriental heritage". Her mothers oriental heritage? Michelle is French is she not?! :?
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#5 Post by Doc Ibold »

Right, but maybe she had an oriental mother/father?

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#6 Post by J.J. Walters »

Yeah, I guess that is what we are supposed to believe, even though truthfully neither Michelle nor Lily look oriental in the slightest to me. :?

Another thing that stands out for me about this episode is how long its been since we've seen Michelle - FIVE YEARS! We see this great "Magnum/Michelle" subplot develop in Memories Are Forever (Season Two), then we hear nothing about it for FIVE whole YEARS! :shock: I mean, sheesh, how many shows would kill to just be around for a couple of years, and here's MPI, slowly developing key character subplots between gaps of FIVE YEARS. Wild.
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#7 Post by IslandHopper »

James J. Walters wrote:Higgins said something that confused me, however. Maybe you guys can clarify it for me. Higgins said of Lily, "Yes, you can certainly see her mothers oriental heritage". Her mothers oriental heritage? Michelle is French is she not?! :?
I think Doc is right. I was always under the impression that Michelle is half asian (Eurasian). I thought that there was actually a reference to her Eurasian heritage in one of the episodes. :?
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#8 Post by SelleckLover »

Me too, IH, I was always under that impression also. There are people that have Asian heritage but don't look Asian. :D

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#9 Post by J.J. Walters »

Chalk up another flub for James! ;)

It's been a looooooong time since I've seen Little Girl Who/Limbo/Unfinished Business.

Not quite sure why I questioned Higgins' comment about Michelle's "oriental heritage". It just surprised me. For some reason, I always had her pegged as all French. But of course, she could be of mixed descent. :oops:
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#10 Post by grapeshot »

Viet Nam was at one time (prior to our war there) a French colonial nation.

From Wikipedia
Vietnam's independence ended in the mid-1800s, when the country was colonized by the French. The French administration imposed significant political and cultural changes on Vietnamese society. A Western-style system of modern education was developed, and Christianity was introduced into Vietnamese society.
As a result of this, many Vietnamese spoke French as a second language.

Again, from Wikipedia:
The French language, a legacy of colonial rule, is still spoken by some older Vietnamese as a second language, but is losing its popularity. There are however some French-language newspapers in the country as Le courrier du Vietnam[2] and several French-language immersion programmes and French schools as the école française Colette[3] in Ho Chi Minh City.
When you consider that Michelle is Thomas Magnum's contemporary, and would have been born in the fifties (or perhaps the late 40's), it seems perfectly reasonable to suppose that at the time there were more than a few people of mixed Vietnamese and French background. This is what I have always taken Michelle to be. The Wikipedia article says that the French language is not spoken so much nowadays, but in Michelle's youth it would've probably been the second language of the privileged and even the middle classes.

Rather than being an anomaly, her character fits extremely accurately within the Vietnamese culture. As far as I'm concerned, her character added one more chink to the solidity of Magnum PI's portrait of Vietnam.

There's a lot of things that we who love MPI can chuckle over, but the way that this show handled all things pertaining to Viet Nam is anything but cheesy or campy.

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#11 Post by J.J. Walters »

Indeed grapeshot, indeed.

France has quite a history with Vietnam, and the French colonial forces were involved in the early stages of the Vietnam War.

I just had it in my head that she was French, all French. I now see that this image I had of her for twenty plus years was incorrect. She's Eurasian. And I'm cool with that.

;)
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#12 Post by 308GTS »

I agree with James, what a fantastic episode and truly heart rending towards the end. I always thought that Michelle had a slightly asian look about her too, her eyes and hair especially.
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#13 Post by Shermy »

The rubber chicken really hit his stride in Season 7: From location shooting in L.A. to cheering up Lily to his heartbreaking work in Paper War. (Not to mention his reunion with Lily in Limbo!) I'm really surprised he was not included in some manner on the boxart.

I really like the scene where Magnum shares his suspicion (that Lily is his daughter) with Higgins. It ends with a very nice moment where Higgins compliments Magnum, albeit in his usual aloof manner. As he watches them together he offers, "She says her father's a very brave man. I believe she's right."

This scene also reveals that Lily had slept beside a loaded gun the previous night. I guess they really wanted to stress the fact that Magnum was unprepared to have a kid around the house! :shock: :lol:

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#14 Post by rubber chicken »

Shermy wrote:The rubber chicken really hit his stride in Season 7: From location shooting in L.A. to cheering up Lily to his heartbreaking work in Paper War. (Not to mention his reunion with Lily in Limbo!) I'm really surprised he was not included in some manner on the boxart.
Thank you so much Shermy, I've always thought this season was among my best work. I must admit a rubber chicken isn't the most suitable substitute for a young girls doll, but I did my utmost to make the best of an unexpected situation. :wink:


On the topic of Michelle, I don't remember all the show has said about her past but I've always pictured her coming from a long line of French colonialists in Vietnam. She doesn't look Asian enough for one of her parents to be 100% Vietnamese, but one of her grandmothers could have been. It's also possible that more of her ancestors could have been Vietnamese.

I wonder if it was common for French colonialists to take Vietnamese wives. I wouldn't think so actually.

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#15 Post by J.J. Walters »

rubber chicken wrote:
Shermy wrote:The rubber chicken really hit his stride in Season 7: From location shooting in L.A. to cheering up Lily to his heartbreaking work in Paper War. (Not to mention his reunion with Lily in Limbo!) I'm really surprised he was not included in some manner on the boxart.
Thank you so much Shermy, I've always thought this season was among my best work. I must admit a rubber chicken isn't the most suitable substitute for a young girls doll, but I did my utmost to make the best of an unexpected situation. :wink:
LOL!! :D

That's two classic posts right there, back-to-back!
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