L.A. (2) (7.2)

[Carmen]

The end credits list Kimberly McArthur as "Lady in Hot Tub". I've looked and there doesn't appear to be a scene with a lady in a hot tub at any point in this two-hour episode. The IMDB lists Ms. McArthur as a former Playboy "Playmate of the Month" (Jan. 1982). Can anyone find her in this episode? If not, why is she listed in the end credits??

James, K. McArthur was indeed the Lady in the hot tub. In part 1 when Magnum went to that police Lt. (forgot his name) house, the car was fired up, he ran away, through a hedge to the neighboor estate, she sat in a hot tub, listening to music over ear-phones , takes them off and asks "Sushiman?" He: No - She: No? (smiles)... There is nothing like a hot Jacuzzi in a spring rain. It kinda makes your body tingle all over. You know what I mean? ...(looks around, searching - he is gone) Sushiman??


In P. 2 Magnum and Cynthia watching the news, she is on and tells how frightened she was by that horrible man bursting through the hedge.

That`s how it is on the DVD, I am not sure, but I think as I last saw it on TV she was seen screaming for help after asking "Sushiman" at the end...
How many cut versions are out there I wonder??

[J.J. Walters]

Wow, what a strange a coincidence, Carmen. Someone just sent me an email about this note a couple of days ago, although his recollection was from the original broadcast, not in syndication. It's very interesting that you say you saw this scene in syndication. Why in the world would they remove this scene from the DVD only!? And just who made the crazy decision to remove a scene involving a Playboy "Playmate of the Month" in a hot tub??

Anyway, I'm glad this mystery is now solved. The missing scene in the DVD occurs at 32:52 in Part 1. Magnum goes to the "safehouse" address given to him by Det. McKee (who is setting him up).



Forgetting his pick, Magnum turns around to go back to his car when two goons exit the house with uzi's and start unloading on him. His rental car blows up and we Magnum running down the street. On the DVD version, at 32:52, the music stops abruptly and we switch scenes to Cynthia's house. Magnum is at the door. It's raining and he's soaking wet.



Between these two scenes, Magnum encouters the "Lady in the Hot tub". Also, the person who emailed me mentioned that he recalled Magnum running through several backyards to escape the uzi-toting henchmen. So, there is a whole foot chase scene that is missing! Ugh!

[Carmen]

James. I sent you an e-mail too, with a picture of that "Playmate of the month".*BG* Maybe you wanna show it to the rest of the gang here?!

[J.J. Walters]

Oh wow, thanks Carmen!

Here she is, the missing "Lady in the Hot Tub", Miss Kimberly McArthur!



Why-o-why did they delete this scene!?

[Carmen]

You`re welcome, James. And to avoid further questions from all guys here: She did NOT stand up, otherwise I`d send that one
... a woman has to know what men want to see...

[IKnowWhatYoureThinking]

I agree James. One of the poorest editing choices ever!

[A P Leyland]

I too am going out on a limb here and saying I reckon this is one of the best episodes of the series!

Now, I know what you're thinking - and you're right! It's atypical, it's not set in Hawaii, it's a bit contrived - all these things are true and, as a rule I don't like the non-hawaiian based eisodes.

But...

Thomas being out of his environment makes for an interesting show this time in that he had none of his usual back ups in place and really has to work the whole thing out himself. The expanded running time lets us get to know the comedienne BEFORE she is killed (although my 6 year old daughter predicted that she was dead when she screamed. She's watched too much Magnum!) and so it had more of an impact than usual. Also I thought Magnum's relationship with Dana Delany's character was sweet. It was a little nieve but they both have a lot in common - more so that the women Magnum usually falls for. I disagree that they had no chemistry - I thought they worked well together. Eye of the beholder and all that. Some nice call backs to the pilot as well. Also nice to see that breaking the fourth wall is still alive and well. In season 6 I'm sure he only did it once (Mad Dogs and Englishmen I think).

Also, having TC, Rick and Higgins stay in Hawaii meant they weren't shoehorned into the plot (like in Deja Vu) and had a nice little subplot all to themselves showing them to be competent indivdually without needing Thomas to save the day.

All in all one of the better 2 hour episodes.

Other stuff: The 'Hot Tub' scene is in the region 2 DVD's but so is the little teaser trailer before the credits.

When Thomas is running up the stairs near the mid point of episode one he slips on the bottom step!

The kid TC spends the episode looking for is Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bell Air!

Andy

[Jay-Firestorm]

Part two of this mixed story; not much more to say than with Part I.

[rating=7.5]

As T.C., Higgins and Rick search for the missing Kenny, back in Los Angeles, Magnum and Cynthia grow closer as they investigate the string of murders. The conclusion to this, the weakest of the show's feature-length stories...

-----

This review contains spoilers.

As I said on my review for Part I of this story, I consider this to be by far the weakest of the show’s feature-length / two-parters. That said, re-watching it to review, it does have a couple of things going for it, not least Dana Delany’s interaction with Tom Selleck. The pair work well together, and I bought their budding relationship much more than some of Magnum’s other ‘romances of the week’. In fact, it is Delany who pretty much saves this story from bombing any more than it already does.

The story also has a more polished feel than some of the other episodes this end of the show’s run.

But it’s not all good – I find the b-plot about a member of T.C.’s youth baseball team being pursued by thugs to be tedious and uninteresting. It really feels as if the writers / producers stuck it in simply to give the other three stars something to do in the episode.

And this may well be my shortest MPI review – I haven’t really got much more to say about this story.

Magnum’s wedding proposal to Cynthia towards the end is an unexpected twist. Of course, it doesn’t work out, but Delany will return later in the season in ‘Out of Sync’.
(Alfonso Ribeiro also reprises his role of Kenny in ‘Missing Melody’ later this season.

All-in-all… the weakest of the two-hour stories, with a couple of elements saving it from falling totally flat.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* thing comments that she woke up one day and found that she was 28 and had never been 18. In the Pilot, Magnum commented that he woke up one day and found he was 23 and had never been 23, and in the third season’s ‘Legacy From a Friend’, he comments that he woke up one day and realised he was 32 and had never had a chance to be 22.

* Magnum is mistaken for Burt Reynolds – not the first time in the series that he has been compared to Reynolds.

* Rick only appears in one sequence in this half of the story.

* When Five broadcast this episode in 2003, they added a ‘home made’ recap of Part I, lasting 1:46, before continuing where Part I left off. Although I’ve only skimmed through, they did not seem to remove anything for timing reasons as was the case with most other feature-length stories.

* Dana Delany reminds me a lot of British TV presenter Suzi Perry. Here’s a picture to compare…



Okay, maybe not TOO alike, but she looks similar on-screen.

[firefly]

Oh wow, thanks Carmen!

Here she is, the missing "Lady in the Hot Tub", Miss Kimberly McArthur!



Why-o-why did they delete this scene!?

as the comic book guy on the simpsons would say, worst.....editing.....ever


also, i totally had forgotten how beautiful dana delaney is until watching this episode again.

[AmandaByNight]

I really love LA. It's a lot of fun and moving in parts. I love Dana Delany and I always thought she seemed right for Magnum. I loved the one when she comes to visit him. I always feel bad that their timing was off.

As a whole, this is probably one of my favorite episodes of the series (in the top 20). It's just fresh and brisk.

[J.J. Walters]

Glad to see some love for "L.A."! It really is a breath of fresh air. An underrated episode for sure.

[MagnumsLeftShoulder]

I watched this one last night. I"m kind of on the fence about it. It's not the best nor the worst episode. I did think Thomas and Cynthia made a cute couple, but I'm glad they decided not to make her a regular character. Her "I knew I should have stayed home today" line was hilarious! Thomas says in this episode he has always considered himself married. One question I've always had about the show is what exactly IS Thomas Magnum's marital status? He married a woman who was presumed to be a widow, then her susposedly dead husband reappears, US forces (including Thomas) leave Vietnam and she susposedly dies in a bombing, then she shows up alive in Hawaii 7 or 8 years later, only to disappear from TM's life again. I guess for a while TM was a widower, but it turns out she's alive. So is he divorced, seperated, annulled, or never legally married in the first placed? I guess if this was a current show, when someone asked TM if he was married he would answer "It's complicated!"

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'm amazed to see that I've never posted anything on this thread. So --

It's been a while since we've watched this episode, but we really liked it! True, we would not want the series to turn into Magnum's Business Trip of the Week, but this particular change of pace was very nicely done, kind of cute without being cutesy, and (as I believe someone already said) refreshing. Cynthia is a free spirit, but I didn't think she was at all ditzy, just a good match for Thomas's impulsive nature. And the proposal, while a bit of a surprise to me, was not at all out of character, considering the "fox-hole" circumstances.

I just wish their relationship had gotten a fair shake in "Out of Sync," and I like to think that they gave it another try later. Who know, they may even have decided (after the series ended) to get married.

[nha trang]

This was one of the times I settled in to watch my Mag episode and realized it was going on extra long...then figured out it was a two parter.

I don't really know if this one needed to be a two parter...I rated it "decent" and that may be just a tad harsh...

This episode really struck me as some possible Magnum made for TV movie or something. Perhaps it was just because the plot would be horrific or at least, awkward, for such an endeavor. The two parter does have its moments, however, and I agree that Dana Delaney really adds to the episode. She is surprisingly attractive and although sometimes I find her acting style vs the leading man to be annoying or predictable (she always seems to do that, "hey lets take a walk together while I make good eye contact with you at poignant moments as I verbalize where I'm coming from emotionally") she does have a star power that I feel was sadly lacking in many of the female characters on Magnum.

(I wish Dana Delaney had a recurring role instead of well...Carol)

One part of this episode that really bugged me was how it switches from Magnum discovering his spontaneous-fun fast-friend dead in his shower and then he's on to this relationship with Delaney. I was getting into the episode at that part, and contemplating how poor Magnum is always surrounded by death, how agonizing his existential situation is, tormented psyche, living this groundhog day of eternal death, in general really getting into the episode, but then we have the Kurt-Douglass-Tombstone like romance with Dana Delaney("well if that's not lady like, I guess I'm not much of a lady")....like I said, I don't know that this needed to be a two-parter. To me it was like the story shifted from first to fifth gears.

Having said all that, it's really a decent episode that has its moments.

[Styles Bitchley]

I wish Dana Delaney had a recurring role instead of well...Carol

Have to agree with you on that one. But I disagree that this was a lacklustre episode. I thoroughly enjoyed it.