Resolutions (1) (8.12)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the eighth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
10
13%
9.5 (One of the Best)
7
9%
9.0 (Excellent)
25
32%
8.5 (Very Good)
16
21%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
9
12%
7.5 (Decent)
6
8%
7.0 (Average at Best)
1
1%
6.5 (Not So Good)
2
3%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 77

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InfinityandJellyDoughnuts
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#41 Post by InfinityandJellyDoughnuts »

J.J. Walters wrote:Wow, this is indeed the syndicated version of the series finale, not the original broadcast version! Several minutes have been cut, including most of the Navy reunion scene at the Annapolis bar! Grrrrrr! Why??? :evil:

"Part 1" of this finale is still just so-so for me. Loved the opening scenes with Magnum strolling around D.C. and Annapolis, but I still don't like the Tidewater scenes. Didn't like them in "Going Home", don't like them here.

I agree, Linda Lee? Why must they punish thee? I love that Higgins line though, when he tells Magnum she has called, "Sorry to interrupt your vacation, but I just received a call from a Linda Lee Ellison. She's a television reporter you dated last year for a short time. LOL! It's like they had to throw that in there to clarify to the audience just who she is and why she's returning at this critical time in the series!

Didn't remember Hal Williams making a brief appearance as "DJ Dave". Everytime I see that guy I shout out, "It's "Smitty" from Sanford & Son! ;)

Yes, this episode was pretty weak, all things considered, but Linda Lee Ellison? She just didn't fit. Maybe she was the only actress they could get to come back as one of his exes... but still. There was never that much chemistry between them, and it seemed even more strained in this episode. :roll:
Magnum: I laid awake all night for weeks, on guard against my own fear, until my Dad told me to call the monsters out, and see if they came. They never did. Unfortunately, my Dad never had a solution for the real monsters, the ones that reach out and grab you in broad daylight, and neither did I.

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#42 Post by Danno »

Gah!

It's edited poorly, the pace is uneven, the narrative wanders and plods along. What IS this episode about?! :evil: There's no focus on anything.

Like Linda Lee Ellison, this episode makes me want to run out into the rain crying too.
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#43 Post by Doc Fred »

golfmobile wrote:What doesn't make sense here is Howard Duff as TM's grandfather. Duff was born in 1913 (not necessarily was TSMII born then, but it would have to be about then). Therefore, when our TM met him in 1988, TM was 44, and his "grandfather" was 75?? That just doesn't work, even give or take a few years. His grandfather should have been more than 31 years older than he was. A grandfather to a 44-year-old should be at least in his late 80s (particularly a military man who probably wasn't fathering children at age 20, and then his son fathered HIS son at age 20? TM's father hardly looked 26 when we saw him in "Home from the Sea") and a lot frailer than "The Captain." Duff looked and acted more like TM's father's age. Now, even Elisha Cook, IcePick, was born in 1903 and it would have been stretching it even to have someone of his generation as TM's grandfather. But he at least looks frail in the second part of these episodes.

Technically, I suppose, it's POSSIBLE, but it really doesn't follow the storyline of eight years, does it?

JMO

golf
I was having the same thoughts as I watched the show... kept saying that the ages weren't right. It's likely that a man of age 44 would have a grandfather who'd be AT LEAST 84, and probably in his 90's or more.

On the other hand, when I went to my 25th year high school reunion, one of the gals there proudly told me she was a great-grandmother, and she was 43 years old at the time. No kidding.
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#44 Post by Doc Fred »

lutherhgillis wrote:I think what happened is they were able to get Howard Duff so they found a way to use him. Magnum having a grandfather that is still globetrotting at that age is a little unbelievable. Also, they seem to rush him into the scene and then rush him out.

It does help explain why TM feels conflicted between having a sense of responsibility and being a 40-something adolescent.

I don't know about you guys but the entire tidewater crowd were a little 'under whelming' to me. It did explain, however, why TM only went home twice in 8 years...
It would have been realistic if Howard Duff was given the role as an uncle, not grandfather.
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#45 Post by Doc Fred »

IKnowWhatYoureThinking wrote:I found a flub I haven't seen mentioned before and, if it has, I apoligize. They throw Magnum a surprise birthday party. Well, it must have been a pretty cold August in Virginia for Magnum to have had on a sweater and leather jacket!
Clearly, the episode was filmed in the cold season. You can see that with the outside scenes in D.C.
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#46 Post by Doc Fred »

MACattack wrote:To all those people who haven't seen the deleted bar scene: I'll explain because I have the original DVD when it came out in 2008.
Magnum, T.C., and Higgins took Rick out to a strip club for his bachelor party. He said: "Thanks guys for bringing me here!".
"Well it was your idea, Orville!" T.C. replied. Everybody was having a good time when Rick mentioned Cleo. A tall stranger with a moustache (played by Tim Russovich) said "Yeah, she's the hottest number in town!" Rick stood up to defend her honor. The big bully smirked and knocked Rick out. Magnum stood up and said "what the hell!" and socked the guy. He turned his head back and punched Magnum, making him fall over comically. Higgins and T.C. got into the mix, and Higgy-baby yelled out "Hi-yah" as he attempted a Kung Fu move. The bully threw Higgins across the room. Everything breaks out into a big bar brawl, then it cuts to another scene: The gang hanging in front of the clu, sitting on the curb bruised and laughing about the whole ordeal. Where was the sirens of the approaching police?
Maybe they cut the scene because it doesn't make sense!
I just watched the show last night (again!) and was confused when some of the guys here said the bar scene was missing. I thought I'd missed something, am glad I have the "old" DVD. Thanks for the help.

If it hasn't been noted elsewhere, Tim Rossovich was Tom Selleck's roommate at USC, and played seven seasons in the NFL.
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Re: Resolutions (1) (8.12)

#47 Post by Doc Fred »

Well, I guess I'm different from the rest of y'all...

I liked the return to Virginia and the Naval Academy; liked seeing "the family". I also liked having Linda Lee Ellison as part of the story. It sure looked like she and Magnum were going to have a lasting relationship, and maybe that was just to suck us in.

Looking back, it's clear that Magnum had made up his mind to return to the Navy... so many clues that are obvious when watching the show after the first time.... including the visit to Annapolis.

As most have pointed out, Magnum's grandfather was too young, and/or Magnum was too young for that to be reality.

This is one of my favorite episodes... definitely a top 10.
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Re: Resolutions (1) (8.12)

#48 Post by J.J. Walters »

Doc Fred, love all the episode reviews that you did. You clearly are an intelligent fan of the show. Look forward to your Simon & Simon reviews. ;)
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Re: Resolutions (1) (8.12)

#49 Post by Doc Fred »

J.J. Walters wrote:Doc Fred, love all the episode reviews that you did. You clearly are an intelligent fan of the show. Look forward to your Simon & Simon reviews. ;)
Thank you! You made me blush! :oops:

You run my favorite site on the internet... truly love it. And, the people here are all "friends"... thank you!
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Re: Resolutions (1) (8.12)

#50 Post by Seaver41 »

watched it again for the first time since 1988...........and I agree about how the clues now line up better. I was of a different mindset already knowing how it turns out, so the attention to detail on other stuff was easier. I didn't like the way Maggie played Thomas, nor how he couldn't see thru her.......something that always was a given with their series interaction. It just seemed out of place. It was a comfortable episode to wrap up a great series.

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Re: Resolutions (1) (8.12)

#51 Post by marlboro »

Maybe this has already been mentioned, but was there something red on the dogs neck at the end of part one? He is injured/killed offscreen a few seconds later. I'm wondering if there was an earlier shot that wasn't used where the dog was shown to be injured and they didn't get all of the "blood" off of him before shooting the scene we actually saw. Or maybe I'm just seeing things.

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Re: Resolutions (1) (8.12)

#52 Post by SignGuyHPW »

I thought part 1 was a mixed bag. You could tell that Magnum's main point of being in Virginia was to listen to the pitch to get him to re-enlist and have him consider it. The family scenes seemed natural as they'd be under the impression he was there to visit with them exclusively, but it seemed a little out of place.

What I disliked most about this part was that they made Magnum out to be a really heavy drinker. His own mother was questioning him about it. He was just downing beer (and scotch) like it was water during the whole episode. The part with the grandfather I disliked because it painted the grandfather in such a bad light. The whole run of the series gave the impression that Magnum was close to all of his family. Then the paternal grandfather Magnum, supposedly, never met shows up and doesn't seem to want anything to do with him. It struck me as pretty odd. I also disliked how little he seemed to care about Rick's wedding. If he was presuming he was best man then why would he put off the imprtant details until some undetermined time with the wedding nearly there? I also thought it was a little funny that Higgins had to remind Magnum whom he had dated, but I chalked it up to Higgins being Higgins.

I actually liked the Linda Lee storyline. Magnum coming back to make sure she was alright and help her was typical for him. The brief rekindling and Magnum realising he had too much going on to really be in a relationship was sort of a sign that he'd grown from previous seasons. In years past he'd not have ended the relationship while still running off to do other things. I also liked how it was a sudden realisation to him about the door opening. They didn't show him being obsessed with the tape leading up to this, but it's not hard to imagine him sitting in the guest house for weeks on end watching it relentlessly. I thought it was kind of clever that his mother just presumes he's getting married when he talk to her on the phone due to the engagement of Magnum's cousin and his vaugeness of the subject.

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Re: Resolutions (1) (8.12)

#53 Post by EZiller »

8.5 and that's being generous.

They really stretched the limits of believability with the Lilly surviving the car bombing storyline. On the tape the car door opens a split second before the explosion, even if she was out of the vehicle she would have been horribly burned and had chunks of metal that would have been shrapnel in her body. I do like the notion that his daughter is alive but I think there could have been a more plausible way of doing it.

Like many of the others, I wasn’t too crazy about TM going back home. Although I think it wasn’t so much to see his family [indeed, TM shows up 5 hours late for his birthday party] but for him to return to the Naval Academy, visit the Capitol and set the stage for TM to decide at age 41 to he still needs to serve his country.

I also didn’t see the point of bringing in a new character, his paternal grandfather played by Howard Duff. As mentioned, he was way too young to be believable as a grandfather to a 41 yr old. Although totally consistent with Hollywood aging. Parents and grandparents of middle aged adults always seem to be on the extreme edge of believable youthfulness.

No problem with bringing back Linda Lee. Her and TM did have good mojo. But why couldn’t TM just tell her about his daughter, rather than hint around about another girl and he needs time away to think, etc??? And the stalker bit…a silly plotline. More thoughts about it in Pt 2 comments.

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Re: Resolutions (1) (8.12)

#54 Post by Luther's nephew Dobie »

Wow this is another terrific thread. I especially enjoy when you guys catch mistakes or in jokes. I feel like a dilettante in comparison.
I may being going out on a limb but I would like to address the question of who Robin Masters really is in light of Higgins "confession" in Resolutions.
A lot of the series back story and earlier episodes don't work if Higgins is Robin Masters. I would like to see what you guys think of the following which might explain a lot and is not precluded by any story line that I recall.
What if Higgins is actually the author of the Robin Masters novels but he is not Robin, rather he is Robin's GHOST WRITER employed by a rich layabout (in the form of Orson Welles).
I think that makes a lot of sense, so that Higgins is telling the truth both when he tells Thomas he
is Robin and then retracts it. Higgins being the author Robin Masters but not the man himself also might explain why at times Higgins seems so angry at his employer, one who takes credit for Higgins work as a writer while not appreciating Higgins stewardship of Robins Nest, even letting a low life like Dick Shawns Hugh Heffner character come in and take the joint over.
Maybe one of you guys have already put this theory out there but if not what do you think?


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Last edited by Luther's nephew Dobie on Mon May 04, 2020 1:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Resolutions (1) (8.12)

#55 Post by EZiller »

Luther's nephew Dobie wrote:Wow this is another terrific thread. I especially enjoy when you guys catch mistakes or in jokes. I feel like a dilettante in comparison.
I may being going out on a limb but I would like to address the question of who Robin Masters really is in light of Higgins "confession" in Resolutions.
A lot of the series back story and earlier episodes don't work if Higgins is Robin Masters. I would like to see what you guys think of the following which might explain a lot and is not precluded by any story line that I recall.
What if Higgins is actually the author of the Robin Masters novels but he is not Robin, rather he is Robin's GHOST WRITER employed by a rich layabout (in the form of Orson Welles).
I think that makes a lot of sense, so that Higgins is telling the truth both when he tells Thomas he
is Robin and then retracts it. Higgins being the author Robin Masters but not the man himself also might explain why at times Higgins seems so angry at his employer, one who takes credit for Higgins work as a writer while not appreciating Higgins stewardship of Robins Nest, even letting a low life like Dick Shawns Hugh Heffner character come in and take the joint over.
Maybe one of you guys have already put this theory out there but if not what do you think?
Mike from Jersey


"That's Dobie with a B, not P"...Dwayne Hickman



Mike-Ditto on the theory of Higgins being Robin's ghostwriter. If you go the Magnum PI talk forum, go to the thread: Is Jonathan Higgins Robin Masters? Quite a few interesting theories by MPI fans on the subject.

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