Unfinished Business (8.8)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the eighth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
37
29%
9.5 (One of the Best)
59
47%
9.0 (Excellent)
9
7%
8.5 (Very Good)
11
9%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
5
4%
7.5 (Decent)
2
2%
7.0 (Average at Best)
0
No votes
6.5 (Not So Good)
0
No votes
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
3
2%
 
Total votes: 126

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marlboro
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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#91 Post by marlboro »

Full disclosure: I didn't like "Limbo" and I suspect that I am trying to find fault with any episode connected to it so that i can dismiss the entire storyline.

Now, having admitted that, I have a complaint about the ending of the story. The MIA issue was still a big deal at the time, and since they added a bit of "contemporary" politics I can't help but look at the ending from a political viewpoint.

Having proof of a living POW who could testify about the existence of other MIA's would have been HUGE.

How would Reagan era America have reacted to conclusive proof that American soldiers had been held prisoner for 20 years?

How important would Quang Ki have to be to the Vietnamese to be worth admitting to the existence of American POWs?

Once Commander Rockwell was in American hands at the end of the episode there was no real reason for Magnum not to kill Quang Ki. Rockwell was safe. The U.S. had the proof they needed. It isn't like the Vietnamese could demand that Rockwell should be sent back with them.


I was hoping Buck Green had planted a bomb on Quang Ki's helicopter at the end. Magnum could have done the "right" thing morally, Buck could have done the dirty work he loves to do, and Quang Ki would have met his end in a fireball of poetic justice...unless he hopped out at the last second to go get his Búp bê.

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Steve
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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#92 Post by Steve »

marlboro wrote:Full disclosure: I didn't like "Limbo" and I suspect that I am trying to find fault with any episode connected to it so that i can dismiss the entire storyline.

Now, having admitted that, I have a complaint about the ending of the story. The MIA issue was still a big deal at the time, and since they added a bit of "contemporary" politics I can't help but look at the ending from a political viewpoint.

Having proof of a living POW who could testify about the existence of other MIA's would have been HUGE.

How would Reagan era America have reacted to conclusive proof that American soldiers had been held prisoner for 20 years?

How important would Quang Ki have to be to the Vietnamese to be worth admitting to the existence of American POWs?

Once Commander Rockwell was in American hands at the end of the episode there was no real reason for Magnum not to kill Quang Ki. Rockwell was safe. The U.S. had the proof they needed. It isn't like the Vietnamese could demand that Rockwell should be sent back with them.


I was hoping Buck Green had planted a bomb on Quang Ki's helicopter at the end. Magnum could have done the "right" thing morally, Buck could have done the dirty work he loves to do, and Quang Ki would have met his end in a fireball of poetic justice...unless he hopped out at the last second to go get his Búp bê.
You are correct in your thesis that proof of a living POW would have been huge, even 13 years after the war had ended and at the end of the go-go, make big money, merger and aquisition Reagan era. Many of us back then were still wearing our POW/MIA bracelets from the seventies and in fact, I still have flag on my motorcycle. It would have been a very sensitive predicament and my take is that Vietnam did not admit to holding any prisoners, even with the existence of Rockwell, however Laos and Cambodia would not admit to anything suggesting he may have been held in one of those countries complicatiing negotiations. Magnum had to make a extremely tough decision to place his personal emotions in tow and sacrifice for the greater good of his fellow soldiers. If he or Green had taken out Ki after Rockwell was safe would have probably ended all negotiations.
One thing about the episodes that has always puzzled me was Magnum tossing his POW/MIA bracelet aside and not putting it back on after he made his decision to stand down..........I do, however, love your analogy.............

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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#93 Post by ConchRepublican »

Doc Ibold wrote: And to be honest, along with Buck Greenes reaction at the end of the episode. I think it was this non-action alone that made Buck give up Lily to Magnum at the end of Resolutions. It showed that Magnum held Kis life in his hands, Buck knew it, yet Magnum didn't pull the trigger because of his obligation to the servicemen still over there. If anything, it once and for all proved to Buck that Magnum was a capable (yet deadly) soldier who was capable of great sacrifice, and not some slacker who resigned his commission.
excellent point.
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Re: Re:

#94 Post by shevys@aol.com »

RamblerReb wrote:
MaximRecoil wrote:
Jaybird wrote:In any case, if he took the shot that burlap on his muzzle would have done nothing but cause him to miss.
The cloth wrapped around the muzzle would have had a negligible effect on accuracy, as well as a negligible effect on the report. I don't know what the deal with that was. Earlier, when Magnum was shooting the lemons, he had something on there that could have passed for an actual silencer, at least by TV standards. Then when it comes time to shoot for real, he has a little bit of cloth wrapped around the end of the barrel, which has no significant sound-reducing function, and no other function that I know of. Did they misplace the "silencer" prop that they were using earlier?
Had he used a suppressor his round would have to be subsonic and that would have ruled out any long range shot.
Silencers can be, and are, used with supersonic cartridges. Nothing can be done about the "sonic crack" sound of course, but the report from the rapidly expanding gases escaping from the muzzle can still be reduced, the same as with subsonic cartridges, resulting in significantly less noise than if no silencer were used.
Personally, I think this was just laziness on the prop department's part; the cloth is supposed to be hiding the oil filter suppressor he was using earlier in the episode and, rather than wrap an oil filter up, they just stuck an Ace bandage on the muzzle and discounted the possibility that a bunch of obsessives with an excess of free time and near-unlimited digital storage would pick apart their career failures a quarter-century later.

What fools they were!
Actually, I think the burlap was so that the flash from the muzzle would be suppressed. That way, if anyone happened to be looking in his direction at the time he fired the weapon they wouldn't be able to pinpoint the location.

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Re: Re:

#95 Post by RamblerReb »

shevys@aol.com wrote:Actually, I think the burlap was so that the flash from the muzzle would be suppressed. That way, if anyone happened to be looking in his direction at the time he fired the weapon they wouldn't be able to pinpoint the location.
Perhaps, but Magnum would have to plan on firing exactly one shot, because after that the burlap would be quite particulate. Also, in broad daylight, even the muzzle flash of a 7.62 rifle would be negligible at that distance, thereby rendering the need to suppress it dubious. Finally, by revealing his presence to the MIA's daughter, he had effectively booked his room at Leavenworth. I find it very doubtful he planned to exfiltrate at all.

No, the oil filter suppressor is the only thing that makes sense, so he'd have time for follow-up shots if needed before being killed.
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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#96 Post by Little Garwood »

For whatever reason, I was craving this episode because I remember how intense it was.

I don't recall how I voted this one but as of now it rates a [8.0]. I like the Buck Greene development here, with his "grey" characterization becoming a bit lighter towards the "good guy" side of things. His threatening of Quang Ki is excellent and Maggie's emotional speech to Thomas about how the car bomb affected Buck was also well done. I wish we'd been given more Maggie screen time over the years; she's an excellent (secondary) supporting character. Magnum, P.I. is one of the few shows where the secondary supporting cast (Buck, Maggie, Lt. Tanaka, Carol, Mac I and II, Doc Ibold, Ice Pick, Agatha, et al.) are every bit as good as the primary supporting cast!

Can't say that I cared for the Miami Vice-ification of the searching and spying montage, though. Genesis' "Brazilian" doesn't sound anything like MPI underscore and the piece went on far too long, though to be fair it IS a decent instrumental. I'm glad that MPI didn't rely on original versions of popular music in the series though the two other instances of Genesis being used were outstanding. Speaking of pop music, am I the only one here who actually gets a kick out of the "Universal House Band" cover versions heard on MPI? I bet I am. :magnum:

I like when TV programs create fictional countries (see my profile location) and the French Polynesian island of Ile Debonnevie was a nice touch, even if there was no scene of TM arriving there.
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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#97 Post by Milton Collins »

Fantastic episode, a 10 in my book and one of the best of the whole series. Awesome to see TM's prowess and skill as a soldier and also his toughness and dark side. I challenged anyone to find a more ha table villain than quang ki (ok Ivan is pretty darn close). The actor portraying Ki did a great job. I wish this one had somehow been a two hour episode. Loved the reunion between the POW and his daughter. All around love this one including the music by Genesis, that song was perfect and made this episode that much more intense.

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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#98 Post by Milton Collins »

Deleted accidental double post:)
Last edited by Milton Collins on Sat Dec 27, 2014 9:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#99 Post by SignGuyHPW »

One of the best dramatic episodes they ever made on Magnum, p.i. It was incredible.

The one thing that bugged me minorly was that they seemed to cut something out to explain why Magnum was suddenly running on the beach after he viewed the videotape.

This one was Magnum at his best. They had just a little bit of comdedy at the begining with the whole grocery list thing and then turned it into an intense drama. Ki having people find and attempt to kill Michelle and Lily while recording them was really creepy. They found them despite the best efforts of the U.S. military and despite them being in the process of moving again. The scene where Magnum met Rockwell's daughter and spoke to her which is what, I think, lead him to abort his mission was really emotional. You could tell he equated the daughter's loss of her father for so many years to his own loss of Michelle and Lily. He didn't think he'd get them back, but this woman could get her father back and that meant more to him than killing Ki. I think it'd have been interesting if Rick and TC had gone with him to participate in the mission as a team, but it may have lessened the emotional aspect they were trying to accomplish. The MIA bracelet being removed when he was thinking he'd be causing them to remain MIA was a pretty heavy scene as well. I'm sure Magnum was all over the map with his emotions. I was mildly surprised that Magnum didn't shoot Buck since he seemed to place a lot of blame on him.

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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#100 Post by EZiller »

Not only of the the great MPI episodes, but truly an intense and powerful statement about the MIA's and the brotherhood of the men who fought for our country. TM realized his personal [and justified] vengeance against Quang Ki was secondary to the importance of hopefully opening the door for more MIA's being released in SE Asia. To have taken him out in such a matter would have absolutely destroyed the possibility of more MIA's being released. As mentioned earlier in the episode, their enemy lived for revenge. He knew many MIA's would be killed in retaliation.

The release of Captain Rockwell and his reunion with his daughter was incredibly moving and brought tears to my eyes. The father-daughter bond, which Magnum now has, even though he realizes Lilly is gone, was done brilliantly. Also thought it was interesting, although unmentioned, that only Rockwell's daughter was there - had his spouse moved on with her life and married someone else? Something I'm sure that happened with the MIA's and was heart wrenching.

The "Brazilian" musical sequence was excellent. As was Jean Bruce Scott. Finally got to see her with her lovely hair down.

10

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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#101 Post by J. Rickley Schneider »

Awesome episode.

Tom Selleck was actually scary in this one.

But wouldn't the car bombing orchestrated by Quong Ki derail the prisoner exchange?

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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#102 Post by SignGuyHPW »

J. Rickley Schneider wrote:Awesome episode.

Tom Selleck was actually scary in this one.

But wouldn't the car bombing orchestrated by Quong Ki derail the prisoner exchange?
Likely not. Looking at it from the government's point of view, men likely affiliated with Ki caused the deaths of two Viet Nam nationals that were under protective custody which the public knew nothing about. Giving Ki back would, potentially, mean the return of hundreds of American POW/MIAs which the public would definately know happened. There's no evidence that the government knew about the tape Magnum had or had seen any similiar tape. Buck and Maggie may have gotten a call from Michelle's widower to let him know what had happened. We don't know for sure they had concrete evidence to link Ki to the assassination like Magnum did.

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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#103 Post by SignGuyHPW »

In rewatching this episode, does anyone know the signifigance of the face on the lemons that Magnum used for target practice? It seems really bizarre that he'd draw smiley faces on the lemons when he was this intense through all but the opening scene of the episode.

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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#104 Post by Turkey »

SignGuyHPW wrote:In rewatching this episode, does anyone know the signifigance of the face on the lemons that Magnum used for target practice? It seems really bizarre that he'd draw smiley faces on the lemons when he was this intense through all but the opening scene of the episode.
Yes! I wondered about that too
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Re: Unfinished Business (8.8)

#105 Post by Lance Mannion »

I just re-watched this very well done Episode - * But I have an (maybe) annoying ex-military observation - the "sound suppressor," Magnum uses would never work with a NATO 7.62 round - That said, a great Rifle choice ... "Buck" Greene (whom Magnum pinched the rifle from ) knew his firearms :-) ...

Regards,

LM

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