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
46%
9.0 (Excellent)
9
7%
8.5 (Very Good)
12
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: 127

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J.J. Walters
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Unfinished Business (8.8)

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for Unfinished Business (8.8). 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: 1/20/1988
Due to insufficient evidence, the indictment against Quang Ki is dismissed, and Magnum's ex-wife and daughter find themselves in mortal danger.
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:13 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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eegorr
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#2 Post by eegorr »

This may be the first time we see Maggie with her hair down, but it is not the last.

She has her hair down when she appears in the audience at Rick's wedding in part 2 of "Resolutions" as well.

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Commander Rockwell, the POW in this episode

#3 Post by eegorr »

I watched this episode again last week on my DVR, recorded from WGN.

The credits indicate that Bob Harker played "Colonel Rockwell", but he was clearly Navy and there is no rank of Colonel in the Navy.

In several scenes he is shown in uniform wearing the insignia of a Commander, including the picture of him taken before he was captured that was in the dossier that Magnum saw in Buck Greene's office. Later, when his daughter is talking about him to Magnum she refers to him as "Commander Rockwell".

At the end of the show, as Magnum walks away from his sniper's nest without completing his mission (what a turkey :x ), the narration read by a newscaster (anybody else think this is Bernard Shaw?) refers to him as "Captain Edward Rockwell". Maybe he was given a promotion to Captain on his release (I think this was commonly done for returning POWs) but the insignia on the uniform he was wearing during the exchange was still that of a Commander.

The rank of Captain in the Navy is equivalent in grade to Colonel in the Army and one grade higher than Commander.

I was just wondering what others thought about the extent of this flub. Should the credits read "Commander Rockwell" or "Captain Rockwell"? I would say the former because that was his rank for most of the show.

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#4 Post by IslandHopper »

Looks like you found a good flub eegorr. I've seen the episode, but don't recall the credits or the rank displayed on Rockwell's uniform. However, I agree with you that it probably still should be 'Commander' if that is the rank on his uniform during the exchange. You're right the rank of Colonel is found only in the Army, Airforce and USMC. It does not exist in the Navy.

I would think that if Rockwell was a P.O.W. until his release which would have been 1987 or 1988 (whenever the episode aired), that the Navy would have probably had to provide the uniform to him through the Vienamese, as I'm sure his Vietnamese captors (NVA) wouldn't have had any Navy dress white uniforms since pilots are wearing flight suits when flying. If that was the case, the Navy certainly would have provided the correct rank of 'Captain' if that was indeed his intended rank. So, I think you are right. His rank should have been listed as 'Commander.' if that was indeed his rank when the exchange took place.

I also agree with you that the news anchor is Bernie Shaw.
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#5 Post by J.J. Walters »

Hey thanks for the info eegorr. I've updated the episode guide.
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#6 Post by lutherhgillis »

Maggie had her hair down for the first time in Death & Taxes from Season 7.

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#7 Post by Doc Ibold »

OK, excellent episode, and definitely one of the better ones of this season (and the show in general).

But I have one question.

HOW can Quang Ki do a video from jail bragging about his henchmen's handiwork? I'm sure they have something like GUARDS making sure things like that don't go down.

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#8 Post by Shermy »

Doc Ibold wrote:HOW can Quang Ki do a video from jail bragging about his henchmen's handiwork? I'm sure they have something like GUARDS making sure things like that don't go down.
He demonstrated a great ability to be above the law, so I guess we could assume he found a way to do it (ie. paying off guards). You could also make a case that the jail scene was simply staged after he became a free man. For example, Maggie acted as though they only learned about the explosion soon after Magnum did. (It's also logical to assume that it didn't occur until after Quang Ki's trial.)

Anyway, of all the "serious" episodes, this is arguably one of the best. We get a glimpse of just how dangerous Magnum can be, and the kamikaze mission showdown is tense and exciting. But just when you think they've written themselves into a corner, Magnum's final narration to Lily is an ingenious moment of redemption. It also reveals the changes that have occurred since the events of Did You See The Sunrise.

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#9 Post by eeyore »

OK here is what I don't understand, Quwon Ki is set free--but at the end of the show he obviously has been held in captivity so they can exhange the men. Was his leaving the courthouse with his entourage staged by the military? just a way to make it look like he was a free man and the military was waiting in the wings to take him into captivity? And I'm not sure what his value was to the Vietnamese? It didn't appear to me he was running from them. What am I missing? :)

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#10 Post by stever »

What kind of silencer was Magnum using on his rifle? In some scenes it looked like a towel!
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#11 Post by maggiepoole »

This is such a powerful episode. Very heavy! I remembered it (from seeing it when it was originally on), after I watched it again last week. But, the videotape scene was still a surprise. I knew what was coming, but still didn't prepare me for it. Even watching it again, I jump! It is such a compelling episode, but hard to watch at the same time. Your heart just aches for Magnum, can't imagine going through that. Have to say that Tom Selleck is one of the most incredible actors. No one can cry like he can!

Just a few things I am puzzled about though. The report Magnum finds in Buck's house says transport to Ile Debonnevie. I am assuming that is in France? Is it? I tried to google it to find the area, but nothing came up. My French and French geography are lacking, but I am wondering if that is a real place? If it was France, Magnum took a boat from Hawaii to France?? Was he in Hawaii when he got the boat? That area didn't quite look like Hawaiian geography?

I was also wondering what Magnum was writing on the ammo box.
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I guess he was trying to figure out the maximum capability of his gun? Not a weapons expert either. :wink:
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#12 Post by Shermy »

maggiepoole wrote:I was also wondering what Magnum was writing on the ammo box.
It's the calculations for his sniper shot, to help him determine the best way to remove Quang Ki. :)

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#13 Post by eeyore »

There was a discussion over at VM02 about this location some time ago. As I recall it is not a real place, but someone figured out it was supposed to be a south pacific island near Hawaii.

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#14 Post by IslandHopper »

Magnum goes rogue. :evil: Awesome. This is a great episode, one of my top 3. It had been some time since I had seen this episode, and I forgot that this was the episode where Magnum learns that Michelle and presumably Lily are blown up.

After Magnum views Quang Ki's video tape, he transforms from all around good guy to predator with a single mission. He even looked like he was going to put a beat-down on Maggie when he met her on the deserted road.

One of the things I like best about this episode was Magnum's transformation and how he was not necessarily careless, but just daring someone to spot him, such as when he had infiltrated the compound on the French base on Ile Debonnevie. Magnum steps into the hallway after the two French soldiers run by with their rifles at port-arms. After they pass, Magnum comes out into view and cavalierly walks down the hallway and un-hitches his holster. It seemed to me that he didn't care if he was spotted, and if he was, he would gun them down. He seemed to be looking for a fight.
eeyore wrote:OK here is what I don't understand, Quwon Ki is set free--but at the end of the show he obviously has been held in captivity so they can exhange the men. Was his leaving the courthouse with his entourage staged by the military? just a way to make it look like he was a free man and the military was waiting in the wings to take him into captivity? And I'm not sure what his value was to the Vietnamese? It didn't appear to me he was running from them. What am I missing? :)
I believe the entourage that took Quang Ki after he was set free were U.S. Marines in civilian clothes. During the trial, Magnum looks back behind him and sees a Vietnamese man in a suit. This guy was a member of Quang Ki's entourage who whisked him away. This same guy is a Marine Captain and is seen sitting next to Quang Ki in the Jeep when he is driven to the field before the exchange, on Ile Debonnevie. So, I would imagine the entire entourage were U.S. Marines.
maggiepoole wrote:Just a few things I am puzzled about though. The report Magnum finds in Buck's house says transport to Ile Debonnevie. I am assuming that is in France? Is it? I tried to google it to find the area, but nothing came up. My French and French geography are lacking, but I am wondering if that is a real place? If it was France, Magnum took a boat from Hawaii to France?? Was he in Hawaii when he got the boat? That area didn't quite look like Hawaiian geography?

I was also wondering what Magnum was writing on the ammo box.
Image
I guess he was trying to figure out the maximum capability of his gun? Not a weapons expert either. :wink:
I always thought Ile Debonnevie was a fictional island supposed to be in French Polynesia, or somewhere in between. There are many French held islands in the pacific, such as Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea, etc. As far as Magnum writing on the ammo box, it is a crude way of zeroing his rifle.

The only flub I noticed was a repeat from "Solo Flight" regarding Magnum's rank insignia on his jungle-fatigue jacket. I believe it is the same fatigue jacket he wore in the Solo Flight episode, and has Lieutenant Commander rank insignia. As we know, Magnum was never a Lieutenant Commander.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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#15 Post by eeyore »

Thanks IH on the explanation on the marines who took QK away. Makes sense, so you think Magnum recognized the marines and knew something else was up? It's coming together now. That's what I like about this site, I don't always "get it" but I can always count on help! :)

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