Pleasure Principle (8.2)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the eighth season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
1
1%
9.5 (One of the Best)
11
15%
9.0 (Excellent)
15
20%
8.5 (Very Good)
21
28%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
14
19%
7.5 (Decent)
7
9%
7.0 (Average at Best)
2
3%
6.5 (Not So Good)
2
3%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 74

Message
Author
User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

Re: SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!

#11 Post by J.J. Walters »

maggiepoole wrote: I liked the Mendelssohn-esque version of Conga. That was classic.
Yeah, me too! That was the last thing I expected - a Mendelssohn-Gloria Estefan "Mashup"! :shock:

Did anyone else notice anything different about "The Lads"? Zeus (or is it Apollo?) appears to have shrunken in size! Either that, or Apollo (or is it Zeus?) appears to have gotten bigger! ;)

Image
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

User avatar
Doc Ibold
Maniac Emeritus
Posts: 1741
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:16 pm
Location: Detroit

#12 Post by Doc Ibold »

I do know by "Resolutions 2", that either Zeus or Apollo is MUCH thicker than the other.

Its like the shoulders are splayed or something.

Wish I had a screen grab...

User avatar
IslandHopper
Master Flub Spotter
Posts: 729
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 5:08 am

#13 Post by IslandHopper »

This was a middle-of-the-road episode for me. However, like every episode, it had several memorable scenes. The final scene with Mac was very good.

Agatha feels jilted when she overheard Rick reveal that Higgins dumped her to go to the grand opening of the Night club, Stage West. Poor Agatha has been getting rejected by Higgins for years ("Echoes Of The Mind"), so why does she keep doing this to herself?

In response to Carol’s question “Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, she likes Jonathon?“ Magnum implies that Higgins is a U.S. citizen when he says “Yes, I’ve also considered that she (Rosita) may be trying to get her ‘Green-Card’ the easy way (by marriage).” I’m sure Higgins would never give up his UK citizenship, so he would be a dual citizen (UK & U.S.A.).

What happened to HPD? Diana (Amy Yasbeck), Magnum’s police officer girlfriend is apparently with the “State Police” and not the Honolulu Police Department according to the shoulder patch on her uniform. This is the first time I recall seeing someone from the “State Police” on the show.

Is that a new cap Magnum is wearing during the final scene?
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

User avatar
VM02
Rear Admiral
Posts: 88
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 5:53 pm

#14 Post by VM02 »

I agree with Island Hopper that this was a middle of the road episode. Somewhere on these boards, though, someone mentioned that taken as a three pack with Limbo and Infinity, it becomes a better episode. With this I concur and so I voted it a bit higher than middle of the road. The Higgins scenes are a bit disconcerting though. The best scene is when he drop kicks the priest.

User avatar
Doc Ibold
Maniac Emeritus
Posts: 1741
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:16 pm
Location: Detroit

Re: SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!

#15 Post by Doc Ibold »

Doc Ibold wrote:So, in my 5 hour Magnum marathon last night, I watched this episode.

At first I thought a "Magnum/Higgins" role reversal - AWESOME.

Started watching the episode and I kind of felt it was lacking and not what I thought it was going to be and got pretty annoyed.

Exploding Macs, psychologists, made it kind of BLEH for me.

HOWEVER, the last 10 minutes were classic Magnum and to me, and epitomized what the show was about - true friendship.

Each of the gang was reacting differently to Magnum's coma.

Magnum -heeding the psychologists advice and "growing up"
Higgins - becoming Magnum
TC - Hovering about Magnum constantly (which I believe came from Ricks berating of him in "Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts")

But wait, there actually was a role reversal in that point, because in "IAJD", RICK was the hoverer and TC hung back. In "PP", TC hovered, and Rick hung back.

Fascinating....

OK, back to topic,

Rick - getting culture.

And FINALLY at the end, when the 4 of them are sitting around, they disclose that they all did it because they were worried/affected by Magnum's coma, and I think FINALLY get over the events in "Limbo" and went back to their normal selves.

Whats cool is that "Limbo", "Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts" and "Pleasure Principle are all like one 3 hour movie. I like how they had the coma scenario play across all three, and they didn't treat it like some one off incident but more like the events os "Echoes of the Mind"/"Macs Back").

I also liked how when Magnum finally banished the hallucination of Mac, Mac told him that was all he wanted.

I THEN watched it with the commentary and was psyched because what I took away from the episode was pretty much how the writers intended to be.

Some key takeaways for me (over the 3 episodes....

1) From "I.A.J.D.", my take of Frank Peterson as a "jackhole" still rings true.

2) Apparently "Conga" was the only Latin song in 1988 since they played it like 4 times throughout the episode.

3) Higgins can bust a move, and has added another weapon to his arsenal - "The Dropkick of Devastation".

4) Higgins was so happy when Magnum came out of the coma. I thought he would start skipping or something! (But clearly that shows JH's range as an actor)
:wink:

User avatar
rubber chicken
Master Location Sleuth
Posts: 691
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 4:53 am
Location: Great Lakes region

#16 Post by rubber chicken »

Anybody else notice what looks like crampon holes in the coconut trees? This must have been visible in other episodes but for some reason I took notice of it here. I'm guessing this is evidence of Mrs. Anderson's coconut tree trimming. I wonder if she sold/sells the coconuts to local markets.

(Here's where Mrs. Anderson's coconut tree trimming was brought up.)

Image
Last edited by rubber chicken on Wed Sep 09, 2009 11:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
lutherhgillis
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 528
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 5:54 pm

#17 Post by lutherhgillis »

I suppose this was a so-so episode. I do give them credit for dealing with Magnum's coma and recovery instead of going back to normal too quickly. He was understandably shaken by it as well he should have been. I love the way he changes into a responsible person and Higgins wigs out into a loafer.

It was also cool how they led us to believe there was a villan in the story even there there was not.

arri
Lieutenant Commander
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2009 3:57 pm

#18 Post by arri »

way over the top, too much cheese. The "one eye" thing was annoying. The exploding Macs and stuff was mind numbing, Doctor Pateint relationships, Higgins disco dancing....ehhh ...I want my 19.00 back for buying the enitre season and having this show on it. It's no wonder why they were type cast and didn't do much after MPI

Paniolo
Ensign
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 3:20 am

#19 Post by Paniolo »

What's up with the tiki-torch sized flames jetting up from the votive wedding candles??? LOL
Indy

User avatar
Jaybird
Admiral
Posts: 174
Joined: Wed May 28, 2008 2:37 am
Location: California

#20 Post by Jaybird »

Thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the role reversals. John Hillerman is truly a great actor!

The characters are maturing as they age. The brush with death is life changing for TM.

All in all, a very good and watchable episode.

User avatar
gmt16750
Captain
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:36 am
Location: France cote d azur/ Italy

#21 Post by gmt16750 »

Magnum to the shrink, i never saw that or i forgot it!
what a great scene and also Higgins dancing, hawaian shirt fits to him too!
best scene: when Magnum nearly hits Higgins and seems so confused and explain he can't see with his left eye :lol:
Agatha: Why does he always do that, Jonathan?
Higgins: I don't know, Agatha. I think sometimes our creator is testing me. Indeed it could be for no other reason. If i thought otherwise i believe i truly would go irrevocably irretrievably mad!

User avatar
Jay-Firestorm
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 387
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 12:01 am
Location: Berkshire, United Kingdom
Contact:

#22 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

I remember this one as a perfect 10; while maybe not quite that, I still personally really enjoy this one!

[rating=9.5]

It’s a case of role reversal, as Magnum begins dressing smartly and acting reserved, while Higgins starts wearing loud Hawaiian shirts and staying out late. But Magnum is convinced the woman Higgins is secretly seeing is up to no good. I really like this one…

-----

This review contains spoilers.

After Magnum was brought back to life in ‘Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts’, this episode serves to start putting things back to normal. Well, by the end at least – it takes a wayward route to get there.
After the seriousness of ‘Infinity…’ and much of ‘Limbo’ before it, ‘Pleasure Principal’ calms things down by being a gentle comedy, and personally I think it works.

I am surprised that this episode isn’t held in higher regard – although not unpopular, it often seems overlooked, but I personally think it is really good.

Magnum and Higgins effectively swapping places is a novel – and overdue – plot device, and I think it works well. Yes it could be argued that more could have been done with the premise, but even so I think it is pulled off quite well, and works for its subtlety.
It is amusing to see Magnum dressed smartly and acting reserved, while Higgins effectively becomes all of the things he dislikes about Magnum.

There is a ‘main plot’ in there, about the woman that Higgins is secretly meeting at dance clubs supposedly being up to no good and planning to rip him off, but for much of the episode, that main thread is very much incidental, as we instead get a number of scenes showcasing Magnum and Higgins’ role reversal.

I particularly like the afternoon tea scene between Magnum and Agatha – a near replica of many Higgins / Agatha scenes from previous episodes, just with Magnum in Higgins’ place. Magnum even has Higgins-like dialogue and speaks with a faint British accent – it is explained at the end of the episode that after such a trauma as Magnum’s (near) death, people involved sometimes subconsciously start imitating those close to them; but beyond that, I think the director was just having fun and not taking it too seriously.

Only in the final ten minutes or so do the ‘main’ plot, regarding Higgins’ mysterious woman friend, kick in, and it turns out to be a series of explainable incidents and misunderstandings. Although I love a good action-adventure ep of MPI, at the same time I like that not every episode has to end in an explosive shootout, and like this episode all the more for not going that route.

I remembered this episode – which, like most season eight episodes, I haven’t seen for quite a while until coming to review them – as being a solid 10. I’ll admit, it isn’t quite that, and it does have its sillier moments (I wasn’t sure about the exploding Mac!). But personally I like this one enough to give it a very decent 9.5.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* My old bugbear – the DVD version having abridged act breaks. But at least they didn’t do it until the final act break, with a classic (off-camera) “Oh my God!” from Higgins.

* At first, I thought Magnum’s opening hurricane narration was identical to another episode (possibly season six’s ‘The Kona Winds’), but as the episode progressed, with more follow-up narrations, I decided I was mistaken. (But I think it is quite similar)

* Magnum smokes his fifteenth cigar of the series in these episode (I have no idea why I started counting these!!)

* Just a random comment, but I thought that officer Diana (in the first of several small appearances) felt like a stand in for Maggie. The scene, with Magnum asking Maggie if he was “different”, and kissing her at the end, would have worked much better with the familiar Maggie, in my opinion.
JAY FIRESTORM

Facebook: Jay Gathergood / Twitter: Jay_Firestorm NEW BLOG: http://thea-teamcaptured.blogspot.com/

My A-Team site - http://thea-team.org aiming to be the most detailed A-Team site on the Net - if I ever get around to updating it!!

User avatar
Little Garwood
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 1261
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:53 pm
Location: The Magnumverse

#23 Post by Little Garwood »

Like much of season eight, this is one I'd never seen. I rated it an 8, but it does suffer from the silliness and liberties taken with the show around this time. Still, I enjoyed it more than I thought i would. And as others have mentioned, I, too approve of the way it fits in with the larger "Limbo" "Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts" storyline.
IslandHopper wrote:What happened to HPD? Diana (Amy Yasbeck), Magnum’s police officer girlfriend is apparently with the “State Police” and not the Honolulu Police Department according to the shoulder patch on her uniform. This is the first time I recall seeing someone from the “State Police” on the show.
Then wouldn't that make her an officer for Five-O? The size of Hawaii Five-O was never really mentioned on that series (at least through season seven) and often they would "coordinate with HPD" for whatever manpower McGarrett needed (I'm sure HPD just loved having to allocate resources to a "big shot" like Steve McGarrett!)
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

User avatar
Carol the Dabbler
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 293
Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Indiana, USA

#24 Post by Carol the Dabbler »

[From Episode Note 9] Tanaka is seen walking on crutches, but there is no mention as to why he needs them.
In the commentary, Jay Huguely mentions that in real life, Kwan Hi Lim had been injured (he thought in a car crash). It seemed odd to me that Magnum would see his old friend on crutches and not express concern by asking what had happened -- I guess we can assume that they'd had another conversion a while earlier in which that question was asked and answered. But it's unusual for the series that no explanation was offered to us.

Doc Ibold wrote:Whats cool is that "Limbo", "Infinity and Jelly Doughnuts" and "Pleasure Principle are all like one 3 hour movie. I like how they had the coma scenario play across all three, and they didn't treat it like some one off incident ...
I agree. So many series deal with traumatic events in one episode, and by the next week, everything's all rosy again.
Doc Ibold wrote:I also liked how when Magnum finally banished the hallucination of Mac, Mac told him that was all he wanted.
I'm still trying to decide whether Mac's appearances in these three episodes were supposed to be hallucinations (which is how Huguely consistently refers to them in the commentary), visions (i.e., Mac's spirit is actually trying to help Magnum), or Magnum's subconscious mind taking on Mac's appearance (i.e., telling him what he already darn well knows, but is trying to ignore). So far, option #1 is losing. (Yes, I realize that Huguely WROTE the episode, so maybe he'd know what was supposed to be going on -- but there's also the interpretations of the director and the actors to consider.)
Doc Ibold wrote:Apparently "Conga" was the only Latin song in 1988 since they played it like 4 times throughout the episode.
I had pretty much lost interest in current music by the late 80's, so I didn't know the name of that piece -- thanks! It sort of reminded me of The Macarena (same basic beat, I suppose).

IslandHopper wrote:In response to Carol’s question “Have you ever considered that maybe, just maybe, she likes Jonathon?“ Magnum implies that Higgins is a U.S. citizen when he says “Yes, I’ve also considered that she (Rosita) may be trying to get her ‘Green-Card’ the easy way (by marriage).” I’m sure Higgins would never give up his UK citizenship, so he would be a dual citizen (UK & U.S.A.).
Hmm, I don't think he could be (though Magnum may assume that Rosita doesn't realize that). As far as I'm aware, the only way someone born in the U.K. can be a dual citizen is if one of their parents was a U.S. citizen. Higgins could not have become a naturalized citizen without renouncing his U.K. citizenship.

rubber chicken wrote:Anybody else notice what looks like crampon holes in the coconut trees? This must have been visible in other episodes but for some reason I took notice of it here. I'm guessing this is evidence of Mrs. Anderson's coconut tree trimming. I wonder if she sold/sells the coconuts to local markets.
Unfortunately, I've heard that a lot of coconut trees in Hawaii (including any planted along streets) are purposely divested of their coconuts long before they mature, in order to avoid any chance of lawsuits from people who might be hit on the head by falling coconuts (not a laughing matter). Just think of all the potential macaroons going into the landfill!
Carol

Tuan Vu
Captain
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:06 am

#25 Post by Tuan Vu »

I really enjoyed watching this episode because it was atypical, and for the last few years of Magnum, p.i., that was...typical. I mean, that was one of the things that made this series great: the fact that not all the episodes followed the same formula, but could venture out into comedy, fantasy, time-travel, and even returning from the dead...and yet pull them all off well. I can't think of a more diverse show that could do that. I suppose the only genre the show did not explore in its stories is science fiction.

Anyway, the last part of this episode was so funny, with Higgins taking out the priest and Magnum running around lighting candles while Rosita explained the convoluted way she and Miguel fell in love. It's almost as if the writers figured they had nothing to lose and just threw caution to the wind with the silliness. But it came across well, I thought. I bet the all the actors had fun with that. They looked like they did.

Post Reply