Season 1 Episode 5: Sudden Death (1.5)

[sandbiscuits]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall a forced rehashing of TC's upbringing in the original. Why do they have to explain everything now?

Hating that aspect of the show...way too much "forced rehashing." Probably because the younger generations have very little patience.

I wonder if it is related to there being an established universe that the new MPI is able to use. It took eight seasons to develop that universe, and I doubt the writers had all the answers from the beginning. Now, there are backstories that are being brought out early on to help establish the characters' motivations and deepen their development. Hopefully this means that the current writers can move on to developing their own takes on the characters. It would be disappointing of the characters remain static, relying only on the histories of the original.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Regarding the character of Kumu, it looks like Lenkov is referencing the classic Five-O. Fans might remember that the Kumu was an organized crime organization which consisted mostly of native Hawaiians but also some other races and was very anti-"haole". McGarrett tangled with them mostly during the last 2 seasons of the show (1978-1980). The head of the Kumu was Tony Alika, very memorably played by Ross Martin of THE WILD, WILD WEST fame. I have to say he played a Hawaiian quite well. He was very good with accents. He made 4 appearances in total.

Then there's also a brief reference to the word "kumu" in the 1968 2-hour pilot of Five-O. When McGarrett is floating in the "cocoon" chamber he's hallucinating and saying the word "kumu", which Wo Fat interprets as McGarrett falling in love.

Ivan,

I always thought Ross Martin was pretty good in that role too. He was certainly good with accents! He didn't do too many roles after that though, as he died from a heart attack in 1981. My dad loved The Wild, Wild West and I used to watch the reruns of it with him when I was little in the 70's. Fun show!

Then there was the excellent COLUMBO episode "Suitable for Framing" (season 1) where Ross Martin was outstanding as the killer. He played a snobbish art critic who showed a certain level of contempt and mockery for the good lieutenant, as was the norm with the high society killers on the show. Martin and Peter Falk had great chemistry together. As it turns out Martin was Peter Falk's acting mentor/coach of sorts in their earlier acting days, so there was a friendship between the two.

[MagnumsGMTMaster]

This episode is probably the best so far. Extra points for its being TC centric and offering a nod to the original TC's coaching disadvantaged kids.

[eagle]

This episode is probably the best so far. Extra points for its being TC centric and offering a nod to the original TC's coaching disadvantaged kids.

I thought the same thing.

And: "MagnumsGMTMaster" - nice.

I know I said I was out, but on Saturday I was bored and sick (I'll leave it at that) and lying in bed, so I pulled up cbs.com.

I agree, the best so far.

Here are my takeaways:

I got stuck on the mispronunciation of "Koch" when Det. Katsumoto said that he found the gun, the "Heckler and Cotch." Nope nope nope nope nope. In English, it's "Heckler and Coke." HK even mentions that in their FAQ: See last item here: https://hk-usa.com/faq/ ... srsly, do they not have an advisor for that sort of thing?

I was surprised that TC lives in what looked to be an Airstream Bambi.

In my mind this was the first episode that could possibly be considered something related to the original series.

So, yes, we're back to the "white knight" reference. But didn't Magnum himself talk about the fish going after the white meat first? I know it isn't exactly the same use of "white," but I still find it amusing. I am tiring of the "white knight" references.

I am also tired of the forced rehasings of so many things. They're explaining things that were never outright explained in the original series. It's getting old.

Also, I observed this and it gave me a chuckle. (Not sure why it took me so long to notice it.) Original series: Big Magnum, small Ferrari. New series: Small Magnum, big Ferrari.

[Kate Sullivan]

We've had the reboot in England since the new year. It's on one of the pay channels so I haven't seen the first four episodes, but I watched this one the other night at a friend's house, and I wasn't impressed.

The constant jingly jangly music in every scene really got on my nerves. Music is supposed to enhance a scene and help to create the right mood, but this was intrusive and irritating. It annoyed me so much I nearly gave up after the second ad break, but I wanted to form my opinion based on the whole episode so struggled through to the bitter end. It was the same with the early episodes of nu-Macgyver so it's obviously a Lenkov thing.

Jay Hernandez is a reasonably good looking guy but he's not leading man material. His Magnum has no charm or charisma, he's just bland. And every time he introduced himself to someone and said "I'm Thomas Magnum", I was thinking "No you're not. You're really really not".

Some of the scenery was very obviously CGI - the overhead shot that zoomed down onto the estate, and also the background scenery when Juliet and the boy were playing chess.

On the plus side, there were no over-the-top car chases or gun-fights.

Episode six is on tonight so I'll watch that too but I can't imagine I will like it any more. To me, it's throwaway TV, it's not something I'd watch over and over again and still be watching in 30 years time.

[eagle]

The constant jingly jangly music in every scene really got on my nerves. Music is supposed to enhance a scene and help to create the right mood, but this was intrusive and irritating.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one. But, then, "Muzak everywhere" annoys me -- I like my periods of silence.

To me, it's throwaway TV, it's not something I'd watch over and over again and still be watching in 30 years time.

Yes. With shows I enjoy, I tend to watch them straight through; with shows I find uninteresting, I tend to pause them many times. I find myself pausing episodes of the new series many times, and I find that I have to force myself to go back to finish them.