Season 5 Episode 5: Welcome to Paradise Now Die! (5.5)

[KENJI]

12 Mar. 2023

Just a title at this point.

[KENJI]

Magnum recruits Katsumoto to help find a missing tourist. Higgins and Kumu attempt to solve the murder of a beloved dog. Rick enlists the aid of TC after he accidentally loses Magnum's pet mouse, Roberto II.

[Laohu]

[Laohu]

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Magnum recruits Katsumoto to help find a missing tourist. Higgins and Kumu attempt to solve the murder of a beloved dog. Rick enlists the aid of TC after he accidentally loses Magnum's pet mouse, Roberto II.

Katsumoto now solving cases with Magnum and Higgins, perhaps prepping the audience for him joining their agency.
Like Hawaiian Eye that reduces the workload on the individual stars, so Jay could produce/direct more and Perdita direct.

I don't want to belabor Perdita's off season breast implants so instead I will note that after viewing this episode it's a dead cert she had work done on her rear as she is suddenly curvaceous
whereas before the extremely fit Perdita wasn't. I'm not complaining, it's her choice and it will no doubt help land other parts, and speaking for myself I vote thumbs up.

It's an old Hollywood tradition and not just for women. In their classic musical "Anchors Aweigh", Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra were put into body hugging sailors uniforms.
Kelly had a heavily muscled dancer's body while in contrast the scrawny Sinatra's uniform drooped on him, especially in the seat so fake buttocks were inserted in his pants.
Frank was humiliated but he didn't have the power he later wielded and had to accept it. His drinking buddy Bogie once drunkenly needled him - after Frank kidded him
about wearing lifts and a partial toupee - "at least they didn't shove a fake ass down my pants and a potato in the front".
Bogie was a mean drunk and depended on pals like the director and real life boxer and Mexican army combat veteran John Huston to save his bacon when he provoked
someone into taking a swing.

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"Sometimes it seems to me that half the world lives on fear and the other half lives in it. Surprising what can happen when just one or two people decide to stop being afraid."
...Marshal Dan Troop(John Russell), from the TV series "Lawman"

[Amian]

Not super excited about Katsumoto joining forces with Magnum. Would like to see Katsumoto as more of a bit part... give more time to TM, TC, Higgins and Rick. (Kumu also not especially needed, but I am fine with her and Katsumoto getting featured from time to time.)

Also, since I like to complain about the magical hacking skills, this time it was Magnum who apparently excels in this department as well. I feel like the writers are winking at us when they have Magnum say, "What, you didn't think I could do this too?" or something like that to Gordon. But, it also feels like they're too lazy or incompetent to work around using hacking skills to advance the plot. Yawn.

Still enjoying Rick and TC more as the series develops.

[Laohu]

This ok episode but it was the weakest of the season so far . The writers are still giving Kasumoto to much screen time . It’s not that Tim Kangaroo is a bad actor it”s just that this character is not needed so a little of him goes a long way . I also thought that the casting of the lady who’s dog killed was off . Her acting was just not what the role needed .
I enjoyed the Higgins/Kumu team up and was glad to see the Lads return Rick and TC parts were small in this episode hope they are larger next week . Jay seems very comfortable with the Magnum role this year I enjoy his approach to the character a lot . Looking forward to the next episode this season is going fast .

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Katsumoto getting shoehorned into every episode? Yep everything has to be an ensemble these days. Can't let secondary characters just disappear for a while. Gotta give everybody something to do, eh? How often did we see Tanaka on the old show? How about Doc Ibold? Or Agatha? Every episode? Of course not. In fact you'd be surprised to find that Doc Ibold may have appeared only once or twice in a given season. Yet we remember him. Sometimes less is more.

I think this phenomena of getting everyone involved is called the "Scooby Gang" phenomena. Or at least that's how they refer to it concerning the last few Bond movies, where the secondary characters like M, Moneypenny, and Q all of a sudden are getting involved in Bond's missions. In the old days Bond would get briefed at the start of the film by M, he would flirt with Moneypenny for a minute, then would get his equipment/gadgets from Q and off he went on his mission. But now these secondary characters NEED to be part of the mission so they tag along with Bond, like some Scooby Gang. Bond is a lone wolf. He doesn't need anyone to tag along with him on missions, except maybe the Bond girl.

[Laohu]

Ivan don’t really get your point ? Tanaka and etc are just Reoccurring characters . Katsumoto is a major cast member . He has his picture and name in the opening credits each week .
And for what it’s worth I can remember Q going out to meet Bond in the field in movies that came out long before Magnum was a TV show .

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Ivan don’t really get your point ? Tanaka and etc are just Reoccurring characters . Katsumoto is a major cast member . He has his picture and name in the opening credits each week .
And for what it’s worth I can remember Q going out to meet Bond in the field in movies that came out long before Magnum was a TV show .

I guess my point is why is Katsumoto a major cast member? From what I recall of him he was a very bland presence. There are 4 major cast members - TM, Higgy, TC, and Rick. Everyone else seems just shoehorned and should not even be in the opening credits.

Q would sometimes meet Bond in the field (for sure) to provide him his equipment and then he would typically disappear. In the last few films they've been giving these secondary characters more screen time when it's not warranted. The result is just them tagging along behind Bond and even getting in the way.

[Laohu]

I think you can tell from my post that I think Katsumoto is over used . Less is more when it comes to this character . The more he is on screen the less time we get with the other characters that they are doing a good job with . I liked the episode that Katsumoto was a body guard but it took up half the show and took away so much screen time from the other characters.
The scobby gang is not a new thing . They did not call that in the 80’s but The original Magnum pi was kind of based on that premise. Magnum almost always got his gang involved.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

I think you can tell from my post that I think Katsumoto is over used . Less is more when it comes to this character . The more he is on screen the less time we get with the other characters that they are doing a good job with . I liked the episode that Katsumoto was a body guard but it took up half the show and took away so much screen time from the other characters.
The scobby gang is not a new thing . They did not call that in the 80’s but The original Magnum pi was kind of based on that premise. Magnum almost always got his gang involved.

Well, when I first saw Katsumoto and then saw him a few more times after that he was such a nondescript character, such a plank of wood, no personality, no nothing. Just there to butt heads with the star. I couldn't decide whether the problem was with the actor or whether he's supposed to play this character this way - very one-note. Just zero appeal. Though maybe it should be refreshing that this cop character is not some quirky smart-alec-y type like most show of this type would give you. Just look at the Five-Zero reboot. Maybe they actually tried to go for a more realistic and one-note serious cop type here who's just weary with his job and doesn't have time for any BS. So maybe that's a plus. Though that kind of thing has its negatives too - you can only watch a one-note character for so long before it gets dull. Maybe they were going for a Miami Vice Lt. Castillo vibe here - a man of few words who never smiles. I know lots of people think that Castillo was this super cool and mysterious character. But to me he was overrated. Just stared into space somewhere and never said much. That schtick got tiring really quickly. I was like "Come on, man! Open your mouth! Say something!!". Real police superiors don't act that way. It was just all fake style over substance.

[Amian]

I think you can tell from my post that I think Katsumoto is over used . Less is more when it comes to this character . The more he is on screen the less time we get with the other characters that they are doing a good job with . I liked the episode that Katsumoto was a body guard but it took up half the show and took away so much screen time from the other characters.
The scobby gang is not a new thing . They did not call that in the 80’s but The original Magnum pi was kind of based on that premise. Magnum almost always got his gang involved.

Well, when I first saw Katsumoto and then saw him a few more times after that he was such a nondescript character, such a plank of wood, no personality, no nothing. Just there to butt heads with the star. I couldn't decide whether the problem was with the actor or whether he's supposed to play this character this way - very one-note. Just zero appeal. Though maybe it should be refreshing that this cop character is not some quirky smart-alec-y type like most show of this type would give you. Just look at the Five-Zero reboot. Maybe they actually tried to go for a more realistic and one-note serious cop type here who's just weary with his job and doesn't have time for any BS. So maybe that's a plus. Though that kind of thing has its negatives too - you can only watch a one-note character for so long before it gets dull. Maybe they were going for a Miami Vice Lt. Castillo vibe here - a man of few words who never smiles. I know lots of people think that Castillo was this super cool and mysterious character. But to me he was overrated. Just stared into space somewhere and never said much. That schtick got tiring really quickly. I was like "Come on, man! Open your mouth! Say something!!". Real police superiors don't act that way. It was just all fake style over substance.

It sounds like everyone agrees that less Katsumoto would be better. I sure think so. Very little depth to the character, and "one-note" is about right. I am more likely to blame the writers than the actor. Not much you can do with the role from the actor's perspective, and it's not his fault that Katsumoto is a major cast member. It feels strange to me that he gets as much airtime as Rick and TC.

One of the things I liked about the original Magnum was that TM and his buddies were not law enforcement. They worked outside the law; sort of a feeling of a band of outsiders that Magnum, Higgins, Rick and TC all shared. There are enough cop shows out there already, no need to make Magnum PI one of them!

[Philip Jennings]

was glad to see the Lads return Rick and TC parts

It took me a few tries to interpret this part. First I wondered if the Lads had bitten off some fingers, ears, etc.

Punctuation saves lives: "Let's eat Grandma!" vs. "Let's eat, Grandma!"

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Very little depth to the character, and "one-note" is about right. I am more likely to blame the writers than the actor. Not much you can do with the role from the actor's perspective, and it's not his fault that Katsumoto is a major cast member. It feels strange to me that he gets as much airtime as Rick and TC.

Sounds about right. I mean if he's supposed to just be this one-note "stern" presence that shows up at the scene of the crime and then disappears then that's fine. But if you're going to build stories around him then he needs to be a heck of a lot more interesting than he is. Sorry but he's a dullard. Mind you, I'm only going by what I recall of him back in season 2 or whenever was the last time I saw an episode of the show.