sophia wrote:She worked for the U.S., getting information from her husband that our government wanted. She was french, was she working for France, too?
Sophia,
You are correct about Michelle spying on behalf of the U.S. Her contact was Colonel "Buck" Greene. I may be mistaken, but I thought she was revealed to be the "Tiger." However, I don't think she spied for France. At least the show didn't imply that she was. My understanding is that Michelle was half French and half Vietnamese, which was very common considering that France had colonized Vietnam from the 1800s until 1954.
You guys were discussing the way Michelle treated Magnum. I think Magnum got off easy compared to Michelle's husband. Michelle was spying on Communist-Vietnam at her husband's expense. Colonel Ki was searching for a spy known as the "Tiger." Again, I believe Michelle was the "Tiger," and if I remember correctly, her husband did not even know she was the Tiger until much later. He gave his life to protect Michelle. Michelle's husband was executed because of Michelle's activities (her husband may have been pro-democracy too, I can't quite recall). It's always possible that her husband was the Tiger, but I think it's safe to say that Michelle's covert activities against Vietnam contributed to her husband's death.
I don't care for Michelle either, but I think the show was trying to portray her as a heroine to her country, and for democracy, which was greater than her relationship with Magnum, or her husband. She married Magnum, her true love, when she thought her husband was dead. However, she faked her own death as the U.S. was pulling out of Saigon when she presumably found out her husband was still alive. I imagine she did this so that she could continue to spy on the communists for the U.S.
My understanding of why she didn't want to go back to Magnum permanently was because it would endanger his life since she would have been a target because of her espionage activities. She was blown-up after all. So, in a sense, her refusal to be with Magnum was because she loved him. She knew he would probably be killed too. Her husband was used all the way, but I believe she really did want to be with Magnum, but because of the timing and her mission, it never worked out, except for Lily of course.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)