Thicker than Blood (1.12)

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10 (Perfect!)
2
2%
9.5 (One of the Best)
8
8%
9.0 (Excellent)
16
16%
8.5 (Very Good)
19
19%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
28
27%
7.5 (Decent)
16
16%
7.0 (Average at Best)
7
7%
6.5 (Not So Good)
4
4%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
1
1%
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 102

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Danny Lin
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Re:

#51 Post by Danny Lin »

On the "Budapest" - "Evelyn H" flub.
Magnum T. wrote:
Visiting Stewardess wrote: Just one thing I have noticed which no-one else has mentioned yet (I think):
The name on the ship in the opening scene is clearly "Budapest". Yet later Magnum says it's the "Evelyn H"...
Well, clearly I wouldn't say so (the scene is very dark :lol: ) but I checked and you are right, Hawkeye.
I´d say that it is quite clear, since the camera focusses in on the name "Budapest", holding it right in the middle of the screen, covering one quarter of the width of the screen. Additionally there is no other content to see on the screen to distract the audiences attention during that sequence. For sure that is a flub. I didn´t really understand either why they chose the name "Evelyn H" later in the episode instead of just to stick with "Budapest". The name of the ship can´t even be read anywhere during the sequences in the docklands...
... Then I'm history... Walking history... I'll be just another chapter in one of those dumb books Louise Peardon makes me read: "Prince Danny Lin, assassinated July." ...

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Re:

#52 Post by Danny Lin »

On TC being on probation:
IslandHopper wrote:
...

Since the writers ask the audience to abandon all logic at times (like believing that the Coast Guard wouldn't have searched the chopper for drugs), I thought it was unfortunate that they couldn't have somehow exonerated TC of the felony charge(s) without having him on probation for 5 years for smuggling a deserter. The writers could have gotten away without even mentioning it (Rick mentions it in the last scene in the guest house). In reality, I'm sure the FAA would have stripped TC of his license to fly, and he would not have been able to fly in the Marine Reserves, as in "Did You See The Sunrise" (Season 3).

...
But shouldn´t we be thankful for every single time the writers don´t ask us to abandon all logic?! Nobody needs that kind of bad writing, right? It just simply would have been incredible to let TC get away without any kind of punishment. And to just simply not mention him being on probation wouldn´t have made TC flying in the Marine Reserves later on more credible, since the audience knows and would remember that he once smuggled a deserter...
... Then I'm history... Walking history... I'll be just another chapter in one of those dumb books Louise Peardon makes me read: "Prince Danny Lin, assassinated July." ...

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Re:

#53 Post by Danny Lin »

On Magnum breaking the fourth wall at the end:
J.J. Walters wrote:
...

And then the episode ends with Magnum putting on the Groucho Marx "mask", saying "How about that!?", and looking at the camera. A great tearing-down-the-fourth-wall "final frame".

Image
What Magnum says before that tearing-down-the-fourth-wall "final frame" is: "Well, I´ll be damned." It is a reaction to Higgins telling him that he´ll just have to stay. He´s not asking the audience: "How about that!?"
... Then I'm history... Walking history... I'll be just another chapter in one of those dumb books Louise Peardon makes me read: "Prince Danny Lin, assassinated July." ...

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#54 Post by Danny Lin »

On the authorities not searching the chopper for drugs:
Carol the Dabbler wrote:
...

Still, it does seems odd that "they" didn't give the copter a thorough going-over -- and, as IH pointed out, the dope wasn't even really hidden, just stored in some obvious compartments! Stuff like this drives me nuts, but I think I've figured out a plausible scenario.

The feds *had* found the drugs in TC's copter, and were waiting to spring it on him and his lawyer as late as allowed by the disclosure laws (just before the trial?). But when Magnum et al. clued them in on their theory that the real smuggler would bid on the copter, the feds played along -- even to the point of putting the drugs (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) back into the compartments.

Of course, they can't put everything that happened into the episode, due to time constraints. :wink:
But that fictional scenario that was figured out here wouldn´t be able to explain why the drug smugglers would have been silly enough to store the drugs in those obvious compartments. Nobody can ever believe that that way to smuggle drugs could ever work out and nobody would ever take that risk!
Stuff like this drives me nuts too,
Seaver41 wrote:
...

I can't get past the drugs in the floor board and never being discovered. Now I get it that the show asks you to extend your imagination with thr supernatural and afterlife here and there, but this was just an insult to one's basic intelligence.

...
but it is not the audiences task to figure a story that fits. It is the damn task of the writers and directors and if they handle things like they did here, we have to just call it what it is: BAD WRITING!!
It is as bad as no one taking care of the shot Eric in "Missing in Action" or Choi getting so distracted by TC´s helicopter that Magnum has time to pick his gun in "China Doll".
Bad stuff like this thrice in the first twelve episodes... :roll: :roll: :roll:
... Then I'm history... Walking history... I'll be just another chapter in one of those dumb books Louise Peardon makes me read: "Prince Danny Lin, assassinated July." ...

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Re: Thicker than Blood (1.12)

#55 Post by Danny Lin »

On Joey, not having fresh tracks on his arms:
SignGuyHPW wrote:
...

The thing that really bugged me was that Joey showed his arms to have no new tracks on them as well as showing his eyes yet they were telling him that Joey was never clean and just used eye drops. If that's so then how'd he only have old tracks?

...
That Joey only had old tracks on his arms is clearly explained later when we see that he puts the injections in his legs. He certainly can have done so for a while back just because he wanted to avoid visible fresh tracks on his arms.
... Then I'm history... Walking history... I'll be just another chapter in one of those dumb books Louise Peardon makes me read: "Prince Danny Lin, assassinated July." ...

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Re: Thicker than Blood (1.12)

#56 Post by Danny Lin »

Sisophous wrote:
burny wrote:i just watched this ep again - i feel like i missed something - why is TC so very hostile to Rick and TM for trying to help? - like over the top hostile. i can understand how he would not want to implicate them in what he considers to be his problem and his decisions, but why is he so hostile about it instead of just explaining and saying "its my problem" ? ....just seems awkward and "out of nowhere to me.....
It's called bad acting. It could be the director wanted TC to be hostile and it called for it in the script. I think the intended effect was to show TC as losing it and not thinking rationally. He did the same hostile, irrational act toward the group of kids who were at his Helicopter hanger and at one point breaks down in this episode.
SignGuyHPW wrote:
...

I thought TC being so openly hostile as a way to try to keep his friends out of being co-conspirators was really good. TC didn't really want them to not help so much as he wanted them to not get caught in his trouble.
Exactly! TC acted as hostile as he did, just because he wanted to not let the officers around even get the idea that Tom and Rick could be accessaries.
And different from what Sisophous wrote Tc´s acting in those sequences is not at all to be called bad! Especially his acting towards the kids, impersonating that very intensely emotionally shaken person, in fact is part of the more advanced acting we´ll see from our beloved TV-show actors throughout the series!!
... Then I'm history... Walking history... I'll be just another chapter in one of those dumb books Louise Peardon makes me read: "Prince Danny Lin, assassinated July." ...

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Re: Thicker than Blood (1.12)

#57 Post by Danny Lin »

On additional flubs and the Team Ring worn upside down by Thomas or his double:

First flub: When Magnum puts the ingredients for that supposedly healthy drink into the jug of the blender the jug stands on the dining table. When the jug is positioned on the blending machine and Magnum pushes the button to start the blending process the machine is positioned on the same table. After a cut, when Magnum takes the jug off the machine the machine suddenly magically stands on a work bench.

Second flub: The second flub is that work bench itself. In "Don´t Eat the snow in Hawaii" (1) there is no real kitchen to find in the guest house. The wall in which the kitchen will be found in "No Need to Know" is still a plain white wall with just a lamp on it. At the end of "No Need to Know" Rick cooks for Magnum. That sequence is filmed at a downward angle and one can see only a bit of that kitchens work bench. It is plain white.
The work bench on which the blender is positioned in "Thicker than Blood" is a wooden bench that stands in the room and is not built in like the kitchen is since "No Need to Know". I´m not sure if that bench standing in the room will be seen in later episodes.

Team ring upside down:
In the sequence in which Magnum pushes the button on the blender, he wears his team ring upside down in despite of the fact that he was wearing it the right way just some seconds before, when he was pouring the Tabasco in the measuring cup. The sequence in which he pushes the button on the blender seems to be produced at a different point of time as the rest of the sequences having to do with the blending of the drink. Firstly the blending machine is positioned on the work bench and not on the dining table in all sequences in which Magnums face and body can bee seen and secondly the team ring is worn upside down when only Magnums hands can be seen. Perhaps that sequence was shot with the same person as a double who wore the team ring upside down through those stock footage sequences in the Ferrari that were used in the trailer too since the first episode.
... Then I'm history... Walking history... I'll be just another chapter in one of those dumb books Louise Peardon makes me read: "Prince Danny Lin, assassinated July." ...

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Re: Thicker than Blood (1.12)

#58 Post by Danny Lin »

On Rick´s "space-lemon" shirt:

Rick is wearing another crazy shirt which deserves some attention: In different sequences, for example when he calls Magnum at the docklands, when he tries to separate the fighting Magnum and TC from each other and also in Joey´s room in the Hotel Street, Rick is wearing a dark blue shirt featuring some kind of space wheels that look like thick slices of lemon that are surrounded by red "planet rings"... :lol:
... Then I'm history... Walking history... I'll be just another chapter in one of those dumb books Louise Peardon makes me read: "Prince Danny Lin, assassinated July." ...

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Re: Thicker than Blood (1.12)

#59 Post by K Hale »

Flub in the episode guide. http://magnum-mania.com/Episodes/Season ... Blood.html

Under "Quotes 3," it says, "Magnum is packing up after being told to leave the estate by Higgins earlier." This isn't accurate; in the darkroom conversation, Higgins never told Magnum to leave the estate, Magnum said he would leave if Higgins developed the photograph.
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Re: Thicker than Blood (1.12)

#60 Post by #1 Buzzettes Fan »

Now we are cooking! This is one of the most memorable episodes for me. I love the interior ship scenes, the dock scenes with the union bros, the Coast Guard elements and the multiple helicopter shots. Plus we get to see Rick crammed in the 308 with his torso halfway out of the car. I'm a small guy myself so I can relate lol.

Finally we have the proper theme for the intro and it is firmly established that Higgins and the Magnum have bonded.
Fantastic ending.

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#61 Post by K Hale »

Seaver41 wrote:another brick in that Magnuym/Higgins foundation laid...............really cool to see. When Higgins sees the conviction in Magnum's eye in the darkroom.......he realizes a bit late this is a huge issue to Magnum. Slowly the respect is growing for his integrity.
What I wonder is why Magnum didn't just tell Higgins something like, "I need this developed to help TC, he's having a crisis. But it's personal so I can't say anything more."

Of course then we would not have the great ending.
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Re: Thicker than Blood (1.12)

#62 Post by ENSHealy »

1.12 THICKER THAN BLOOD
Hawaiian shirts: 1
Island Hopper shirts: 1 Blue logo on yellow
Body Count: 0
Shirtless: 1
Little Voice: 0
I know what you’re thinking: 0
When I write HTBAWCPI: 0
Investigator corrections: 0
Magnum injuries: 0
Higgins musings: 0
4th wall breaks: 2
Negotiations: 1
Famous guest stars: 0
Magnumometer: 7

Potential magnumania usernames: Joey

This somewhat mundane episode, with a genuinely annoying, whiny guest protagonist in Joey, is nonetheless fully redeemed by the two classic scenes between Thomas and Higgins: in the darkroom, and in the guest house at the end.

EPISODE GUIDE QUIBBLES
8 The shot of the car exploding and going over the side of the cliff was lifted from the "Pilot Movie". (Noted by Jay-Firestorm)
While this shot was no doubt filmed for the pilot, I don't believe it actually appeared in the pilot. In the pilot, the car does not explode until it is already over the guardrail and has crashed. This shot must have been done for some other/alternative scenario. I assume the cable you see under the car (which has always bugged the hell out of me that they used that shot even though the cable is so visible) was to retrieve the car from where ever it lands after they blow it up?
2 On the helicopter ride from the ship (just before getting busted by the USCG), the audio between Joey and T.C. is off. Joey is speaking in a normal volume with minimal backround chopper noise, whereas T.C., who is sitting next to him in the same cockpit, is screaming at Joey above some obnoxious chopper noise. As they talk balk and forth, the chopper noise and actor volume keeps changing. By the end of the ride the problem has been corrected. (Noted by Jamie O'Neill)
Actually, if you listen closely, the chopper noise in the background is consistent throughout. However, Joey does speak in a normal tone and TC does yell back at him, so those two aspects don't line up, but the audio track doesn't sound pieced together, at least to me.

NEW FLUBS?
1. How does Mac know that pilot at the bar is a Marine pilot? And is he actually a Marine pilot? Sure looks like a Navy uniform to me. No Marine Corps insignia (wouldn't one collar have had the globe and anchor and the other the Captain's bars? Or was that just how they did it in NROTC?) The wings he has on do not identify him as a Marine, only as a Naval aviator.
2. Speaking of uniform protocol, both Mac and the pilot are uncovered (not wearing hats) outdoors. I believe this is against regulation? Although maybe there's some kind of ambiguity because they're sort of in a building but outdoors at the same time?
3. "10 years in the Navy." Thomas refers to his 10 years in the Navy. That creates a gap in his timeline. We know he went in after graduation in 67. We know he started at the estate in 1980 sometime about a year after he resigned from the Navy. So there's a 2-3 year gap there.
4. How does the chopper door get closed? When TC lands with Joey, Joey gets out of the chopper and moves away without closing the door, and the door is all the way open. When we see TC take off, the door has somehow closed itself.
5. "I haven't seen flying like that since Vietnam" How exactly did he see that flying, anyway? He was the pilot of the C-130. They spotted TC, but it was a chopper that came to intercept. It would have been the chopper pilot, not Mr. Lipe, who would have seen that flying.

CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS
Higgins: You still haven’t told me what this is about or where you got this photo.
Magnum: I didn’t?
Higgins: No, you didn’t. Of course, where you got it is quite obvious to the experienced eye, anyway.
Magnum: It is?
Higgins: Quite. You took this photo, probably from T.C.’s helicopter at an altitude of two or three thousand feet using Robin Master’s 35mm reflex camera with a 600mm lens.
Magnum: Higgins, you’re amazing.
Higgins: Thank you. The next question is why.
Magnum: Why?
Higgins: Why you took it. Although I don’t really care, I just want to know, is the name of this ship important?
Magnum: Very.
Higgins: I thought so from the way you’ve been hovering over me. [Pause as Higgins waits]
Magnum: Oh, come on Higgins, I’ve already given up the wine cellar and assorted other things. What more do you want?
Higgins: Whatever I can get.
Magnum: Why do we have to play swap meet every time I need something?
Higgins: Because I don’t like the way you live. I don’t like the way you drive Robin’s car. I don’t like your friends. You’ve been a thorn in my side since the day Robin Masters invited you to use his guest house.
Magnum: For as long as I wanted!
Higgins: That was a mistake he made with which I have had to live. If the name of this ship is so important, it’s going to cost you dearly.
Magnum: Higgins, I need that name now!
Higgins: I know.
Magnum: Oh boy, you are really something.
Higgins: Yes.
Magnum: All right that’s it, I give up, I am just tired of these games! I’ll tell you what Higgins, I’ll give you it all!
Higgins: All?
Magnum: Yeah! I’ll move out of the guest house and off the estate. Now I need that name now! Look, will Sunday be soon enough for ya?
Higgins: Well, uh, Sunday, uh…of course, I….
Magnum: Good! Now develop the photo and gimme that name! [pause as Higgins looks confused] Now please.
Higgins: Yes, of course.
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Re: Thicker than Blood (1.12)

#63 Post by ENSHealy »

One other backstory note: T.C. says “even if we gotta do an instant replay of our first meeting in Saigon.” This implies that Magnum and T.C. met in Saigon before T.C. and he were on the VM02 team together. Seems like quite a coincidence? I suppose in theory they could have gotten to know each other and then pulled strings to get assigned to the same unit, but it seems like a stretch.
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Re: Thicker than Blood (1.12)

#64 Post by ENSHealy »

ENSHealy wrote:1.12 THICKER THAN BLOOD
EPISODE GUIDE QUIBBLES
8 The shot of the car exploding and going over the side of the cliff was lifted from the "Pilot Movie". (Noted by Jay-Firestorm)
While this shot was no doubt filmed for the pilot, I don't believe it actually appeared in the pilot. In the pilot, the car does not explode until it is already over the guardrail and has crashed. This shot must have been done for some other/alternative scenario. I assume the cable you see under the car (which has always bugged the hell out of me that they used that shot even though the cable is so visible) was to retrieve the car from where ever it lands after they blow it up?
Small correction to the above: the shot of the car being thrown up near the guardrail was shot for the same scene in the pilot, it is just from an earlier portion of the sequence than made the final cut in the pilot. Here is the first frame from the pilot movie after the Challenger has left the road. As you can see, it is already over the guard rail. The shot we see in the opening sequence was from when they blew it over the guard rail.

From the pilot movie:
Image

From the opening sequence:
Image
Image
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Re: Thicker than Blood (1.12)

#65 Post by ENSHealy »

ENSHealy wrote:3. "10 years in the Navy." Thomas refers to his 10 years in the Navy. That creates a gap in his timeline. We know he went in after graduation in 67. We know he started at the estate in 1980 sometime about a year after he resigned from the Navy. So there's a 2-3 year gap there.
In the pilot movie, Ski says "You know, I haven't seen you since you beached yourself, what, uh,
four, five months ago?
To which Magnum replies "More like a year."

Since I think the general assumption is that Magnum is happening in "real time" i.e. this would be the end of 1980, that would have him resigning at the end of 1979, creating a two year gap between "10 years in the Navy" and 1967-1979.

I suppose he could have just been "rounding down" when speaking to Mac, but why let that get in the way of a little obsessive compulsive over-analysis?
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