Missing in Action (1.9)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the first season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
0
No votes
9.5 (One of the Best)
1
1%
9.0 (Excellent)
9
9%
8.5 (Very Good)
22
21%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
23
22%
7.5 (Decent)
30
29%
7.0 (Average at Best)
11
11%
6.5 (Not So Good)
4
4%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
1
1%
5.0 (Just Awful)
3
3%
 
Total votes: 104

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lutherhgillis
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#16 Post by lutherhgillis »

Despite the nonsense of the entire story, I sort of enjoyed this one in a campy sort of way. It is fun to see the old KKC. Rick and TC seem to be having a good time. I found it to be one of those episodes that is so bad that it is good or at least fun to watch...

I did not like the foray into the psychic mumbo jumbo... Maybe Laura could have given Rick the results of the up-coming sports games so he could score some major dough...
Who's Dot Matrix, and what has she got to do with this?

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Frodoleader
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#17 Post by Frodoleader »

Watched this again the other night. Rebecca Holden.... :shock:
"You are three months at Dak Wei and still you crack jokes?" - Ivan

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Little Garwood
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#18 Post by Little Garwood »

I found Rebecca Holden's line delivery distracting and she and Tom Selleck had zero chemistry together; it's like he knew he was working with an amateur!

I liked the use of negative flashbacks in this episode, as it gave the proceedings an artsiness that was usually absent in eighties TV.

My DVD froze up during the climactic gunfight and I curse Universal's double-sided DVD ineptitude! Grrr! Is it too much to hope that seasons 1-4 will be reissued on single-sided discs? (probably).
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

Buck
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#19 Post by Buck »

lutherhgillis wrote:Despite the nonsense of the entire story, I sort of enjoyed this one in a campy sort of way. It is fun to see the old KKC. Rick and TC seem to be having a good time. I found it to be one of those episodes that is so bad that it is good or at least fun to watch...

I did not like the foray into the psychic mumbo jumbo... Maybe Laura could have given Rick the results of the up-coming sports games so he could score some major dough...
I like the old KKC better than what will be there for most of the series. Why did they change locations?

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Magnum T.
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#20 Post by Magnum T. »

Laura Frasier is the new singer at the King Kamehameha Club.
The woman suffers for some kind of visions about her fiance, a M.I.A. Marine.
She is sure he is still alive and in Hawaii.
Magnum offers his help to investigate and finds out that the guy is actually still alive and is a member of a secret special military unit called "Delta Section".
But somebody else is after him.

I read this episode is not a favourite one.
I liked it very much!
It has all the ingredients:
- a good-looking damsel in distress
- investigations
- physical action
- hilarious jokes (Abbot & Costello, "Are you a Ferrari authorized mechanic?")

Plus: Rebecca Holden. She looks beautiful to me. Even in a parka.
Minus: Like other people, I find the climatic scene strange.
Neither Magnum nor Laura bother to check if Eric is really dead.
Best line:
Newton: You give me the letter, I'll give you Laura.
Magnum: No. You give me Laura and then I give you the letter.
That's the way it works this time because I've got the warrant (i.e. the gun).


Notes:
- team ring on the left hand.
- first Jeff MacKay's appearence as the regular (and my favourite) character Lieutenant "Mac" MacReynolds.
- first Lance LeGault appearence, here as Newton. He will return in future episodes as Colonel "Buck" Greene.
- this is the first of a number of episodes in which Higgins performs hypnosis.
- Ms. Holden is not dubbed in her singing scenes as Laura. She plays the piano too.
- first time TM wears his Vuarnet sunglasses? (Not sure about this one)

Funny thing:When TM and Rick compete to offer their help (after Laura's first vision), I wonder how much of their concern is due to the look of the girl :wink:
"Zeus, Apollo, get out of my Ferrari!"
"Mr. Masters' Ferrari"

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timm525
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#21 Post by timm525 »

So-so ep for me. 7.5.

One thing I just noticed was towards the beginning when TM takes her back to the estate for a swim and dinner, you see her sitting on the beach and TM coming in from a swim. He grabs a towel to dry off and the dialog starts. At this point, notice the level of the water on the beach directly behind TM. Now fast forward to the end of the scene and look at the level of the water directly behind TM. Looks to me like there is a big difference.

Now either this was a long shoot with multiple retakes or the tide was coming in rather fast at that time. Or, perhaps the tide/waves picked up in intensity as you can see the waves come up almost to TM's feet at the end vs what looks like several feet away at the beginning.

I love to look at the back grounds when watching shows just to see the differences from one shot to the next.
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AmandaByNight
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#22 Post by AmandaByNight »

I quite like this episode. It's Rebecca Holden as the singer, right? She used to be one of the most recognizable faces on television, and she's pretty... almost Barbie doll like, but at the same time she some realism to her as well.

I love trippy-dippy stuff in episodic television, so I thought this one was fun.

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MaiTaiMan
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#23 Post by MaiTaiMan »

This episode is a little different, and I really like it! Once again the corruption and disorganization of the millitary comes into play...and I loved how Magnum handled it!

I also enjoy seeing Rebecca Holden in something else besides "Knight Rider"...as this was about 3 years or so before she had her one season stint on that show. I thought she was prettier here and I thought her performance was more genuine and realistic than her 'April Curtis' character on "K.R."

The ending was awesome when Magnum got to shoot Newton...I just wish at some point he would have gotten to shoot Col. Buck Greene--also played by Lance LeGault! :wink: However, I was sad and didn't care for the part where Eric was actually killed. :( They could've had him live and get to tesify against Newton. :idea: But, oh well. Overall I liked this episode and I rated it as "very good"!
"It was more ironic than a Robin Masters novel--she thought he was dead, he thought she was dead...and only the chauffeur knew the truth! He should have been the butler!" "Lest We Forget"

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Little Garwood
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#24 Post by Little Garwood »

I did spot a flub in this episode: At around the 37 minute mark, when Newton's henchman is driving away in the car, a member of the filming crew can be seen in the reflection of the car door

Thanks to James for the credit. :)
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

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MaiTaiMan
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#25 Post by MaiTaiMan »

Little Garwood wrote:I did spot a flub in this episode: At around the 37 minute mark, when Newton's henchman is driving away in the car, a member of the filming crew can be seen in the reflection of the car door

Thanks to James for the credit. :)
Do you mean towards the end...when Magnum makes Newton's goon drive away by gunpoint? I went back and watched that scene and you can sort of see a reflection of some kind on the car door--but it was really hard to see exactly what it was. But, it appeared to be moving around somewhat, so you're probably right. :)
"It was more ironic than a Robin Masters novel--she thought he was dead, he thought she was dead...and only the chauffeur knew the truth! He should have been the butler!" "Lest We Forget"

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Visiting Stewardess
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#26 Post by Visiting Stewardess »

I quite liked this episode. It's the sort of Magnum-episode I remember watching as a kid. The looking at the audience bit, the bantering between Magnum and TC... :lol:
The fact that they didn't look for Eric after he fell made me wonder too. He could still have been alive. But maybe that would be too much realism for an 80's TV show. :roll:

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MaiTaiMan
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#27 Post by MaiTaiMan »

Visiting Stewardess wrote:I quite liked this episode. It's the sort of Magnum-episode I remember watching as a kid. The looking at the audience bit, the bantering between Magnum and TC... :lol:
The fact that they didn't look for Eric after he fell made me wonder too. He could still have been alive. But maybe that would be too much realism for an 80's TV show. :roll:
I too always thought it was weird that they didn't check on Eric, to see if he was still alive. :shock: I guess you were just supposed to know he was dead, and there was nothing they could do.
"It was more ironic than a Robin Masters novel--she thought he was dead, he thought she was dead...and only the chauffeur knew the truth! He should have been the butler!" "Lest We Forget"

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ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)
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#28 Post by ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) »

A pretty good episode. Not among the best of the season - more middle-of-the-road but still pretty good. I'm sure Rebecca Holden had a lot to do with it. :wink: She no doubt has to be the most drop-dead gorgeous girl in the entire show's run... and I've only started watching. Of course it may be due to the fact that I had a major crush on her growing up and watching her on KNIGHT RIDER as April Curtis. That was my favorite show as a kid and she was just drop-dead Barbie gorgeous!! Watching her in this episode was like watching the perfect specimen!! God's gift to MANkind! :)

And of course it also helps matters to see the always reliable Lance LeGault play the baddie. He played the baddie twice on KNIGHT RIDER and 3 times on AIRWOLF!

I guess the plot is a bit muddled and not well-detailed so that drops this episode a bit but I think the subplot with getting the Ferrari serviced and the great comedy between Magnum and TC regarding the $50 is priceless!! "That boy can't count past one". :lol:

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MaiTaiMan
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#29 Post by MaiTaiMan »

IvanTheTerrible wrote:A pretty good episode. Not among the best of the season - more middle-of-the-road but still pretty good. I'm sure Rebecca Holden had a lot to do with it. :wink: She no doubt has to be the most drop-dead gorgeous girl in the entire show's run... and I've only started watching. Of course it may be due to the fact that I had a major crush on her growing up and watching her on KNIGHT RIDER as April Curtis. That was my favorite show as a kid and she was just drop-dead Barbie gorgeous!! Watching her in this episode was like watching the perfect specimen!! God's gift to MANkind! :)

And of course it also helps matters to see the always reliable Lance LeGault play the baddie. He played the baddie twice on KNIGHT RIDER and 3 times on AIRWOLF!

I guess the plot is a bit muddled and not well-detailed so that drops this episode a bit but I think the subplot with getting the Ferrari serviced and the great comedy between Magnum and TC regarding the $50 is priceless!! "That boy can't count past one". :lol:
Ivan...my favorite show growing up was "Knight Rider" too!! I loved "Magnum" as well (and several other shows). I'll never forget when I found out "K.R." had been cancelled!! :cry:

Rebecca Holden is beautiful, and she was especially so in this episode! The plot was awesome...but she totally "made" this one! However...when it comes to "Knight Rider", I'll be honest and say that I liked Patricia McPherson (Bonnie Barstow) better. :wink: They had the April Curtis' hair and makeup done way over the top, and they had her sort of an air-head compared to Bonnie. But, that's just me. :)

Both "Knight Rider" and "Magnum" were and still are two of the most awesome shows ever!! :D
"It was more ironic than a Robin Masters novel--she thought he was dead, he thought she was dead...and only the chauffeur knew the truth! He should have been the butler!" "Lest We Forget"

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ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)
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#30 Post by ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) »

MaiTaiMan wrote: Rebecca Holden is beautiful, and she was especially so in this episode! The plot was awesome...but she totally "made" this one! However...when it comes to "Knight Rider", I'll be honest and say that I liked Patricia McPherson (Bonnie Barstow) better. :wink: They had the April Curtis' hair and makeup done way over the top, and they had her sort of an air-head compared to Bonnie. But, that's just me. :)
Yes, Bonnie was great too! And yes she did look more intelligent. But I never got the "airhead" vibe from April. I thought she looked quite intelligent too - especially with those huge glasses!! :lol: And yes perhaps she did look too much like Barbie and a bit too high-maintenance for a computer whiz but I still thought she was simply a doll (literally) to marvel at. :D Hey, it was the 80s - everything had to be over-the-top and in high style! I dunno... she'll always be my favorite! Plus, season 2 has always been my personal favorite season - 2 Goliath episodes, "Knightmares", "Soul Survivor", "Ring of Fire", "Merchants of Death", "A Good Knight's Work" - all awesome episodes!! That season was the show at its peak!

I also thought Rebecca was super-stunning in the second season of T.J. HOOKER - in the episode "Second Chance". I have it on DVD - she looks amazing there! And doesn't seem to be wearing a bra under her blouse! :wink:

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