Missing in Action (1.9)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the first season

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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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mandolabar
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#31 Post by mandolabar »

I'm watching through the episodes in order with my family, and I had not actually seen Magnum since it aired. This is a treat.

This episode was the first time I was struck by how versatile John Hillerman's voice is...he sounds totally different when hypnotizing the girl than his usual acerbic Higgins. I wish he'd done audiobooks or other voice work.

Seaver41
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#32 Post by Seaver41 »

not sure what some of you are seeing, but that girl is HOT. Still a bit much of the 70's hair going on, but still H-O-T.

Episode is fascinating to watch as we know the actor will eventually be Buck Green....but he plays this character the same way........mysterious and with an edge. Good character actor.

Like everyone, I too found the ending a big WTF for not checking on Eric. Is it possible this was a bad edit where maybe he had an alternate landing filmed/writen where he landed on the pier.....as in Planet of the Apes movie where Cornelius is shot and falls to dock below. I wonder if that was a goof in using the water landing with the actors reacting to a much harder landing where death was obvious? We have already established at multiple points in series the mismatched editing of scenes.

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Sisophous
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#33 Post by Sisophous »

AJL wrote:Some silly stuff here, especially the already mentioned part where Eric falls in the water after he is shot, and nobody cares. Not even his fiance wants to check on him :?
Returning to the forum after watching this it is pretty hilarious. Indeed, the guy gets shot and falls into the water while no one cares to help him. I guess they figured he was toast or would calmly drown. The director of this series makes some huge mistakes and loses focus.

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Sisophous
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Re:

#34 Post by Sisophous »

Frodoleader wrote:I always liked the version of "Deja Vu" Laura sang at the KKC. Kind of haunting. Wish there was a full length version sung by her.
One of my favorites too. Laura Frasier has a great voice. This was the very opening of this episode and was shot in 1980. It first aired in February, 1981.

After turning on your speakers/audio, open the video link below, select 480p quality and the middle size video is best.

http://youtu.be/PrRKrAIlj3M

Kudu buck
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Re: Missing in Action (1.9)

#35 Post by Kudu buck »

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Last edited by Kudu buck on Sat Jul 20, 2013 12:58 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: Missing in Action (1.9)

#36 Post by Kudu buck »

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Kalai-pahoa
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Re: Missing in Action (1.9)

#37 Post by Kalai-pahoa »

A pretty good episode. My rate is 8. This is a quite important episode in some way. We see Lance LeGault and, how you said, esp events are featured in the show for the first time too.
Even I don't understand why TM immediatly believed her. I wouldn't have done that :shock:
as usual I post some locations hoping to be useful beginning with the phone call scene shot in Nuuanu Avenue close to the Fai Long building.
In sept 2010 a delivery truck hit the awning, causing it to sag. I don't know if the awning is still falling down.
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Thomas and Laura talking at Paoa Place (on the beach in front of the Hilton Hawaiian Village)
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trying to find Eric Tobin, TM buys informations about him. Here we are at 1119 Smith Street
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now
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for some reason Magnum carries a newspaper under his arm while he is breaking into the building hunting for Eric.
The headline reads '...Iran's terms beyond Carter... Hostages face...' referring to the famous Iranian hostage crisis between USA and Iran from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981.
This episode aired on February 5, 1981.
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in this brief shot we can clearly see the real address number of the Anderson's estate (41-505) The plaque on the wall, showing the number 1429, is fictional.
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of course this is the real plaque. The mailbox is exactly the same over 30 years after!!! :lol:
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Magnum wears this shirt for the first time in the show
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I know what you're thinking, but this time you're wrong.

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Danno
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Re: Missing in Action (1.9)

#38 Post by Danno »

Kalai-pahoa- astounding attention to detail- fascinating- especially the letterbox!
Help protect Hawaiʻi's Green Sea Turtles http://malamanahonu.org

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steveadl
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Re: Missing in Action (1.9)

#39 Post by steveadl »

Definitely one of the classic hilarious dialogues between Magnum/TC at the airport!

TM: Ok. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll loan you 10 till this evening.
TC: You'll loan me 10? You owe me 50!
TM: That's right, which I don't have. So I'll loan you 10 to keep you afloat. You can pay me back - when I pay you the 50.
TC: Whoah Whoah Whoah, what's with this Abbot & Costello routine, you owe me 50, you'll loan me 10? Forget it!
TM: Oh ok thanks, I owe you one.
TC: You owe me one?! YOU OWE ME 50!!

No need to know!
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Re: Missing in Action (1.9)

#40 Post by No need to know! »

steveadl wrote:Definitely one of the classic hilarious dialogues between Magnum/TC at the airport!

TM: Ok. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll loan you 10 till this evening.
TC: You'll loan me 10? You owe me 50!
TM: That's right, which I don't have. So I'll loan you 10 to keep you afloat. You can pay me back - when I pay you the 50.
TC: Whoah Whoah Whoah, what's with this Abbot & Costello routine, you owe me 50, you'll loan me 10? Forget it!
TM: Oh ok thanks, I owe you one.
TC: You owe me one?! YOU OWE ME 50!!
:lol: Yeah just love that one.
Onion´s extra?

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Little Garwood
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Re: Missing in Action (1.9)

#41 Post by Little Garwood »

Every time I watch this episode I simply "have to" replay Eric's fall after he is shot. The stuntman sure earned his pay on that one because he comes so close to hitting his head against the side of the ship! :o
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J.J. Walters
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Re: Missing in Action (1.9)

#42 Post by J.J. Walters »

Never really noticed that before (the fall happens so quickly), but you're right. The stuntman is perilously close to both the dock and the boat! At first I thought maybe it was a depth perception trick, but when Magnum and Laura walk up to it you get a brief look at the landing area. It's pretty tight. That stuntman certainly threaded the needle on that one! But Magnum always had top notch stuntmen, didn't it. ;)

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308GTS
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Re: Missing in Action (1.9)

#43 Post by 308GTS »

Just watched this again last night, Rebecca Holden is pretty scary with those freaky eyes, but hot nevertheless!

I love the almost 70's feel about the First Season!
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Re:

#44 Post by Little Garwood »

N1095A wrote:Not sure why he would want her for himself. If you ask me, she was kind of weird, and not in a good way. She kind of gave me the creeps through the whole ep. The extreme gross-up, uh I mean close-ups of the strings of spittle hanging from her lips didn't help much either.
Holden may not have been a great actress but at least she actually shed tears and looked like she was crying. I've lost count of the number of actresses "crying" yet never shedding a single tear. That Nazi hag from "Never Again" being just one example from MPI. Kudos to Rebecca Holden for actually looking distressed and sad.

Storywise, I don't buy her character being engaged to a Vietnam vet circa 1972. Holden was born in 1958, making her 14 in 1972. This episode aired in February 1981. The casting and script let us down in those respects.
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

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Re: Missing in Action (1.9)

#45 Post by EZiller »

I may have seen this years ago, but didn't remember much. Just caught it recently on ENC. Pretty dumb script, especially the shoot-out at the end of the episode. Having rescued Laura from Newton, TSM goes chasing after Eric who is on top of the tower with a rifle leaving Laura with..Newton! So then Eric,sitting 50' up behind cover, with a high powered rifle with a scope, manages to miss a wide open TSM, then is convinced by a pistol waving TSM to throw his rifle down. Must have been some USMC DI's wince after seeing that. It's already mentioned but after he's shot and falls in the ocean no one, not even excellent swimmer TSM tries to pull him out of the water. I guess they assumed he's dead and will be fish food. Also thought the comedic bit of TSM not paying TC the $50 for tuning up the Ferrari was overplayed, just made Magnum look like a cheap tight ass.

Rebecca Holden-top ten MPI babe. Excellent figure, very pretty although I think they OD'd on the make-up, especially in the scenes at the KKC. But in the blue tube top with the tight jeans and the swim suit-wow!

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