Operation Chessboard wrote:I watched this episode again last week and had forgotten something the first time I saw it years ago: A recycled music score from Buck Rogers is used during the climax scene where TM and Erin are being pursued. I checked the credits at the end of the episode and it's a John Cacavas score taken directly from a Buck Rogers episode titled 'A Dream of Jennifer.' I guess the producers figured that since they would not need much music in this ep, except for the final act, they would just 'borrow' a score from another recent Universal TV series.
Wow, never noticed that before! Thanks OC!
You can (legally) watch the episode here: http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi215679001/. Boy, that's a show that sure doesn't hold well today! It was fun watching it as a kid though.
This episode rubbed me the wrong way! Not that it isn't a good story or that it's not well-written or well-acted...it just BUGGED me!
1 - I HATED the David Norman character! Of course, that probably means that Ian McShane is a good actor. The David Norman character is supposed to be an ass.
2 - The Erin Wolf character was unbelievable as a major star. I didn't think she was that good an actress and not even very pretty...kind of scrawney, if you ask me. Sorry, guys.
3 - When someone is murdered, isn't the house a crime scene? Could somebody like Thomas just come in and spend the night watching movies and eating the murdered person's food?
4 - Does Thomas really expect...well, actually he does...Erin to just go with him...a total stranger...without any explanation? And yet he tells her he doesn't have time to explain. Hello?
In this case...for me...it's the Vietnam "layer" that saves it. As has been mentioned by others, this show recognized the Vietnam vets and "gave them a voice". Thomas and TC do that in this episode with their flashbacks...and even their unwillingness to talk about them.
I like that Donald P Bellisario wrote the Skin Deep script. I like those "crossovers" that involve the production crew. There's one episode where Thomas's client is J Rickley Schneider...a take off on J Rickley Dumm and Andrew Schneider, right? And isn't Doc Ibold named for Glenn Ibold, a film editor? And, of course, Mr Bellisario actually appears in Faith and Begorra. Fun stuff.
Just my opinion...
Isn't the ocean beautiful at sunset? So soft....so peaceful...so romantic!
Love your reviews Agatha! They are well-written and chalk full of all kinds of interesting insights and opinions. I like your style. Keep 'em up.
Agatha wrote:3 - When someone is murdered, isn't the house a crime scene? Could somebody like Thomas just come in and spend the night watching movies and eating the murdered person's food?
For most people, no. For people like Columbo, Rockford and Magnum, yes!
One of the things that I'd remembered from seeing this episode first run (Shotgun aside) was the fact that TM casually went into the house, opened the fridge, and helped himself. Only in the Magnaverse.
Hope you took it in the spirit in which it was intended -- my little voice made me do it!
SL is right here with me -- I may be the Deputy and she's the Sheriff. Or vice versa.
golf GSPP (Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation Patrol) (Hey! You should see how well my lawyer bosses take it when I correct them!!! Let's just say they've learned not to argue with me -- I bring out the Rule Book!)
After a beautiful actress is apparently killed by a suicidal gunshot blast, Magnum is hired by her former producer – who is also her jealous ex-lover – to prove that she was seeing another man before her death. Another episode showing the quality of the first season…
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This review contains spoilers.
Just a few episodes in, and already the series has perfectly found its footing and is offering up great episodes such as this.
The episode opens eerily, with actress Erin Wolfe seemingly shooting herself through the head. There is also a nice touch here, as the script she is rehearsing is ‘Skin Deep, by Donald P. Bellisario’, the same title and writer as for this episode.
Magnum’s frequent flashbacks to ‘Nam make the episode, showing that no matter how much her tries to put it behind him, it’ll always be with him one way or another.
Although touched upon previously, especially in the Pilot, this is the first (of a number) of episodes to show just how affected Magnum is by his experiences in Vietnam. It really adds depth to the character, and was indeed probably the first TV show to show Vietnam veterans in a positive light.
Another great, if almost throwaway, scene, is as Magnum is woken up by Higgins’ clay pigeon shooting near the beginning of the story, believing it to be 6 am, not realising it is actually 6 pm. Maybe Zeus and Apollo really WERE releasing the clay pigeons!!
David Norman is, of course, played by Ian McShane, who would go on to be known her in the United Kingdom for playing ‘Lovejoy’ (1986, 1991-1994). By the way, although Magnum and Lovejoy are quite different characters – Lovejoy was an antiques dealer- there are some notable parallels with the character, not least in both of them often addressing the camera.
McShane would be seen again in ‘Magnum’ in the popular third season episode ‘Black on White’.
I love the way that Magnum immerses himself in the world of the supposedly dead Erin, getting to know her through her library of videotapes, and making himself at home, even drinking milk from her refrigerator! Personally I’d find it kind of creepy, in a room where such a gruesome suicide took place, but it doesn’t seem to affect old T.M. Presumably after witnessing the horrors of war, he’s learnt to accept such things.
Although the story is sometimes wordier than I would normally like, here I enjoy it, and it adds a lot of depth to an interesting story.
Then there is the climax on the deserted tropical island. I was never in any doubt that David Norman would turn out to be the villain, but it still makes for an exhilarating match of wits.
Also to look out for briefly is as Magnum pretends to be “McGarrett from Five-0”, another of the show’s nods to “Hawaii Five-0”.
We are also given some kind of time-frame of how far apart the individual episode stories take place, as in the final scene Magnum comments that it is several months later.
Then there is the classic final scene, when Magnum asks T.C. if he ever has recollections of Nam. After a flashback of his own, T.C. denies it. When asked if he does, Magnum simply replies “No”.
(As a footnote, camera technician Robert Van Der Kar was killed when T.C.’s helicopter crashed into the ocean when filming. A caption remembering him is given before the closing credits).
All-in-all, I find this to be a really good episode, and one that I can watch a number of times. It wouldn’t make my Top 10, but it’s a very good one none-the-less.
Other notes, bloopers and misc.:
* The standard used theme to the pre-episode trailer is used here for the first time (although in a longer form than usual). Only heard in its entirety once, in the previous episode, ‘No Need to Know’, this would go on to be the commonly used theme on the trailers, although re-recorded several times over the show’s run.
* The caption before John Hillerman’s name becomes ‘Also Starring’, as it would be for the rest of the series. On the previous episodes (bar the Pilot), it was ‘Co-Starring’. To note is that the DVD versions of the previous episodes use ‘standardised’ beginnings, using the ‘Also Starring’ caption.
* I’ll have to check my old Channel 5 recording to see if Higgins’ “bloody”s in this episode are edited out or not – sometimes they would be, other times they were left in, depending how generous 5 were being that day!
* T.C. wears his blue Da Nang cap for the first time in this episode.
* As T.C. flies Magnum to the deserted island, the tail rotor of his helicopter is seen to changes sides several times, due to the film being reversed.
Jay-Firestorm wrote:I’ll have to check my old Channel 5 recording to see if Higgins’ “bloody”s in this episode are edited out or not – sometimes they would be, other times they were left in, depending how generous 5 were being that day!
Pardon my ignorance, but why would the "bloody"s be edited out?
Bloody is sort of a mid-level curse word.
It's not REALLY bad, and it seems to have become more accepted in recent years, but it's still technically a swear word.
Channel 5 were really contradictory in editing it out - some days they'd cut it, some days they'd leave it in! Guess people are more offended on some days than on others!!
