China Doll (1.3)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the first season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
8
6%
9.5 (One of the Best)
22
15%
9.0 (Excellent)
36
25%
8.5 (Very Good)
36
25%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
26
18%
7.5 (Decent)
8
6%
7.0 (Average at Best)
4
3%
6.5 (Not So Good)
0
No votes
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
2
1%
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
1%
 
Total votes: 144

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Higgins (aka Bondtoys)
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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#101 Post by Higgins (aka Bondtoys) »

When Magnum and Mai Lin are driving in the Ferrari, there is a black cable visible in the background that leaves the passenger bay when the camera is on her. Is that a microphone cable?

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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#102 Post by Hawaii Winds »

Bondtoys.de wrote:When Magnum and Mai Lin are driving in the Ferrari, there is a black cable visible in the background that leaves the passenger bay when the camera is on her. Is that a microphone cable?

I bet it would be, I'll have to look at the episode again.....thanks

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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#103 Post by Hawaii Winds »

Just watched this episode again on COZI, just wondering if anyone caught the "flub" in beginning when TM was arguing with TC in the helicopter, supposedly on their way to Kauai to meet with Mai Ling right when they bank hard right, right when TM says "That really hurt TC" you can see Makapuu Lighthouse right in front of them, which is in Oahu. I guess an island, is an island when you're in a chopper!

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Artie Canoe
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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#104 Post by Artie Canoe »

I'm re-watching the series from the beginning and this is a solid episode for the first season with some cross-cultural themes. Actually I haven't been to the site for a long time, but since then I have learned Chinese and one thing that really stood out to me was the dialogue between Mai Ling and "Cousin Ho" in extremely broken Mandarin. I'm not sure if they learned the lines right before shooting but it was clear they are not native speakers in any regard. Not to be picky though; the first few times I watched it I had no idea what Chinese should sound like! :lol:

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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#105 Post by ConchRepublican »

Artie Canoe wrote:I'm re-watching the series from the beginning and this is a solid episode for the first season with some cross-cultural themes. Actually I haven't been to the site for a long time, but since then I have learned Chinese and one thing that really stood out to me was the dialogue between Mai Ling and "Cousin Ho" in extremely broken Mandarin. I'm not sure if they learned the lines right before shooting but it was clear they are not native speakers in any regard. Not to be picky though; the first few times I watched it I had no idea what Chinese should sound like! :lol:

Glad to be back :magnum:
Welcome back Artie!

This episode is one of my faves. The first real episode after the pilot movie I think it does a good job setting the tone for the series.

"Hi Ho!" and TM's look gets me every time. :magnum:
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Re: A Great Episode! Did You Notice The Flub?

#106 Post by Milton Collins »

IslandHopper wrote:This is one of the my favorite episodes from season 1. Did you notice the flub? The flub occurred when Magnum entered the Treasures of the Dove at the beginning of the episode. When he entered, the narration by Magnum/Selleck referred to Mai Lin's "Uncle" Ho, when in fact it was her "Cousin" Ho.

I just watched this one a couple days ago and totally caught that part! I was thinking he first had called him her uncle and then said cousin later in the episode and I did a total double take!

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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#107 Post by Little Garwood »

I voted China Doll a 7.0; "Average at Best".

I'm sure no one will agree with me on this and I'm just humorless and grouchy, as well as missing the delightful Thomas-T.C. banter, but there's one scene in this episode that annoys the hell out of me.

It's the four or five minute scene at the start when T.C. and Magnum are being extremely obnoxious while flying the middle-aged tourist couple around. T.C. in particular is annoyingly loud and behaving way out of character. What really irritates me is how he tries to terrify the couple with reckless flying and then blows them off ("If you want to know anything else, there's a guide book back there somewhere.") but then he's shown begging for their forgiveness and offering them back their money! Talk about failed attempts at comedy...

This scene violates my cardinal rule of TV shows: Don't ever sacrifice the way characters normally act for the sake of a cheap laugh. Now normally Thomas and T.C. have a superb comic rapport, so I'll chalk this one up on it being an early episode with really poor writing, but oh how I despise that scene (in an otherwise average at best episode).
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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#108 Post by Milton Collins »

Really solid "first" episode. I love the ones where there's a quality physical opponent for TM to tangle with, although I'm pretty sure even Magnum would not have been able to take that guy, sheesh he was tough! I had also recently watched season 6's "Old Acquantance" and had noticed in a post that "Rodney Radcliffe" (one of my least fav. minor characters ever!) also played the sailor/tough guy who gets knocked out at the bar. Again an obsession of mine is to spot actors appearing multiple times as different minor characters, one thing I totally love about the show! Anyway, really good early episode. There's like 11 pages of posts so I haven't been through them all but does anyone else notice that when TC lands the helicopter with the ticked off tourists and TM, he tell's TM that he's going to some bar "for a beer" and when I get back you better be here with gas money. TC doesn't drink!! Would that be a flub? I had never noticed that he ever made a comment about drinking before. He always orders coffee or soda and when served a "Bazooka" in Season 2's "Mad Buck Gibson" which I also recently watched he declines. Any thoughts?

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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#109 Post by marlboro »

Milton Collins wrote:There's like 11 pages of posts so I haven't been through them all but does anyone else notice that when TC lands the helicopter with the ticked off tourists and TM, he tell's TM that he's going to some bar "for a beer" and when I get back you better be here with gas money. TC doesn't drink!! Would that be a flub? I had never noticed that he ever made a comment about drinking before. He always orders coffee or soda and when served a "Bazooka" in Season 2's "Mad Buck Gibson" which I also recently watched he declines. Any thoughts?

Roger Mosely wanted his character to be a role model and insisted that he not be a drinker. There are some scenes with him drinking or talking about beer in the earliest episodes but he quickly gets rewritten as a teetotaler. Personally, I wish he had been written as just an average dude instead of a role model. Saints are boring.


Little Garwood wrote:It's the four or five minute scene at the start when T.C. and Magnum are being extremely obnoxious while flying the middle-aged tourist couple around. T.C. in particular is annoyingly loud and behaving way out of character. What really irritates me is how he tries to terrify the couple with reckless flying and then blows them off ("If you want to know anything else, there's a guide book back there somewhere.") but then he's shown begging for their forgiveness and offering them back their money!
I'm willing to cut them some slack on this one. It's the second episode of the series after all and they were still tinkering with the characters. As Milton pointed out above, TC drinks in this episode for example and Rick's Humphrey Bogart outfit from the pilot is no where to be seen. Frankly, it's amazing how closely they nailed the characters and tone right off the bat. There are a lot of shows that had major revamps between the pilot and the first official episode.

I wish they had kept Rick as the owner of his own club.

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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#110 Post by Little Garwood »

marlboro wrote: I'm willing to cut them some slack on this one. It's the second episode of the series after all and they were still tinkering with the characters. As Milton pointed out above, TC drinks in this episode for example and Rick's Humphrey Bogart outfit from the pilot is no where to be seen. Frankly, it's amazing how closely they nailed the characters and tone right off the bat. There are a lot of shows that had major revamps between the pilot and the first official episode.

I wish they had kept Rick as the owner of his own club.
I alluded to this being an early episode but the scene's attempt at comedy falls flat and it's grating, to boot. It's imo a scene that should have been scrapped.

As for the characters, yes they are remarkably close. There aren't too many shows that can make that claim. I think the characters that are less complex of the Big Four, T.C. And Rick, came into their own the quickest, whereas Magnum and Higgins became themselves shortly thereafter, though I guess watching MPI in production order would reveal that. I'd be curious if anyone knows the filming order.

Rick-as-club-owner would have been interesting to watch develop, but I prefer him as manager of the Kamehameha and I understand the need to keep everyone under one club, so to soeak, so that Higgins could interact in that setting--as a majordomo of another sort, I suppose!
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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#111 Post by Milton Collins »

[ I'd be curious if anyone knows the filming order.

quote]


I'd be very curious as well! I've always wondered how they got the scenes for the beginning clips with the credits as some of them are from as late as season 2 episodes but are used for the very first few episodes? Anyone have any thoughts on that?

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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#112 Post by DDD »

Probably another in a series of the Q that has no A. The first Q was the ID of the actress who appeared as Mabel Dodge in The Black Orchid and now, though she is mentioned in the thread for China Doll, there is no answer for an ID for the girl in the beach shower in China Doll. Apparently she is known only to herself. So, well I suppose if we knew everything, it would be boring.

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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#113 Post by ConchRepublican »

Just watched this again (gotta be approaching the 30th time) and one of the things that stands out to me is another one of those "little things" I think they did so well in the early seasons.

When they are in Higgins' study you can noticeably hear the clock ticking in the background. I think that does a great job creating the atmosphere of where they are in the house as well as putting across the quiet of their location.

I think those little touches added to that cinematic feel the first season had.
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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#114 Post by eltonsean »

Little Garwood wrote:I voted China Doll a 7.0; "Average at Best".

I'm sure no one will agree with me on this and I'm just humorless and grouchy, as well as missing the delightful Thomas-T.C. banter, but there's one scene in this episode that annoys the hell out of me.

It's the four or five minute scene at the start when T.C. and Magnum are being extremely obnoxious while flying the middle-aged tourist couple around. T.C. in particular is annoyingly loud and behaving way out of character. What really irritates me is how he tries to terrify the couple with reckless flying and then blows them off ("If you want to know anything else, there's a guide book back there somewhere.") but then he's shown begging for their forgiveness and offering them back their money! Talk about failed attempts at comedy...
Hi little garwood, I'm new here to the forum, but i agree with you, that scene is painful to watch! T.C. is totally out of character and it's a cheesy attempt at comedy. T.C. usually takes his business very seriously and is more responsible with his customers. Perhaps this obnoxious moment was a turning point for T.C.? Maybe he learnt his lesson with this couple and from here on treats his customers better? Either way, I'm glad his character evolved into the T.C. that we all know and respect.

besides this scene, i enjoyed the rest of the episode, especially the "Hi, ho" bit. As well, this episode features a couple scenes actually filmed on Waikiki Beach, which is rare. I assume after the show became a hit, it would have been near impossible to film in such a public and crowded spot as Waikiki Beach.

Can anyone think of other episodes where the actual Waikiki Beach was featured as heavily as it was in "China Doll"?

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Re: China Doll (1.3)

#115 Post by ConchRepublican »

eltonsean wrote:
Little Garwood wrote:I voted China Doll a 7.0; "Average at Best".

I'm sure no one will agree with me on this and I'm just humorless and grouchy, as well as missing the delightful Thomas-T.C. banter, but there's one scene in this episode that annoys the hell out of me.

It's the four or five minute scene at the start when T.C. and Magnum are being extremely obnoxious while flying the middle-aged tourist couple around. T.C. in particular is annoyingly loud and behaving way out of character. What really irritates me is how he tries to terrify the couple with reckless flying and then blows them off ("If you want to know anything else, there's a guide book back there somewhere.") but then he's shown begging for their forgiveness and offering them back their money! Talk about failed attempts at comedy...
Hi little garwood, I'm new here to the forum, but i agree with you, that scene is painful to watch! T.C. is totally out of character and it's a cheesy attempt at comedy. T.C. usually takes his business very seriously and is more responsible with his customers. Perhaps this obnoxious moment was a turning point for T.C.? Maybe he learnt his lesson with this couple and from here on treats his customers better? Either way, I'm glad his character evolved into the T.C. that we all know and respect.

besides this scene, i enjoyed the rest of the episode, especially the "Hi, ho" bit. As well, this episode features a couple scenes actually filmed on Waikiki Beach, which is rare. I assume after the show became a hit, it would have been near impossible to film in such a public and crowded spot as Waikiki Beach.

Can anyone think of other episodes where the actual Waikiki Beach was featured as heavily as it was in "China Doll"?

eltonsean
Hi eltonsean, welcome!

I see what you're saying about TC, but keep in mind this is the first "real" episode of the series after the pilot movie.

I agree TC'S actions seem out of character for the man we know later in the series, but I think there's an attempt throughout the timeline of the show to depict the evolution of each of the "core four". TC even goes in for a beer after they land, later in the series he's a teetotaler. I like to think of this as one of those moments, as an early businessman, where he's still figuring things out.
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