Operation Chessboard wrote:Watched this one again and noticed a flub. When TM dives in the channel for the first time searching for treasure, he's wearing his team ring on his left ring finger. However, when he reaches the surface after finding the artifact, the team ring is now on his right ring finger. The underwater scenes and the 'kudubuck' are the highlights of this episode for me. James, I'm a little suprised you dislike this episode so much. IMHO, this one is brilliant compared to some of the stuff in seasons 5 and 6.
Hey, nice flub spot OC!
I'm kind of surprised I don't like this one more myself, as it has several good things going for it - the Kudu Buck scene, Marion, Ina Balin, scuba diving. I don't know. I probably like it better than I think I do!
Just finished this one and I have to say I enjoyed it. I liked the goat-buck scenes between Higgins and Thomas, funny stuff! I also enjoy the episodes that get into the culture, I find that very interesting. Women seem to fall hard for Magnum and this episode was no exception, she seemed to want to stay with him. I do wonder why he was so busy that he could not drive her to the airport??
It’s becoming a tradition with me – Friday is double review day! I’m surprised you don’t like this one James – it’s not a classic, but a nice episode IMO.
[TV.com rating=9.5, Adventurous]
After her father's boat is found deserted at sea, a young marine biology student hires Magnum to find out what happened. Soon, they find themselves investigating a supposedly 'cursed' channel in the ocean. Not a classic, but a fun episode...
-----
The season got off to a weak start with ‘Billy Joe Bob’ in my opinion, but things really pick up here with this enjoyable if lightweight adventure.
This episode is notable for not featuring T.C., the first of just a few occasions from the show’s run where one of the main for characters is not present. Of the main four stars, Roger E. Mosley misses the most episodes, but only three. I wonder if T.C. was in the original draft for the episode. Other than one mention (when Rick comments that “Maybe it was T.C.” that gets heartburn from warm beer), we are given no clue as to where he is. Maybe he was just away flying tourists around the islands!
I really like Wendy Girard as the young Marion. (I wonder if Marion is a nod to that other great treasure hunt story, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’?). Deep voiced and pretty, she plays Marion as likable and believable. She is definitely on my list of characters that I would like to have seen pop up again in the series – sadly, she never did.
Magnum looking after ‘a friend’s goat’ (!) is a brief but amusing b-plot, and provides the ‘Higgins’ moments of the episode.
We also see Rick’s yacht, the King Kamehameha I, for the first time; it would go on to feature in a handful of episodes throughout the series.
It is nice to see Hawaiian locals and Hawaiian tradition being woven into the story. This had been used in the first season’s ‘The Curse of the King Kamehameha Club’ and would go on to be used a couple more times, but is one area of the series that could maybe have been made more of.
The underwater sequences are well shot for a measly TV episode budget; I know he did some close-ups, but I wonder how much of the diving Tom Selleck actually did himself.
Another thing I really like about this episode is the music. From the opening, to the scene of Magnum arriving with the goat in the Ferrari, to the great closing score, it is classic Post & Carpenter.
The story is common of the second season in that it has some interesting ingredients but ends up rather lightweight; this could be said for many of the season’s instalments (with a few exceptions, such as the feature-length / two-part ‘Memories Are Forever’ in a few episodes time).
All-in-all, it doesn’t come off as a ‘Magnum’ classic, but it is one of the second season’s better episodes. I give it a generous 9.5. Other than the lack of T.C., it would have made a far more satisfying season opener than ‘Billy Joe Bob’ in my opinion.
-----
Other notes, bloopers, and misc.:
* Is it me, or is the deserted boat that the Coast Guard find at the beginning a completely different boat to the one we see Marion and Magnum on later in the story? I assume they’re supposed to be the same, unless I missed something!
* The First Season DVD trend of abridged commercial breaks continues in to the second season – in this story, the second ad break plays right through to the next act without a gap.
* When Higgins goes to look up about Antelopes in the study, watch the books carefully – as he takes one out, three others fall over; but in the close-ups of Higgins, only one has fallen.
Wendy Girard guest starred on Simon & Simon episide "Dead Letter File".
Rick and AJ investigated the murder of her father. Seems this girl gets a lot of free P.I. work as Rick and AJ refused payment just like TM.
I remember seeing this episode on tv when I was a little kid and being intrigued by the scene where the student donning the native mask tries to attack Magnum on the dock. I still enjoy it.
Also, the goat scenes are great!
The series didn't have the best writers when it came to clues and plot development to begin with, but for the factors that I enjoyed most about the series, this episode stands out as both sentimental and enjoyable.
Hillerman is such a great actor in those scenes where he thinks he's losing his mind and hearing voices (antilope's baa)from the past.
The way he refrains from hunting the goat when he hears its baa just after Magnum gives his rifle back is one of my favorite Hillerman's expression!
and the way he plays confusion and how he comes out of it:
"how did a goat get on Robin Master's estate.....i..withdraw the question..."
one of my favorite Higgins/Magnum scenes
Agatha: Why does he always do that, Jonathan?
Higgins: I don't know, Agatha. I think sometimes our creator is testing me. Indeed it could be for no other reason. If i thought otherwise i believe i truly would go irrevocably irretrievably mad!
I'm pretty surprised by some of the low ratings for this episode, not to mention James panning it as possibly the worst of the entire series.
I really like the light story (although finding an anthropologist that believes cultures evolved without influence from others would be pretty tough to find these days), diving scenes and classic Magnum/Higgins interplay over the kudu buck.
Definitely a memorable episode for me.
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."
This one has grown on me Styles. It's definitely not one of my least favorites anymore; probably middle of the pack now. It's funny, the same thing happened to me with "Birdman of Budapest".
Watched it tonight as I've broken the seal on season 2.
I really like the mix of diving, mystery, Island lore offset by the humour in Rick's 'mob' connections and of course the goat.
Regarding the goat, I'm surprised that Higgins didn't want to adopt it because it remininded him of some regimental mascot from his past. They still use these things in a few regiments. It would have been far more realistic than the absurd but hilarious kudu hunt.
Of course this changes nothing between us. I still expect you to respect the rules and regulations pertaining to your stay on the estate. There will be no wild parties, no outragous liberties, no unauthorized overnight guests...
The set for Prof. Martinez' office features several items that were used in Steve McGarreett's office on Hawaii Five-0, including his chairs and globe. The desk is very similar, but is slightly different. The bookshelves may be the same, too, but it's hard to tell for sure.
I loved the stuff about the goat. For me, these little sideshows that have nothing to do with the main story, but that add texture to the characters and their relationships with one another, are what add some extra appeal to the series. Another thing no one noted was that Magnum took the case pro bono, which just reinforces him being a good guy, if not continually impoverished. All in all I thought it was pretty good.
Also, while it's not really a flub, the underwater struggle between Magnum (a former SEAL) and the professor was completely unrealistic. Now that I think of it, maybe he wasn't yet said to be a former SEAL.
Milo Minderbinder wrote:Also, while it's not really a flub, the underwater struggle between Magnum (a former SEAL) and the professor was completely unrealistic. Now that I think of it, maybe he wasn't yet said to be a former SEAL.
We didn't really know he was a SEAL yet (that comes in the next episode), but we did know he was a war hero, as well as a strong swimmer in good shape. He should of taken out Prof. Martinez with ease!
