The Sixth Position (2.11)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the second season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
1
1%
9.5 (One of the Best)
3
3%
9.0 (Excellent)
6
6%
8.5 (Very Good)
21
19%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
22
20%
7.5 (Decent)
27
25%
7.0 (Average at Best)
16
15%
6.5 (Not So Good)
7
6%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
3
3%
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 108

Message
Author
User avatar
charybdis1966
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 284
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 11:56 am
Location: Buckinghamshire, England
Contact:

#31 Post by charybdis1966 »

Styles Bitchley wrote:
charybdis1966 wrote:Swan Lake is such an obvious choice.
Better to go obvious in a mainstream TV show. Especially when it's the only time in the whole series it is featured as a theme.
Yeah, I suppose so, I would have liked The Rites of Spring or something a bit more off beat.

User avatar
zebra3
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 224
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 4:01 am
Location: United States

#32 Post by zebra3 »

The episode wasn't as bad as I thought, though I watched it late at night when I was tired, so that may have had an effect.

I have to compare it the the Starsky and Hutch episode where they compete for a hot foreign ballerina's affection and starsky is sore that Hutch wins and falls in love with her. It was one of the sad/romantic episodes, though no episode was sadder and more romantic than the one where starsky's lady gets shot in the head and they just have to wait until the bullet reaches her brain.

Got the girlfriend over? She wants to see "The Notebook?" Watch this instead. She might just cry and it's fairly romantic. Win for you.
"Burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me."

User avatar
Steve
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 1852
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:13 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois

#33 Post by Steve »

J.J. Walters wrote:
maggiepoole wrote:At the beginning of the show, when Magnum comes from the guest house to the main house (before he runs into the ballerinas). He comes down the guest house steps. Anyone notice a flash of some sort? It looks like lightning or a flash bulb. If it was lightning, he comes around the corner and it is sunny with fluffy clouds. Were the scenes shot on a different day or something? Or some sort of strange phenomena.......
Quigley wrote:Maggie - I was watching this yesterday and noticed the same thing! I would not have remembered about it unless I'd read your comment. I thought it may have been a reflection of the sun off something. Weird!

Another interesting thing about this scene is how you see Magnum come down the guest house steps and then in the next scene he comes around the corner of the main house on the ocean side before running into the ballerinas (which of course makes no sense if you know the layout of the estate)!
Weird! :shock: I could be wrong, but I don't think it's a flash. It looks to me like the film itself is damaged...

Image

Image

Although in the second screen cap, it almost looks like there might be a reflection of some sort. Are those human legs on TM's back?

Or maybe it's the long-suspected, secret teleportation device that enables Magnum to quickly get from the guesthouse to areas around the main house, especially when you consider that in a split second after the above shots, we see this (as pointed out by Quigley)...

Image

:)
I'm wondering if that might be something from the editing process. Perhaps where the film overlapped from the previous scene and this one and a bad glueing process. Just a thought..............

AmandaByNight
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 238
Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:37 pm
Contact:

#34 Post by AmandaByNight »

I liked this episode, although I can't say I've seen it in awhile. I'm a big fan of Andrea Marcovicci and so I'm sure that helped. She's in the Harry O pilot as a model and I've only seen the beginning, but she's fantastic... especially in the photo shoot! I love my actresses who play models.

As far as casting, she perfect for the part, as she' built just like a dancer. I enjoyed their romance.

User avatar
ThomasMagnum
Admiral
Posts: 180
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 3:54 pm
Location: Paradise

#35 Post by ThomasMagnum »

Not sure if this has ever been pointed out but I was watching this episode today and I noticed something familiar in Mac's office

Image

Notice the antique map on the wall?

Image

:D
Last edited by ThomasMagnum on Tue Apr 29, 2014 11:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
rubber chicken
Master Location Sleuth
Posts: 691
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 4:53 am
Location: Great Lakes region

#36 Post by rubber chicken »

Good eye there ThomasMagnum. :)

User avatar
miltontheripper
Vice Admiral
Posts: 108
Joined: Sun Feb 06, 2011 9:48 pm
Location: Michigan

#37 Post by miltontheripper »

I actually found this to be a better episode than I had previously remembered. Not one of the best but still entertaining.

User avatar
MaiTaiMan
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 419
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 12:43 am
Location: Mid-West

#38 Post by MaiTaiMan »

Okay...I have never cared for ballet themed episodes in any show. :? They almost always have the same plot, involving Russians, KGB, defectors, and spoiled/irritating ballet dancers. :roll: "Sixth Position" was no different and I just don't care for it. This isn't the worst episode necessarily...it's just not 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"

User avatar
TheLads
Lieutenant Junior Grade
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 6:49 am

#39 Post by TheLads »

I wasn't sure if the writing was exceptional or terrible for this one in regards to the character of Kendall. On the one hand, the "spoiled ballerina at odds with bodyguard" is so overdone and cliched; on the other, I've personally known dancers and performers who behave just like that, so the characterization is actually quite spot-on. It's actually a bit uncomfortable seeing an accurate portrayal on screen of a personality type one knows so well.

I like the fact that the spies in the climax nearly cripple Kendall until TM saves the day. In most other dramas, they don't get close enough and there's no action to save the scene. There was a Starsky and Hutch episode called "A Body Worth Guarding" that fell short this way.

Also noticed how Magnum doesn't pass judgment on Kendall, or Kacy from "Wave Goodbye," after learning of their loose sexual preferences. The writers did a good job at always making Thomas sympathetic in that way, especially because he never consummates anything with either of those women himself. The show could easily have become preachy like so many others do.

That's what made this show work. Any other show of the day, the lead would've handed down some lecture to Kendall about right and wrong. Magnum's alternative is to tell Kendall she walks like a duck!

Good denouement in this one, too, because Kendall admits that maybe she needs to re-examine how selfish and self-centered and snobbish she's been. I think maybe Kendall starts to realize that just because someone isn't in the ballet world, they're still worth getting to know. That goes for Thomas, who doesn't know a thing about ballet; and T.C., who does, but puts on airs for the sake of impressing Kendall.

Great scene in the theater when Thomas breaks the bad news and Kendall breaks down. So wrapped up in herself, she never bothers to care that a person she's selfishly forgotten about has died.

User avatar
steveadl
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 557
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:27 am
Location: An Island

#40 Post by steveadl »

Just watched this one again. Can anyone read Magnum's lips in the final 20 secs - what's he's mouthing? Is it the price of the lens he just replaced needlessly?

Seaver41
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 388
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:46 pm

#41 Post by Seaver41 »

steveadl wrote:Just watched this one again. Can anyone read Magnum's lips in the final 20 secs - what's he's mouthing? Is it the price of the lens he just replaced needlessly?
that was my take on it....the price of the lens.


good episode. kept me interested and I always enjoy any Magnum episode when the spooks are part of the plot.

User avatar
Higgins (aka Bondtoys)
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 607
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:04 pm

#42 Post by Higgins (aka Bondtoys) »

I quite like the episode.
Watching it again today, I found Higgie's behaviour very strange.
TM kissing Andres and then fights with the russian thugs and shoots the guy.

Higgins - alarmed by Andreas screaming arrives and seems to be very kind to TM.

Next scene TM is at the police station and Higgins starts mocking on him which is kind of strange and very inconsistent.

User avatar
snp389
Captain
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:02 am
Location: Australia

#43 Post by snp389 »

TSM says to Kendall "Furthermore, you walk like a duck!"
Great line!
Last edited by snp389 on Sun Mar 03, 2013 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
txz045
Lieutenant
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 2:39 pm
Location: TX

#44 Post by txz045 »

The episode was decent. The scenery and different angles you can find of the estate in any episode always make'em just that much better.

Neil Peel
Lieutenant
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2013 8:23 pm

Re:

#45 Post by Neil Peel »

Steve wrote:
J.J. Walters wrote:
maggiepoole wrote:At the beginning of the show, when Magnum comes from the guest house to the main house (before he runs into the ballerinas). He comes down the guest house steps. Anyone notice a flash of some sort? It looks like lightning or a flash bulb. If it was lightning, he comes around the corner and it is sunny with fluffy clouds. Were the scenes shot on a different day or something? Or some sort of strange phenomena.......
O
Quigley wrote:Maggie - I was watching this yesterday and noticed the same thing! I would not have remembered about it unless I'd read your comment. I thought it may have been a reflection of the sun off something. Weird!

Another interesting thing about this scene is how you see Magnum come down the guest house steps and then in the next scene he comes around the corner of the main house on the ocean side before running into the ballerinas (which of course makes no sense if you know the layout of the estate)!
Weird! :shock: I could be wrong, but I don't think it's a flash. It looks to me like the film itself is damaged...

Although in the second screen cap, it almost looks like there might be a reflection of some sort. Are those human legs on TM's back?

Or maybe it's the long-suspected, secret teleportation device that enables Magnum to quickly get from the guesthouse to areas around the main house, especially when you consider that in a split second after the above shots, we see this (as pointed out by Quigley)...

:)
I'm wondering if that might be something from the editing process. Perhaps where the film overlapped from the previous scene and this one and a bad glueing process. Just a thought..............
There is no "flash" visible at all on the ITV4 (UK) broadcast of 02/09/2013.

SPOILER: Also, there's a minor flub which no-one has mentioned:- after the attacker has been shot in the estate's grounds, Higgins rolls him over to check his pulse. As he does so, the "dead" assailant seems to instinctively control the position of his right leg, probably to keep his balance.

Post Reply