Flashback (3.7)

[Sam]

Good eye TM,
The only other time I know of the ship painting being used was in a Luther Gillis episode.Photo and comments from Rick's blog.

I noticed last week for the first time that a copy of the ship painting is hanging in the new HFO office.

"Good Eye! Yes, the ship painting was the one from McGarret's office. I actually gave it to a local columnist years ago when we were getting rid of things because it had so much rat pee on it--but he took it anyway."

[No need to know!]

"No Bullethole!", "No bullethole!"

"SNEAKERS!"

[MaiTaiMan]

This is a pretty good episode, and I always enjoy watching it! I like the idea of suddenly Magnum is back in the 1930's, and trying to solve a 46 year old murder! The plot of this one was pretty cool, and tied in both the past and the present for an entertaining 1hr film-noir in color.

However, Magnum's car left little to be desired, in my opinion! Tom Selleck looked so huge in this little..."scoot-about"! But, I've always loved the past, and vintage/retro things...so I really get a kick out of "Flashback". Magnum's 1930's phone and the antique furniture were awesome!

However, at times things seem "choppy" in this episode, and don't quite flow as smoothly as they could have...I don't know, maybe it's just me? It just seemed like some of the performances/lines seemed "forced". But, maybe that was purposely done to make it seem like a 1930's murder-mystery movie? I will say, though, how Magnum supposedly just dreams all this and then when he wakes up all of it turns out to be exactly true, is a little silly and farfetched.

But, it was I guess supposed to be fantasy and reality mixing together...so overall this is one of season 3's best. I love T.C. in the past, and I also liked seeing Bogie-Rick returning.

[Seaver41]

another very good episode.........clearly the series hit its' stride with the 3rd season and so far it is rolling. Loved how they took the angle of Magnum simply accepting it was a dream and he hammed it up.......a unique take.

Finding the 30's era Tiger hat in the Ferrari was a nice touch and another element of the 'unexplained' we see in the series.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Definitely one of the absolute best episodes!! Season 3 sure is on a roll.

I was surprised by how much I loved this one as I typically don't like these fantasy type stories. For example I thought season 2's "The Woman on the Beach" was pretty average. Judith Chapman was a looker and I liked some of the noirish moments in the opening of the episode but the rest was pretty far-fetched and dull with this woman in white running around pretending to be a ghost.

But this one totally hooked me. I guess it's because the whole world of MPI all of a sudden got "transported" into the 1930s. Magnum's clothes, the car, Higgins playing croquet, TC and Rick - everything is different. Even without taking into account the actual case that Magnum is working on/dreaming about, the "let's transplant MPI into the 30s" idea is so unique and so brilliant that you can't help but love it just for that reason alone. But add a nice little mystery into the mix and things get only better.

And the scene on the lawn between Higgins and Magnum is without a doubt the single funniest thing I've seen on this show. Hahahahaaha!! If you ever wondered what Magnum/Higgins bickering would sound like in the 30s here it is. Just classic!!

[J.J. Walters]

And the scene on the lawn between Higgins and Magnum is without a doubt the single funniest thing I've seen on this show. Hahahahaaha!! If you ever wondered what Magnum/Higgins bickering would sound like in the 30s here it is. Just classic!!

Yep. It's one of my very favorite scenes in the whole series. I've watched it dozens of times now and it makes me laugh every time!

http://magnum-mania.com/Video/Flashback.html

[No need to know!]

And the scene on the lawn between Higgins and Magnum is without a doubt the single funniest thing I've seen on this show. Hahahahaaha!! If you ever wondered what Magnum/Higgins bickering would sound like in the 30s here it is. Just classic!!

Yep. It's one of my very favorite scenes in the whole series. I've watched it dozens of times now and it makes me laugh every time!

http://magnum-mania.com/Video/Flashback.html

Love it!!

[snp389]

One of the better episodes I reckon. Very clever, and it plays into a constant theme where TSM likes to use his dreams for guidance and a spititual-like compass in later shows.

On another note, does anyone know where the actual location of the 'cottage' is? In the story, it is said to be at Kahana bay, but I'd like to bet the real location is elsewhere. I know the 2 scenes where TSM is shot/not shot by Drew, both 1930's/1982 is the cliff at Makapuu Point.

[Bes]

I agree that when re-watching MPI, Series 3 really does seem to be the series hitting full stride; it's only sad when Mixed Doubles comes along to impair perfection!

I need to re-watch the series 7 dream episode now; I remember thinking that one was even better than the excellent Flashback, though my memory could be skewed. How do any of you think the 2 dream episodes compare to one another?

[Sinjin]

This is an episode I might have skipped over when it originally aired, so I'm glad I gave it a look this time. I really liked the dream sequence and the parallel repeating stories separated by 46 years. It reminded me of a Ross MacDonald mystery, where an unsolved crime continues to resonate through successive generations of a family. Instead of an actual flashback or fantastic time travel, the "flashback" is explained as a dream by Magnum. It's a brilliant way to dramatize a story over two different periods. Perhaps they should have titled this episode "Deja vu" instead, because that's how it felt.

There is a breathtaking helicopter sequence flying over Haiku valley on the way to Kahana Bay.

I had to laugh every time Magnum struggled to enter/egress the Bugatti. The 1930s details, autos, costumes, sets were pretty well done from what I could tell.

The cottage at Kahana Bay "circa 1936"


The cottage in Kahana Bay "circa 1982." Just darken, close the focus, add leaves and weeds.

[terryfromkerry]

Love this episode and TS looks so natural in the '30's wardrobe.

I am confident I spotted an irregularity ( a flub I wonder ). At mark 13:25 as Marion Danforth begins to faint you can see what I believe is the reflection of a camera lense in the window of the car door . The door is being held open by the young Drew Danforth.

[SignGuyHPW]

This was an odd one, but I liked it overall. Not sure if they figured out how to make the setting make total sense, but they tried.

I was confused as to if they were sticking with it being a dream or something else when they did the cut lip scene. I was also baffled that the 1936 Higgins and Rick knew Magnum, but 1936 TC had no clue whom he was. It struck me as really bizzare. They also never made it clear how Magnum knew about the family secerets enough to dream about them.

I enjoy when TV shows go out of their normal setting on occassion so I liked the idea behind it. It was also nice to see Magnum, apparently, solve an actual paying customer's case.

[Milton Collins]

I find this to be a totally fun episode and liked it much better than I had remembered, 8.0 for me. Season 3 is definitely the best in my opinion and this is just another solid episode to prove it.

- Loved the authenticity of all the 1930's stuff. The clothes, the car (awesome!), even the way the did up the club and the other locations, it all just seemed very realistic to what Hawaii would have been in the 1930's.

- The opening argument between Higgins and Magnum was priceless! A great back and forth between the two, highlighed by the BVD's comment and also the reference to "too much rye whiskey can rot the brain" lol. This is a classic example of one of my favorite parts of the show, the love hate relationship between these two!

- Great to see so much TC time! There are times I feel he is underused, I absolutely love TC!

- That helicopter ride to the Danforth cottage was awesome, what great footage!

Overall a very fun episode. I really liked the use of the dream being almost identical to the end reality, other than TC saving TM, thank goodness! A question, have we seen the house used for the Danforth estate before? Not meaning the cottage but the mansion that was directly on the ocean. That place was fantastic!

[DDD]

The cottage containing Marissa's documents has trees in front. In the 30s those trees had on their trunks "white moss" or fungus or whatever it is. In the 80s the cottage still has those trees out front and the whiteness on the trunks is the same. Does this count as a flub?
DDD,
and Aloha! to all.

[Turkey]

Enjoyed this one a lot - great echo ending too.

I thought they did a fair job of differentiating the cottage for the different time periods and I liked the way they shot the 30s scenes - seemed muted but also over-exposed somehow? Lots of white in the white balance?