Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the third season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
2
2%
9.5 (One of the Best)
4
4%
9.0 (Excellent)
3
3%
8.5 (Very Good)
11
10%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
10
9%
7.5 (Decent)
12
11%
7.0 (Average at Best)
14
13%
6.5 (Not So Good)
21
19%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
15
14%
5.0 (Just Awful)
17
16%
 
Total votes: 109

Message
Author
User avatar
KingKC
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 571
Joined: Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:16 pm
Location: Third World Country of Arkansas

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#61 Post by KingKC »

Robert Kelley wrote:As someone who's had a pilot license since 1984 all the flying in this episode was enough to overcome the fact that it was not Magnum/Hawaii-centric. Two things: when the plane crashes into the water you can see cables that they used to drop the thing in. A well done stunt though. Second, was it just me or did others realize how outlandish of an idea it was that a P-51 could outrun a Learjet and bring it down? Good TV but come on!
So much of TV is unrealistic but that is usually one of the subconscious reasons why we watch it. One of my gripes is how a central figure of a lot of shows gets shot in the chest or stomach and almost always manages to survive and make a full recovery with no lasting effects. Or they get shot in the legs or arms a dozen times in a few years of episodes and have absolutely no lasting effects. They don't limp or have any muscular or nerve damage.

KingKC

User avatar
K Hale
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 1117
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 6:52 pm

Re:

#62 Post by K Hale »

Little Garwood wrote:Jay, you're much too kind to this episode! MPI audiences were being snookered, hoodwinked, and just plain bamboozled by this bait and switch of an episode! It remains my most-despised MPI, though I can barely even think of "Birds of a Feather" as a Magnum, P.I. episode.
Cannot agree more. This is truly dreadful. The only thing that made it worth watching was the Mustang forcing down the Lear at the end.
I didn't realize you were so addicted to pool.
It's not pool.
Billiards.
Snooker!
Snucker.
SNOOKER!

User avatar
K Hale
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 1117
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#63 Post by K Hale »

Robert Kelley wrote:As someone who's had a pilot license since 1984 all the flying in this episode was enough to overcome the fact that it was not Magnum/Hawaii-centric. Two things: when the plane crashes into the water you can see cables that they used to drop the thing in. A well done stunt though. Second, was it just me or did others realize how outlandish of an idea it was that a P-51 could outrun a Learjet and bring it down? Good TV but come on!
Didn't he keep making it stall or something in order to slow it down? The one engine kept going out?

I never knew this mess was supposed to be a pilot (HAHA pun unintended). No wonder it didn't get made. I forgot about the one other good aspect of this episode though: Higgins' model biplane and sound effects. "Still clearing your throat, or have we caught a cold?"
I didn't realize you were so addicted to pool.
It's not pool.
Billiards.
Snooker!
Snucker.
SNOOKER!

marlboro
Baron Of GIFs
Posts: 655
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:31 pm

Re: Re:

#64 Post by marlboro »

K Hale wrote:
Little Garwood wrote:Jay, you're much too kind to this episode! MPI audiences were being snookered, hoodwinked, and just plain bamboozled by this bait and switch of an episode! It remains my most-despised MPI, though I can barely even think of "Birds of a Feather" as a Magnum, P.I. episode.
Cannot agree more. This is truly dreadful. The only thing that made it worth watching was the Mustang forcing down the Lear at the end.

Backdoor pilots (not involving Erin Gray) are the worst. It's amazing how many of them were so different than the shows they were shoehorned into. Mr Ed had at least three of them, I think. One of them involved a cartoon martian. I know it's a show about a talking horse but ya gotta draw the lien somewhere.

User avatar
karolis
Admiral
Posts: 153
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2018 11:26 am
Location: Lithuania

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#65 Post by karolis »

Hat has fallen down and was never picked up (but it's understandable because of the situation):

Image

Robert Kelley wrote:Two things: when the plane crashes into the water you can see cables that they used to drop the thing in. A well done stunt though.
You are right, you can clearly see cable breaking when plane crashes:

Image


Some kind of film damage seen on 9:46 for a moment:

Image


Coops present: check (logo isn't seen though)

Image


Season 3 Top up to this episode:

1. Black on White
2-3. Did You See the Sunrise?
4. Flashback
5. Off Sound Mind
6. The Eighth Part of the Village
7. Forty Years From Sand Island
8. Legacy From a Friend
9. The Arrow That is Not Aimed
10. Past Tense
11. Almost Home
12. Heal Thyself
13. Birdman of Budapest
14. Basket Case
15. Ki'i's Don't Lie
16. Mixed Doubles
17. Mr. White Death
18. I Do?
19. Foiled Again
20. Two Birds of a Feather

User avatar
KingKC
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 571
Joined: Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:16 pm
Location: Third World Country of Arkansas

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#66 Post by KingKC »

Just as I start watching reruns of MPI again, this episode comes on. Geeesh...what rotten luck! This one was so bad it could turn me away from the reruns for a while.

User avatar
K Hale
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 1117
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#67 Post by K Hale »

Coming back in to say I can't believe how bad this is. Objectively I think S3 could be called the strongest season of the series, and the fact that this garbage exists within it astounds me.
I didn't realize you were so addicted to pool.
It's not pool.
Billiards.
Snooker!
Snucker.
SNOOKER!

User avatar
KingKC
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 571
Joined: Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:16 pm
Location: Third World Country of Arkansas

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#68 Post by KingKC »

K Hale wrote:Coming back in to say I can't believe how bad this is. Objectively I think S3 could be called the strongest season of the series, and the fact that this garbage exists within it astounds me.
Actually Season 3 came in fifth overall when determining the average rating given to each episode. I did a calculation in Best and Weakest Seasons in Magnum P. I. Talk back in March of 2016.

User avatar
ENSHealy
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 639
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:00 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#69 Post by ENSHealy »

As Sam Hunter gets ready to take off in the final plane chase, he's wearing a cowboy hat (like he has all episode). In fact, even the stand-in actually flying the plane down the runway has a cowboy hat on. However, in the next close-up (and for the remainder of the chase) Hunter is suddenly wearing a blue trucker hat. (Noted by Peter MacPherson)
The episode guide mentions the above as a flub, but I think there is an argument to be made that it may not be one. He gets in the plane with his cowboy hat on.
Image
When he is shown with the trucker hat on, he’s wearing pilot’s headphones.
Image
Obviously, the headphones won’t fit over the brim of a cowboy hat, so it’s not a flub, he’s just changed hats so he can put on the headphones. Also, I don't think the actual stunt pilot is wearing a cowboy hat. As can be seen in this screen grab, it also looks like a blue trucker hat.
Image

Although there is no shortage of things wrong with this terrible episode, I did find a couple things worth noting. Higgins says “Ahoy there” to a beach interloper for the second time. The first time was in No Need to Know.

Also, Higgins is shown exiting the study directly on onto the lawn on the ocean side of the house. Image

This is noteworthy for a couple reasons. First, there is the ongoing debate about whether they ever filmed inside the main house. For this shot, both Hillerman and Selleck would have to have been in the main house, at least briefly. Secondly, it generates lots of continuity problems regarding the house layout. We’ve seen, many many times, how Higgins study is to the right of the main house door. The room he is seen exiting in this episode is directly ahead of the main house door, on the opposite end of the colonnade that fronts the courtyard.

Further, in Basket Case, we saw that the study opened on to a brick patio with a dining area. (Note the bearded lady Picasso that can be seen though the French door.)
Image

That patio is nowhere to be found in the shot of Higgins leaving the study in this episode, not to mention the brick siding does not match what is seen on the actual Anderson estate main house.

Here is something I do think counts as a flub: in the plane chase at the end, Hunter refers to himself as “Six Four Charlie Lima” and the jet as “Four Four Foxtrot.” The problem is that Hunter’s actual tail number is “Six Four Charlie Echo” and the jet’s tail number is “Six Four Charlie Lima” (at least in one shot. In another it is “Three Three Bravo Kilo”.) Very messy.
Image
Image
Image
Ensign Healy
Scholar in Residence
The Institute for Advanced Magnum Studies

"I woke up one day at 53 and realized I'd never been 23."

User avatar
ENSHealy
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 639
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:00 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#70 Post by ENSHealy »

K Hale wrote:
Robert Kelley wrote:As someone who's had a pilot license since 1984 all the flying in this episode was enough to overcome the fact that it was not Magnum/Hawaii-centric. Two things: when the plane crashes into the water you can see cables that they used to drop the thing in. A well done stunt though. Second, was it just me or did others realize how outlandish of an idea it was that a P-51 could outrun a Learjet and bring it down? Good TV but come on!
Didn't he keep making it stall or something in order to slow it down? The one engine kept going out?
It took a subtitle check to make out what he was saying, but Nick says the engine goes out due to a "compressor stall." Which is apparently a thing, although I don't know how realistic it is that was caused by flying the prop plane into the path of the jet's airflow. Seems like you'd have to get impossibly close to the jet to pull that one off, but I'm no flight engineer.
Ensign Healy
Scholar in Residence
The Institute for Advanced Magnum Studies

"I woke up one day at 53 and realized I'd never been 23."

User avatar
ENSHealy
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 639
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 10:00 pm
Location: Madison, WI

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#71 Post by ENSHealy »

Two Birds of a Feather
Famous guest stars: 2 Richard Roundtree, Joana Kerns
Hawaiian shirts: 1 purple calla lily
Tigers Cap: 1
Island Hopper shirts:
Shirtless: 1
OMG/Extraordinarys: 1
Higgins Organizations:
Higgins musings: 1
Negotiations:
Body Count:
Bullet wounds:
Little Voice: 1
I know what you’re thinking:
When I write HTBAWCPI:
Investigator corrections:
4th wall breaks:
Magnumometer: 8
Magnumometer Moments: https://vimeo.com/381950854

Potential magnumania usernames: Of course the best one, Frodo Leader, is already taken. Other possibilities: Alex Clutterbuck, Tibetan Monkey, Sacred Cow
Last edited by ENSHealy on Sat Feb 12, 2022 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ensign Healy
Scholar in Residence
The Institute for Advanced Magnum Studies

"I woke up one day at 53 and realized I'd never been 23."

User avatar
☨magnum.t
Admiral
Posts: 169
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2017 1:50 pm
Location: East Tennessee

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#72 Post by ☨magnum.t »

I didn't think this episode was terrible, not my favorite but not terrible. I love the Vietnam flashbacks and him saving TM's butt with close air. From personal experience having CAS show up right when you need it is almost a religious experience. And that "I owe you one" feeling he had, Magnums sixth sense I guess. This is one I watch when I'm mainly scrolling on my phone or just want background noise, but i always look back up at the screen when i hear the voice of original cast.
That reminds me of the time....

User avatar
K Hale
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 1117
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 6:52 pm

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#73 Post by K Hale »

KingKC wrote:
K Hale wrote:Coming back in to say I can't believe how bad this is. Objectively I think S3 could be called the strongest season of the series, and the fact that this garbage exists within it astounds me.
Actually Season 3 came in fifth overall when determining the average rating given to each episode. I did a calculation in Best and Weakest Seasons in Magnum P. I. Talk back in March of 2016.
That’s because this pile of hot garbage is dragging it down!
I didn't realize you were so addicted to pool.
It's not pool.
Billiards.
Snooker!
Snucker.
SNOOKER!

User avatar
ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 1992
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2011 9:11 pm

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#74 Post by ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan) »

☨magnum.t wrote:I didn't think this episode was terrible, not my favorite but not terrible. I love the Vietnam flashbacks and him saving TM's butt with close air. From personal experience having CAS show up right when you need it is almost a religious experience. And that "I owe you one" feeling he had, Magnums sixth sense I guess. This is one I watch when I'm mainly scrolling on my phone or just want background noise, but i always look back up at the screen when i hear the voice of original cast.
Agreed 100%. By no means is this a great episode but it's far from terrible. When I think of terrible the one episode that immediately jumps to mind is the season 2 stinkeroo "One More Summer". By far the worst episode of the first 3 seasons! I haven't seen much past the first 3 seasons yet. Magnum and the guys hanging out at the football stadium for an hour with little to nothing actually happening is not my idea of fun. When the best scene in the episode is that crane shot of the estate grounds, lasting all of 10 seconds maybe, with a lonely Higgins and the lads just standing there and everything else is just pointless and boring filler at the football stadium then you know you're in trouble. At least with "Two Birds of a Feather" you have some nice flashbacks to 'Nam (which is always welcomed by me) and of course the unforgettable shot of a plane in Robin Masters' tidal pool -- that shot alone lifts this episode out of the pits. It's actually one of the coolest things in the entire series - a plane crashing into Robin's tidal pool, of all things!!!!! I obviously don't care about William Lucking's story back in Texas with his family (obviously a spin-off idea which went nowhere and no one cares about) but there are moments in the episode, especially in Hawaii, which are excellent! A much better episode than the true stinkers like "Summer" and "Sixth Position" and "Ugliest Dog".

Again, there's a PLANE IN ROBIN'S TIDAL POOL!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!! :higgins:

User avatar
80s Big Hair
Admiral
Posts: 161
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2020 12:27 am
Location: Illinois

Re: Two Birds of a Feather (3.20)

#75 Post by 80s Big Hair »

So the guy was ferrying a Cessna 172 from Van Nuys, CA to Oahu. That is a distance of 2,550 miles. A Cessna 172 at 10,000 feet and 45% power has a range of 638 nautical miles (734 miles) according to https://www.cessnaflyer.org/specifications-172.html. He would not get even close to Hawaii unless he seriously increased the amount of fuel carried.

Post Reply