... By Its Cover (3.21)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the third season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
4
4%
9.5 (One of the Best)
6
7%
9.0 (Excellent)
7
8%
8.5 (Very Good)
29
32%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
25
28%
7.5 (Decent)
7
8%
7.0 (Average at Best)
8
9%
6.5 (Not So Good)
2
2%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 90

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J.J. Walters
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... By Its Cover (3.21)

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for ... By Its Cover (3.21). All discussions and reviews for this episode should go here. If you wish to rate the episode, please do so with the poll. The avg. score will be the official 'community rating', which will be used on the episode page (updated monthly).

This thread is also linked in the episode page of the Episode Guide.


Original Air Date: 3/31/1983
Magnum works to throw the book at a corrupt parole officer who's threatening an encyclopedia salesman recently released from prison.
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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IslandHopper
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#2 Post by IslandHopper »

This is one of my favorite episodes from season 3, although I have always had a problem believing that Stuart Margolin's character (Rod Crysler) and Magnum went to the Naval Academy together. Rod Crysler looks so much older than Magnum, it's hard to believe they went to college together. Almost the reverse of "One More Summer" where Magnum looked a lot older than Dorsey, Magnum's teammate on the Navy football team.

There was a great exchange between Rod Crysler and Higgins when Rod was attempting to describe Agatha Chumley, as the person who referred him to Higgins. I think Rod described her as "a chick who was definitely beyond her prime." :lol: Poor Aggie. I don't know if she really did refer him to Higgins, or if he was just throwing darts in the hope that Higgins would give him enough rope he could make it look like he knew someone Higgins knew. I'm guessing Rod was throwing darts.

This episode's flubs include:

1. The opening scene is of Rod's house at night. It's dark, you can hear crickets, and Rod is inside relaxing reading a newspaper and drinking a beer when Donner, the corrupt narcotics officer barges in and plants the drugs on Rod. Rod immediately calls Officer Gordon, his parole officer. The flub is that it is unlikely that Officer Gordon would still be working that late at night.

2. Rod attempts to sell Higgins a set of Milford's Enclyopedias at Robin's Nest. How did a solicitor like Rod gain access onto the estate? The estate is supposed to be impenetrable to everyone except Magnum. :?

3. While still on the estate, Rod hands Magnum a photo of his (supposed) son, and as Rod says "Rodney Charles Crysler, Jr." you can see the photo of Rodney, Jr., in Magnum's hand. This particular photo of Rodney, Jr., is cropped closley around little Rodney's head and shoulders so you don't see any background. However, seconds later, the camera cuts to a frontal shot of Magnum holding the photo and he says "Hey, a little Hot Rod." As Magnum says this the camera cuts to a close-up of the the photo supposedly being held by Magnum (probably done in post production). This photo is a photo of the same child, but it is a different photo than the one Rod just gave Magnum a second before. You can tell it is a different photo as the child is facing in a different direction, and instead of just seeing the child's head and shoulders as in the previous photo, the child is further in the background in this photo so he appears smaller and you can actually see a lot of background in this photo.
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#3 Post by J.J. Walters »

I really like this episode as well. I've always been a big fan of Stuart Margolin - loved him in The Rockford Files. Great, great opening with that killer "Doors-esque" rock song, which I believe is an original composition by Mike Post.

And this episode has one of my favorite "T.C. Moments". During the brawl with the drug dealers, T.C. picks up a surfboard and uses it like a club! :shock: I can't imagine anything more terrifying than an angry T.C. charging at you, swinging a surfboard!

Image

BTW, nice flubs IH. I don't think I can go with the first one, though. We don't know how late it is. It could be 8:00PM. I can see a dedicated Parole Officer like Gordon working till 8, or even beyond that.
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There is a mistake in the write up...

#4 Post by _Dante_ »

It reads "The ending features a great 2-on-3 brawl, involving Magnum (with his Tigers hat on backwards) and T.C.."

Its actually Rick.

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#5 Post by Carol the Dabbler »

Welcome to the forum, Dante! You're right -- TC stayed in his chopper on the roof. I see that James has already corrected the Episode Guide notes.

I agree with IH regarding Rod's apparent age -- I was sort of taken aback when he and Magnum talked about being at the Naval Academy together. (Though they could have been in 'Nam together, of course.) But according to both Wikipedia and Internet Movie Database, Stuart Margolin was born on January 31, 1940 -- just five years older than Tom Selleck, which isn't a significant age difference when it comes to acting. I guess we'll just have to think that Rod has led a hard life!

One minor gripe about this episode -- when Magnum addresses Rod's parole officer as "Miss [or maybe he said Ms.?] Gordon," she corrects him: "Officer Gordon." But the opening credits say "Carlene Watkins as Ms. Gordon." Did the producers have a problem with identifying a female character by her official title?

OK, Donner lives in California, and is in Hawaii on vacation. He had amassed the hundred "bricks" of marijuana by keeping a few from each bust -- so he had brought them with him on the plane from California. Judging by the brief look we got at the "bricks," a hundred of them stacked up would be something like two feet by two feet by two feet -- not huge, but not something you'd stick in your carry-on luggage either. And according to the Marijuana Dictionary, a brick weighs one kilogram (2.2 pounds). So he must have checked several suitcases full of pot, totalling 220 pounds, into the baggage compartment. This would have been well over the normal weight limit, so there would have been an extra charge (assuming that a passenger was even allowed that much extra weight). I find it hard to believe that Donner would have risked drawing that much attention to himself, when he could presumably have found himself a patsy right there in California.

Rod says that he "did time in Camarillo" (approximate quote) after being busted for growing pot. The only Camarillo facility I've ever heard of where one could "do time" was the Camarillo State Mental Hospital. But Rod is on parole, meaning that he's been in prison, right? Was there also some sort of prison in Camarillo, or was Rod supposed to have been committed? Come to think of it, this was probably during the "decriminalization" era. Does anybody know if they were sending pot growers to the mental hospital then, instead of to prison? But then we're right back to the parole question.

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#6 Post by kudubuck »

Here's something cool that I did. I searched all over for the Door-ish song played at the beginning. Of course I couldn't find it. Well, I stumbled across the soundtrack to Apocolypse Now. The opening sequence to Apocolypse Now is the Doors. The End is played in full, however it is interupted in the middle by dialogue. As the song fades out into the dialogue there is some terrific helicopter sound effects just before the speaker begins (not sure if it was Martin Sheen or not doing the soundtrack). I stopped the recording just as the helicopter effects stop. It turned out very well and even though it's not exact, it is very Magnum-ish.
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#7 Post by Doc Ibold »

kudubuck wrote:Here's something cool that I did. I searched all over for the Door-ish song played at the beginning. Of course I couldn't find it. Well, I stumbled across the soundtrack to Apocolypse Now. The opening sequence to Apocolypse Now is the Doors. The End is played in full, however it is interupted in the middle by dialogue. As the song fades out into the dialogue there is some terrific helicopter sound effects just before the speaker begins (not sure if it was Martin Sheen or not doing the soundtrack). I stopped the recording just as the helicopter effects stop. It turned out very well and even though it's not exact, it is very Magnum-ish.
Hey kudubuck,

I alway took it that Magnum ripped off (sounds harsh) "The End" and just remixed it, even though it sounds cool. Maybe I'm misreading your post....

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#8 Post by J.J. Walters »

The song heard at the beginning of this episode is an original score by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. I call it "Rod's Song", but it really has no name. The piece does indeed sound similiar to the Doors' "The End", especially the rhythm guitar line. The lead guitar, however, is noticeably different and very original. Also, unlike the Doors song, there is no organ.

http://magnum-mania.com/Audio/Rods_Song.html
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#9 Post by lutherhgillis »

Reply to IH:

Numbers 1 and 2 are not flubs. Parolees always have a contact number for their parole officer. I have watched enough detective and police shows to know that...(ha ha) I do admit that before cell phones it would have been difficult to reach her unless she worked late hours or used her home number (both are not out of the ordinary for that line of work). As for answering the phone as Officer Gordon, this does not mean she was in her office. Many professional people who take business calls after hours answer the phone professionally. I have done it and have seen others do it as well.

Rod came in through the gate that was probably left open by Magnum. This is something that must have happened frequently considering how many times TC, Rick, Carol, and others just show up out of nowhere even when Higgins is in the scene.

Number 3 is a good flub spot, however.

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#10 Post by IslandHopper »

lutherhgillis wrote:Reply to IH:

Numbers 1 and 2 are not flubs. Parolees always have a contact number for their parole officer. I have watched enough detective and police shows to know that...(ha ha) I do admit that before cell phones it would have been difficult to reach her unless she worked late hours or used her home number (both are not out of the ordinary for that line of work). As for answering the phone as Officer Gordon, this does not mean she was in her office. Many professional people who take business calls after hours answer the phone professionally. I have done it and have seen others do it as well.
LHG:

You're probably right about the Parole Officer flub. As James pointed out it is too difficult to tell what time it is when Rod calls officer Gordon. My experience as an attorney that has clients who have to report to POs is that POs keep strict government hours and are often unavailable by phone even during business hours because of their large case load. Typically clients only get a general office number of the PO, never a home or cell number. As law enforement officers, POs personal information such as addresses and telephone numbers are protected from public disclosure in order to protect them and their families. As far as working after hours, I'm not saying that POs never work after hours, but in my experience you can't get one to pick up after hours.
The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

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#11 Post by N1095A »

Forget the age difference, does anyone buy that Rod Crysler was Naval Academy material? I know that a lot of time had passed since the time they would have been in the academy together, and people do change, but really, come on.
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#12 Post by golfmobile »

Mike,

I agree entirely with your thoughts there, but at the same time, Thomas Magnum himself doesn't exactly come across as SEAL material! That training is so demanding and rigorous, I don't see the whiny, immature, spoiled little boy attitude that TM so often evidences surviving SEAL training. I simply don't see any sense in trying to go back and be 23 when you've reached 33 simply because you missed being 23. I would hope he would have gotten something more valuable to living a worthwhile and honorable life by being a SEAL. Who really wants to go back and be the dimwit most of us probably were at age 23? (Okay, I wouldn't mind having my 23-year-old body -- I just want to have it and try living with it knowing what I know now!)

JMO.

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#13 Post by Steve »

Actually, Thomas Sullivan Magnum's Navy life somewhat reflects John McCain's real life. They both come from a family and tradition of Navy men that pretty much predetermined their Navy careers, both were drop dead handsome (at least McCain was pre- POW days) and both were a tad bit spoiled. From what I have read, McCain was quite the ladies man and party boy at the Academy yet still , I would imagine through family ties, became a Naval Aviator. Perhaps TSM became a Seal due to Family ties and legacy as well. This despite his somewhat "whiny, spoiled" attitude. Of course they went off in different directions, McCain dumping his wife and then courting and marrying a younger richer woman. TSM simply dropped out and became a "glorified beach boy" (Higgins Speak). So, I guess anything is possible in real life and in the rockem', sockem' world of Television...........

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#14 Post by MACattack »

What I always wondered after watching the episode, was what happened to the one pound of marijuana that Rod was carrying in his briefcase? Did he sell it for some extra cash before going to california? Or did Magnum keep for himself and his buddies?
I just don't give a damn!

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#15 Post by N1095A »

MACattack wrote:... did Magnum keep for himself and his buddies?
NEVER would have happened.
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