Birdman of Budapest (3.16)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the third season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
0
No votes
9.5 (One of the Best)
11
10%
9.0 (Excellent)
12
11%
8.5 (Very Good)
25
23%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
26
24%
7.5 (Decent)
17
16%
7.0 (Average at Best)
9
8%
6.5 (Not So Good)
6
6%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
1
1%
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 108

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MaiTaiMan
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#51 Post by MaiTaiMan »

jimhalinda wrote:Like Higgins (and Hillerman), I am quite averse to exercise, and I have never really been into sports, especially not competitive sports.

So I really like when she says "last one back is a rotten egg!" and Higgins says "so be it". That made me laugh as it has always been my attitude to competitive sports!
I've never really gotten into competitive sports either...most people take it WAY too seriously! :lol: It is just a game. :wink: Most can't just play for fun...therefore it takes the fun out of it.

I have issues with professional sports players...who demand millions of dollars a year when we have hard working people trying to support their families, and are starving. :? I'm like...get a real job, and grow up! :roll:

Anyway, I do enjoy exercise though...especially cardio! I LOVE to run, and have jogged and been a runner since I was 12 years old! It feels so good and it's a major stress relief to me...I sleep better the night after I've exercised or ran.
"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"

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J.J. Walters
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#52 Post by J.J. Walters »

Anybody else recognize this guy?

Image

I did too, but couldn't recall his name... Fritz Feld! He's been in tons of movies, going back to the silent days. He always has a pencil-thin mustache, and has a trademark move where he "pops" his mouth by slapping it with the palm of his hand, usually to indicate an annoyance. Well, sure enough, he does it in this episode! Right after he tosses the monkeys at the zoo some food, he "pops" his mouth with his hand, presumably because he's annoyed at them for something. :)

Ah, so many interesting actors have made their way through Magnum.
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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rubber chicken
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#53 Post by rubber chicken »

I'm disappointed in myself. I can't remember him, even though I've seen many of the movies he's been in, at least back into the 1930s. My only excuse is that I haven't seen any of them recently. In the show I think it's immediately apparent that he's been in the business a long time though. The scene is all about his unique character. :)

I can picture the character living in the same world as Magnum, maybe he has a small house close to the zoo in Kaimuki. Perhaps next door to Aiko Tamura from Almost Home, or Rodney Radcliff from Old Acquaintance.

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Doc Fred
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#54 Post by Doc Fred »

Seems to me that since Magnum relieved Higgy Baby of the KBG chick, and how much Higgy detested her, that Higgy would have been much more tolerant of Magnum in the future episodes.... He seems to forget Magnum's good deed. But, that would have taken much away from future episodes...

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Doc Fred
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#55 Post by Doc Fred »

I also don't know why he didn't look at her picture in Robins High School yearbook. Of course, and also mentioned, this would also prove that Higgins isn't Robin.

Looking in the yearbook wouldn't necessarily prove Higgins isn't Robin... it could just as easily have proven that he was. Of course, after all those years from hs graduation till Higgy's present age, people don't necessarily look the same.. And, let's not forget that the woman who went to the estate was NOT the teacher, so she wouldn't know what Robin Masters looked like, just like everyone else.

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Doc Fred
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#56 Post by Doc Fred »

Regarding the relationship between TS and Jacqueline.... He adopted her son from a previous marriage when they married, and treated him like his own son. I kinda think that even though they were divorced, or in the process, during the filming of this show, that the bitterness on her part in the show was purely acting. Also, if they truly didn't get along, no doubt she'd never have had the two parts she was given....

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#57 Post by Seaver41 »

there can be no doubt that the whole Robin is Higgins thing is dead with this episode. Didn't Magnum come running into the den looking for Robin's yearbook? Certainly from the tone of his voice and conviction where it was it gives the distinct impression that he has seen it before.

People can change in 20-25 years...but not to the point you wouldn't recognize someone you knew.

The whole Robin mystery was concocted later on even with the inconsistencies of early episodes disproving such a theory. Pretty sloppy of the writers.

I did take note that his ex was credited as 'Selleck' and given 2nd billing behind Sylvia. I would throw down a guess this was a bone to her and her career if they were parting ways. Maybe she could get work on his name alone...that plus she wasn't exactly ugly. Seems like one of those classic couples where one spouse experiences success and the other struggles. By that age her modeling career had to be winding down.

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Styles Bitchley
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#58 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Seaver41 wrote:Pretty sloppy of the writers.
I disagree. I think it was fairly creative. I don't think the early writers had any intention of the Higgins/Robin one person concept...as we know there are too many inconsistencies. Still, during its first run, it's unlikely that any viewers (or even writers) would have remembered the problematic scenes. Some writer just dreamed it up and I think it was a brilliant idea.

Hey, even Star Wars has inconsistencies in the Skywalker family connection concept. But that doesn't really take away from the "Luke, I am your father" scene!
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

- J.Q.H.

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#59 Post by Seaver41 »

I have to disagree............syndication was not new......it had been around and would provide ample opportunities for people to see the early episodes. I won't use sloppy...I'll use cheap as in cheap stunt for ideas.

Obviously this was a case of Chuck Cunningham in Happy Days. One day he's at the table eating and then he is simply forgotten. I'm sure these writers simply felt the audience would swallow it anyways and move on.......effectively re-programming the Magnum character to forget his training and expertise and then deduce Higgins is Robin. Actually, I will go back to sloppy........sloppy idea that a Naval Intelligence officer and PI couldn't figure it out?

I never did like that sub plot.

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Styles Bitchley
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#60 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Seaver41 wrote:Obviously this was a case of Chuck Cunningham in Happy Days.
Haha, I never even knew there was a Chuck until I saw some of the first episodes a few years back. That's was pretty funny how he just disappeared.

But obviously the Higgins/Robin question worked for a great many people since it's still a popular question asked by newcomers to the forum and in other places. In fact, if you look at Larry's facebook page, someone just posted it: http://www.facebook.com/TheRealLarryManetti

Obviously for those well versed in the show would be dubious, but are we the majority?
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

- J.Q.H.

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#61 Post by Seaver41 »

Styles Bitchley wrote:
Seaver41 wrote:Obviously this was a case of Chuck Cunningham in Happy Days.
Obviously for those well versed in the show would be dubious, but are we the majority?
I would think with the DVDs out for a few years now that there would be MORE people well versed in the history.

It's 2 worlds......those that are loyal to the continuity and those who aren't married to it and enjoy reboots of character history. I'm traditional. I feel being true to a show's history is the least a loyal fan should expect. In the end, they never did betray it by making Higgins THE Robin Masters.

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Styles Bitchley
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#62 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Seaver41 wrote:In the end, they never did betray it by making Higgins THE Robin Masters.
Agreed!
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

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J.J. Walters
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#63 Post by J.J. Walters »

When you look at the later episodes that feature Magnum's suspicion of Higgins/Robin, particularly the scene in "Paper War", it's clear that Magnum believes there is a person named Robin Masters who has jet-setted around the world drinking Lafite Rothschild and eating caviar. Indeed, Magnum has met him several times and was standing right next to him in "The Big Blow"! But the person with all the power and money, the person who actually wrote all those tawdry pulp novels, the person who owns all those properties (including Robin's Nest) is Jonathan Quayle Higgins III! Magnum correctly deduces that Higgins is pulling all the strings. He had to create this facade so his family name wouldn't get sullied.

Consider this key passage from "Paper War":

Higgins: What on earth are you talking about?
Magnum: The big lie Higgins, admit it! You're Robin. YOU are Robin Masters!
Higgins: I-I'm laughing at the sheer absurdity of the accusation.
Magnum: No, no, no, you're laughing, because you're trapped. YOU have NEVER laughed like this. Now admit it. You've spent all these years, pretending to be Robin's employee, because you didn't want anybody to know that you write cheap pulp novels.
Higgins: (laughing wildy) And who, may I ask, is the man we know and address as Robin Masters?
Magnum: I don't know, some little guy with a voice like Orson Welles and a body like Truman Capote that you hired to pose as Robin. And it was very interesting casting. You weren't satisfied with the nom de plume. You developed this whole persona, to create the kind of playboy you envisioned writing cheap pulp, so YOU could devote yourself to serious writing.

As far as the yearbook thing goes..... that's a tough one to explain away. Plastic surgery, maybe? ;)
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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#64 Post by Seaver41 »

I've got to get there........still on season 3.....and haven't seen this show for about 20 years or so. I'm analuyzing as i go and so far in season 3 there is no way Higgins is Robin. Not only was Magnum standing next to him in the Big Blow, but the baseball player knows him as 'Robbie'.

Now if Paper War sets up the possibility of a stand in FROM the beginning........then it is more plausible than just changing character history.

It's fun all theese years later looking at the series-long mysteries.

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#65 Post by Croix de Lorraine »

Why would the KGB get an American pose as Masters' former schoolmaster? And why didn't Magnum or Higgins suspect? It struck me as from the beginning...

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