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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Seaver41
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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."

- J.Q.H.

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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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#66 Post by Sisophous »

All About the Stache wrote:Another hilarious episode. Is this the season where the show hit its stride in hilarity? The episodes of season three seems to have more humor in them than seasons 1 & 2 did.
Spot on Right!!! You know what is funny and very strange, I did not like this episode the first time I viewed it but on second take I loved it. I think some of these episodes that get low ratings do so because they develop too slowly and lack violence. This is one such episode which is about as funny as it gets but lacks violence.

You have to be patient to really appreciate these episodes that are not action packed.

This episode is unlike any other as Higgins is being tormented so much he mentions to Magnum he is on the verge of murdering Robin's guest.

The epic quote from Higgens, best ever.....

"Actually.....it was the prospect of possibly having to live with such a compulsive, domineering woman as Elizabeth that effectively constrained me from ever entering the state of matrimony. No.... she is not my mother-in-law!

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#67 Post by Sisophous »

Croix de Lorraine wrote: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...
Actually I think the script writers did this to completely throw the viewers off course. When it is mentioned that it was Robin Master's former school teacher who would be staying on the Robin Master's estate it made the viewer think she was completely legit, harmless, and posed no threat to anyone. So........ the KGB could replace the most innocent, harmless person with one of their own to inflict harm. If you think about it, this makes perfect sense. Replace the schoolmaster who is trusted by all with an agent to do harm to the one you seek harm.

About Higgins, he is no more than a servant to Robin Masters, does whatever he is told. He is only resistant to anyone else when it comes to the estate, who stays and what goes on there.

Magnum is also clueless and disinterested in visitors to the estate. He accepts the law of the land from Higgins even if he does not like it. It is only when Magnum takes on a case before he gets serious and/or voices his objection or suspicion.

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snp389
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#68 Post by snp389 »

Another great show.
Interesting point with the opening credits in regards to Jacqueline Ray/Selleck.
The actress has been referred to as both:
– Birdman of Budapest (1983) … Ms. Roebuck (as Jacquelyn Selleck)

– J. 'Digger' Doyle (1981) … Lisa (as Jacquelyn Ray)

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Re: Birdman of Budapest (3.16)

#69 Post by Kalai-pahoa »

just a little flub:
Magnum wears two different t-shirts before, during and after meeting Ms. Roebuck/Jacquelyn Selleck.
before
Image

during
Image

after (actually the same he was wearing before he left the guesthouse. look at the muddy shoes)
Image

I dont' guess that he changed his t-shirt just to meet the blondie :P
Besides he wears them for the first time in the show.
I know what you're thinking, but this time you're wrong.

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Re: Birdman of Budapest (3.16)

#70 Post by Croix de Lorraine »

From the pictures, I think it's the same lilac shirt. Maybe the lighting makes them look slightly different.

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Re: Birdman of Budapest (3.16)

#71 Post by ConchRepublican »

Croix de Lorraine wrote:From the pictures, I think it's the same lilac shirt. Maybe the lighting makes them look slightly different.
Seconded
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPTmsykLQ04

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Re: Birdman of Budapest (3.16)

#72 Post by marlboro »

This episode is worth watching for Higgin's bird call alone.

Here's a pic of Higgin's arch nemesis from younger days:

Image

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Re: Birdman of Budapest (3.16)

#73 Post by marlboro »

Just rewatched this, and I noticed that Magnum has a Sherlock Holmes style "deerstalker" hat hanging on his hat rack; it's visible in the scene where Higgins knocks and asks politely to come in.

I did a quick search and saw that Jay-Firestorm spotted the hat in "Luther Gillis: File #001." Are these the only two appearances of the hat, or is it always there and I have just missed it?

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Re: Birdman of Budapest (3.16)

#74 Post by Stelth »

I missed this episode the first time Cozi played it but I got to watch it last night. I LOVED it. How could you dislike this episode?

It has the Beetlejuice slit-throat lady:
Image
And a killer KGB attack-parrot gets frappéd by T.C.s chopper! What more could you want?

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Re: Birdman of Budapest (3.16)

#75 Post by Sinjin »

^^That is a great photo of the legendary Sylvia Sydney in her prime. I remember her from Dead End with Bogart.

Fritz Feld has a cameo as Lars the zookeeper... and does his signature "pop" to the bad monkeys! There is an ornithologist who makes an amazing bird tonic and lives in the remote Haiku valley, on government land. The views of this unspoiled valley are spectacular. There is an "unlikely" undercover KGB agent and Merlin, the attack macaw. Merlin attacking Magnum, Higgin's peregrine call, and TC's helicopter scene is classic tv cheese at its finest. The actor who played Dr. Tessa, Joseph Wiseman should be familiar to 007 fans as Dr. No.

There is a wider plot involving the Hungarian Revolution, but by the time Merlin attacks things have become so outrageous it hardly seems to matter. And what to make of the appearances by Jacqueline Ray, Tom Selleck's ex? Art imitating life? I thought her scenes were hilarious. I recommend this episode for the classic Merlin scene, plus some other funny moments too.

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