The Arrow That is Not Aimed (3.14)

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Hey LnD, a bit off topic thought.
While reading again your last post, i was wondering if a special topic with the title "The hidden side of TM's mind" would be relevant ?
Is such a thread (or similar) had already been explored here ?
The purpose would be to relate all these precious moments when TM gets out of the buffoonery and shows a much wiser and more thoughtful face, with a rare dose of relevance and culture.
Is that a good idea?

Hi Gorilla,
I think a thread on the clues/hints etc that occur throughout the series that flesh out just who Magnum is could be of interest. Viewers could supply them as they go through the episodes.

The great Oscar winning writer Sterling Silliphant littered his series Route 66 and Naked City with such goodies. Silliphant though twice went to extremes with his penchant for sneaking
in vital information regarding individual episodes story line via obscure references.
 In Route 66's One Tiger to a Hill (#63), there is a scene between the leads discussing Existentialism and the immortal French poet Rimbaud and how they should pretend to be Existentialists
in order to seduce some girls who were English Lit majors.
But to fully understand how the story ends - and how great the script is - the viewer has to be familiar with Rimbaud's The Drunken Boat, otherwise you missed a vital connection with
Davis Jansen's character of Karno and the sea/boats angle.
Episode #82, "Shall Forfeit His Dog and Ten Shillings to the King" is the other example of Silliphant perhaps writing just for himself.
  The title is from the "31st of the Laws of King Canute", a Viking who carved a kingdom out of Saxon lands in England 1500 years ago.
That if a Saxon Freeman gets nearer than ten miles from a royal forest with his greyhound, he has to pay 10 pence for every mile, but if he enters the forest it's a big 10 shillings and the
forfeiture of his doggie.
You have to know that law in particular to fully "get" the episode,what with this episode featuring a General Scranton(Canute) and the character Hank Saxon.
Though it stands on it's own otherwise.
Who is supposed to know that law besides Silliphant, a Oxford Don historian or a modern day Viking lawyer sporting a helmet with horns.

[Gorilla Mask]

Hi Gorilla,
I think a thread on the clues/hints etc that occur throughout the series that flesh out just who Magnum is could be of interest. Viewers could supply them as they go through the episodes.

(...)

Thank you LnD for this enriching point of view, we don't know too much about Sterling Silliphant in France except maybe through successful movies he wrote or co-wrote (The Towering Inferno, Murphy's war, The Poseidon Adventure...).

I understand his taste for implementing hidden meanings or double meanings, even symbolic, in his lines or situations.

In my opinion, for Thomas Magnum, perhaps it would be more a question of listing all the moments which make appear in the character a 'personality within the personality' (without being schizophrenic of course...), the fact, that, most of the time, the character plays himself a role and that, in certain circumstances, his true background shows through...

[davko]

"The hidden side of TM's mind" - I love this idea, and this depth to Magnum's character is what makes the show so good IMO.

He has all the masculine archetypes within him - Warrior, Lover, Magician, Boy & King

[Little Garwood]

It's obvious that Tozan's sword didn't even touch the candle:

Nah. Tozan's just that good.

Reminds me of a childhood nightmare: