Heal Thyself (3.12)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the third season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
0
No votes
9.5 (One of the Best)
2
2%
9.0 (Excellent)
7
9%
8.5 (Very Good)
15
18%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
22
27%
7.5 (Decent)
13
16%
7.0 (Average at Best)
14
17%
6.5 (Not So Good)
6
7%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
2
2%
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 82

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J.J. Walters
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Heal Thyself (3.12)

#1 Post by J.J. Walters »

This is the official MM thread for Heal Thyself (3.12). 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: 12/16/1982
A nurse Magnum knew in Vietnam has become a doctor and is accused of murdering three patients in her care. The private investigator faces tough odds to prove her innocence in this very personal case.
Last edited by J.J. Walters on Fri Dec 28, 2007 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

RJMasters
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#2 Post by RJMasters »

Mmmmmmmmmm. Marcia Strassman. :D *sigh*

Always had a crush on her. Still do.

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J.J. Walters
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#3 Post by J.J. Walters »

Hehe, me too! :)

BTW, welcome to the forum RJMasters! It's good to have you here.

Even with Marcia Strassman, this episode is below average for me. It just kind of crawls along with disjointed scenes and nothing much really happens. I do like the Vietnam flashback scenes, however. If you don't blink you can catch a very young Chris Penn as a wounded soldier. The episode director is Leo Penn, his father.
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mekabo31
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#4 Post by mekabo31 »

Hello...new to the forum, I have been getting my Magnum PI fix through Sleuth and Net Flix. Unfortunately this episode got cut off before I could finish it.....who was the killer? If this isn't the place for the question let me know...it's not like it was the best episode, but I'm still curios. :D
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#5 Post by IslandHopper »

mekabo31 wrote:Hello...new to the forum, I have been getting my Magnum PI fix through Sleuth and Net Flix. Unfortunately this episode got cut off before I could finish it.....who was the killer? If this isn't the place for the question let me know...it's not like it was the best episode, but I'm still curios. :D
If I remember correctly, it was Dr. Jorgenson, the doctor who worked with Karen Harmon. His wife had died after an operation, and he blamed it on Karen.
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#6 Post by Doc Ibold »

IslandHopper wrote:
mekabo31 wrote:Hello...new to the forum, I have been getting my Magnum PI fix through Sleuth and Net Flix. Unfortunately this episode got cut off before I could finish it.....who was the killer? If this isn't the place for the question let me know...it's not like it was the best episode, but I'm still curios. :D
If I remember correctly, it was Dr. Jorgenson, the doctor who worked with Karen Harmon. His wife had died after an operation, and he blamed it on Karen.
Yup, he was cheating on his wife, so he set up the other deaths prior to his wifes so it wouldn't look accidental when Dr. Harmon performed the operation.

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#7 Post by Jodykmg365 »

Welcom back Kotter's wife was really good in this eposode. I also liked Edward Winter. He will always be Col. Flagg to me, but he was good in this part as well. :D

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#8 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

Wednesday’s review. Not bottom of the barrel, but a bit dull in places.

[rating 6.5]

When a surgeon, who Magnum knew as a young nurse in Vietnam, is accused of deliberately killing three of her patients, Magnum is certain that she is not guilty, and sets about trying to deduce who the real killer is. A rather flat and unengaging story…

-----

This review contains spoilers.

‘Heal Thyself’ is a mixed episode for me. I wouldn’t rank it as bottom of the barrel, but the story is very uneven, and has dull patches.

The episode is the first of three episodes to be directed by Leo Penn, father of actors Sean and the late Chris. In fact, Chris appears as the soldier who Karen goes to treat before the hospital tent is bombed in the flashback at the start of the story.

The episode starts off promisingly, with it’s great flashback to ‘Nam, where Magnum knew the young nurse Karen. It is a great opening, but sadly, the episode rather goes downhill from there.

Marcia Strassman puts in a fair performance as the traumatised Dr. Karen Harmon, but the story doesn’t really do her character justice, and I found Karen hard to really warm to or care about.

I found the story rather choppy and disjointed, and didn’t completely hold my interest. At one point, the writer uses the old “information from Rick” device to move the story on from a dead stop, which seems very lazy.

The episode does have a good red herring, however – I was convinced that the true culprit was Karen’s partner Robert, which is what they wanted you to believe. They made him out to be the villain of the piece, and it turned out he wasn’t.
The reveal as to who the real villain is, however, is very awkward, and the end of the story seems very rushed and clumsy indeed.

This is an episode that I *want* to like, but sadly, it is told as such a plodding pace, with little of any real interest, that it is hard to really get into.

-----

Other notes, bloopers, and misc.:

* Here’s a first – I don’t have anything extra for this episode! :)
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#9 Post by lutherhgillis »

Jay,

Thanks for the review. I agree that from a 2000s perspective this episode moves a little slowly. However, whenit originally aired, many people were still trying to deal with their time in Vietnam and some had a really difficult time. Viewing the episode when it first aired produced a totally sypathetic and empathetic feeling.

Keep 'em coming...
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#10 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

lutherhgillis wrote:Jay,

Thanks for the review. I agree that from a 2000s perspective this episode moves a little slowly. However, whenit originally aired, many people were still trying to deal with their time in Vietnam and some had a really difficult time. Viewing the episode when it first aired produced a totally sypathetic and empathetic feeling.

Keep 'em coming...
Totally with your about the era and dealing with people's experiences in 'Nam. I just feel this one doesn't do it so well.
Some of my favourite MPI eps are to do with the fallout from 'Nam, and they do it pretty impressively. I just feel the story on this one was a little patchy, and dull in places.
Even when I first saw this ep in the later 1980s it was one of my lesser favourites. But then again, I wouldn't say it's bottom of the barrel.
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#11 Post by Danno »

Agreed with the points made. It drags along a bit.

However, the construction of the doghouse is pretty funny despite the quite heavy context of war trauma. 'The everlasting appreciation of Zeus & Apollo...'

Funny also when Magnum sneaks into Herman's house; 'Hi kitty!'
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#12 Post by Frodoleader »

Well today we spent the day snowed in. So I pick a random episode from Season 3 to watch, which was this one.
Overall, not too terribly bad. I agree the climax was a little disjointed. I also liked the Nam parts.
I was thinking, what did Marcia Strassman appear in also? First of all, I recall her on MASH. Then wasn't she on Welcome Back Kotter, as Mrs K? Anything else? (Yeah, I can look it up on IMDB, but I'm too lazy!) :oops:
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#13 Post by IKnowWhatYoureThinking »

I looked her up on IMBD but the resume is too long to post.

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#14 Post by J.J. Walters »

She's probably best-known as Mrs. Kotter from Welcome Back, Kotter.
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#15 Post by Sam »

Minor flub..TM tells Rick and TC that Karen Harmon was with the 71st Evac hospital in Binh Thuy.The 71st was at Pleiku.

Also a flub in the guide.

Towards the end, when Magnum arrives at the house with the body in the pool, we see him open the front entrance door (coming in from outside). As he opens the door, the camera position switches from the driveway to inside the house. After the camera position switch, the door has transformed into a "Dutch door", and the area behind the door is no longer outside, but instead is another room.

It's clearly the same door.

Image

Image

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