Holmes Is Where the Heart Is (4.18)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fourth season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
10
9%
9.5 (One of the Best)
20
18%
9.0 (Excellent)
26
23%
8.5 (Very Good)
23
20%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
12
11%
7.5 (Decent)
5
4%
7.0 (Average at Best)
7
6%
6.5 (Not So Good)
4
4%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
2
2%
5.0 (Just Awful)
5
4%
 
Total votes: 114

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Tuan Vu
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#11 Post by Tuan Vu »

I just watched this episode today, and thought it was great. Magnum, p.i. would not have been the same without John Hillerman. Higgins appeared to have lived just as interesting a life as Magnum!

This episode had a great mystery with a few twists that kept me interested all the way through, good humor and a great story about ,friendship. Very touching episode.

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Magnums Little Voice
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#12 Post by Magnums Little Voice »

What a great episode this was. Very well written and done, and some brilliant acting on the part of Hillerman.
Tho Magnum is my favourite character having this episode almost devoted Higgins was great, really felt for him and David. Didn't want it to end!

Loved the Robin 2 Jag also.

First Class :D

Tuan Vu
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#13 Post by Tuan Vu »

Magnums Little Voice:

I agree. This episode was well titled: "Holmes is Where the Heart Is," because it had a lot of heart.

Higgins patiently puts up with his old friend's mentally-disturbed behavior and delusions, and in the end Higgins does what is right by turning him in even though it looked to David as if Higgins was betraying him.

I know "Magnum, p.i." is just a television program, but sometimes I learned a lot about things like friendship and loyalty and duty by watching this show.

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Magnums Little Voice
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#14 Post by Magnums Little Voice »

Hey Tuan Vu,
It seems alot of people like this episode, and your right about Higgins putting up with Davids delusions, and doing it in such a kind a caring manner, because as we know Higgins can be one at times for not showing caring emotions if he thinks someone is having him on, it was great to see the softer side and really draw you in to the characters they were playing.

Elamentery Watson!! :lol:

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MPS
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#15 Post by MPS »

I just watched this last night and really enjoyed it. John Hillerman is great as Higgins and I enjoyed seeing more of him in this episode. Just watching him get a bit less "Higgins like" as the episode progressed was cool. Who knew there really was such an intense, caring person under the Higgins facade? Seeing his devotion to an old friend was a nice change, since the story line typically revolves around TM's friendships. Way to go, Higgie baby! :D
Higgins: You've washed the car?! How extraordinary. Why would you do such a thing?

Jodykmg365
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#16 Post by Jodykmg365 »

All I can say is Magnum was a real jerk in this episode. Why couldn't he just mind his own business and give Higgins his privacy? :x

A P Leyland
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#17 Post by A P Leyland »

Manum was quiet a classy show wasn't it? First The Mikado and now Sherlock Holmes. Patrick McNee is always good value and a nice chance for John Hillerman to shine also. Is there a reason there were a few 'Magnum-lite' episodes this season?

Andy

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Doc Ibold
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#18 Post by Doc Ibold »

A P Leyland wrote:Manum was quiet a classy show wasn't it? First The Mikado and now Sherlock Holmes. Patrick McNee is always good value and a nice chance for John Hillerman to shine also. Is there a reason there were a few 'Magnum-lite' episodes this season?

Andy
My take is that Season 4 allowed for the exposition of the other characters on the show. Magnum took them so far over the first 3, so we could focus on the other 3.

(Also, I think Sellecks movie schedule had something to do with it)

Somewhere in the deep, dark depths I have a character-centric thread....

Season 4 had 6 "Magnum Lite" episodes, featuring on Rick, TC and Higgins

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Jay-Firestorm
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#19 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

My first review of the week; I LOVE this episode. Patrick Macnee (I’m a big Avengers fan – yes, I know I’m a fan of a LOT of shows!), great Higgins episode, classy story… what’s not to like

[rating=10]

Higgins recalls an event in 1976, when at the funeral of a comrade, an old friend, David Worth, suddenly reappeared. David seemed to be suffering shell-shock, beliving that he was Sherlock Holmes, and that Moriarty was close at hand. A wonderful episode…

----

This review contains spoilers.

This is the third of three ‘Magnum-lite’ episodes of the season (the other two being ‘Smaller Than Life’ and ‘A Sense of Debt’), and it is by far the best of the three of them. (The final episode of the season, ‘I Witness’, also features less Magnum than usual).
The opening trailer is quite funny, in that is shows virtually all of the Magnum moments from the story, almost like “Magnum’s still in it, keep watching, folks!”.

It’s strange, in ‘Smaller Than Life’ and ‘A Sense of Debt’, part of me was irked wondering where Magnum was, but with ‘Holmes Is Where the Heart Is’, it didn’t occur to me once, thanks to Higgins being such a strong character, and such a great guest star…

…Which leads me on to Patrick Macnee. I am a big fan of the classic British series ‘The Avengers’ (especially as I’m a Brit myself), and it is great to see him in this episode. Surprisingly, he doesn’t get Special Guest Star billing, being credited as just a regular Guest Star. Either way, he really brings the role of the troubled David Worth to life, and I found myself really caring about what became of him.

One thing I really like is the nice changes to the study and guest house décor in the 1976 setting. We also get to see that before the Audi, Robin 2 was a Jaguar (which I personally prefer). Oh yes, and we see Gillian Dobb as Agatha in a terrible wig trying to make her look eight years younger, but the less said about that the better.

The story is a charming one, and John Hillerman and Macnee work really well together. It also shows what a caring character Higgins is, as he really worries about his troubled friend.

The scenes in-between Higgins' recollections, of Magnum desperately trying to find out what Higgins is so tied up with, aren't really necessary – but this is his show, I suppose, so he has to be in the episode somewhere!

The ending, when it is revealed that David has recently died, is very bittersweet, and perfectly played by Hillerman.

All-in-all, this is one of my favourite episodes from the seasons, and probably my all-time favourite Magnum-lite story.

-----

Other bloopers, notes and misc.:

* T.C. and Rick only appear in one scene of this episode.

* On the DVD version, the final act break is abridged.
JAY FIRESTORM

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Italian Ice
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#20 Post by Italian Ice »

Good review Jay. Would I rate this one a 10? Probably not, mainly because Magnum wasn't involved. Maybe what could have made this better is to have Higgins and Magnum "tell the story" about this while talking in the study room, and throw TM into the whole story somehow. That alone would have made this one a 10, but because it was just a story about someome from Higgins past, and the show is called Magnum PI, it didn't seem to fit like it could have. Still, a solid episode, but I don't think it's worthy of a 10, a 9 - 9.5 tops.
Higgins: " Dispatch the pig!!! "

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Jay-Firestorm
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#21 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

Italian Ice wrote:Good review Jay. Would I rate this one a 10? Probably not, mainly because Magnum wasn't involved. Maybe what could have made this better is to have Higgins and Magnum "tell the story" about this while talking in the study room, and throw TM into the whole story somehow. That alone would have made this one a 10, but because it was just a story about someome from Higgins past, and the show is called Magnum PI, it didn't seem to fit like it could have. Still, a solid episode, but I don't think it's worthy of a 10, a 9 - 9.5 tops.
I think it is the only Magnum-lite episode that I would rate a 10. I just find it so charming, with a great performance from Hillerman, and the fact that it features another actor, Patrick Macnee, that I really like, tops it off.
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Quigley Down Under
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prequel style

#22 Post by Quigley Down Under »

This is probably one of my favourite episodes, definitely giving it a 10 - even though it is Magnum-lite.

Other than what has already been said, what I like about this episode is how we get an insight into what the estate was like prior to the series starting. This is something I was always really curious about!

If anyone can think of any other episodes with this similar theme let me know as it would be great to go back and watch these also!

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Hawaii84
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#23 Post by Hawaii84 »

This is one of my favorites also....The premise reminds me of "Black on White", my absolute favorite episode...Something about friendship, duty, and Higgins' very interesting past gives this episode that same feel....Any time Higgins and Magnum put away their differences and lower their defenses, you get a feeling for how much they really respect and like each other.

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Coops
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#24 Post by Coops »

If I could I'd give this episode an 11 based solely on the amazingly brilliant performance John Hillerman gave in it I would. You just don't see this kind of acting on tv anymore, certainly not today. There are some good actors out there but I find it hard to believe any show on today would have such a myopic and narrow topic dedicated to one character like this one. And most of its narrative is in the past-tense. This is a sublime, moving, tour-de-force performance by Hillerman and it also illustrates the brilliant writing and creativity behind the scenes of M.P.I. It also demonstrates how cerebral they were, I mean after all the theme melody is "Meditation" from Massenet's 'Thaïs' opera, a hauntingly beautiful melody perfectly underscoring the character of David.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtiIpIJ5J2Q
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robspace54
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#25 Post by robspace54 »

A wonderful script and one that showed that Higgins could have his own show!

As a long time Holmes fan (I have the Annotated Sherlock Holmes 2 volume set by William Barrie-Gould copyright 1967) it was great to see a Holmesian mystery, inside a Magnum p.i. framing story, with Jonathan Higgins playing the bemused Watson to David Worth. Higgy doesn't get it for a while and at the end of the piece I was wishing that he had let Holmes (Worth) get away.

A wonderful tribute to Sherlock and Conan Doyle. Clearly the writers had done their homework.

Interesting to see Agatha Chumley in a blonde wig (circa 1976) too. And Robin had a Jaguar then as well.

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Rob
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