Distant Relative (4.4)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fourth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
2
2%
9.5 (One of the Best)
6
6%
9.0 (Excellent)
32
32%
8.5 (Very Good)
37
37%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
12
12%
7.5 (Decent)
5
5%
7.0 (Average at Best)
3
3%
6.5 (Not So Good)
1
1%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
1
1%
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 101

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charybdis1966
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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#51 Post by charybdis1966 »

Lots of light and shade in this episode, tragedy and humour from one comment to the next. TM must have felt devastated when he realised Ricks sister got killed on his watch and Rick was understandably angry at him.

I voted this as "pretty good" and one that cements the camaraderie of the three vets; extending the I guess you would call TM/Rick/TC as the 3 musketeers with Higgins as an elderly D'Artagnan.

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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#52 Post by marlboro »

I agree with those who said they thought this episode would have worked better as a two-parter. The first half could have been the lighter comedy episode ending with the shocking death of Wendy. The second episode could have been the grittier half of the story - Magnum's investigation, the revelations about Wendy's past, and Rick's mental turmoil.


I also think the shifts in tone between comedy and drama are really jarring. Magnum shooting down Higgin's plane was hilarious, but I don't think it was an appropriate ending to this story. If this story had been a two-parter I would have put that scene just before the ending of part one, right before the news that Wendy is dead.

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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#53 Post by charybdis1966 »

marlboro wrote:I agree with those who said they thought this episode would have worked better as a two-parter. The first half could have been the lighter comedy episode ending with the shocking death of Wendy. The second episode could have been the grittier half of the story - Magnum's investigation, the revelations about Wendy's past, and Rick's mental turmoil.


I also think the shifts in tone between comedy and drama are really jarring. Magnum shooting down Higgin's plane was hilarious, but I don't think it was an appropriate ending to this story. If this story had been a two-parter I would have put that scene just before the ending of part one, right before the news that Wendy is dead.
Good points raised there Marlboro; it does seem like this story had untapped potential and could have been comparable to "Did you see the sunrise" although on a different dramatic level.

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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#54 Post by 308GUY »

The more I see this one, the more I like it. Have to agree with the "should have been done as a two parter" opinions though. Would have lent itself much better to story development and plot unfolding. It is what it is.

Question which has been touched on previously here: the two scenes where TM is looking out at Higgins (and Agatha for the first one) flying the planes, is supposed to be looking from the questhouse, yes? So that kind of helps establish the physical location of it, (the guesthouse), or at least what we are supposed to accept it to be, but where were these shots actually taken from? We briefly see the back side of the main house, I'm guessing, as TM goes back inside, but are we to take it that is supposed to represent the guesthouse, when the basic configuration is all wrong according to what we have been led to believe is it's sturcture and location? There must be a logical explanation, but I'm not seeing it. Can anyone put it in terms that can be easily understood. What am I missing?

Still rated it at an 8.5, mostly for the reasons mentioned previously by everyone who posted their negatives about it. Could have been so much better.........ah well. :magnum:
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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#55 Post by 308GTS »

I must have watched this ep at least 5-10 times during the 80's, but watched it again recently and have to say it's just a so so episode, mainly for the reasons stated by others, the hokey over the top acting by Manetti! He really wasn't an actor with any range at all, and yes his running, or should I say waddle is a bit off putting, yet we are supposed to believe that he was a Navy Gunner!

The only saving grace as ever is TM's acting, TM and Higgins classic scenes at the beginning and end, and to some degree TC, who was always way better as an actor than LM.

Wendy was super hot though, a real looker!
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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#56 Post by Rembrandt's Girl »

308GUY wrote: Question which has been touched on previously here: the two scenes where TM is looking out at Higgins (and Agatha for the first one) flying the planes, is supposed to be looking from the questhouse, yes? So that kind of helps establish the physical location of it, (the guesthouse), or at least what we are supposed to accept it to be, but where were these shots actually taken from?
The shots look like they were really taken from inside Pahonu, through a window on the ocean side. Of course they want us to think TM is looking at them from the guesthouse. TM looks like he was superimposed.

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308GUY
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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#57 Post by 308GUY »

Thanks RG, that's exactly what I had concluded.

Unless somebody has evidence to the contrary, we'll go with it as an explanation. :magnum:



Someday I'm gonna have to figure out just how to do those screen "captures"! :lol:
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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#58 Post by SignGuyHPW »

I thought it was alright, but agree with a lot of the points others have made about it. The comedy scenes with the model planes were really, really good, but almost seem out of place in this episode. Magnum says that he had just gone four straight days with no real sleep and then he's firing a shot gun? That kind of takes some of the humor out of it for me. The random Carol Channing scene seemed like she was suddenly available at the last minute so they wrote that into the script so they could use her. I can understand Rick snapping and going on a revenge mission alone, but it wasn't a well done scene. It was also never explained why the federal agent that was in Wendy's bedroom didn't identify himself when Rick and Thomas were calling out to Wendy and identifying themselves. It also seemed awkward with Icepick's scene. TC seemed terrified and Magnum didn't seem too comfortable, but as often as Icepick fed info via Rick to Magnum you'd think they'd have a more trusting relationship. Another thing that bugged me was that going on Wendy's age of 22 and future references as to their age difference that would've made Rick only about 30. He seemed much older than that. That would've put him at about 20 when he was part of Magnum's team in Viet Nam.

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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#59 Post by Doc Ibold »

SignGuyHPW wrote:I thought it was alright, but agree with a lot of the points others have made about it. The comedy scenes with the model planes were really, really good, but almost seem out of place in this episode. Magnum says that he had just gone four straight days with no real sleep and then he's firing a shot gun? That kind of takes some of the humor out of it for me. The random Carol Channing scene seemed like she was suddenly available at the last minute so they wrote that into the script so they could use her. I can understand Rick snapping and going on a revenge mission alone, but it wasn't a well done scene. It was also never explained why the federal agent that was in Wendy's bedroom didn't identify himself when Rick and Thomas were calling out to Wendy and identifying themselves. It also seemed awkward with Icepick's scene. TC seemed terrified and Magnum didn't seem too comfortable, but as often as Icepick fed info via Rick to Magnum you'd think they'd have a more trusting relationship. Another thing that bugged me was that going on Wendy's age of 22 and future references as to their age difference that would've made Rick only about 30. He seemed much older than that. That would've put him at about 20 when he was part of Magnum's team in Viet Nam.
I think this episode paired with "Way of The Stalking Horse" from S6 show the arc that Ice Pick played in the show from being openly hostile to Magnum and TC in this one... to the hospital scene in WOTSH.

It's also interesting to see how both of them treat Ice Pick (which.. kind of doesn't change throughout the series). Magnum seems to take the somewhat naieve approach of thinking that they are buddies and can just go see Ice Pick whenever and everything will be fine. Whereas TC sees that this guy could kill the both of them if he so chose and treats himlike he was handling a king cobra.

100% agree with the age difference between Rick and his sister. I guess I could see him being 20 when he was in Vietnam, but Island life must have aged him. But then again Ricks life has always been a little murky.

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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#60 Post by SignGuyHPW »

Just watched The People vs. Orville Wright and that listed specific years and ages so it would've put Rick at around Magnum's age and Wendy's true age at closer to 30 when Distant Relative happened.

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#61 Post by Hawaii Winds »

IslandHopper wrote:This is one of my favorite episodes from season 4 for all of the reasons stated above. I have a question about Wendy. My understanding is that Wendy really was a "mule" carrying drugs for her boyfriend as indicated by the federal agent, Ice Pick and Magnum, and that Magnum toward the end of the episode tells Rick that Wendy was just an innocent bystander, and really was a "good kid" to make him feel better so he could go on with his life. Right? Magnum was so convincing when he said she was just an innocent bystander, it makes you believe that maybe she wasn't a mule. :?

Additional Flubs for Distant Relative:

1. The two RC planes Higgins and Agatha are flying at the beginning of the episode are not perfect replicas of WWII fighters as stated by Higgins. These two planes are very crude planes and not WWII replicas at all.

2. The RAF (Royal Air Force) plane Higgins is flying that crashes is not the same plane that he is repairing in his study when Magnum comes in and tells him about Wendy. The plane that crashed has a thin fuselage and narrow rectangular wings. However, the plane in Higgins' study, is a replica of either a RAF "Spitfire" or "Hurricane." You will notice the wings on the plane in the study have wide/convex wings that taper and narrow toward the ends.

3. After Magnum arrives at the KKC he is sitting at the Beach Bar with TC, and Rick is behind the bar talking about his sister Wendy and says that "she is innocent." Magnum chuckles, and a you can hear Rick say "well she is." This line of Rick's does not have the same sound quality, and appears to have been looped in post production. In addition, Magnum's next line also appears to have been looped in post production: "how do you know, she's grown up, she lives in Chicago, you havent seen her in ten years."

4. When Rick is talking about the school his sister attended "The Mother of Mercy College for Girls" and explains he sent her there because he said "Chicago's a tough town to grow up in without any parents." However, in Jororo Farewell (season 4), Rick, while at the scrimmage between TC's team and the Jororo team, Magnum accuses Rick of handicapping the game in order to place bets. Rick replies that he is writing down a recipe for veal marsala (or something like that) for his mother. What Mother?

5. Still at the Beach Bar, after Rick says the name of Wendy's school he says "if you're not innocent you don't graduate." Magnum giggles, then Rick says "I'm tellin' ya." This last line of Rick's also appears to have been looped in post production. As he said this line, the camera was still on Magnum.

6. When Rick and Magnum go to Wendy's hotel room looking for her, Rick enters the room and yells "Wendy, Wendy, are you alright, it's Rick, Wendy." Rick then tries to open the bedroom door and jiggles the door knob and even tries unsuccessfully to force it open with his shoulder. He and Magnum break the door down and tumble into the bedroom. After all of this effort and loud noise while yelling for Wendy and trying to break the door down, the guy (federal agent) rummaging through Wendy's drawers :shock: seems oblivious to the racket created by Rick and Magnum, and was surprised when they broke into the room. He then runs out. How could that guy not have heard Rick yelling, and he and Magnum breaking the door down?

7. The first two shots of TC's chopper as he and Magnum are flying to Moloki to find Rick, show it with the skids without the extra fittings (skinny skids). However, the third and fourth shots of the chopper show it with the extra fittings on the skids (fat skids). As the chopper flys over Rick's boat, it does not have the extra fittings (skinny skids).

8. After Rick crashes into the beach shack and starts shooting it up, Magnum appears outside with TC. Magnum stands up first and then TC. As TC stands up he says "yeah Ricks relax." Ricks?

9. As the chopper is chasing the two drug dealers in the jeep, toward the end of the chase, the chopper drops down right behind the jeep and you can just tell that the pilot is wearing a black ski mask.

10. As Rick is firing at the rear of the jeep we see a close-up of the right rear tail light blowing out, then the left tail light and the license plate (MDX 776) is mangled and twisted. However, when the jeep rolls over just before it blows up, you can see the rear license plate (not the same as before) is intact and not damaged.

Toward the end of the episode while Rick, TC and Magnum are at the KKC, Rick is stacking beer cans. The Beer appears to be Tiller Beer and Flagler Beer. I have never heard of either, and don't know if these beers really exist, but thought it was worth noting. We know Magnum drinks Coops and Old Dusseldorf. Now we can add Tiller and Flagler, although it may have been Rick who drank all of the beer.
Did you also note that in the last scene where TM shoots down Higgies plane, it show the plane in flight was a single wing aircraft, but when TM blows it up in mid air, its a Biplane with dual front wings!

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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#62 Post by charybdis1966 »

I can't believe it took me all this while to realise the paradoxical name of this eposode, i.e how can you say a sister is a "distant relative" ?

Obviously it's saying that she is "distant" to Rick in the sense that he didn't really know her.

Wow, the older I get the dumber I get. :roll:

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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#63 Post by Turkey »

Great episode, loved it first time and second time around. Larry's performance is one of his better ones - and loved the Magnum shotgun coda!
Make it two weeks.

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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#64 Post by Milton Collins »

I'm not crazy about this one. I know it's bound to happen from time to time but I don't care for the episodes where the main characters are at odds with each other (other than Thomas and Higgins, that's one of the lifebloods of the whole show and I love their going back and forth!). I just couldn't get really into this one. Rick's sister that he had made lots of sacrifices for turning out to be a total louse? It's completely realistic but I just didn't find this storyline all that entertaining. I will say that the scenes showing Magnum being mad at Higgins for flying his toy plains is great! That giggle of Magnum's when Higgy crashes with Agatha is one of the funnier scenes ever! And the end where he is just completely fed up and blows the plane away is just awesome!

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Re: Distant Relative (4.4)

#65 Post by SignGuyHPW »

Ok, the age thing has bugged me so watching a few episodes this week I'll try to set it up here. In Distant Relative they establish Wendy is 22 so when the episode aired it means she was born around 1961. Rick said in "All For One" that he joined the Marines in 1969 after the World Series which means he would've been 18 (at least) in 1969 making him have a birth year of 1951. This puts Rick at 10 years older.They also talk about Icepick taking care of Rick and Wendy when their parents died at which time Rick was 13. That'd put wendy at 3 years old. Now if they establish that Rick is about 8 years older. So going based on clues from episodes that discussed ages this would have put Rick at 32 years old. Larry Manetti was born in 1943 so he was actually 40 years of age at the time Distant Relative aired and seems closer to where the character's age should be. They must have thought people would buy Rick being that much younger than TC and Magnum.

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