Kiss of the Sabre (5.11)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fifth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
0
No votes
9.5 (One of the Best)
2
2%
9.0 (Excellent)
4
5%
8.5 (Very Good)
12
15%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
18
22%
7.5 (Decent)
12
15%
7.0 (Average at Best)
6
7%
6.5 (Not So Good)
8
10%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
7
9%
5.0 (Just Awful)
12
15%
 
Total votes: 81

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Jay-Firestorm
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#16 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

I enjoyed this episode marginally more than when I first saw it a few years ago, but like most of the season, it has a sub par feel to it.

[rating=7.5]

An aspiring novelist is staying in the guest house, much to the chagrin of Magnum, but the woman worms herself into his insurance fraud case, using the characters involved as the basis for her novel. Slightly more memorable, but another weak ep of the season…

-----

‘Kiss of the Sabre’ is one of the dressing up / fantasy stories that the series liked to do occasionally. As such, it is one of the marginally more memorable and noteworthy instalments of the season, but still sadly suffers from the second rate feel that most of the fifth season has when compared to the previous ones.

This episode has its fans, but there also legions who don’t care for it much. Sadly I’m in the latter camp. While there might be some fun to be had with novelist Betty Windom’s imaging Magnum and co. as 1930s debonair characters for her novel, the episode is handled very badly; the case is rather unclear at points, and there is too much sudden darting from fantasy to ‘reality’ and back again.
Not to mention, the voices uses on the fantasy versions of the characters are TERRIBLE. I know they are probably meant to be over-the-top caricatures, but even so, they are awful. T.C. (or ‘Winston’)’s voice in particular is just embarrassing.

And like other viewers of this episode, I find Cassie Yates very annoying as Betty. Sometimes, MPI does annoying characters well – they are characters that are deliberately annoying, and all the more fun for it. But Betty Windom is just annoying through-and-through, and brings an already dodgy episode down another notch in my view.

As mentioned above, I got a little confused by the case in some points – the darting back and forth from reality to fantasy was overused, but even more so, I just didn’t care about the plot enough to really pay close attention to it, as much as I tried for the sake of this review.

There was a good idea in there somewhere, and I’ll bet that the concept for this episode looked terrific on paper, but sadly, the episode ultimately falls down, and is another off-target instalment in what has become by now a very disappointing season.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* On the opening trailer for the episode, Magnum says to Higgins: “She has the run of the Estate; how long does she plan to take to finish her epic?” to which Higgins replies “Sometimes it take years…”. In the episode itself, this is part of a longer exchange which we hear off-camera.

* If Betty has the Ferrari, why does Magnum need to rent a car – surely he could drive the Audi or the Jimmy? (Maybe part of this was due to budget restrictions – it was cheaper to get a small, cheap car to be smashed up by the digger instead of destroying the Audi or the Jimmy?)

* The DVD version of this episode has all of the act breaks abridged.

* When Five broadcast this episode in 2002, part of the sequence where Sebastian (Magnum) and Collette (Betty) are surrounded by Dr. Ling was edited, as per usual, for knife use. The dagger still flies past Sebastian’s head into the painting, but the sequence in which Sebastian pulls it out and throws it into one of the approaching henchmen was edited out. Shots of Dr. Ling holding Collette with a knife to her throat were kept in.
JAY FIRESTORM

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nha trang
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#17 Post by nha trang »

I rated it an 8, which is becoming a habit of mine in this, the 5th season. I am still trying to decide if I find Cassie Yates attractive, there is something there behind the 80s dress up. lol

I agree that the fictional/fantasy/writing subplot makes this episode stand out above some of the other season 5 offerings. I kind of liked the change in pace, would much rather watch an episode like this than more children from orphanages that need help,

Now excuse me while I go play the world's smallest violin...

:roll: :lol:

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Pahonu
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#18 Post by Pahonu »

I just looked closely at the computer screen cap James included with this episode. Those criminal names are great: Mack T. Nife, Rock Ibold, Pattyfingers, etc... Somebody had a sense of humor.

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Little Garwood
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#19 Post by Little Garwood »

nha trang wrote: I am still trying to decide if I find Cassie Yates attractive, there is something there behind the 80s dress up. lol
While you're still deciding, I can confidently say that I've always had a crush on Cassie Yates! Liking her at all is not a popular opinion here at Magnum-Mania, but I proudly admit that she's attractive, at least to these aging eyes o' mine! :D
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

~Tom Selleck

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zebra3
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#20 Post by zebra3 »

Although I like that MAGNUM was trying to do interesting/original ideas, this is my least favorite episode ever, at least up until now. I would much rather see mixed doubles again. That blonde lady is so annoying I want to yell at her.
"Burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me."

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TC
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#21 Post by TC »

Now I liked this episode because of how goofy they were all acting during the fictional parts. It was almost like they knew they were in the best TV series ever and this week they were gonna take it easy and goof around a bit. Half the time it looks like they are all going to bust out laughing. Think about it; what other actors could really pull off an episode like this...
And if you're going to rattle off a list of 80s shows that have done something like this successfully, don't. :P
Maybe it's just me, but I really like the goofiness of it

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TC
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#22 Post by TC »

Now I liked this episode because of how goofy they were all acting during the fictional parts. It was almost like they knew they were in the best TV series ever and this week they were gonna take it easy and goof around a bit. Half the time it looks like they are all going to bust out laughing. Think about it; what other actors could really pull off an episode like this...
And if you're going to rattle off a list of 80s shows that have done something like this successfully, don't.
Maybe it's just me, but I really like the goofiness of it
STOP! Or I'll punch in the square root of 18 and you'll all become targets for heat-seeking missiles...

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MaiTaiMan
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#23 Post by MaiTaiMan »

This episode was decent...and I rated it as such. Cassie Yates was, as usual, annoying and irritating! :x But, the rest was fairly hilarious. Usually I don't care for ridiculous or "stupidity" episodes...but this, and "Red Faced Thespian" are pretty good in that genre.

I love the goof-ball fantasies that are shown with Magnum, T.C., Higgins, and Rick--laugh my butt off everytime! :lol:

By no means was this a great episode, or one of my favorites, but it's a fairly entertaining "filler" during the season.
"It was more ironic than a Robin Masters novel--she thought he was dead, he thought she was dead...and only the chauffeur knew the truth! He should have been the butler!" "Lest We Forget"

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#24 Post by RamblerReb »

A couple of technical notes:

Sabre's plane is a Lockheed Jetstar (the same kind of plane used by Auric Goldfinger in the Bond film of the same name). This makes Betty calling it a Lear a flub.

The pistols Sabre, Winston, and Boris use to cooly dispatch their strangely enthusiastic assailants at the airstrip are suppressed Walther PPs (not PPKs). Notice how Tom Selleck doesn't flinch or blink while firing, showing him to be an experienced shooter, while John Hillerman does. Since the suppressors aren't real, on the actual location they would have been firing full-power blanks (necessary for the actions to function), and the reports would have been quite loud.

"Sabre Two" is a Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman Limousine. Only about 2700 were built between 1963 and 1981.

Magnum's unfortunate rental car is a 4th generation Plymouth Champ, made between 1979 and 1981. The destruction of Magnum's is probably the best use one was ever put to.

"Canard a l'orange" is roasted duck served with orange sauce, "Epinard au jus" is spinach braised in stock or cream, and "Gratin Dauphinoise" are scalloped potatoes.

The square root of 18 is 4.242640687119285. It might have taken Sabre a second or two to call in those heat-seekers.

"Crepes Italiane" is essentially a cheese-filled manicotti. However, it is normally a dinner dish, not breakfast.

Higgins's Webley Mk VI .455 makes a return appearance, as does Rick's Smith & Wesson.

I guess it's more than a couple of notes. Oops.

As a matter of opinion, I would have strangled that annoying harpy in Magnum's place. Other than that, love the episode.

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J.J. Walters
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#25 Post by J.J. Walters »

RamblerReb wrote:The square root of 18 is 4.242640687119285. It might have taken Sabre a second or two to call in those heat-seekers.
LOL! :)

Welcome RamberReb! Great stuff!
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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MaiTaiMan
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#26 Post by MaiTaiMan »

RamblerReb wrote:A couple of technical notes:

Sabre's plane is a Lockheed Jetstar (the same kind of plane used by Auric Goldfinger in the Bond film of the same name). This makes Betty calling it a Lear a flub.

The pistols Sabre, Winston, and Boris use to cooly dispatch their strangely enthusiastic assailants at the airstrip are suppressed Walther PPs (not PPKs). Notice how Tom Selleck doesn't flinch or blink while firing, showing him to be an experienced shooter, while John Hillerman does. Since the suppressors aren't real, on the actual location they would have been firing full-power blanks (necessary for the actions to function), and the reports would have been quite loud.

"Sabre Two" is a Mercedes-Benz 600 Pullman Limousine. Only about 2700 were built between 1963 and 1981.

Magnum's unfortunate rental car is a 4th generation Plymouth Champ, made between 1979 and 1981. The destruction of Magnum's is probably the best use one was ever put to.

"Canard a l'orange" is roasted duck served with orange sauce, "Epinard au jus" is spinach braised in stock or cream, and "Gratin Dauphinoise" are scalloped potatoes.

The square root of 18 is 4.242640687119285. It might have taken Sabre a second or two to call in those heat-seekers.

"Crepes Italiane" is essentially a cheese-filled manicotti. However, it is normally a dinner dish, not breakfast.

Higgins's Webley Mk VI .455 makes a return appearance, as does Rick's Smith & Wesson.

I guess it's more than a couple of notes. Oops.

As a matter of opinion, I would have strangled that annoying harpy in Magnum's place. Other than that, love the episode.
Rambler, you are full of awesome info!! My favorite tid-bit above: "Magnum's unfortunate rental car is a 4th generation Plymouth Champ, made between 1979 and 1981. The destruction of Magnum's is probably the best use one was ever put to."

LOL!! :lol: You are so right, and I could not have said it better myself!! :wink: Those cars were such "crap" and results of the gas crisis of the late 70's and early 80's. They were so ugly and "boxy" as well. :? I love it when in detective shows of this time, where usually the bad guys are driving them, they smash or blow them up! :)
"It was more ironic than a Robin Masters novel--she thought he was dead, he thought she was dead...and only the chauffeur knew the truth! He should have been the butler!" "Lest We Forget"

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miltontheripper
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#27 Post by miltontheripper »

This episode is so stupid it insults your intelligence. What is happening to season five? I am such a huge fan but can hardly endure these stupid not worthy episodes (Tran Quac- disaster! Sabre- trainwreck!) Shelley is not only annoying but is downright terrible! What was going through anyones mind when they wrote this one? The principal from the breakfast club speaking in French almost made me shut this episode off. I seriously want to delete this one from the series cause its horrible!

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#28 Post by RamblerReb »

miltontheripper wrote:This episode is so stupid it insults your intelligence. What is happening to season five? I am such a huge fan but can hardly endure these stupid not worthy episodes (Tran Quac- disaster! Sabre- trainwreck!) Shelley is not only annoying but is downright terrible! What was going through anyones mind when they wrote this one? The principal from the breakfast club speaking in French almost made me shut this episode off. I seriously want to delete this one from the series cause its horrible!
I agree with a few of your points (Horrible Shelley, bad French accents), but I still like this one because, frankly, the goofy ones are my favorites. Any time Selleck gets to really goof off the results are hilarious. Remember the alley fight in "Mac's Back?" When the Oddjob ripoff bellows at him and Magnum screams his "what-the-hell" battle cry and attacks silverback-style? Kills me every time. Same with this episode, like in the villain's lair, when he does the little swaying "I'm-ready-to-deal-out-some-ass-whipping-Bruce-Lee-style" fighting stance. I seriously chortle, and "chortle" is not a word I use lightly, like "syphilis" or "complete transmission rebuild."

But to each his own, I guess.

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mandolabar
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#29 Post by mandolabar »

I believe this episode saw the first cordless phone! I hesitate to call it a cellphone--it was cordless, with a little antenna that you pulled up--but it was definitely a nod to evolving technology!

Man, I feel old.

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#30 Post by Croix de Lorraine »

When Hans is recovering in bed, he's wearing Higgins' pyjamas. :)

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