Tran Quoc Jones (5.9)

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)
1
1%
9.0 (Excellent)
2
3%
8.5 (Very Good)
20
26%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
22
28%
7.5 (Decent)
13
17%
7.0 (Average at Best)
9
12%
6.5 (Not So Good)
4
5%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
3
4%
5.0 (Just Awful)
4
5%
 
Total votes: 78

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jetranger
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#11 Post by jetranger »

Started watching this episode tonight and noticed a flub starting at about 04:00 minutes in.

When Magnum, TC and Rick are discussing Robin Master's political fundraiser for Dick Hasley the bottles of liquor lined up behind the bar suddenly change at the scene cut at about 04:12 to the bottles with the green pourers that were just on the other side of the bar!

It's also the first time I think I've seen Magnum at a bar with a coffee cup?!?!

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rubber chicken
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#12 Post by rubber chicken »

Here's screenshots of jetranger's observation. First the left image then the right, and they're only one frame apart!

Image
Last edited by rubber chicken on Sun Sep 06, 2009 4:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

jetranger
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#13 Post by jetranger »

Exactly....thanks rubber chicken for posting the screen grabs! :)

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J.J. Walters
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#14 Post by J.J. Walters »

LOL! That is hilarious! I'm trying to imagine what would have caused them to switch the location of the bottles in-between takes, but I can't think of any logical reason! :)

Great spot jetranger!
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

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golfmobile
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#15 Post by golfmobile »

Don't know if this is the reason the switch-around was done, but might it have had something to do with showing brand names? With the bottles without the green stoppers close to the guys, you can better see the names of the liquor -- Kahlua particularly stands out. Now, granted, it would be hard to show a real bar without showing a single identifiable bottle of booze, but if that were the case, it just seems they should have re-shot the scene where the labels showed to one where the green-topped bottles were in place, replacing the first shot with the second one with the green pourers closer to the actors. Of course, that could have been done and then editing dropped the ball.

I just suggest this because we have previously discussed how they went to great trouble NOT to show the real name of a beer.

Just an idea . . . . Off the top of my head, I can't think of another reason for the switch.

golf
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Agatha
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#16 Post by Agatha »

This episode is another great example of the show's committment to the Viet Nam war...and the issues surrounding it. It also includes one of my MOST FAVORITE lines!!

Thomas doesn't think Higgins will be happy to have Tran Quoc stay on the estate and...he knows that he's missed meeting with Higgins about Robin's fundraiser so...they sneak onto the estate so Thomas can hide Tran Quoc in the guest house. Just before they go inside, Thomas checks to see if Higgins has seen them and then...

TQ: Where's your HoTe statue?

TM: What?

TQ: Your Good Luck statue. You know. The short, round little man? Don't you keep one outside your door?

Door opens. Higgins steps out of the guest house.

TQ: Uuuuuuuh. Some people keep them inside.

I LOVE IT!!

:)
Isn't the ocean beautiful at sunset? So soft....so peaceful...so romantic!

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Rutledal
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#17 Post by Rutledal »

Last night I watched Braddock: Missing in Action III and Roland Harrah III played Chuck Norris' son, once again making him the son of a missing American G.I.
So I made a Topic Page about Magnum, P.I. Check it out here.

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Agatha
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#18 Post by Agatha »

Did I read somewhere...somewhere on the site, I think...that Roland Harrah III committed suicide? How sad. I never understand that...guess I'm lucky. Do you think he really is/was the son of an American father and a Vietnamese mother? Still...I don't know, but I was sorry to hear it.

:(
Isn't the ocean beautiful at sunset? So soft....so peaceful...so romantic!

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golfmobile
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#19 Post by golfmobile »

Agatha,

You can just Google him. I don't know that suicide has been confirmed, but he did die at age 21 in 1995:

Wkipedia report

Family Seals Records so Cause of Death Not Revealed

golf
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Agatha
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#20 Post by Agatha »

Thanks, golf! I keep forgetting that ANYTHING I WANT TO KNOW is on this computer!!

When do you and Larry go to Hawaii again? Any more calls from the Five Killers folks?

Better go. It's shearing day here and but "they" say it's going to rain so I've got to clear out enough room in the barn for us to "do the deed" inside.

Hope you have a good day today!!

:)
Isn't the ocean beautiful at sunset? So soft....so peaceful...so romantic!

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golfmobile
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#21 Post by golfmobile »

Agatha,

You're welcome! But you're right -- got a question? -- Google it or just look on the internet. The answer is probably there!

Not to Hawaii till September, hopefully. Larry has a few days off next week, so we're trying to stir up a short jaunt down to St. Thomas, USVI.

golf
"Portside, buddy."

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IKnowWhatYoureThinking
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#22 Post by IKnowWhatYoureThinking »

If you've never been to St. Thomas you'll love it. Go have a few beers at the Greenhouse.

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Jay-Firestorm
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#23 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

Another not bad but not perfect episode from the mixed fifth season, IMO.

[rating=8.0]

Magnum is approached by a young Vietnamese boy, an illegal immigrant and living on the streets, to find his long lost G.I. father for him. But when another of Magnum’s clients is murdered, the two cases intertwine with each other. Fair but not outstanding…

-----

This review contains spoilers.

The fifth season trend of passable but not outstanding stories continues with this offering. It is a perfectly watchable episode, and has some very good moments, but ultimately feels sub par compared with some of the clever episodes that have appeared in previous seasons.

Tran Quoc Jones of the title is played by young Ronald Harrah III, in his first credited role. He went on to several more TV roles (including playing Le Van ‘Half Pint’ Hawke in two third season episodes of Bellisario’s ‘Airwolf’), before sadly committing suicide in 1995, aged just 22. (There were also several other young actors of the time, including John Louie, who appeared in ‘Gremlins’ and the first season ‘Riptide’ episode ‘Long Distance Daddy’, who might be confused with Harrah).
Harrah gives a very decent performance as Tran Quoc – as per usual, the series chose its young actors well – but there are also some over-cutesy moments which some may not like too much.

The episode also marks the return of ‘Mac’ mk. II, otherwise known as ‘Jim Bonnick’, after Jeff MacKay returned to the series in ‘Mac’s Back’ earlier in the season. It is quite a turnaround that, after Magnum continually conned the original Mac in the early seasons, from now on the ‘new’ Mac will con Magnum – here getting him involved with a scheme to dupe a protection racket out of their money.

Deborah Pratt also makes her final of several appearances as T.C.’s sometimes girlfriend Gloria; other it is the last time that Pratt is seen on-screen in the series, she would go on to write ‘Little Games’ in a couple of episodes time, as well as the seventh season’s excellent ‘Little Girl Who’.

Anyway, as for the storyline itself… it is a fair one, and I found Tran Quoc’s search for his father, whom he has never met, to start off quite interesting. But I find that the plot is just too over-complicated and has too much going on; in some episodes they manage the multi-thread storylines quite well, but here, I found it a little confusing in places.

But T.C.’s budding friendship with Tran Quoc (“T.Q.”) is well played out, and gives Roger E. Mosley something to get his teeth into.

Then there is another great episode ending, as Tran Quoc dumps his new clothes and returns to living on the streets. I found it a little hard to believe that the gang – especially T.C. - would not try and find him again, but even so, it make a good ending to the story.

All-in-all, I WANT to like this episode, and there are indeed sections that are very good. But it just lacks the polished touch of earlier seasons, and as I say above, the story is a bit over-complicated in places.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* Unless I’m much mistaken, Rick Lenz (Dick Halsey) is the brother (or husband?) or Kay Lenz, who appeared in the fourth season’s ‘Let the Punishment Fit the Crime’.

* Regarding Mac wearing the hat that Higgins made in the fourth season’s ‘Operation: Silent Night’ – they are similar, but I don’t believe they are the same hat. This one is smaller, a different colour (Higgins’ was green) and has a rougher finish.
JAY FIRESTORM

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My A-Team site - http://thea-team.org aiming to be the most detailed A-Team site on the Net - if I ever get around to updating it!!

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nha trang
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#24 Post by nha trang »

Good review, firestorm, I agree on all counts!

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MaiTaiMan
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#25 Post by MaiTaiMan »

This episode was pretty good...I enjoyed the heart-touching, poignant attatchment T.Q. ends up having with T.C.--and Magnum. The action, and suspense of figuring out who and/or why someone was trying to kill either the kid or the politician was fairly entertaining.

However, the back-story of T.Q., and what was really the truth is still a little "fuzzy" for me?? :? Was he really illegal or was his mother really killed...or was that just another story he told Magnum?

Also, the small, idiotic other storyline with Fake Mac putting another con over on Magnum was pointless and could totally have been left out! :roll:

This is not one of my favorites by any means...but it's not that bad either.
"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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