Blind Justice (5.7)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fifth season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
3
4%
9.5 (One of the Best)
8
10%
9.0 (Excellent)
10
13%
8.5 (Very Good)
16
21%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
22
28%
7.5 (Decent)
12
15%
7.0 (Average at Best)
3
4%
6.5 (Not So Good)
2
3%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
1
1%
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 78

Message
Author
MaximRecoil
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 303
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 1:10 pm
Location: Maine, USA

#21 Post by MaximRecoil »

Are the seats in that particular model of Jaguar really that high in relation to the top of the windshield, or did they have Selleck sit on something (e.g. a stack of books, cushion, whatever) just to create the comedic effect of him looking way too tall for the car? I remember Selleck saying in a TV interview (on David Letterman's show perhaps) many years ago that him driving around in that little Ferrari was supposed to be a joke, because of his size relative to how small the car was. But in the case of the Ferrari the effect is minor, not even close to how cartoonish it looked when he was driving that Jaguar.

I'm 6'2, only 2" shorter than Selleck, and I've never even been close to being too tall for any vehicle I've ever driven.

Also, I loved the scene where Magnum was apparently driving the Jaguar, and then the camera zooms out to show that he's actually being towed on a flat trailer. The scene was also ironic in that they basically just pulled back the veil on the usual method of filming driving scenes when they want to show a closeup of the actual actor (rather than a stuntman in a zoomed out shot where he isn't recognizable) "driving" down a public road at a significant speed; i.e., the car is actually being towed on a low, flat trailer during such scenes.

This is a far more realistic method than the cheaper method of filming the actor sitting in a "buck" in the studio with the passing scenery projected onto a screen. For example, in the early Georgia episodes of the very car/driving centric show "The Dukes of Hazzard", the closeup driving scenes featuring Schneider and Wopat were done in a car on a trailer being towed down real roads. After they moved to a Warner Bros. backlot in Hollywood, they went with the cheaper (and cheesy looking) studio buck method, like so:

Image

Fortunately, MPI never used that cheap method.

User avatar
Doc Fred
Admiral
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:00 am
Location: Pinehurst, NC

Re:

#22 Post by Doc Fred »

[quote="J.J. Walters"]And Ms. Jones, the "Hall of Records" clerk, makes another all too brief appearance.[/quote]

Throughout the series, after seeing her a few times, I kinda figured Magnum would eventually date her... I was surprised that never happened...

User avatar
Doc Fred
Admiral
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:00 am
Location: Pinehurst, NC

Re:

#23 Post by Doc Fred »

Tuan Vu wrote:This was a pretty good episode, with the outcome of the trial in doubt and the verdit never revealed at the end. I wanted to see how it ended! :cry:

Anyway, I thought it was interesting what that sleazy defense lawyer told Magnum when he said that he wasn't concerned whether his client was guilty or not, but that his job was just to make sure he wasn't convicted. Being a defense lawyer must pose a lot of ethical challenges for those in that profession.

Also, I loved the scene where the defense lawyer, Aldridge, tries to bribe Magnum to stop investigating the case, and Magnum makes fun of the situation by asking him whether there are any other cases he would like Magnum "not to investigate", and how much he would pay him for "not investigating" because he could spend a lot of time "not investigating." Very funny! :lol:

Finally, it was nice to see many scenes filmed in front of Aliiolani Hale Image, which is the building that houses the Hawaii State Supreme Court. There is a time capsule buried somewhere beneath the building by King Kamehameha V back in 1872, and contains photos of the royal family, Hawaiian coins, the Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom, newspapers and books. However, to dig it up would damage the structural integrity of the building, so it has not been disturbed.
Great comments, Tuan. Personally, I'm very satisfied with how Magnum handled things and that the guy on trial wasn't going to be exonerated because of the tape. As others have said, in the totality of things, justice was done... or appeared like it would be done.

I usually like watching the times when Higgy Baby and Magnum have their disputes and the consequences of them, but not this time. I thought the parts about the Jag that Magnum bought and the destructions of the flowers were pretty bad.

Mostly, Tuan, I want to thank you for the history about the artifacts buried under building. I thought that was fascinating. Perhaps in time, engineering will advance to the point where the artifacts will be recovered without damaging the building. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I suspect the state of Hawaii and the people of Hawaii would surely treasure what's in the capsule, and display the contents in an important place.... a true piece of history.

Seaver41
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 388
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:46 pm

Re:

#24 Post by Seaver41 »

miltontheripper wrote:I have to admit I had never liked this episode a whole lot in the past but while watching it again yesterday I thought it was much better than previous viewings. I do like the episode's featuring Carol and this actually was a pretty intense episode with the ultimate morality check for TM. Overall a pretty decent episode for me.

A common thought I have as I watch these shows 30 years later again.Being a teenager then you see the world in general through a much narrower scope than as an adult......and now the impact is different from different episodes. That's been part of the fun for me......seeing things I have forgotten over time and looking at things differently.

I enjoyed this episode. It makes you think. I have to believe the verdict was guilty. Carol had said they had overwhelming circumstantial evidence and the sleazy attorney destroyed his own client's alibi.....so IMO Magnum gets to ride off into the sunset with a smug smile on his face. That is how i believe the writers wanted to leave the viewers(or maybe they simply left it up for grabs for either outcome the viewer imagines).

marlboro
Baron Of GIFs
Posts: 655
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:31 pm

Re:

#25 Post by marlboro »

Very strong episode. i thought they did a very good job of posing a difficult moral question and finding a fairly satisfactory way of wrapping the story up. It was a bit of a copout, but a satisfying one. Justice was (likely) served and Magnum still kept his hands clean.

A question for you guys: How would you have felt if Magnum had played the tape without interruption and exonerated the defendant?





Sisophous wrote:I did not care much for this episode when I viewed it the first time but now that I saw it again it is very good.

Carol really destroys episodes for me but she is more low key and less abrasive in this episode. She does manage to nearly get Magnum killed while running red lights. You have to ask yourself is that a wig on her head or is it a birds nest? I know the 80s had a lot of funky, bad hair but this looks ridiculous.

Image

Her hairstyle is very... unfortunate. I always feel like a hypocrite when criticizing someone much better looking than I am about their looks or fashion sense, but, damn, that is a bad hairdo. Disclaimer: I am a hideous freak and even though the actress that plays her is probably 60 years old she is likely still out of my league.


I too dislike the Carol character. She is a bit obnoxious.

I wish they had used Lieutenant Tanaka a bit more instead of her. Have him occasionally enlist Magnum's aid when his own hands were tied by official red tape.

Neil Peel
Lieutenant
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Sep 09, 2013 8:23 pm

Re: Blind Justice (5.7)

#26 Post by Neil Peel »

I may be completely wrong but I venture to suggest that the photograph's of Debbie Carrington, provided by her mother Ann, are actually of a younger Kathleen Lloyd. Thoughts anyone?

User avatar
Milton Collins
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 262
Joined: Mon May 19, 2014 8:16 pm

Re: Blind Justice (5.7)

#27 Post by Milton Collins »

Ok so here again we see the actor who is playing "Willie K", this guy has also been in Kapu (the angry Hawaiian who didn't want Magnum there) and The Kona Winds (the guy who brings Magnum the pitcher of booze in Rick's office). And I think he has been in some others too. I just find it funny that the same guy was used in so many different roles in different episodes. A good episode over all. I always like the one's with Carol, great supporting character! Did anyone else find Rick's wwwaaayyyyyy overdone excitement at introducing Willie K to TM absolute hilarious? (Hey bra, HEY BRA!!). That's a big reason this show is so awesome, it can at times be very funny without trying to be. Just my opinion:)

User avatar
Milton Collins
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 262
Joined: Mon May 19, 2014 8:16 pm

Re: Blind Justice (5.7)

#28 Post by Milton Collins »

Neil Peel wrote:I may be completely wrong but I venture to suggest that the photograph's of Debbie Carrington, provided by her mother Ann, are actually of a younger Kathleen Lloyd. Thoughts anyone?





YES!!!! I thought the exact same thing.

Dave Anderson
Rear Admiral
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2014 10:20 pm

Re: Blind Justice (5.7)

#29 Post by Dave Anderson »

I didn't understand this episode. The ending didn't make sense. What was on the rest of the tape that got erased? I will need to watch this again, but wasn't the tape doctored to add the "...I did it before and I'll do it again" line? If so, we still don't know if the guy was actually guilty of the first murder. Again, I may be wrong on that, doing this from memory. I will re-watch to be sure. All in all, I did not care for this episode. It tried way too hard to be profound and dramatic, and came up short.

marlboro
Baron Of GIFs
Posts: 655
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:31 pm

Re: Blind Justice (5.7)

#30 Post by marlboro »

The tape would have exonerated him. Ironically, his lawyer destroyed it because he feared that it was evidence against his client.

Dave Anderson
Rear Admiral
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2014 10:20 pm

Re: Blind Justice (5.7)

#31 Post by Dave Anderson »

I was right, we do not hear the line "I got away with it once, I'll do it again" at the start of the show. This means the tape was doctored to add that, so we still have no proof he killed his first wife.

The more I think about it, this episode seems better and more profound, although on the other hand its possible they just ran out of time to tie up the loose ends. I'm not really sure.

marlboro
Baron Of GIFs
Posts: 655
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:31 pm

Re: Blind Justice (5.7)

#32 Post by marlboro »

I think that indicates that the tape was rolling past the point where the audience was viewing the scene. If it was doctored, it would eliminate the moral dilemma that the episode centers around. Which seems unlikely.

Dave Anderson
Rear Admiral
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2014 10:20 pm

Re: Blind Justice (5.7)

#33 Post by Dave Anderson »

marlboro wrote:I think that indicates that the tape was rolling past the point where the audience was viewing the scene. If it was doctored, it would eliminate the moral dilemma that the episode centers around. Which seems unlikely.
I will watch it again when I get the chance, but I believe we see the guy leaving the house without saying "I got away with it once, I'll do it again." That means he couldn't have said it. Even the tape sounds a bit like they added it.

Dave Anderson
Rear Admiral
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2014 10:20 pm

Re: Blind Justice (5.7)

#34 Post by Dave Anderson »

Ok, I checked one more time. At the start of the show we do not hear him saying "I did it before, I'll do it again." The scene cuts to him leaving the house before that portion of the tape. Its unclear whether he actually said it or not. Its possible he did, and its possible the tape was later doctored to add it. I'm not sure if that was the intent of the writers or simply an oversight, but as it is its open to interpretation whether he said it or not.

I always assumed he didn't say it and the tape was doctored by the woman's mother. In fact, I always took that as a given. The mother doctored the photographs so why not the tape? They were obviously a wealthy family and she could have found someone with good voice over skills to imitate the sound of the guy's voice. If you listen to the tape play back scenes there seems to be something funny about that line in terms of the overall rhythm of the dialogue, which also always indicated to me the tape was doctored.

Further, even if he said it its not absolute proof he killed the first wife. Perhaps he had previously tried to intimidate the second wife by telling her he killed the first wife. Just because someone says something casually in a private conversation doesn't mean they aren't lying. I stand by my interpretation that we don't know for sure whether he killed the first wife, all we know is that he hit and pushed the second wife on at least one occasion (which we saw at the start of the episode).

Dave Anderson
Rear Admiral
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2014 10:20 pm

Re: Blind Justice (5.7)

#35 Post by Dave Anderson »

marlboro wrote:I think that indicates that the tape was rolling past the point where the audience was viewing the scene. If it was doctored, it would eliminate the moral dilemma that the episode centers around. Which seems unlikely.
It may eliminate the moral dilemma to an extent but also make it even more muddled which could make the ending even more open to interpretation of the viewer. Perhaps they wanted to see if anyone noticed this, or maybe it was unintentional.

Post Reply