I really kinda liked this one. It had some silly points but also a plot that moved along well IMHO. It never really developed why the plutonium was involved but I guess in the end it didn't matter.
I also noticed as previously mentioned all the helicopter changes in the beginning flight with the honeymoon couple. I was like, wow! Long skids, short skids, V-tail, T-tail...I think they used ever helicopter they had in the series on this one!
Also right before TC's helicopter is shot you see him pass right by the Island Hopper's pier. Don't know if this was just stock footage or really meant to be in the shot but at that distance, he could have easily disengaged and auto rotated down to his OWN landing pad. In the beginning it seemed to me that they made the crash look like it was far from shore but then at the end you see Rick on the King Kam waving at the cop on the pier a few hundred yards away so I'm kinda lost at that one???
Also the diving parts interested me as a SCUBA diver for the last 20 years. First they were diving at 15 fathoms or 90 feet. Now being that this took place back in the mid 80's (84 if I recall correctly) and Magnum being a former Navy SEAL, he would've most likely been diving off Navy dive tables to establish his bottom time(s) of the dive(s).
Now since they were using what appeared to me to be a standard 80 cu. ft. single tank, and they didn't hang any other tanks at any preset depths that we saw, one would have to assume that they were doing no decompression dives at that time. Now I don't have or know what the Navy dive tables at that time said for a 90 foot dive. I'm sure they were not as safe as today's and may have given them some additional minutes in bottom time. (Note: As some may or may not know, the way the Navy "originally" came up with the bottom time limits for depths, which became the basis of all "recreational" dive time limits was quite scary and not something I would have wanted to volunteer for! "Oh...he got bent at 90 feet for 30 minutes...hummm....let's try another diver at 90 feet for...say....I donno.....25 minutes.....and see what happens to him?")
According to today's NAUI dive tables, which were around in the mid 80's as well but may or may not have given the same bottom times, a 90 foot dive (using standard 21%/79% of O2/Nitrogen) gives a diver a max no decompression limit of 25 minutes. Click --->
here. Now that is supposed to be the total time of the dive from decent to accent for safety's sake. This was before "recreational" NITROX (Nitrogen/Oxygen mixture different from standard mix usually allowing for more O2 and less N2 for more bottom time but less depth), TRIMIX (Oxygen, Nitrogen, Helium mix for really deep diving. Helium is substitute for O2 and N2 for deeper depth and additional dive time), or dive computers that take into account your nitrogen absorption rate at different depths of the dive and therefore give you an extended bottom time. Also at 90 feet unless your an experienced diver in good shape, which Magnum certainly was, your most likely going to be sucking up your tank before you reach your bottom time limit. Especially if you are really exerting yourself physically which was the case with the last dive and chase between Gerald and Magnum.
Two other things that were kinda silly about the dives were that, first they had no idea what they were looking for. Second, Magnum was general PI, not a helicopter pilot with NTSB trained to look for "evidence" of a helicopter crash especially at 90 feet below! There could have been 100s of different things that could have brought it down. How he, in one dive, in which he maybe had a 10/15 minutes bottom time at 90 feet [5 minutes down, 10 minutes to search, 5 minutes up and a 5 minute (if you factor that in) safety stop at 15 feet to off gas any additional nitrogen as a precaution]. So in 10-15 minutes time tops, he can find a part on the helicopter on his first dive and definitively know that it was "shot down"? That part really stretched the "suspension of disbelief" for me.
Oh and one last thing...The end fight was a bit silly too in my opinion. Why would anyone "sneak up" behind someone they are about to kill 90 feet under the water with a knife and present it to them by reaching around in front of their face with it to slit their throat? If I was going to kill Magnum and I snuck up behind him, I would have first cut his air hose right after it came off the first stage regulator at the tank, thus taking away his ability to breathe (kinda important at 90 feet under water) then I would have simultaneously ripped off his mask with my free hand to blind and disorientate him. Then lastly I would stick him with the knife while keeping him down so that he would either die by knife wound(s) or drown. And why didn't Magnum just swim to the surface and get back on the boat? Gerald would have had to come up for air at some point and he would have not been in a "tactical" position to fight Rich and Magnum by himself from the water while they were on the boat. Of course we know why, it is TV and the hero has to win.
Despite all my above criticisms, I really liked this ep. It was fun and easy to watch and just had a good flow to it. I always like eps. where the guys pull together for each other.
I feel bad for TC having to explain that one to his insurance company too! How many times at this point had his helicopter been totaled? I'd hate to pay his premiums on that thing.
The end was too funny too. All the accidents happening around/behind them and then the paint falling presumably on Higgins' head and the closing. "Oh...my...God!" Too funny and I got a good laugh. That's what I love about MPI!