Mac's Back (5.3)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the fifth season

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How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
14
12%
9.5 (One of the Best)
18
15%
9.0 (Excellent)
49
42%
8.5 (Very Good)
17
15%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
8
7%
7.5 (Decent)
5
4%
7.0 (Average at Best)
2
2%
6.5 (Not So Good)
3
3%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
0
No votes
5.0 (Just Awful)
1
1%
 
Total votes: 117

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MaiTaiMan
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#51 Post by MaiTaiMan »

Coops wrote:NM = Nevermind. I had posted something but then realised it was redundant so I edited it to "NM".
Gotcha! :) I only abbreviate when texting...and even then only with some things. So, I don't know all of them...I'm sort of old fashioned in some ways.
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miltontheripper
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#52 Post by miltontheripper »

Season five starts out with a bang in my opinion. Echos of the mind 1 and 2 is def great and then this one, especially the beginning. I'm way younger than the Vietnam era but think that it makes Magnum very human to show him dealing with all the tragedy's in his life. Of course it's far fetched to see Jeff McKay as "fake Mac" but I really don't mind his character and even later on, pretty humorous really! Even though you have to despise him as a Magnum fan any episode with Buck Green is interesting and in most all cases really good because of their rivalry. I like this one for sure!

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#53 Post by MaiTaiMan »

miltontheripper wrote:Season five starts out with a bang in my opinion. Echos of the mind 1 and 2 is def great and then this one, especially the beginning. I'm way younger than the Vietnam era but think that it makes Magnum very human to show him dealing with all the tragedy's in his life. Of course it's far fetched to see Jeff McKay as "fake Mac" but I really don't mind his character and even later on, pretty humorous really! Even though you have to despise him as a Magnum fan any episode with Buck Green is interesting and in most all cases really good because of their rivalry. I like this one for sure!
Totally agree about "Echoes" being great!! However, this one is not really one of my favorites of the season. Don't really care for the "Fake" Mac...however, the beginning is awesome and I agree that although you despise Buck Green--the episodes featuring him usually are interesting, especially with the rivalry between Magnum and him...and how Magnum will handle it in whichever episode it is.
"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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#54 Post by Croix de Lorraine »

I'm split about this one. I think the bit about Magnum fighting his demons is quite poignant, but on the other hand, the whole fake Mac malarky is just farcical. You can see they were desperately trying to shoehorn Jeff McKay back into the show. Not even the actors seem convinced about their lines.

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#55 Post by MaximRecoil »

Has any TV show or movie ever done the "letting himself go" beard correctly? This device has been used countless times in movies and TV shows to suggest that a character has been so depressed or preoccupied with something that he hasn't bothered to shave, and for other reasons such as prisoner of war, stranded on an island, been in a coma, or whatever.

It seems that every time this device is used, the guy's neck is clean-shaven however:

Image

A clean-shaven neck defeats the purpose of a "down and out beard" device, i.e., they have to have shaved that morning in order to have a clean-shaven neck; the rest of the beard notwithstanding.

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#56 Post by J.J. Walters »

Um, do most guys shave their neck? I sure don't! Nothin' grows there. ;) I guess one could argue that a guy like Selleck/Magnum, what with that epic stache and all, probably has neck hair that needs a periodic shaving. But even then... maybe he started to shave, finished his neck and then (because of his depression and drunkenness) just quit and said, "Ah, the hell with it," and went back outside to drink some more. It's possible. :)
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#57 Post by MaximRecoil »

J.J. Walters wrote:Um, do most guys shave their neck? I sure don't! Nothin' grows there. ;) I guess one could argue that a guy like Selleck/Magnum, what with that epic stache and all, probably has neck hair that needs a periodic shaving.
Your beard stops growing right at the point that the underside of your jaw transitions to the top of your neck, i.e., in the exact same place that most people who wear a beard shave their neck up to?

Facial hair usually grows on the front of the neck, at least down to the middle of the Adam's apple, like in this picture - link. And with as hairy as Selleck is, I would expect his unkempt facial hair to grow more like the guy's in the following picture if he went without shaving - link. Also note how high the stubble extends on his cheeks; this is typical with especially hairy guys like Tom Selleck or Chuck Norris.
But even then... maybe he started to shave, finished his neck and then (because of his depression and drunkenness) just quit and said, "Ah, the hell with it," and went back outside to drink some more. It's possible. :)
Yeah, it's possible, but consider this: Magnum uses a safety razor to shave daily with, like most everyone else does (as seen in "I Do?" [3.17]). I can't imagine anyone attempting to shave off a full beard with a safety razor; that's a recipe for cuts and a repeatedly clogged razor. Most people these days remove a full beard with an electric trimmer, which brings it down to the level of stubble, and then they finish by clean shaving the stubble with a safety razor. With that in mind, it would suggest that—on that particular morning—he trimmed off the full beard growth on his neck (and upper cheeks) with a trimmer, and then clean shaved those areas with a safety razor. That sounds more like someone who is intending to maintain borders on a beard than someone who intended to shave it all off and then just quit.

The problem lies in production. They are the ones that slapped that fake beard on Selleck's face, in the fashion of a classic beard with defined borders, no less. I've seen this done countless times in various movies and TV shows.

People like Selleck tend to grow facial hair very quickly; in fact, the term "five o'clock shadow" exists because of people like him, i.e., they shave in the morning and by the end of the work day, they have visible stubble again. So give someone like him a couple of weeks without any shaving at all, and you have an authentic beard with no defined borders, which helps the believability of the scene.

ETA: Speaking of "I Do?" (3.17), note that Selleck applies shaving cream down the front of his neck to the bottom of his Adam's apple (and high on his cheeks). In fact, the point at which he pretends to cut himself is on his neck. It is safe to assume that he applied the shaving cream and went through the shaving motions for that scene, in the same manner that he had done in real life every morning for the past ~20 years.

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Re: Mac's Back (5.3)

#58 Post by Stelth »

I enjoyed this episode. "Mac" returning is a weird quirk but details like that are what makes MPI a great show.

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#59 Post by ConchRepublican »

MaximRecoil wrote:Has any TV show or movie ever done the "letting himself go" beard correctly? ...
A clean-shaven neck defeats the purpose of a "down and out beard" device, i.e., they have to have shaved that morning in order to have a clean-shaven neck; the rest of the beard notwithstanding.
Or . . . the slower growing neck stubble got too itchy and he just rough edged the bottom. He could be in the "I could give a flip about everyone" mode but I could see him getting into a snit about the heat and humidity irritating him so he just stomps off to the bathroom and 4 upstrokes the neck, dry, and throws the Bic in the sink where it bounces out onto the floor . . .

. . . in fact I think that's a scene that was cut in final editing. :-)
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#60 Post by Stelth »

ConchRepublican wrote:
MaximRecoil wrote:Has any TV show or movie ever done the "letting himself go" beard correctly? ...
A clean-shaven neck defeats the purpose of a "down and out beard" device, i.e., they have to have shaved that morning in order to have a clean-shaven neck; the rest of the beard notwithstanding.
Or . . . the slower growing neck stubble got too itchy and he just rough edged the bottom. He could be in the "I could give a flip about everyone" mode but I could see him getting into a snit about the heat and humidity irritating him so he just stomps off to the bathroom and 4 upstrokes the neck, dry, and throws the Bic in the sink where it bounces out onto the floor . . .

. . . in fact I think that's a scene that was cut in final editing. :-)
That's what I do... neck stubble is maddeningly itchy.

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Re: Mac's Back (5.3)

#61 Post by Kevster »

I agree with the neckhair/beard, but the striking part of the look TS had were the red eyes... They were very red and irritated. Better than most 80's shows!!!!
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Re: Mac's Back (5.3)

#62 Post by Seaver41 »

Wow....talk about a change of heart. I HATED this episode long ago because I wanted the real Mac...and even though he blew up, this show has tripped the limits of the imagination on occasion. Hell, i was a teenager then so it was wishful thinking. Jim Bonnick is not a good character.........NOW......knowing the fullrun of the show and how the real Mac still played a role down the road......I loved watching this over the weekend (back on my Magnum kick). I forgot just how powerful this episode truly was.....and of course the perfect ending of seeing Mac and then the 4th wall broken. I love those moments.

It is so cool now to see these episodes after so much time and be able to see them in a different light. Some transcend the years the same, but this is one that is a 'feel-good' because we do get the real Mac.

There were some good liones in this as well........I chuckled when Buck Green, Mr Macho himself mentioned it gave him goosebumps to see the resemblance. Maybe the most lasting memory of a line was Magnum replying to Higgins when he asked wouldn't whiskey do the trick faster......and Magnum replies "...it's easier to maintain a buzz with beer" Being a beer lover myself, it's one of those fist pump moments.

I thought the writers did a great job of handling Magnum on the edge...........maybe a not so direct look at post traumatic syndrome.

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Re: Mac's Back (5.3)

#63 Post by charybdis1966 »

I watched this straight after Echoes of the Mind and of course the series continuity and a minor story arc(the aftermath of Diane Dupres suicide) is well served here.

The only thing I have to add is that the plot mechanism for reintroducing a Mac "looking" character was rather clunky; I'd rather he actually was Mac or Magnum was hallucinating, and as for Jim Bonnick saying "you can call me Mac", I had to cringe.

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Re: Mac's Back (5.3)

#64 Post by marlboro »

I like tha actor, but not enough to want to see him reintroduce into the series they way they did. I think they should have only used Jeff Mackay in fllashback or prequel episodes. I really wish they had done more of those type of episodes. "Dream A Little Dream" was the only one, right?

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Re: Mac's Back (5.3)

#65 Post by charybdis1966 »

marlboro wrote:I like tha actor, but not enough to want to see him reintroduce into the series they way they did. I think they should have only used Jeff Mackay in fllashback or prequel episodes.
That's a good idea, it would have filled out the backstory of the main characters nicely.

The flashback idea was under used IMHO.

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