Way of the Stalking Horse (6.17)

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

I liked this episode a lot. Watched it for the first time in probably 30 years last weekend. The one thing that surprised me is giving away the twist in the opening preview. Granted it happened 20 minutes in, but would have been a great twist to encounter.

Seems like this was pretty common in 80s shows - guess they wanted to make sure you knew there would be a lot of shooting in the episode.

Hi Seaman Wolfe,
I hate when TV series do those opening previews of the episode. I think by the time one reaches 40 you have seen enough television that from these previews you can pretty much
figure out the upcoming episode. The great "The Fugitive" does this to such a degree I skip over the entire opening. I also noticed that on any given drama where you are trying to
guess who the murderer is, the biggest guest star among the suspects is the guilty party, because that's the juiciest part.
For my money "Way of the Stalking Horse" is the very best Magnum episode, the director's many visual touches that enrich the plot are a big reason why. I can't wait till Selleck's
book comes out and he tells of his favorite episodes, I'd bet a case of Old Dusseldorf this one is on the list. It has some of his best acting.

[SeamanWolfe]

I would be interested to see what he has to say about Magnum. I think the people on this board want a thousand page book exclusively dedicated to Magnum.

[SeamanWolfe]

Another note on this episode - did anyone else think it was odd that Doc Eyebold could perform surgery? Maybe in am emergency but there had to be more qualified surgeons.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

Another note on this episode - did anyone else think it was odd that Doc Eyebold could perform surgery? Maybe in am emergency but there had to be more qualified surgeons.

Eyebold? Maybe he has a good eye for surgery! Anyway, it's IBOLD.

[ENSHealy]

Anyway, I noticed something which I see Jay Firestorm mentioned in a previous post (7 years ago!) - when TM leaves hospital and goes back to the guesthouse and is talking to TC in his bedroom, there's a framed photo next to his bed of a man and woman. My TV screen is very small so I can't get a good view of it, but it isn't TM and Michelle - does anyone know who it's meant to be? Also, on the mantelpiece over the fireplace in the main room is another photo of a family group - maybe TM, his mom, stepfather and never-to-be-mentioned-again-Joey?

You have great eyesight!

Pic on mantle:



I went back to "Going Home" and I think you may have nailed the origin of the picture. Magnum's mom is wearing a red and white ensemble in that episode:




The pic on the night stand:





A pic of Magnum TC and Rick in their navy dress uniforms?

The links to the pics on this old post are broken, so I thought I'd bring things back up to date.

The pic on the dresser is of Thomas, Rick and T.C. from Thomas & Michelle's wedding in Vietnam (you can find the scene they took the still for in Memories Are Forever) and the pic on the night stand is Tom Selleck's real life parents:

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Anyway, I noticed something which I see Jay Firestorm mentioned in a previous post (7 years ago!) - when TM leaves hospital and goes back to the guesthouse and is talking to TC in his bedroom, there's a framed photo next to his bed of a man and woman. My TV screen is very small so I can't get a good view of it, but it isn't TM and Michelle - does anyone know who it's meant to be? Also, on the mantelpiece over the fireplace in the main room is another photo of a family group - maybe TM, his mom, stepfather and never-to-be-mentioned-again-Joey?

You have great eyesight!

Pic on mantle:



I went back to "Going Home" and I think you may have nailed the origin of the picture. Magnum's mom is wearing a red and white ensemble in that episode:



The pic on the night stand:





A pic of Magnum TC and Rick in their navy dress uniforms?

The links to the pics on this old post are broken, so I thought I'd bring things back up to date.
The pic on the dresser is of Thomas, Rick and T.C. from Thomas & Michelle's wedding in Vietnam (you can find the scene they took the still for in Memories Are Forever) and the pic on the night stand is Tom Selleck's real life parents:

ENSHealy,
Thank you for sharing the pics. I enjoy when TV shows do stuff like planting the star's own family photos in a scene. Or on a wanted poster, the picture is of the star or a writer
from a series on another network that was competing in the same time slot.
I always thought the Wild Wild West was giving a wink to the audience when it showed photos - on a series set in the late 1860's - on the wall that were in full color.

[ENSHealy]

EPISODE: 6.17 Way of the Stalking Horse

Famous guest stars:
Hawaiian shirts: 1

Tigers Cap: 1

Island Hopper shirts:
Shirtless Magnum:
OMG:
Higgins Organizations:
Higgins musings:
Negotiations:
Gun Play: 3
Bullet wounds: 1
Little Voice:
I know what you’re thinking: 1
When I write HTBAWCPI:
Investigator corrections:
4th wall breaks:
Magnumometer: 7
Magnumometer Moments: https://vimeo.com/640675712

If Driscoll wanted to kill Thomas, why didn’t he just finish him off as he ran past him leaving Wolfe’s house after he’d already shot him the first time? He literally steps right over him.

I suppose this technically counts as a Shirtless Magnum appearance, but it’s not really in the spirit of the thing, so I didn’t give a point in the Magnumometer for it.


Is that Bellisario making a cameo at 22:00?


Wong Fat Schwartz would make a good magnum-mania username.

Magnum sure does shoot blindly around lots of corners in the climax of this one. Good thing there weren’t more hotel guests wandering about.

The teddy bear bit at the end was a bit too much on the melodramatic side for me.

[Blackmamba]

Another note on this episode - did anyone else think it was odd that Doc Eyebold could perform surgery? Maybe in am emergency but there had to be more qualified surgeons.

There was a time I would have thought the same thing, but a life threatening surgical emergency taught me differently. General surgeons are very qualified to handle many surgeries for injuries that come to an ER. Most surgical specialists aren’t available outside of their offices, even in a teaching hospital.

[charybdis1966]

I saw this episode for the first time today (only about 40 years after it was originally shown) and as many have noted it stands head and shoulders above most of season 6 (Kona Winds is a more than decent episode admittedly).
A good, dark and atmospheric episode with a plot twist - something that every good episode should have.

Even a brief scene with that wretched Baldwin woman doesn’t spoil it.