Mad Dogs and Englishmen (6.14)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the sixth season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
0
No votes
9.5 (One of the Best)
7
8%
9.0 (Excellent)
11
12%
8.5 (Very Good)
21
23%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
23
25%
7.5 (Decent)
15
16%
7.0 (Average at Best)
6
7%
6.5 (Not So Good)
4
4%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
1
1%
5.0 (Just Awful)
3
3%
 
Total votes: 91

Message
Author
User avatar
Doc Ibold
Maniac Emeritus
Posts: 1741
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:16 pm
Location: Detroit

#11 Post by Doc Ibold »

rubber chicken wrote:I'm really having trouble finding Agatha's place. Seems like it shouldn't be so hard. I'm pretty sure that the gazebo scene is a red herring, and not really at her house location.

James, if you want, you could note in the episode's pages that Agatha's home is seen in this episode, and also in Echoes of the Mind part 2. I tried searching awhile ago but couldn't find any mention of Agatha's home. ( gasp! :shock: )
Who are you and what have you done with rubber chicken?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

#12 Post by J.J. Walters »

LOL!!

:lol:
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

User avatar
rubber chicken
Master Location Sleuth
Posts: 691
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 4:53 am
Location: Great Lakes region

#13 Post by rubber chicken »

Hehe, even rubber chickens are human you know... or... well... you know what I mean. :P

User avatar
Coops
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 12:27 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

#14 Post by Coops »

Did you notice when Rick is talking to TM about the money that is owed (13 dollars and 36 dollars) he slams the phone down. This in turn sends the button face-plate flying and Rick watches in surprise as it hits what looks like glass and bounces back at the phone. Funny stuff.
Image

User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

#15 Post by J.J. Walters »

Coops, are you sure that is from this episode? I didn't see it.

Image
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

User avatar
Coops
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 515
Joined: Tue May 06, 2008 12:27 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

#16 Post by Coops »

Sorry JJW, it was from Summer School, this scene:

Image
Image

User avatar
Doc Ibold
Maniac Emeritus
Posts: 1741
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2007 8:16 pm
Location: Detroit

#17 Post by Doc Ibold »

James J. Walters wrote:Coops, are you sure that is from this episode? I didn't see it.

Image
The Higgolution will not be televised, especially with comments such as that!


:lol:

User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

#18 Post by J.J. Walters »

"Mad Dogs and Englishmen" is a Noel Coward song from the 1930s. I had no idea. I sort of stumbled upon this while reading an article about Noel. Here is Noel performing it in the 1950s.

Higgins is a big fan of Noel Coward, and is seen reading The Noel Coward Diaries in "Foiled Again".
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

User avatar
Jay-Firestorm
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 387
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 12:01 am
Location: Berkshire, United Kingdom
Contact:

#19 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

Another great ep; after I’d written my review it was interesting to read that others also felt that this could / should have been a two-parter.

[rating=9.5]

Magnum is shocked when Higgins suddenly leaves his position on the Estate, supposedly having been fired over missing valuables belonging to Robin. With a ditzy actress taking Higgins’ position, Magnum is determined to find out what’s going on. A great ep…

-----

This review contains spoilers.

‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ is an extremely good sixth season instalment of the series (and yet another strong example to convince me that I have been too down on the sixth season for all these years).

Although we all know that Higgins wouldn’t steal from Robin Masters, and that his abrupt departure must be down to something more, it is still interesting to see the story unfold. The episode is very well-rounded, and I found it engaging from start to finish.

One thing I did feel about this episode, was that it could have been made into a very good two-parter or feature-length outing. The story is definitely strong enough, and it would have allowed for more exploration into the military rebellion – with all the revelations of the episode, there was definitely more room to flesh the rebellion out more.

The leader of the rebellion is played by Michael Halsey, a regular TV guest star of the age, who often plays such slippery parts (check him out in the first season episode ‘Echoes From the Past’ of Bellisario’s ‘Airwolf’, for example). His performance in ‘Mad Dogs…’ is textbook Halsey, and it’s maybe a shame he didn’t have more to sink his teeth into (again supporting my feeling that this would have made a good two-parter).

Unless I am badly mistaken, this is the final time that we hear Robin Masters’ voice in the series. Orson Welles, who voiced Robin for most ‘appearances’, had passed away a few months before this episode was first broadcast, and after another performer, Red Crandall voiced the character in the feature-length ‘Deja Vu’ at the start of the season, here Robin is voiced by an uncredited actor.

Anyway, the story moves at a good pace, and builds to an explosive action. One of my main (of many) gripes about the previous season, was its almost complete lack of action. Thankfully, this season, while not being needlessly overblown, they started to include action in the plots again – and this surely stands as the most explosive story climax of the season. It feels a bit ‘A-Team’-ish at times (and that’s not a bad thing, speaking as a huge ‘A-Team’ fan), but for this one, it works.
(The episode’s opening trailer also heavily promotes the action element, so maybe they were starting to respond for the return of more action-based sequences).

All-in-all, this is a very decent episode, and not far from a perfect 10 in my book. One of the very best of the season.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* Well, I’m getting bored saying “the DVD version has the act breaks abridged”, ‘cos it seems to be the case for just about every episode. So instead…

* …Although we only see Robin from the back, it is obvious from the side of his face that his words do not at all match up with his mouth moving.

* When Magnum is talking to ‘the Chancellor’ on the computer, some of the replies come through far too quickly – one in particularly is a long reply that appears in a split second; no-one would be able to type that fast!

* When T.C. and Rick are flying to back up Magnum, lighting crew equipment can clearly be seen in the reflection of T.C.’s sunglasses.
JAY FIRESTORM

Facebook: Jay Gathergood / Twitter: Jay_Firestorm NEW BLOG: http://thea-teamcaptured.blogspot.com/

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!!

User avatar
Jay-Firestorm
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 387
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 12:01 am
Location: Berkshire, United Kingdom
Contact:

#20 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

Another note on this ep...

Although I don't often bother listing when stock of T.C.'s chopper is taken from the first couple of episodes (longer skids), it did stick out to me that when T.C. and Rick are on their way to give Magnum backup, all of the shots were taken from the Pilot - particularly noticeable is the shot where the chopper flies in from the bottom of the screen upwards.
JAY FIRESTORM

Facebook: Jay Gathergood / Twitter: Jay_Firestorm NEW BLOG: http://thea-teamcaptured.blogspot.com/

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!!

User avatar
steveadl
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 557
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 11:27 am
Location: An Island

#21 Post by steveadl »

RC, I think you're right - the scene with Agatha was not filmed at the same place the establishing shot of the front was taken. You can see mountain range behind the house, when they're having their discussion - presumably in the backyard - they're facing the sea. PS Agatha must have a few $$'s to have a nice place like that. :)

I agree with the others, haven't watched this episode for a while so when I watched it the other night up until about 30min mark I was still expecting it to be a double episode.

May resemble A-Team (haven't really watched much of that show yet), but the final scenes with Higgins and Magnum taking down all the enemy soldiers looks so much like the final battle scene of 'Commando' with Arnie mowing down dozens of enemy troops. :D

Enjoyed the epsiode, but felt the second half may have been a bit rushed.

User avatar
J.J. Walters
Founding Father
Posts: 4196
Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:54 pm
Location: Suburbia, USA
Contact:

#22 Post by J.J. Walters »

steveadl wrote:May resemble A-Team (haven't really watched much of that show yet), but the final scenes with Higgins and Magnum taking down all the enemy soldiers looks so much like the final battle scene of 'Commando' with Arnie mowing down dozens of enemy troops. :D
Indeed!

The only thing this episode needs is a Rae Dawn Chong. ;)
Higgins: It's not a scratch! It's a bloody gouge!

User avatar
rubber chicken
Master Location Sleuth
Posts: 691
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 4:53 am
Location: Great Lakes region

#23 Post by rubber chicken »

steveadl wrote:RC, I think you're right - the scene with Agatha was not filmed at the same place the establishing shot of the front was taken. You can see mountain range behind the house, when they're having their discussion - presumably in the backyard - they're facing the sea. PS Agatha must have a few $$'s to have a nice place like that. :)
Yep, that location was included in the last chicken guide update, as "6.14 - gazebo at Agatha Chumley's home". It took place here, at the (now demolished) Cannon Club, for Army officers. Not a bad place to have tea. :)

Image

User avatar
MaiTaiMan
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 419
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 12:43 am
Location: Mid-West

#24 Post by MaiTaiMan »

Love this episode! Total shocker at the beginning...and it only gets more interesting with Higgins' reason for leaving and getting back into the action! :wink: Awesome! :)

This has superb plot twists, action scenes, and the perfect ending...with Higgins and the "Lads"! :D

Very good, and I rated it as such.
"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"

User avatar
Frodoleader
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 441
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2007 4:47 pm
Location: Central Ohio

#25 Post by Frodoleader »

This episode was fun, but more of a "silly" fun for me. It just seemed too improbable to me that this group was capable of taking over some island chain when they could not defend against one former SEAL and an elderly British Army veteran.
One thing I thought would have been cool was if the US Army made an entrance by way of helicopter. It would have been so Viet Nam-like with Magnum, TC & Rick (along with Higgy baby) on the ground with reinforcements coming in by chopper!
"You are three months at Dak Wei and still you crack jokes?" - Ivan

Post Reply