Summer School (6.13)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the sixth season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
1
1%
9.5 (One of the Best)
3
3%
9.0 (Excellent)
10
11%
8.5 (Very Good)
21
23%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
18
20%
7.5 (Decent)
19
21%
7.0 (Average at Best)
5
6%
6.5 (Not So Good)
5
6%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
6
7%
5.0 (Just Awful)
2
2%
 
Total votes: 90

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Doc Ibold
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#11 Post by Doc Ibold »

Yeah,

RJ was pretty much a punk right up until the end, and really did little else besides make Magnum and Higgins life difficult.

If you were going to put this and Murder 101 side to side, I'd take Murder 101, simply for the fact that it's RJ-less.

RJMasters
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#12 Post by RJMasters »

Actually, Murder 101, if I remember correctly, reminded me the other Summer School, the movie with Mark Harmon. 8)

That green Ferrari, was that a factory original colour? Did Ferrari actually make forest green Ferraris? *queasy*

Now a forest green Jeep! Or a nice yellow (or black or red) Corvette Stingray. Now that would be more this RJ's style. :D

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lutherhgillis
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#13 Post by lutherhgillis »

Respectfully,

I think you guys are missing the point. If RJ had been a good kid and never got into mischief, there would have been no point in making the episode. After all, Higgins was to teach RJ some discipline. Its also a little funny if you think about RJ as a young anti-Magnum the same way Luther was an old anti-Magnum. Shure RJ was a brat, but I believe he learned a lesson at the end (despite selling Robin's Ferrari for cash- which could not happen without proper title being signed over to the buyer). Oh well, thanks for the lively discussion...

LHG

Jodykmg365
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#14 Post by Jodykmg365 »

This is one of my favorite episodes. I thought R.J. was just adorable. He sure knew how to get into trouble. However, if he was 20 years old, what was he still doing in boarding school?

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MPS
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#15 Post by MPS »

Can't say this was a great episode. Never got to the end of it. On the subect of Ferarri colors however, Forest Green (or Verde Mugello) is actually a stock color. Don't know if it was available for the 308 GTS.

Here is a link to the various colors. We seem to buy a rather limited selection in the US.

http://www.nwrfca.org/faq/colors.html
Higgins: You've washed the car?! How extraordinary. Why would you do such a thing?

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Carmen
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#16 Post by Carmen »

starting in 1975 with the 308 GTBi and 1977 with the 308 GTSi, Ferrari build the that far best selling new Ferraris. They where available in many different colors. IMO Ferrari made way too many 308 and 328 types, for example they only made 1300 365GTB (Daytona Berlinetta and Spyder), only 500 365GTC/4 and only 39!! 250 GTO. in over 12 years they produced thousands of the 308 types It wasn`t something very exclusive to own one of the 308s.
*ouch, don`t throw tomatoes at me*
but to come to the point I wanted to say, green, red, yellow and black where always available colors. The first Ferraris where build for racing in 1947 when each country had their own color for the race. British cars where green, Italians where red, that`s why most Ferraris are red.
Sometimes I get so lucky, even I don`t believe it (TSM)

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MPS
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#17 Post by MPS »

I have to agree with you on the large number of 308's produced (Absolutely no tomatoes from this writer :D )

The first new 308 I saw on the street was owned by the son of a neighbor, early 30's; had a wife and baby he used to drive around with. He would bring it to visit his folks on Sunday. Figured if a "regular guy" in his 30's could buy it, it was (relatively) accessable. :wink:

Have a neighbor now who took delivery of an Enzo a while back....that one rasied a lot of eyebrows!!
Higgins: You've washed the car?! How extraordinary. Why would you do such a thing?

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Carmen
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#18 Post by Carmen »

Hmmmm an Enzo!!! Now THAT one is a real Ferrari!!
2 more facts about Ferraris:
1. Ferrari only sells to men, so a woman can only get one as a gift *G*

2. to drive a 12cylinder Ferrari like a Testarossa, F40, F50 and so on you have to push the clutch with about 40 kg (nearly 100 pounds)

3. I`d never bee able to drive one cause of No. 2 :cry:
Sometimes I get so lucky, even I don`t believe it (TSM)

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MPS
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#19 Post by MPS »

I had no idea Ferrari only sold to men :( :(

Since there is no way in the world my husband would (or could) buy one, I guess I'm out of luck.

Maybe I should make an effort to talk to the guy with the Enzo and try and get a ride :?:
Higgins: You've washed the car?! How extraordinary. Why would you do such a thing?

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Jay-Firestorm
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#20 Post by Jay-Firestorm »

Previously it wasn’t one of my favourites, but now I really like this episode. Have I been too hard on the sixth season all these years?

[rating=9.5]

Robin Masters’ brash nephew R.J. arrives on the Estate to be tutored by Higgins, after being thrown out of a number of expensive schools. But R.J. instead impersonates Magnum and takes on a dangerous murder case. A really fun episode…

-----

This review contains spoilers.

I’m seriously starting to think that I’ve been too hard on the sixth season for all these years. I’ve often cited it along with the fifth season as being the worst of MPI. Indeed, the fifth season is poor, but season six actually has a number of good episodes – and this is one of them.

I really like the character of R.J., who is well played by Tate Donovan. While he is brash, thankfully the writers didn’t make him completely dislikeable; he has a wild streak, but is not completely bad intentioned.

What is particularly fun about this episode is how R.J. really turns into a young Magnum – he drives a Ferrari (in this case green, license plate Robin 23), wears a loud Hawaiian shirt and baseball cap (he supports the Blue Jays), and in a nice touch, where Magnum often massages his left shoulder from a wound, R.J. is seem working his right arm in similar fashion.
R.J. is very similar to the younger Magnum we saw in earlier seasons of the show – carefree, and not afraid to smart-talk back to Higgins.

A nice touch is when R.J. is looking through a scrapbook of cuttings of Magnum’s previous cases – the headline ‘P.I. Thomas Magnum Foils Hotel Robbery’ is a reference to ‘The Hotel Dick’ earlier this season. (The second headline seen, ‘Local P.I. Busts Drug Ring’, could be a reference to a number of previous episodes). Coming from the era when many TV shows effectively hit reset after each episode, it is nice to see some continuity.

This episode presumably was filmed after the producers re-secured use of the Anderson Estate for external shots (or it was filmed before it was unavailable), as the Estate features a lot in this story.

For car fans, the vehicle that the episode’s bad guys drive around in is silver 1984 Trans-Am, almost identical to the black 1982 Trans-Am used for (the original) ‘Knight Rider’. (Another interesting KR connection is that bad guy Jack is played by Michael MacRae, who played one of the two vagrants who reactivated K.I.T.T.’s evil prototype K.A.R.R. in the classic ‘Trust Doesn’t Rust’).

Anyway, back to MPI… I really like this story. After R.J.’s cover is blown, the remainder of the story is slightly disappointing. There is some confusing idea about Rick posing as the man the hitmen are after, in order to free the captured Higgins, but this never really feels that well structured, other than to – of course – give R.J. the obligatory chance to prove himself and save Higgins.

But that is my only really niggle with this episode. Other than that, I find it extremely enjoyable and well rounded – in fact, it could easily have come from the show’s ‘golden years’ in the third or fourth season. It’s a real shame that R.J. never made a return visit.

-----

Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* Well, I’ll skip the obligatory ‘act breaks abridged’, ‘cos that seems to be the case on most DVD episodes at this state… but after wondering what vehicle Magnum was briefly seen driving in the previous episode, ‘I Never Wanted to Go to France, Anyway…’, it is seen in the background of the Estate here. I presume it is another upgrade to the Jimmy, Robin 3, making it the third version seen on the show.

* As mentioned in my review, one small but likable touch I really liked, in keeping with R.J. ‘becoming Mangum’, was how he worked his right shoulder, much in keeping with how T.M. often massages his left shoulder.

* The episode features a Michael MacRae, and a Meredith MacRae… I wonder if they’re related?
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Bes
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#21 Post by Bes »

This episode is one of the worst IMO.

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steveadl
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#22 Post by steveadl »

Just watched this episode - I quite liked it!

The dialogue between RJ & Thomas at 27:00 was hillarious - seeing Magnum's indignation and reaction to RJ's smart mouth. :D

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Coops
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#23 Post by Coops »

Come guys, the color pick is obvious!

What's the opposite of bright red? That's right! Dark green!

See how easy that was?

Oh, and I'll take a 308 in ANY color, preferrably WHITE!

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lutherhgillis
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#24 Post by lutherhgillis »

Thanks, Coops. I'll take a white one also.

As far as the green 308 goes, RJ was a PI wannabe therefore he was green. Magnum was mature therefore 'ripe' and drove a read 308...
Who's Dot Matrix, and what has she got to do with this?

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Coops
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#25 Post by Coops »

Ahh, good point LG!
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