Torah, Torah, Torah (5.21)

[J.J. Walters]

This is the official MM thread for Torah, Torah, Torah (5.21). All discussions and reviews for this episode should go here. If you wish to rate the episode, please do so with the poll. The avg. score will be the official 'community rating', which will be used on the episode page (updated monthly).

This thread is also linked in the episode page of the Episode Guide.

Original Air Date: 3/28/1985
The violent theft of a sacred Torah has Magnum and Rabbi Asher Solomon on a hunt where they will encounter death, destruction and double-dealing on their way to the priceless artifact.

[N1095A]

New footage of the Ferrari driving along the costal highway is uused. Previous stock footage showed an older Ferrari with a black windshield frame. Notice the red windshield frame of the '84 model in this new footage.

While in the guest house, Higgins explains that he needs Magnum to pick up a friend of his at the airport. He further explains that he is unable to do it himself because he is needed for urgent business on the north shore. This would contradict the implied location of the estate, as it has been inferred that the estate is located on the north shore.

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"But Higgins, I can explain."

[Sam]

James,

I liked this episode mainly because I've been a fan of Nehemiah Persoff.A good character actor with a long list of credits mostly as a heavy.So the role of Rabbi Asher Solomon was a departure from his usual roles.

He retired in 1999 and now spents his days painting.You can see his paintings on his web page.

http://www.nehemiahpersoffpaintings.com/

[J.J. Walters]

"There will always be a little piece of Higgins in the Torah".

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

[IslandHopper]

[Tralfaz]

I can't tell but it looks like that when the Ferrari is rammed early in the episode that the prop men applied some sort of crinkled plastic sheet or paper to the Ferrari to simulate the crushed metal

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"..outasight!.." - Tyler Peabody McKinney

[Tralfaz]

Isn't Mr Shelby's house the same one used in the Sixth Position?

It appears about 3/4 of a way thru the episode. Magnum and Rabbi Salomon speak to him while he is practicing putting.


Here is the thread with RC's detailed pics from Sixth position

http://magnum-mania.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?t=98&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=10

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"..outasight!.." - Tyler Peabody McKinney

[Tralfaz]

One last silly thing. When you visit the Byodo In temple you can ring the same bell as the monk in this episode.....it sounds nothing like what was dubbed in post production. (Which sounds more like a gong or large cymbal) Too Bad really..

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"..outasight!.." - Tyler Peabody McKinney

[rubber chicken]

You are correct about Mr. Shelby's house Tralfaz, nice find! A few pictures:

The features of the roof can be recognized in google earth here.


And Magnum walked around this area in The Sixth Position. What a place to live.

[Jay-Firestorm]

Another weaker episode. The only thing I like about it is Rabbi Solomon. A shorter review than usual from me – I just don’t have so much to say about these weaker stories.

[rating=7.5]

Higgins asks Magnum to collect an old friend, Rabbi Asher Solomon, from the airport, but on the drive back, they are ambushed, and the Rabbi’s sacred Torah is snatched. The pair team up to find the priceless artefact. Weak story saved by a good guest character…

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Well, we’re nearing the end of the fifth season now, and ‘Torah, Torah, Torah’ sadly doesn’t break the season’s mould of being mostly quite sub par and disappointing, especially when compared to the quality of the first four seasons.

The only decent thing about this episode is the weekly ‘guest character’, Rabbi Asher Solomon, well played by Nehemiah Persoff. The Rabbi is a likable character, and is the only saving grace about this otherwise routine and uninspiring outing. Rabbi Solomon’s moments – particularly when he tells Magnum of how he first met Higgins – are the only little touches that save this one from totally plummeting.

Other than the interest of the Torah being grabbed, the plot plods on through the paces, having little of real interest and having an almost generic feel to it. This is a real shame – in earlier seasons, ‘Magnum, p.i.’ had its own real identity and character, but with episodes like these… they could just have easily come from any standard detective series of the day.

As I have said for a number of fifth season episodes, many of the stories might have made decent ‘filler’ episodes to other seasons, but so many of them in a row at once really saw the show’s quality dip, which is a real shame, because I still really love the show overall.

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Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* The opening trailer has a little used alternate version of the opening trailer theme. Unless I’m much mistaken, the only two instances it has been used previously is on the fourth season’s ‘Home From The Sea’ and ‘Luther Gillis: File #521’.

* Just something that made me laugh – T.C. even has an Island Hoppers cooking apron! (Maybe it was just me who found it amusing)

* I’m not sure if this is a flub or just down to the angle of shots – when Magnum and the Rabbi are ambushed in the Ferrari, the windshield smashes on the Rabbi’s side. Yet in shots afterwards, looking at the Rabbi from Magnum’s side of the Ferrari, the windshield doesn’t appear to be broken.

* Rick only appears in one scene in this story.

* Just to get REALLY trivial… Lt. Tanaka wears different glasses in this episode than in his previous appearances. …I have WAY too much time on my hands!

* When Rabbi Soloman tells Magnum that it is nearly the Sabbath, and that he will walk back to the Estate, Magnum says he will join him – but Magnum doesn’t lock the car, and even appears to leave one of the windows down. Aren’t there car thieves in Hawaii? (Not that it matters all that much, as a few seconds later, the car explodes anyway!)

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JAY FIRESTORM

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

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