The Black Orchid (1.16)

Rate, review & discuss the episodes from the first season

Moderator: Styles Bitchley

How Would You Rate This Episode?

10 (Perfect!)
2
2%
9.5 (One of the Best)
6
6%
9.0 (Excellent)
14
13%
8.5 (Very Good)
28
27%
8.0 (Pretty Good)
13
12%
7.5 (Decent)
17
16%
7.0 (Average at Best)
8
8%
6.5 (Not So Good)
9
9%
6.0 (Pretty Bad)
4
4%
5.0 (Just Awful)
4
4%
 
Total votes: 105

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Magnum T.
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#31 Post by Magnum T. »

Henry Lewis wrote: It crossed my mind to make that request. One of them certainly had the perfect "gear" to pull off the "snorkel shot".
I bet she's the one on the right.
"Zeus, Apollo, get out of my Ferrari!"
"Mr. Masters' Ferrari"

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Magnum T.
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#32 Post by Magnum T. »

Louise DeBolt is a young and attractive lady married to a very rich but older man.
She likes to play "games", pretending to have an adventurous life as a spy or a damsel in distress.
Her sister Christie hires Magnum to play one of those little games with Louise, but it soon becomes clear that somebody is after the woman, and not for a game.

This is one of my favourites from Season 1.
(As a general rule, I like every episode in which Magnum plays the Bogart-like p.i.).
I think this is a very good episode: it has the plot, the action, the climax twist, the humor (Mabel Dodge, the "one-eared man").
Well written, casted and performed, it's a fun to watch.

Plus: Kathryn Leigh Scott is very fascinating.
Minus: the scene where Christie is caught by TM and Wyndom Jackson. One minute she dooms her sister to death, the next she suddenly cries for her. Looks a little phoney.
Best line:
Magnum: I love your work.

Notes:
- team ring on the left hand.
- in the ending credits sequence there are a couple of deleted scenes: one is the DeBolt sisters at KKC with Higgins, the other is a smiling Magnum in his green bathrobe.
- Ray Austin, director of twelve MPI episodes (including this one) plays the role of Philippe. He will act again as Nigel Hucksby III in "Ms. Jones" (5.19), which he also directed; Judith Chapman will be back again in "The woman on the beach" (2.3) as Lisa Page/Sara Clifford; Robert Hoy (Bart) will return in "Did you see the sunrise?" (3.2), the aforementioned "Ms. Jones" and "A little bit of luck... A little bit of grief" (6.20); Robert Apisa (Kimo) will be back in "Billy Joe Bob" (2.1), "From Moscow to Maui" (2.4), "...By its cover" (3.21), "Dream a little dream" (4.20) and "Tigers fan" (8.4).

Funny thing: in a couple of scenes Tom Selleck imitates Bogart's way of talking.
"Zeus, Apollo, get out of my Ferrari!"
"Mr. Masters' Ferrari"

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Visiting Stewardess
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#33 Post by Visiting Stewardess »

Hm, I gave this quite a bad rating, I thought this was terrible. The nail in the coffin was the scene noted by Magnum T. of Christie at the end suddenly crying "Louise, Louise!"
It had a couple of funny moments ("Red! ... Red!" --- "I love your work")
but overall I thought the story based on these "games" was quite terrible.

Yes, if I was terribly rich, I'd definitely also have better things to do than play stupid games.

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Magnum T.
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#34 Post by Magnum T. »

Visiting Stewardess wrote: Yes, if I was terribly rich, I'd definitely also have better things to do than play stupid games.
Me too!
But Louise seems a person with a vivid imagination and a childish psyche.
"Zeus, Apollo, get out of my Ferrari!"
"Mr. Masters' Ferrari"

Seaver41
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#35 Post by Seaver41 »

J.J. Walters wrote:A couple of deleted scenes can be seen in the opening preview and the closing credits.

The opening preview shows Christie (in a bikini) talking to Magnum. Magnum says, "That's $500 dollars" and Christie replies, "It's called an attention-getter". This scene did not appear in the episode.

At the beginning of the closing credits, Louise and Christie are seen sitting at a table at the KKC beach bar. This scene also never happened in the episode.

Image

It's a real shame they chose to remove the only swim suit scenes involving Judith Chapman and Kathryn Leigh Scott! :(
watched it last night............and YES I agree about the scene being delted....damn

btw.......does she have the biggest blue eyes? DAMN

Seaver41
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#36 Post by Seaver41 »

I have to agree this wasn't memorable. A comfortable episode that you won't miss nor desire.

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Sisophous
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#37 Post by Sisophous »

I am winding down this entire series. Only season 1 have I not finished viewing in its entirety, all the other episodes I have seen at least twice.

This episode I felt was awful. Sometimes the script writers really stink it up and produce plots that make utterly no sense. When this opened up with Magnum, TC and Rick acting with these two nutty girls I almost turned it off it was so absurd.

I suppose Private Investigators get hired from time to time in real life to fulfill peoples fantasies and have the acting skills. I ask myself from time to time what were they thinking when they wrote the script for this episode?

On a high note, what really floored me were the sprawling estates, simply beautiful.

Buck
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#38 Post by Buck »

I like episodes from season 1. They have more scenery and views than we get in later seasons. This is a good episode.

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Re:

#39 Post by marlboro »

J.J. Walters wrote:The opening preview shows Christie (in a bikini) talking to Magnum. Magnum says, "That's $500 dollars" and Christie replies, "It's called an attention-getter". This scene did not appear in the episode.

I always skip the intros because I don't like spoilers. Maybe it's time I stopped doing that...

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Milton Collins
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#40 Post by Milton Collins »

Agatha wrote:NOT one of my favorites! The plot is jsut too contrived. Or at least I hope it's contrived. Maybe I'm just jealous. I like to think that if I had A LOT of money, I'd spend it...and my time...WAY more constructively!

:x

Good comment, I thought this was a very silly plot. All Magnum's are good (Except for Kiss of the sabre, HATE IT!) but this one is just a little far fetched for me. Rare too cause season 2 has a really good consistent string of very very good episodes!

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Milton Collins
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Re: The Black Orchid (1.16)

#41 Post by Milton Collins »

Oops! Meant season 1 not season 2 (not that season two doesn't also:))

SignGuyHPW
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Re: The Black Orchid (1.16)

#42 Post by SignGuyHPW »

This one was REALLY strange. I couldn't come up with whom had the bigger mental disorder between the sisters. Both were, clearly, not on good terms with reality. Then Magnum did not fit the profile of what was needed for the "game" yet was hired and paid triple his normal fee.

While I felt the episode was good overall it was really bizzare.They never explained a lot of why Windham would send guys with loaded guns that fired shots if he was simply looking to "scare" Magnum and his wife. It was also unexplained why the one sister wanted to murder her sister. I could only guess at there being mental illness. This was also not so much of a "case" as it was Magnum being wrapped up in some kind of play that he only half heartedly did which made it more bizzare.

I thought the show was very well acted which saved it for me. Magnum's typical determination to get answers to something despite not officially working on the matter made it kind of a strong episode. It's also one of the few times TC and Rick worked for Magnum and there wasn't any real potential danger.

marlboro
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Re: The Black Orchid (1.16)

#43 Post by marlboro »

SignGuyHPW wrote:
They never explained a lot of why Windham would send guys with loaded guns that fired shots if he was simply looking to "scare" Magnum and his wife. It was also unexplained why the one sister wanted to murder her sister. I could only guess at there being mental illness. This was also not so much of a "case" as it was Magnum being wrapped up in some kind of play that he only half heartedly did which made it more bizarre.
The unmarried sister was actually in love with the rich old guy. She knew him before her sister did, and blamed her sister for "stealing" him from her.

SignGuyHPW
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Re: The Black Orchid (1.16)

#44 Post by SignGuyHPW »

marlboro wrote:
SignGuyHPW wrote:
They never explained a lot of why Windham would send guys with loaded guns that fired shots if he was simply looking to "scare" Magnum and his wife. It was also unexplained why the one sister wanted to murder her sister. I could only guess at there being mental illness. This was also not so much of a "case" as it was Magnum being wrapped up in some kind of play that he only half heartedly did which made it more bizarre.
The unmarried sister was actually in love with the rich old guy. She knew him before her sister did, and blamed her sister for "stealing" him from her.
Ah, I overlooked that part. I caught that the unmarried one was his secretary at some point.

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Re: The Black Orchid (1.16)

#45 Post by DDD »

Who plays "Mabel Dodge" in "The Black Orchid"? She is seen at the end of the episode getting out of a car at the Estate. Not credited at the end of the episode. Not found in a search of the Forum of the website and not in Hawaiian Peaches in the website. Also, not listed in Cast and Crew at various sites around the web. DDD

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