This is the official MM thread for The Jororo Kill (2.13). 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).

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Original Air Date: 1/7/1982
When Kate Sullivan, a journalist, and an old friend of Thomas, Rick, and T.C. from the Vietnam days, arrives in Hawaii and asks for Magnum's help in tracking down an international assassin, Magnum learns that the target is a Prime Minister visiting from a small island republic. However, Magnum becomes suspicious of Kate's determination for getting the story.

This is one of my favorite episodes from Season Two. A drag queen assassin is just plain frightening! It's great to see Tyne Daly in a MPI episode. She's great in everything she does. Love the ending - "Nuns don't work on Sundays" [bum-bum-boom]!

I don't know if you guys noticed this or not, but Zulu (Kono from Hawaii Five-O) makes a brief appearance as a hotel doorman! He is credited as "Zoulou", the French Tahitian spelling of "Zulu".

Zulu

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

I love this episode too.

But they made one change to the DVD, and I don't like it one bit.

In the original version, there are no subtitles during the early scene where people are speaking in French. This is because they assumed the veiwers were intelligent enough to understand what was going on, and also because they wanted your eyes to be focused on the action.

But on the DVD, there are French subtitles on the screen. And there's no way to shut them off. I find this to be distracting and annoying. I also feel that it violates the original intent of the artist who created the episode. It's kind of like colorizing a black and white film.

Yeah, I noticed that, too. It's so unnecessary. The subtitles are also poorly done. They appear in unnatural places on the screen and the letter fonts look fuzzy and jagged, like something you'd see on a high school teleprompter!

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

Here's the scene without the subtitles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9eBAxxPgcw


It's so much better without the subtitles.

When Higgins and Magnum are talking in the wine cellar, there is a shot of the steps behind them. Looks like the steps down into the guesthouse. I wonder if they "recycled" the stage set.

"Our Lady of the Holy Veil convent" is Kaumakapili Church. (gm link)




And it appears that the "The South of France" location in this episode is the same as the one used for "The Palace of King Fernando Mongueo" in Who is Don Luis Higgins, and Why is He Doing These Terrible Things to Me? (6.19). They changed the walkway, and the trees look a bit different (shot in different seasons?). They also changed the guards too. (gm link, camera is under the tree looking north north east across the walkway toward the courtyard and building)

Outasight!

Thanks!

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

The Pittsburgh RTN station played "The Jororo Kill" on Monday. The scene in France had the same English subtitles that are on the DVD. It also had the opening teaser, and the season 2 opening. I think they may be playing the DVD, or at least a tape from the master that was used to make the DVD.

I'm trying to recall whether any previous episodes had mentioned that Magnum's middle name is Sullivan, and/or that some of his relatives are named Sullivan. I don't think so -- or it would be a bit odd that he didn't jokingly call the reporter "Cousin Kate" or something. This episode should definitely be canon, since Bellisario was one of the writers (maybe he's just really fond of the name Sullivan).

Regarding the church, I "heard" the name as "Church of the Holy Veil." Of course, "Holy Vale" sounds exactly the same. Short of getting hold of the original script, I guess it comes down to whether it's more likely that a church would be named for a valley or a scarf. I favor the latter -- the reference could be to St. Veronica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Veronica), or to the mystical "veil" that separates life from death.