Of Sound Mind (3.13)

[Milton Collins]

Love love love this episode! A perfect ten and in my top couple favorite episodes along with Death and Taxes and the Case of the Red Faced Thespian. The concept of Magnum inheriting all this money/wealth from a an extremely eccentric former client is amazingly cool! The viewing of the will with the attorney and Mcleashes relatives is one of my favorite parts lol. TM's obvious shock to the news and his good hearted offer to split the funds with the rather nasty relatives is priceless! I also like the nightime "visitor" to the mansion and the whole secret passage bit at the end, these both added a good creepy element that I wish they had used more of in the show. And what wasn't great about the costume ball!! TM in a knight in shining armor suit, and a daytime bash with TC and Rick dressed up in those ridiculous getups, loved it!!! Did anyone notice the midget Frankenstein dancing in the crowd at the party? I have to wonder if this is the same midget from season 2's "Tropical Madness" and a couple other episodes (one in particular memory is Season 5's episode "Fragments" where he is seen on the lawn with other people doing specialty acts auditioning for the benefit variety show) where I've noticed him doing cameo spots. He's pretty unmistakable.

[ZelenskyTheValiant (Ivan)]

I gave this one a 9.0 (excellent) rating which is the same rating I gave the previous episode - "Heal Thyself".

This was a very entertaining "comedy" episode with a bit of mystery thrown in for good measure. Those who are nitpicking it (why didn't Magnum take off his armor when pursuing the Grim Reaper? why didn't the authorities look for the body when the airplane blew up?) are missing the point - this episode isn't trying to be very realistic. Just the opposite. It's surreal. It feels more like a dream. In a dream things almost never add up or make sense. Hey, if someone just told me that a total stranger gave me his entire fortune I'd be convinced that I'm dreaming too. No way! Things like this just don't happen in the real world. Not even in the world of MPI, unless it's the surreal world of MPI.

One thing that I don't quite get is the love for the ballroom scene. It seems to be everyone's favorite scene - especially Magnum in the suit of armor. Personally I could take it or leave it. They seemed to really be going for the yuk-yuks in that scene. Magnum trying to smash through the door in the armor wasn't all that funny the first time. Even less so the second and third time. Next please... It's like they were trying too hard with the humor there. I like my humor to be more subtle - usually involving a look that Magnum or Higgins give one another. But that's a minor quibble. Everything else was excellent - the reading of the will with MacLeish seemingly from his grave conversing with his family members and later with Magnum via the TV, the emasculating of a rodent/saxophone scene, the big spooky house at night, and every scene with Carlton (Roscoe Lee Browne was fantastic!). I really love when Carlton introduces himself to Higgins as Magnum's "manservant". That whole scene is a riot!!

Thinking between this episode and "Heal Thyself" I'm tempted to give a slight edge to the latter (probably because I prefer the more serious 'Nam-themed episodes and because it feels more like a typical MPI episode) but I rated both equally (9.0) and enjoyed both for different reasons. Season 3 is excellent ("Mixed Doubles" and "Two Birds of a Feather" notwithstanding).

[thechickinthemiddle]

With Magnum's speech to MacLeish at the end, I can see how Carlton and James (the nephew) wouldn't "have a motive" had MacLeish treated them better, but I have a hard time believing that Tony and Marina would be the same way. They weren't necessarily hostile to him in life, but there was no guarantee they wouldn't squander his fortune somehow. Also, while what Carlton got wasn't enough for his troubles, he still received the most (after Magnum) and the housekeeper and gardener seemed to be fine with what they received The housekeeper's reaction kills me

[KingKC]

Whatever you rate the episode is your business but the masquerade ball gets a 10 from me.

KingKC

[thechickinthemiddle]

Whatever you rate the episode is your business but the masquerade ball gets a 10 from me.

KingKC

Especially Magnum in that suit of armor!

[KingKC]

Whatever you rate the episode is your business but the masquerade ball gets a 10 from me.

KingKC

Especially Magnum in that suit of armor!

AMEN!!!!!!

[BWheelz54]

I didn't have the time this morning to really sift through this thread, but does anyone mention if that rock band at the masquerade ball has a name? Probably not, seeing that the band's just kinda likely thrown together for the episode, if the folks moving around on that stage can play any kind of instrument at all even. But, seeing this is such a fun site, I think we need to give that band a name.

Watched this episode again last night. Many funny moments. To me, I get a kick out of the transition to the jazz being played in the background at the start of the episode to the notes Thomas is choking out of his pawnshop saxaphone when the shot transitions into the guest house.

[MagnumILWU]

Sadly, Donnelly Rhodes passed away Jan 8, 2018, at the age of 80!

[K Hale]

Why was Higgins so blatantly rude towards Carlton?

I didn't see this addressed elsewhere in the thread so I will take a crack at it. From Higgins' perspective, Carlton would be the one who was rude by talking down to him. Carlton is a servant, remember, while Higgins is not only the boss of the estate, he's also a baron and grew up in a family that was part of the peerage.

In the scene where Carlton is packing Magnum's clothes, he verbally identifies himself as a manservant, and is told that Higgins is the majordomo of Robin's Nest. He then asks Higgins to help him carry Magnum's bags, as if Higgins were his social equal, i.e. another servant, and he says it in a politely condescending tone of voice to boot. I can't imagine any other reason why Carlton would do this except that he seems to like Magnum's lack of pretentiousness and is purposely insulting Higgins because he doesn't approve of the way Higgins was mocking Magnum. For a servant to speak to someone of Higgins' upper class background in this way ("Give us a hand with the bags, Higgins, there's a good chap"!!) is very out of line. Which of course is just the way Carlton intended it to be taken.

Later in the party receiving line, Carlton greets Higgins with a faintly insolent familiarity by again calling him merely Higgins instead of Mr. Higgins, continuing to imply that they are equals. Higgins replies in kind, but with an edge of contempt to let Carlton know he understands what he's doing and he's not buying it. I would like to have seen more of these two together!

Despite what Luther Gillis thinks, Higgins ain't the butler, lol.

[Turkey]

Cracking episode - but who operates the zoom when MacLeish is on camera telling Magnum he thinks he's been murdered?

[Milton Collins]

Whatever you rate the episode is your business but the masquerade ball gets a 10 from me.

KingKC

Especially Magnum in that suit of armor!

AMEN!!!!!!

Agree so much that was awesome! I would be so into going to a party like that how fun!

Question, was that the same ballroom where TM held his fake wedding reception in season 3's I Do? Sure looks like it!

[jeffran]

A top 10 episode for me (rated a 9). Not perfect, but fun, and the entire ensemble is present (essential for a great episode IMO).

Also has the distinction of being the first MPI episode I saw as a 13 year old. My policeman dad was visiting one of his buddies on the force, and this episode was on in the living room. I was hooked from then on, and watched the show regularly until the end of its run (and in college, and now as well). I loved the light tone of this episode, as well as the atmosphere and sense of mystery.

A great supporting cast - Roscoe Lee Brown in great (amazing voice) as is Donnelly Rhodes.

[karolis]

I LOVED the costumes on the "regulars" -- and Larry Manetti was a good sport to be Marie Antoinette (I assume that was what his "drag" costume was).

And Magnum's clumsiness in the suit of armor -- while Higgins stands there as Henry VIII, just watching his ineptitude -- is very clever! It's probably a pretty early effort to have an "action hero" be the joke.

For fans of Magnum’s little quirks, this is the first of a few episodes where we see him with his saxophone, which he has just bought from a pawn shop – even though he owes Higgins money for a telescope which got melted (!) on his previous case.

the emasculating of a rodent/saxophone scene

Magnum plays his saxophone for the first time. He will play it again in "I Do?" (3.17), "Rembrandt's Girl" (4.14) and "Autumn Warrior" (7.13).

- from Episode Guide

The gun was real, and loaded with dummy bullets (not to be confused with blanks). However, during the closeup shot of the gun squirting Wilson, it is a fake gun; the bore is mostly plugged aside from the tiny hole for the water to come out, and the chambers in the cylinder are too small, and the gun is of course, not loaded with anything but water (because it is not a real gun). It is quite realistic looking for a squirt gun however. As soon as it cuts back to Magnum holding the gun after the closeup of the squirting, it is the real Colt SAA again.

That white one with the guitar on the left really reminds me of one of the artists of Finland group Lordi, which won Eurovision in 2006.



Compare to the left one:



You can see MacLeish double in the plane, MacLeish doesn't have moustache, just compare:



Double with moustache




Rubber Chicken present: check




Flub -
Marina has glass in her hand:



Two seconds later she has not:




Rick and Magnum's shoe:




Season 3 Top up to this episode:

1. Black on White
2-3. Did You See the Sunrise?
4. Flashback
5. Off Sound Mind
6. The Eighth Part of the Village
7. Past Tense
8. Almost Home
9. Heal Thyself
10. Ki'i's Don't Lie
11. Mixed Doubles
12. Mr. White Death
13. Foiled Again

[ENSHealy]

21 things I think most people liked about this episode

Tristan and Isolde

I missed this. It's been almost 10 years since your post, but if you're still out there, Ice, let us know where you spotted this.

* Just a thought, but there are several ways the final scene with Carlton and the gun can be read.
It could be taken that Carlton had finally having enough of his selfish master, and was holding a gun to him. Magnum persuades him to put it down, only for it to turn out that it contains custard (or whatever) anyway.
The other way that the scene can be read, and the one that I go by, is that the whole thing was set up by Magnum and Carlton, and Magnum knew all along that it was a prank.

I think it can only be read the second way, because Magnum pulls the trigger after taking the gun from Carlton. If he wasn't in on it, wouldn't he have thought he was shooting MacLeish? I suppose you could assume that once he took the gun, he could tell from the weight of it that it was fake, but it seems like that's a big gamble to take?

Speaking of the gun, I'm assuming there's a tube leading somewhere behind Magnum's arm and the fluid is being pumped in. At first I thought it might be possible the gun could be carrying it all, because we only see fluid coming out of the gun for less than 2 seconds, most of the flow is delivered with the gun off-screen and we just see it hitting MacLeish, so it could be coming from anywhere in those shots. But after using the blessed gift of frame-by-frame review delivered to us by the technology gods, I see that TM's trigger finger never moves, he doesn't actually squeeze anything out of the gun (well, his trigger finger twitches, but just barely - not even enough to get a small toy squirt gun to fire). (Although now I look again and I see that perhaps the twitch would be enough to open a valve, but I still think the fluid is being pumped, not squeezed, from the gun.) (And I do wonder about my sanity in that I just spent a good 10 minutes dissecting the workings of a gun prop in a 30 year old TV episode...there's a phD thesis in there somewhere for some aspiring young Freud, I imagine.)

Great, great fun episode. Way back in 1984 when it first aired I taped it of course and along with Woman On The Beach it was the most viewed episode in my household. I must have watched it at least 10 times during that summer! Excellent and easily one of my favs.

I would love to be able to watch taped versions of the original broadcasts with the 80s commercials. I would imagine, given the deep fan base here, we could put together a pretty good collection of converted VHS-to-digital to share within the group. If anyone has a bunch of VHS Magnum sitting around, I have the conversion equipment, let's team up and put together something awesome.

Having just watched this episode again I can honestly say that it still holds up so well, easily one the best of S3. Perfect, just perfect. One thing I did notice this time was when Magnum shot Wilson with the water pistol it seemed to be with some truly yukky brownish liquid, ew!

I was right there with you, 308, thinking "what in the name of all that is holy are they spraying on the poor man?" Apple cider or vinegar is the best we can hope for, but why the heck not just use water?

(enough with the armour already, take it off!)

I had the same thought. I kept thinking, if you really want to catch the guy, ask Higgins to help you get the armor off, not help you up.

Ok, one fakes his death and does so by crashing his plane while he has spectators. Where was the body? Where did the body of the pilot go?

I had this same thought. Also, they never really explained how he either a) got out of the plane, or b) pulled a switcheroo with another plane. My assumption, given the cuts between shots, is that we are supposed to assume that when he goes over the horizon/out of sight that either he bails out where he can't be seen, or another plane takes his place. But either way there has to be a full size remote control airplane to be piloted and blown up. Maybe there's an aviation expert out there that can tell us if that was even remotely possible in the pre-Predator-drone era.

How could the money have been legally distributed per the will only for the dead person come back and instantly get it all back?

I think we are supposed to assume (and rightly so given that the Simon the nephew mentions at one point that he had already filed suit) that the money hasn't been distributed yet, the only thing that's really happened is TM has moved in to the house. So there's no money that needs to be given back.

Why was Higgins so blatantly rude towards Carlton?

In the scene where Carlton is packing Magnum's clothes, he verbally identifies himself as a manservant, and is told that Higgins is the majordomo of Robin's Nest. He then asks Higgins to help him carry Magnum's bags, as if Higgins were his social equal, i.e. another servant, and he says it in a politely condescending tone of voice to boot. I can't imagine any other reason why Carlton would do this except that he seems to like Magnum's lack of pretentiousness and is purposely insulting Higgins because he doesn't approve of the way Higgins was mocking Magnum. For a servant to speak to someone of Higgins' upper class background in this way ("Give us a hand with the bags, Higgins, there's a good chap"!!) is very out of line. Which of course is just the way Carlton intended it to be taken.

I think you are on the right track here, with one minor quibble: no doubt Higgins is offended because Carlton is treating him as an equal, but I can totally see where Carlton is coming from. I don't think you can make the leap from TM introducing Higgins as "sort of the majordomo around here" to Carlton understanding Higgins isn't your regular majordomo, i.e. the peerage, et. al. Therefore Higgins mocking Magnum would be totally out of line, so I think Carlton's approach is understandable given what he knew.

Did anyone notice the midget Frankenstein dancing in the crowd at the party? I have to wonder if this is the same midget from season 2's "Tropical Madness" and a couple other episodes.

I failed to spot him, but I did notice he got a credit:

and he is in fact the same actor from Tropical Madness:

[ENSHealy]

Oh yeah, one more thing, which I think is flub-worthy. At the end of the episode, Carlton says:

"What I expected, however, was just a little something in the will. Just a little something."

Apparently, Carlton has high standards for "a little something", as he did get $40,000 ($99,680 today!) and a collection of prints at the will reading. For what it's worth, I'm thinking the housekeeper took home the biggest prize.

Carlton: $40,000 and collection of English hunting prints
Hiroshi: $10,000 and a pickup truck
Ruth: $10,000 and the small Rodin bronze in the sitting room