Rapture (6.11)

[N1095A]

Everyone knows the two "main" watches worn by TM in the series. First was the Chronosport, then the Rolex GMT. I've spotted a third.

At the end of the episode when TM finds the boy's necklace, I noticed the watch he was wearing didn't quite look like the Rolex GMT. The crystal was flat, below the bezel, and had no magnifying bubble like the Rolex. And it appeared the crown was at the 4:00 position rather than the 3:00 on the Rolex. I watched the few seconds of footage frame by frame, and sure enough when the clasp on the watchband becomes visable you can clearly see "SEIKO". The irony here is that I bought a Seiko Diver back in 1990 because it looked like Magnum's Rolex. The Rolex GMT however, is not a dive watch, it's an aviation watch and is not reccomended for diving.
In my semi state of computer literacy I am unable to post screen grabs of this shot. If anyone could capture them and post them I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks,
Mike (N1095A)

[J.J. Walters]

Hey, nice catch N! So this would be Magnum's backup/dive watch. He's smart not to take his Rolex with him on his dives.

This is the best shot I can get of the watch face, as a millisecond after this frame, a glare flashes and the face is not seen again!

[N1095A]

Cool, Thanks James. After he picks up the necklace, you can see the clasp, and it clearly has SEIKO in raised letters. How Ironic that I've been wearing a Seiko diver all these years because it looked like TM's Rolex. I was floored when I saw it. There is a picture of my Seiko in the "Collecting Magnum Stuff" thread. The Rolex GMT makes sence considering the story line of it being his father's (a Naval Aviator) watch. The GMT was designed for pilots. This has to go down as the coolest thing I've found since I got the DVD's

[AJL]

Once again I somewhat don't agree with the majority here, as I thought this one was just awful. Dull, moody, depressive and as I've already said elsewhere on this great board, I hate all the clairvoyant/dreamy/supernatural/whatever stuff.

[golfmobile]

I'm missing something here.

First off, Magnum mentions where they are diving a couple of times and I thought it started with "Kuhu--" something, but James says it's Kakuku and it sure didn't sound like that to me when TM said it. I'm not familiar with that area. A couple of the shots looked more like the Shark's Cove and/or Pupukea Beach. Can rubberchicken confirm Kakuku?

Secondly, what did finding the old WWII airplane on the ocean floor have to do with Keliki'i's being killed "accidentally" by his father when his father blew up HIS father-in-law on the boat so he could sell the business and get the money? Was the WWII aircraft just some kind of red herring here? Why would the kid's swimming ghost be drawing TM to the WWII plane wreck?

And the ending where the father just flies off into the wild blue yonder never to be heard of again -- uh, no justice there. He could have gotten clean away and started a new life. You got the feeling no one ever followed up much to find a murderer!! Just, oh, well, he flew away.

I found that rather lame.

Otherwise I like the ghost/spooky episodes generally. They just need to make sense. This one, I felt, fell a little short there.

golf

[Doc Ibold]

Secondly, what did finding the old WWII airplane on the ocean floor have to do with Keliki'i's being killed "accidentally" by his father when his father blew up HIS father-in-law on the boat so he could sell the business and get the money? Was the WWII aircraft just some kind of red herring here? Why would the kid's swimming ghost be drawing TM to the WWII plane wreck?

And the ending where the father just flies off into the wild blue yonder never to be heard of again -- uh, no justice there. He could have gotten clean away and started a new life. You got the feeling no one ever followed up much to find a murderer!! Just, oh, well, he flew away.

I found that rather lame.

Otherwise I like the ghost/spooky episodes generally. They just need to make sense. This one, I felt, fell a little short there.

My take was that it was a pretty week attempt at some sort of allegory, since Steven was the only one with a World War II plane on the islands?

I was thinking, why didn't he just haunt the pane hanger, but I guess because he died in the sea, he had to haunt the sea?

I agree with you golf, the ending did seem a bit lacking. They could have added a line "a few months later they found Steven's plane crashed into a hillside. It wasn't that he was running from the law, it was that he was running from himself."

BAM!

You get the point and and the sense of justice is accomplished. The flying out to sea and never being seen again? Unfulfilling. Like he's going to pop up somewhere and say, "Hey, I committed a double homicide on my father-in-law and son" Yeah, that guys's underground for sure.

[golfmobile]

Doc,

LOL! Okay, now I don't feel so bad that the WWII plane didn't make any sense. It really DIDN'T have anything to do with the rest of the plot -- it wasn't even the plane that Steven flew away in! And if he was such a collector of historic airplanes, why did he want to sell his father-in-law's business to the guy with the air charter business? That entire part of the plot was illogical, so it's okay for it to puzzle me. Another sample of how the writers/producers, etc., never let a logical story get in the way of producing a 45-minute episode for that week.

I went back and listened tonight to all the times the place where they were diving was said, and I swear it STILL sounds as though TM is saying Kahuku. And when the reporter that Rick took TM to says it, it sounds like Kuahuka or Kahulu. There's just no way I can twist it (listening-wise) to be Kakuku. Of course, in the show it is called a "lagoon" and not a bay. So maybe it's a fictitious place for the sake of the story.

This episode would have a lot more appeal if not analyzed this closely, I guess. Good quick entertainment, just don't think about it too much or try to have it make sense later.

Still, with its flaws, I liked it, mostly.

golf

[IslandHopper]

I'm missing something here.

Secondly, what did finding the old WWII airplane on the ocean floor have to do with Keliki'i's being killed "accidentally" by his father when his father blew up HIS father-in-law on the boat so he could sell the business and get the money? Was the WWII aircraft just some kind of red herring here? Why would the kid's swimming ghost be drawing TM to the WWII plane wreck?

And the ending where the father just flies off into the wild blue yonder never to be heard of again -- uh, no justice there. He could have gotten clean away and started a new life. You got the feeling no one ever followed up much to find a murderer!! Just, oh, well, he flew away.

I found that rather lame.

Otherwise I like the ghost/spooky episodes generally. They just need to make sense. This one, I felt, fell a little short there.

golf

The WWII plane that Keliki'i pointed out to Magnum (F4U Corsair) was his way of telling Magnum that the person that killed him owned a WWII era airplane. I thought this was a bit of a stretch since the F4U Corsair is a single engine fighter and the plane Keliki'i's father owned was a twin engine Beechcraft Model 18 or U.S. Army AT-7/AT-11 or C-45 or a U.S. Navy SNB-1 & SNB-2/Navy JRB2 general purpose aircraft. It's been a while since I've seen this episode, but I think the writers dealt with Magnum's wild deduction with Higgins stating that he had studied Aristotle... (and numerous other scholars), he had toured college campuses, "but nothing in my life has prepared me for the workings of the Thomas Magnum mind...Astonishing." I guess the writers acknowledgement of Higgins' disbelief is supposed to make it more believable to the audience.

Justice did prevail in the end. At the end, Magnum's narration says "Steven Parker's plane was lost at sea" and something about Steven joining the two people he sent to a watery grave.

Does anyone know the aquarium where most of the dive scenes were filmed? It was an aquarium, right?

[J.J. Walters]

The dives scenes were filmed at Sea Life Park, in the "Hawaiian Reef" tank.

The plot is a little farfetched in this one, but I like how we get to see Magnum do some fine sleuth work with some ingenious deductive reasoning (even if it does involve him "tuning in" to the netherworld again). I don't think Jessica Fletcher (or even Det. Robert Goren) would have been able to solve this one.

[Kwanzaa]

I don't like the trips taken into the nether world. They got a little too psychic for more in several episodes. However, they were in keeping with the times. There was a great deal of psychic stuff going on in the 80s by Hollywood types and in the press.

I enjoyed seeing the library and watching the guys hang the waterbuffalo head. That was a great scene.

Kwanzaa

[golfmobile]

Somebody else listen to the early scenes of the episode and see what it sounds like they're calling the lagoon. The reporter says it, then TM says it. I think it's mentioned a couple more times in the episode, but I didn't listen all the way through again.

Anyone?

golf

[rubber chicken]

First off, Magnum mentions where they are diving a couple of times and I thought it started with "Kuhu--" something, but James says it's Kakuku and it sure didn't sound like that to me when TM said it.

I'm confused, in the episode page James uses Kahuku, not Kakuku. I second James' Kahuku Lagoon. That's what the subtitles are and that's what it sounds like, but it is a bit hard to hear it. When Magnum says it at the playground is easiest to catch. But anyway it's just a made up name...

It's located here on the west coast, making it the only location on that coast I know of so far. The official name is Ka‘ula Bay (the location marker in this link is incorrect). It's more common name appears to be Secret Beach.




I too enjoy seeing the library in this episode. Anyone else find it funny that Magnum is on a roller stool when the highest book shelf isn't even above his head? He gains about a whole 6 inches of height.

[Lily]

Yes! I also thought that the roller stool was rather strange, as it looked very out of place in a library that size! I would have expected to see Robin Masters library lined, floor to ceiling with books, and one of those ladders on a track to reach the higher shelving.

[J.J. Walters]

It's located here on the west coast, making it the only location on that coast I know of so far.

How about that! At last, a west coast filming location! And right next to a really nice looking resort/golf course (Ko Olina Golf Club). Thanks again RC!

[rubber chicken]

I finally got to the airport location, which many people probably correctly guessed as Dillingham Airfield. The scene was shot right here.

Interestingly, this location is very near the west coast. It's actually further west than Ka‘ula Bay (mentioned above). The only other location closer to the west coast shoreline (that I know of so far) is the beach bunker from Past Tense (3.5). So this episode had just about the two most "out there" locations.

And so often, locations in the show are given false names or directions to them are simply made up. But this location is described as "... a small airfield, couple of hangers, out past Mokuleia." Which is all pretty much correct. The town of Mokuleia is three miles to the east.



Here's a great page about the history of the field, with many photos included.

And this page also tells the history, and has great high quality photos from the 1940s.

For Lost fans, this is copied from the wikipedia page: "The TV Series Lost has filmed several scenes at Dillingham Airfield, due to its remote location close to the North Shore, where the series is primarily filmed. The fuselage from Oceanic Airlines flight 815 is also stored at Dillingham, and is transported to the beach when needed for filming."