Forty Years From Sand Island (3.18)

[Carol the Dabbler]

This episode has several red herrings:

1 -- the two young fellows that Magnum suspects of being pakalolo growers see him drive away in the Ferrari shortly before its brakes fail for Higgins, and

2 -- Nancy Nakamura's father is just sort of there, with a motive. (And Nancy shares his motive.) Also,

3 -- we "know" that Goto is innocent, because we were looking right at him when Sorenson was shot.

Very nicely handled.

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Carol

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'm pondering whether this could be considered a flub (if so, a minor one):

Magnum asks Higgins if he knows anything about Kirin Nakamura (pronouncing his name more-or-less correctly), and Higgins repeats the name but pronounces it Nakamyura, which is a very common mispronunciation among Americans. I don't know if it's also common with Brits in general, but my impression has been that Higgins is generally quite knowledgeable about foreign languages and names, and careful about their pronunciation.

Comments?

As an aside, I'm wondering whether "Kirin" is a normal Japanese given name (and as I understand it, the Japanese are very careful to use only "normal" given names) -- or whether the writers named that unfortunate gentleman after a bottle of beer!

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Carol

[A P Leyland]

Good episode with some interesting lightweight stuff for the characters amidst a pretty dark theme. The show was really good at balancing the dark stuff with the lighter character story arcs and this is why I think the show still stands up. The themes of the show are most unusual for a US Primetime PI show of the time. I don't recall TJ HOOKER dealing with this kind of thing!

Also, it's the third season I've noticed the show developing its underlying text. For most of years 1 & 2 the show dealt with interesting topics and delivered entertainment amidst a feeling that these plots had all been done before (the rodeo episode, my girlfriend's a bunny boiler, amnesia etc) but is all over and done in one hour (or two if it was a two-parter) and it was the camaraderie of the cast that really held the show together.

By year 3 however, the writers are stretching more. They use more Hawaii-specific storylines that they can't just take off other shows, the recurring characters are mentioned more, giving a real feeling of this all happening in a 'real' location and the characters backstories are starting to be more consistant. There are still mistakes and inconsistancies (Magnum shakes off a bullet wound in this episode so easily Clark Kent would be proud and he seems to make no effort to get it seen to by a doctor!) but for the most part events in the past start to inform the characters and have repercussions down the line.

Nice to see TC pull one over on Thomas for change as well.

Andy

[Jay-Firestorm]

Thursday’s review. A pretty good episode.

[rating=9.0]

After Higgins is nearly killed when the breaks fail on the Ferrari, Magnum believes that it is connected to Higgins doing research on a World War II internment camp, where a Japanese prisoner was murdered by a civilian guard. A sophisticated feeling episode…

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This review contains moderate spoilers.

‘Forty Years From Sand Island’ comes after a run of third season episodes that were quite watchable, but not really outstanding; ‘Forty Years…’ outshines them for being a sophisticated feeling episode, with a good case for T.M. to solve, and bolstered by several great Higgins moments.

The episode is very much a straightforward detective case, with less action than many episodes. Although I typically enjoy a bit more action, I can take a change now-and-again, and quite like this episode for it.

There are also some good guest performances, including Keye Luke, a Chinese actor with a varied film career, before becoming a regular 1980s American TV guest star (he was in ‘The A-Team’s second season episode ‘The Maltese Cow’ (1983) amongst others, and did a lot of animation voice work). These performers bring some gravitas to the episode.

As mentioned above, there are also some great Higgins moments, including him mistakenly believing that Magnum has brought him some flowers at the hospital; somehow knowing over the phone that Magnum is drinking his cognac and smoking his cigars, and – most memorable of all – his wheelchair rolling down the hill in the hospital grounds, furthering to his injuries!

There are also two intertwining subplots to the story, involving T.C. covering for Magnum on the case that Magnum was investigating before Higgins’ crash, and Rick owing betting money to Ice Pick. These scenes add some nice cushioning to the episode and add more humour.
The final scene, with no-one caring that Magnum has been shot in the shoulder, is also amusing, as is Higgins forgetting that he supposedly can hardly move, when he goes to chase after Magnum.

All-in-all, this is a polished feeling episode. Even though it lacks the action that some might like, it has an interesting plot and some great moments.

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Other notes, bloopers, and misc.:

* On the opening trailer, when Nancy is slicing the raw fish on Saji’s boat, Magnum comments “I don’t think I’d like to meet you in a dark alley”, to which Nancy replies “Don’t be too sure”. In the episode itself, when Magnum says this to her, she does not reply.

* I can’t decide about this one: In the opening scene of the WWII prison camp, a shot looking over the huts and buildings looks as if it may be made of miniaturised models, to save building such a vast set.

* I thought I’d spotted a great one here: J. Rickley Schneider, who Magnum is investigating before Higgins’ accident, is a name made up from producers J. Rickley Dumm and Andrew Schneider; but it’s already been spotted. D’oh!

* Magnum smokes his seventh cigar of the series.

* Maybe surprisingly, when Five (formerly Channel 5) broadcast this episode in their 11 a.m. slot in 2002, they did not edit down the scene of the Japanese prisoner being violently beaten and killed. Yet other, less violent things in other episodes, they edited! It seemed to depend very much on who was editing the episode in question, and how generous they were feeling!

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JAY FIRESTORM

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

My A-Team site - http://thea-team.org aiming to be the most detailed A-Team site on the Net - if I ever get around to updating it!!

[N1095A]

[J.J. Walters]

I do believe you guys are correct! It certainly looks like a scale model. That's quite a bit of work for a 7-second shot!

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

[N1095A]

It's highly possible that model already existed somewhere, either in a museum or some display somewhere, and would have been shot for the show. From all the pictures if the real Sand Island camp that I've found online, there were no permanent structures, only tents. I'm thinking the shots were made using an existing prison camp model.

[wilko]

Anyone else notice that Magnum's closet under the steps has a light in it? When he runs into it to hide from Higgins and his scimitar you can see the inside is lit when he opens the door.

[robspace54]

A pretty good take I think for 1983 on real events from 1942. There are some who do try to bury or forget the past, and those work hard to keep it alive. I worked with a guy who was a concentration camp survivor from Poland. I once asked him if he ever thought about writing down, or taping, what he experienced. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said "Robby, somehow it would make in unreal to do that." So he clearly tried to forget.

One of my fellow engineers was once complaining about the air conditioning in the office not bing cold enough. Tad looked at him and said "I've got a cup of coffee and a cigarette. What are you complaining about?" Tad and his parents all survived WWII. He thought they were dead and was walking down a street in Israel in 1946 when his father walked past him.

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Sometimes I get so lucky, even I don`t believe it.

[No need to know!]

One episode with an interesting story. But as usual it´s the dialog between Magnum and Higgins that does it for me. It´s so funny when Magnum calls Higgins at the hospital, and Higgins suspects something is wrong at the estate. And that scene with Higgins in the wheelchair

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Onion´s extra?