Mr. White Death (3.9)

[rubber chicken]

[J.J. Walters]

Neato! Diamond Head Theatre AND Hawaii Film Studio bungalows! This episode has it ALL!

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

[Rutledal]

I just watched this episode again for the first time and it was pretty great. Good performance by Borgnine, but I don't understand why they described him as looking like he was in his fifties. Borgnine was on the high end of 60 and he looked like it too.

Also a "2 for the price of 1" flub. In the scene when Earl has Magnum in the death grip "for real", and T.C. and Rick comes to help. Well when he throws Rick over his head Earl, seen from behind at this point, loses his hat. Clearly revealing a stunt double with much darker hair than Borgnine. That's the first flub. The second ocurs seconds later when the shot changes and Earl's hat is where it used to be, prior to falling of.

I provide you with some screenshots for documentation.


No hat.

Hat.

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So I made a Topic Page about Magnum, P.I. Check it out here.

[Sam]

Also in this episode,when TM arrives back at the estate from his meeting with Phil Lewis and is met by Higgins.The shadow of the boom-mike is seen entering from the right and stops at the green arrow.When TM turns to leave the shadow follows him and is seen on the bushes.

[Jay-Firestorm]

The first of my double-Friday review. I forgot how good this episode is!

[rating=9.5]

Magnum, Rick and T.C. are befriended by an aging wrestler, who asks Magnum to find his son whom he walked out on years before. But Magnum becomes suspicious as he finds holes in the wrestler’s story. Guest star Ernest Borgnine makes this great episode…

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This review contains spoilers.

Until I came to re-watch it last night to review, I’d almost forgotten just how good ‘Mr. White Death’ is. And the one key thing making it so likeable is guest star Ernest Borgnine, and his lovely performance as aging wrestler Earl.

It could be said that Borgnine always plays the same character, and I suppose in a way that could be true; but he is a wonderful actor, and it is very hard to not warm to him.
It is surprising that he does not receive ‘Special Guest Star’ billing for this episode.

It is believed that Borgnine’s appearance in this episode brought him to the attention of Donald P. Bellisario, who was impressed enough to offer him a main role in ‘Airwolf’ (1984-1986), of which I am also a huge fan.

The friendship struck up between Higgins and Earl, after Higgins finds that Earl was friends with an old comrade, is also very good, and adds another layer to the episode.

Also of note is the first appearance of Ms. Jones (Maggie Impert), who will go on to have intermittent appearances in odd episodes, before having her own storyline in the fifth season’s ‘Ms. Jones’.

In other hands, the story could have been so-so, but thanks to a great performance by Borgnine, as well as the other able performers, this comes off as a really likable episode.

One of my favourite scenes of the season comes after Magnum has confronted Earl about the holes in his story; the scene as Earl wearily goes to leave the Estate, and his conversation with Higgins, is wonderful, and the sombre music score under it brings it to life even more.

The final meeting of Earl and his long-lost son at the airport is also great. The whole “we’ll see that ballgame some day, son” dialogue could have come off as corny, but in the capable hands of the two performers here, it works.

And then there is the classic final scene, with Earl’s aeroplane flying over. Magnum admits that the Mob will probably catch up with Earl one day, “but not today”.

All-in-all, I didn’t consciously realise it before, but ‘Mr. White Death’ is probably one of my favourite third season episodes.

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Other notes, bloopers and misc.:

* When Channel 5 broadcast this episode in 2002, in the scene near the beginning where Rick, Magnum and T.C. are being beaten up by the goons and Earl steps in, a brief shot of Earl slamming the two goons’ heads together was edited out. 5 were very cautious of children copying such head banging moves!

* When Earl is showing T.C. and Rick various wrestling moves, and carrying each in turn on his shoulder, it is quite clearly a double for him in several shots. (But there is a shot of him picking up Rick where it is actually him!)

* …In the same scene, when Rick falls to the ground, it is clearly a double.

* After abridged commercial breaks on so many episodes on the DVD version, this episode has gaps for all the commercial breaks. …I’m a stickler about things like that!!

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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!!

[Italian Ice]

Good review Jay. This is one of my favorites of the entire show, probably my 2nd favorite in Season 3 along with Flashback and Of Sound Mind. This one had everything.

"Hi Punky"

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Higgins: Dispatch the pig!!!

[J.J. Walters]

[lutherhgillis]

Ditto. Borgnine was one of the best.

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Who's Dot Matrix, and what has she got to do with this?

[Rutledal]

[Donuts ensucrats]

Ernest Borgnine looks like a devil wit this strange eyebrows!!

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Mare de Déu Senyor!!!!!!