I was a casual Magnum viewer when it originally aired. I don't remember much about which episodes I had seen, but I definitely remember the final scene in this episode! It shocked me on several levels.

I never thought Magnum would shoot Ivan, but I remember being impressed and thinking that Magnum did it because it was the 'right thing to do', i.e. he couldn't just let Ivan get away with all of his past (and current) crimes. Also, I had been growing aware of the Cold War tensions at the time and it didn't seem so bad that he was executing a KGB agent.

I couldn't believe I was seeing this on a prime time TV show. And it made me realize that there was more to Magnum PI than just lightweight action/adventure/comedy.

And finally, it made my then 15-year-old mind realize that things like this probably did happen, and that the world 'out there' was a complicated and dangerous place.

This was definitely one of the best episodes in the series!

Regards,

Jim

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"It will only distress you to continue this conversation" - Jonathan Quayle Higgins III

Exactly, Jim...could not have said it better! This episode for me too, was one of the first ones that really made me realize that there was more to "Magnum" than action and humor...there was reality too!

The ending is one of the more shocking conclusions to an episode, of the series...very "Miami Vice-ish" with the 'blunt', to-the-point finale where Magnum shoots Ivan and it's done. Love the last line Magnum asks Ivan before he shoots him: "Did you see the sunrise?" Then...boom!! Awesome!

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"It was more ironic than a Robin Masters novel--she thought he was dead, he thought she was dead...and only the chauffeur knew the truth! He should have been the butler!" "Lest We Forget"

As others have said, this had a GREAT ending.... That ending makes you love Magnum even more. Justice was done, though not by a court. The ultimate evil in the entire series was taken out, never to harm again.

No PC and no tears for Ivan.

I always see this as "the Mike Hammer" episode. I'm a big fan of the Spillane novels and the 80s TV series and this is pretty much how every one ends! I never tire of it though.

Judge, jury, executioner.

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"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."

- J.Q.H.

just watched this for the first time in a LONG time.....and it amazes me what you don't ever forget.

Couple observations, I love Higgins referring to the chopper as an Easter egg when complaing that it should never land on the estate.

Maggie was hot.

Stalag 17 is an awesome movie....have seen it many times.

Best ending of any Magnum episode......the kind where you give a fist pump and let out a "YEAH". It had so much more impact then as the Cold War was starting to thaw.

A bit shocking to the ears to now hear dialogue use the 'N' word and other such colorful terms. I hadn't heard 'honkey' since the Jeffersons

One minor complaint.........and I can't remember if the original was played this way, but though I loved no preview highlights at the beginning, I felt the ending could've been done better after shot was fired. By that I mean the frozen shot was great, but the screen/credits shouldn't have jumped into the standard cheery song..........maybe silence would've been better for added effect. Like I said, minor complaint.

....but to then go into the Simon & Simon episode after this one was garbage IMO. Could that have been an out of sequence thingy?

I'm still partial to Memories are Forever, but this is right there as best episode.

Somebody has caught a bad case of "Magnum Mania"!

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

yuuuuuup. Funny thing is I took it for granted that I've seen every episode, but have come across a couple I missed or forgot. So now I'm on this hunt to keep watching and discover/re-discover an episode I do not remember. Even the ones I know I have forgotten details.

I've been on this site far longer than I've been able to re-watch Magnum, so it's kinda cool to now go through seasons and go back to commentary on the board........and see even maybe something I've posted since joining the site that was based on memory alone. On season 3 now and looking for bargains on seasons 5-8.

The animated show Archer pays homage to this episode of Magnum.

The last scene in Archer season 2, "The Placebo Effect" is a copy of the last scene of this Magnum episode. However, Archer does add a few Archeresque lines to it.

If you're curious, Archer is available on Netflix.

"Did You See the Sunrise" played on various themes and emotions. This extremely well written episode takes us through the POW issue, our dislike of our old nemesis (the Soviet Union), a Manchurian candidate, a double agent (the most lowly of creatures), drug addition, the loss of a good buddy, and the ultimate decision to take a life in the surprising and gritty end.

You have to love Mac's desire to share the sunrise with his friends, the loss of that chance forever more, Magnum's reflection throughout the show on the sunrises since Mac's murder, and Magnum's question to Ivan regarding that morning's sunrise. Ultimately, the sunrise, rather the loss of Mac's sunrise, is the only justification Magnum has to kill Ivan. Without it Magnum would have had to let Ivan walk.

I haven't read all the comments in this thread now, but this double episode blew me away.
Even though I sensed quite early in the second part that there was "something wrong" with Nuzo, it wasn't completely predictable as in some episodes.
But then again, a lot of episodes I have seen as a teenager and maybe the story is still somewhere hidden in my memory.
I have no recollection of ever having seen these two episodes.

And after the final scene I voiced aloud "Wow!" ... which I rarely do watching DVDs on my own.

So this is a "one of the best" for me, verging on the "perfect"....