Home From the Sea (4.1)

[J.J. Walters]

This is the official MM thread for Home From the Sea (4.1). All discussions and reviews for this episode should go here. If you wish to rate the episode, please do so with the poll. The avg. score will be the official 'community rating', which will be used on the episode page (updated monthly).

This thread is also linked in the episode page of the Episode Guide.

Original Air Date: 9/29/1983
Magnum finds himself in troubled waters when his surf ski capsizes and he becomes trapped in a powerful, fast-moving, ocean current. Higgins, T.C., and Rick all have a premonition that something has happened to Magnum, but they're in a race against time to find their friend before he sinks from exhaustion to a watery grave.

[J.J. Walters]

Ah, "The Treading Water Episode". This classic, unorthodox episode is one of the all-time best. As TM struggles to hold on in the unforgiving, shark-filled, Pacific Ocean, we are treated to some wonderful flashbacks to the early 50's, which feature his mom and dad. We also get to learn the significance of "The Watch". An exciting climax closes out this not-to-be-missed Magnum episode. What a great way to open up a new season.

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

[grapeshot]

I saw this episode recently and it packs a surprising emotional punch, even in comparison to this day and age of shows like "Homicide: Life on the Street" or "Lost", where emotional twists and complexities are much more common. I even repeated the viewing a couple weeks later, and STILL found that it works -- despite knowing what's going to happen.

What's really impressive about this episode is that given the confines of episodic network TV shows of the time, that such an emotional punch could be delivered at all. It wasn't as if no show had tried to address serious topics at the time, but when most shows did it, there was often a self-conscious, preachy air about it as if to say "look at how important and topical we're being." (Take MASH, for example. As much as I enjoyed that show, there were plenty of times its sanctimoniously anti-war stance just crawled up my nose. I'm not particularly a war hawk, but talk about hitting the audience over the head with a giant hammer!) I also remember some shows, even westerns, tackling serious topics, but they were so ham-handed about it that I could only roll my eyes and turn away the channel. But by far most shows avoided important subjects or themes.

Furthermore, unlike some modern TV shows, this episode doesn't resort to harsh language, shocking behavior, slick camera work, or tricky editing to move the audience. It's all pretty much just about a guy lost at sea, treading water, and what goes through his mind, and how his friends are all going about their day unaware.

I think the key here is that this episode is an examination of death and loss and friendship, and offers no pat answers and doesn't preach to the audience about what it all means. We're left to our own to figure out what we saw and what it added up to.

[J.J. Walters]

Excellent review grapeshot!

[lutherhgillis]

Excellent analysis, Grapeshot and James! Episodes like this caused us to become friends with the characters. Now that's an emotional connection! You feel like you know a TV character... Now that's good writing.

[Herman]

Home is the sailor, home from sea:
Her far-borne canvas furled
The ship pours shining on the quay
The plunder of the world.

Home is the hunter from the hill:
Fast in the boundless snare
All flesh lies taken at his will
And every fowl of air.

'Tis evening on the moorland free,
The starlit wave is still:
Home is the sailor from the sea,
The hunter from the hill.

-A.E. Housman

[Herman]

John Wayne recited the above poem as a eulogy for a fellow sailor in the great WWII film They Were Expendable.

[J.J. Walters]

Very interesting Herman! I always assumed the title of this episode was a reference to the Robert Louis Stevenson poem "Requiem", which is very similiar:

UNDER the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie:
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you 'grave for me;
Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

The Housman poem seems to fit better, however.

By the way, welcome to the site!

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

[IslandHopper]

[golfmobile]

I'm not sure if this is indicative of anything or not, but RIGHT NOW (2 p.m. Eastern Time, USA). Sleuth is airing "Home from the Sea," which is from the fourth season.

Has Sleuth gotten Season 4 to add to its repertoire?? I hope so. Will check further into the week and see what else may be coming up from Season 4.

Yes! Just checked! Following HFTS at 2 today, then Luther Gillis #521, Smaller Than Life, Distant Relative.

So it would appear Sleuth HAS bought Season 4; however, as I check the schedule, it's back to Season 3 until March 24, when Letter from a Duchess and Limited Engagement will be aired. So apparently Sleuth is leaking Season 4 episodes into the lineup every three weeks or so.

Okay, checking some more. It takes until April 14 (no weekend play) to get through Season 4, then some of Season 5 starts -- beginning, fortuntely with Echoes of the Mind I, then it goes through Under World on April 19 (oddly enough, right after which The Chinese Typewriter and The Gypsy Warriors are aired again!). Then it goes to Laura from Season 7. then back to All for One from Season 5. Then back to Little Games and Professor Jonathan Higgins. After that, which is the first week of May, the schedule is not available.

But it's looking up. At least the addition of Season 4 and most of 5. And the addition of one show from Season 7 may have some kind of implications that 6 and 7 may be coming.

So for those of us without the funds to buy the DVDs, at least now we can record Seasons 4 and most of 5 that I can find so far.

I'm so glad. I'm really tired of Seasons 1-3!

golf

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"Portside, buddy."