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Original Air Date: 11/5/1986
Magnum's fatherly instincts kick in when his ex-wife Michelle goes on the run and leaves him in charge of her little girl.

I like this episode so much I bid on and won a script of it on eBay. It wasn't autographed or anything, but I still treasure it. It is interesting to read, because it wasn't the final script that they filmed for broadcast. It was fun to see how it differed from the way the episode was actually filmed. For instance, Lily's name was Leah in this script incarnation. With all that aside, I think this episode shows Magnum's "softer side", when called upon to take care of Lily.

Wow, that's really cool SelleckLover. Any other major changes in the script vs. the final episode?

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

I finally got around to viewing this episode recently on the Season Six DVD. What an episode! Simply one of the best MPI episodes of all-time. This watershed episode continues the "Michelle/Magnum" storyline and has a little bit of everything - great plot, good pacing, heavyweight recurring characters (Michelle, Buck, Maggie, etc.), apt narration, classic on-location settings (Valley of the Temples, Parke Chapel, Little Saigon) and a near perfect climax/ending! What an emotional ending, with Lily and Michelle walking away, across the bridge, at the Byodo-In Temple. The tears were flowing big time, let me tell you!

A couple of nice touches in this episode: Towards the end, when Magnum is leaning over Michelle, there is nice shot with the camera looking up at Magnum (from Michelle's point of view on the ground) and the sun is peaking out from behind TM's head. This exact same shot was seen in Memories Are Forever, only with the roles reversed (Michelle was looking down at Magnum). Then at the very end, as Magnum and Michelle are saying their goodbyes, there is a very effective long pause and then Michelle begins to walk away. After what seems like minutes, Magnum then finally asks the question we've waiting for him to ask the whole episode - Is Lily my daughter? Great stuff!

And I loved that bright yellow Eddie Robinson t-shirt T.C. was wearing. T.C played Tight End at Grambling. Nice touch!

Higgins said something that confused me, however. Maybe you guys can clarify it for me. Higgins said of Lily, "Yes, you can certainly see her mothers oriental heritage". Her mothers oriental heritage? Michelle is French is she not?!

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

Right, but maybe she had an oriental mother/father?

Yeah, I guess that is what we are supposed to believe, even though truthfully neither Michelle nor Lily look oriental in the slightest to me.

Another thing that stands out for me about this episode is how long its been since we've seen Michelle - FIVE YEARS! We see this great "Magnum/Michelle" subplot develop in Memories Are Forever (Season Two), then we hear nothing about it for FIVE whole YEARS! I mean, sheesh, how many shows would kill to just be around for a couple of years, and here's MPI, slowly developing key character subplots between gaps of FIVE YEARS. Wild.

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

I think Doc is right. I was always under the impression that Michelle is half asian (Eurasian). I thought that there was actually a reference to her Eurasian heritage in one of the episodes.

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The answer is obvious, old man. Logic is irrelevant. It's simply Tropical Madness. (J.Q. Higgins)

Me too, IH, I was always under that impression also. There are people that have Asian heritage but don't look Asian.

Chalk up another flub for James!

It's been a looooooong time since I've seen Little Girl Who/Limbo/Unfinished Business.

Not quite sure why I questioned Higgins' comment about Michelle's "oriental heritage". It just surprised me. For some reason, I always had her pegged as all French. But of course, she could be of mixed descent.

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

Viet Nam was at one time (prior to our war there) a French colonial nation.

From Wikipedia


As a result of this, many Vietnamese spoke French as a second language.

Again, from Wikipedia:


When you consider that Michelle is Thomas Magnum's contemporary, and would have been born in the fifties (or perhaps the late 40's), it seems perfectly reasonable to suppose that at the time there were more than a few people of mixed Vietnamese and French background. This is what I have always taken Michelle to be. The Wikipedia article says that the French language is not spoken so much nowadays, but in Michelle's youth it would've probably been the second language of the privileged and even the middle classes.

Rather than being an anomaly, her character fits extremely accurately within the Vietnamese culture. As far as I'm concerned, her character added one more chink to the solidity of Magnum PI's portrait of Vietnam.

There's a lot of things that we who love MPI can chuckle over, but the way that this show handled all things pertaining to Viet Nam is anything but cheesy or campy.