Resolutions (1) (8.12)

[J.J. Walters]

This is the official MM thread for Resolutions (1) (8.12). 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: 5/1/1988
During a visit with his family in Virginia, Magnum receives a phone call that sends him rushing back to Hawaii to find romance, suspense, danger, and maybe even the true identity of Robin Masters.

[Shermy]

This first half pales in comparison to the second, mainly because so much time is spent on minor characters. It's good to see Magnum reconnecting at home, but it's also hard to really care. Tidewater would've benefited from a little more screentime in season 7. It's telling that we're not even given a proper farewell to the characters, as the story just suddenly jumps to Magnum's plane ride back.

And that brings us to another odd choice, as the first half is basically a wild goose chase with Linda Lee Ellison. This entire subplot would've worked better as an earlier episode, and is probably what Transitions should've been about. She's a much likelier candidate for inclusion in a penultimate episode (about change, no less!) than Luther Gillis.

[J.J. Walters]

Wow, this is indeed the syndicated version of the series finale, not the original broadcast version! Several minutes have been cut, including most of the Navy reunion scene at the Annapolis bar! Grrrrrr! Why???

"Part 1" of this finale is still just so-so for me. Loved the opening scenes with Magnum strolling around D.C. and Annapolis, but I still don't like the Tidewater scenes. Didn't like them in "Going Home", don't like them here.

I agree, Linda Lee? Why must they punish thee? I love that Higgins line though, when he tells Magnum she has called, "Sorry to interrupt your vacation, but I just received a call from a Linda Lee Ellison. She's a television reporter you dated last year for a short time. LOL! It's like they had to throw that in there to clarify to the audience just who she is and why she's returning at this critical time in the series!

Didn't remember Hal Williams making a brief appearance as "DJ Dave". Everytime I see that guy I shout out, "It's "Smitty" from Sanford & Son!

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

[J.J. Walters]

This episode, the last episode of MPI, aired twenty years ago today!

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

[Carmen]

So, let`s have a party!! Everybody watch it tonight and have a glass of champagne

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Sometimes I get so lucky, even I don`t believe it (TSM)

[Herman]

1. Aha! Finally, in the second-to-last episode, we have explicit confirmation of what's been hinted at through the course of the series: Magnum has a clinical case of post-traumatic stress disorder, for which he is refusing to get treatment.

2. It sure would be nice if someone could find and post the cut dialog from the Annapolis reunion scene, it might enlighten Magnum's decision to re-up.

[J.J. Walters]

[golfmobile]

What doesn't make sense here is Howard Duff as TM's grandfather. Duff was born in 1913 (not necessarily was TSMII born then, but it would have to be about then). Therefore, when our TM met him in 1988, TM was 44, and his "grandfather" was 75?? That just doesn't work, even give or take a few years. His grandfather should have been more than 31 years older than he was. A grandfather to a 44-year-old should be at least in his late 80s (particularly a military man who probably wasn't fathering children at age 20, and then his son fathered HIS son at age 20? TM's father hardly looked 26 when we saw him in "Home from the Sea") and a lot frailer than "The Captain." Duff looked and acted more like TM's father's age. Now, even Elisha Cook, IcePick, was born in 1903 and it would have been stretching it even to have someone of his generation as TM's grandfather. But he at least looks frail in the second part of these episodes.

Technically, I suppose, it's POSSIBLE, but it really doesn't follow the storyline of eight years, does it?

JMO

golf

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"Portside, buddy."

[lutherhgillis]

I think what happened is they were able to get Howard Duff so they found a way to use him. Magnum having a grandfather that is still globetrotting at that age is a little unbelievable. Also, they seem to rush him into the scene and then rush him out.

It does help explain why TM feels conflicted between having a sense of responsibility and being a 40-something adolescent.

I don't know about you guys but the entire tidewater crowd were a little 'under whelming' to me. It did explain, however, why TM only went home twice in 8 years...

[MPS]

Just got to this one last night and had a few questions. Golf already addressed the first one: Why is TSM IV's grandfather only 30 or 40 years older than he is? They could get Howard Duff, so they used Howard Duff. Okay.

Second question: Why Tidewater? Let me explain. We went to visit Daughter Number 2, who lives in Virginia, last spring. "Let's go to Tidewater!" Check the map. Nope. No Tidewater. Ask Daughter. She hasn't a clue. "Somewhere south of here, by the water." We didn't exactly make it to Tidewater. Why? It's an entire region of Virginia, not a town or city. Turns out, we were there a lot of the time!

Whenever Tidewater is mentioned in MPI, it is treated like a town: TSM's reunion at Tidewater HS, Karen living in Tidewater and Don Eddie living somewhere else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidewater_region_of_Virginia

http://www.virginiaplaces.org/chesbay/11chesa.html

The writers could have given TSM a real town. Virginia does have them: Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, Newport News. (Guess what? All of them are in Tidewater.) They all have a nice hometown sound to them. Okay, I'm finished ranting now.

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Higgins: You've washed the car?! How extraordinary. Why would you do such a thing?