Magnum Mania!

Okay, so it's a Holiday and I'm home alone posting like a fool. Well I may not get back to post for six months so indulge me!
I love watching the first season and noticing that makeup didn't always put Thomas' scar on his left shoulder in the same spot? I assume he got this scar from the flashback in the first episode where he is scooting through the jungle to join the team and he is clutching his shoulder, presumably he's been shot. I think the scar pretty much disappeared after that season but I do notice from time to time in subsequent seasons, a very faint scar that is linear on Thomas' left shoulder. I always wondered if this scar is real, since it is so faint and you can't always notice it. I just love discussing little details like this.
And of all the times he gets shot, have you noticed it is almost always in that same left shoulder? I think in one episode a reference was made when he got shot about opening up the old wound or something like that.

Eeyore,

Yes, I have noticed that Magnum has been shot many times in the same shoulder. As you mentioned, during the pilot episode he flashed back to Vietnam and he had been shot in the left shoulder. The episodes from seasons 1-6 that I remember him being shot in the left shoulder are:

1. Don't Eat The Snow In Hawaii (shot by La Bulle);
2. Memories are Forever;
3. Forty Years From Sand Island;
4. Way of the Stalking Horse.

I've always wondered why, whenever Magnum was shot it was almost always in the left shoulder. I guess, the writers figured that if he was shot in the right shoulder, he would not be able to do many of the things that he normally does, like shoot at bad guys, etc. I guess the shoulder is a reasonably safe place to be shot compared to other parts of the body, e.g., head, chest, etc.

You are right, there are episodes where his scar is in different places. But, where are the other scars from where he had been shot. The only scar you normally see is the circular scar which I assume was from his wound in Vietnam. I have also noticed the scar on top of his left shoulder as well. I don't know if this scar is fake or real. It seems that sometimes you don't see the scar so I assume it is fake, but I do not really know.

I watched "On Face Value" last night, and I believe he was shot in the shoulder there as well.

(I originally thought it was the forearm, but on closer inspection, there is a bloodstain on his shoulder after he shoots the Kiedash brothers)

In Adelaide, Thomas mentions that Adelaide's father had saved his life in Vietnam. Adelaide's father was a surgeon, so presumably he meant he saved him on the operating table. If so, where are those scars?

I guess ol' Charlie Cathcart could have just caught a grenade headed for TM when they were out drinking one night and tossed it back at the enemy. You never know.