Higgins is Robin Myth

[Pahonu]

I was just watching The Man from Marseilles from season 5 and took note of something I hadn’t remembered. It’s in the scene where Carol and TM are sitting in beach chairs at the tidal pool reading from the manuscript of Robin’s latest novel, yet to be released and Higgins catches them. He scolds them both and as he straightens up the papers the other two run off. Just moments earlier TM made a comment when Higgins says “my study” and Higgins says “quite”. This is the part of his growing questioning if Higgins is Robin, but after they leave, Higgins does something interesting. He begins to look at the manuscript himself and says “maybe just one chapter” before deciding not to read any and puts it back in the box.

This clearly shows the producers were not going down the path of trying to make Higgins into Robin in retrospect. They were only having TM question his real identity. It did make for some fun interactions between the two, but it was not a rewriting of the shows history. If Higgins were Robin, or even the ghost writer for a Robin character created by him, both of which TM considered, he would have been the author of the manuscript in the scene. Why would he be tempted to read just the first chapter of something he wrote himself?

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

I was just watching The Man from Marseilles from season 5 and took note of something I hadn’t remembered. It’s in the scene where Carol and TM are sitting in beach chairs at the tidal pool reading from the manuscript of Robin’s latest novel, yet to be released and Higgins catches them. He scolds them both and as he straightens up the papers the other two run off. Just moments earlier TM made a comment when Higgins says “my study” and Higgins says “quite”. This is the part of his growing questioning if Higgins is Robin, but after they leave, Higgins does something interesting. He begins to look at the manuscript himself and says “maybe just one chapter” before deciding not to read any and puts it back in the box.

This clearly shows the producers were not going down the path of trying to make Higgins into Robin in retrospect. They were only having TM question his real identity. It did make for some fun interactions between the two, but it was not a rewriting of the shows history. If Higgins were Robin, or even the ghost writer for a Robin character created by him, both of which TM considered, he would have been the author of the manuscript in the scene. Why would he be tempted to read just the first chapter of something he wrote himself?

Your points are well taken, Pahonu.
It's too bad the producers couldn't have found the extra cash to induce Orson Welles to appear in person rather than just voice overs. All the controversy could have been avoided,
plus Hillerman and Welles sparring with each other, pulling out all the acting stops would have been great.
Personally, the most I would credit Higgins as - and cited above - would be a ghost writer for a dissolute skirt chasing, partying Robin who after establishing the "Robin Masters" brand and making big bucks
let Higgins do all the grunt work/hard yards and then put his monicker on the work Higgins wrote. That Robin Masters was on display in "Squeeze Play", when without a second thought he betrayed
Higgins and Magnum to be virtual indentured servants to Buzz Benoit because of gaming losses.
But Higgins actually being Robin is a bridge too far for me, especially with what you wrote above.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"A wise gamester takes the dice as they fall and pays down quietly, rather than grumble at his luck"...Sophocles

[Pahonu]

I was just watching The Man from Marseilles from season 5 and took note of something I hadn’t remembered. It’s in the scene where Carol and TM are sitting in beach chairs at the tidal pool reading from the manuscript of Robin’s latest novel, yet to be released and Higgins catches them. He scolds them both and as he straightens up the papers the other two run off. Just moments earlier TM made a comment when Higgins says “my study” and Higgins says “quite”. This is the part of his growing questioning if Higgins is Robin, but after they leave, Higgins does something interesting. He begins to look at the manuscript himself and says “maybe just one chapter” before deciding not to read any and puts it back in the box.

This clearly shows the producers were not going down the path of trying to make Higgins into Robin in retrospect. They were only having TM question his real identity. It did make for some fun interactions between the two, but it was not a rewriting of the shows history. If Higgins were Robin, or even the ghost writer for a Robin character created by him, both of which TM considered, he would have been the author of the manuscript in the scene. Why would he be tempted to read just the first chapter of something he wrote himself?

Your points are well taken, Pahonu.
It's too bad the producers couldn't have found the extra cash to induce Orson Welles to appear in person rather than just voice overs. All the controversy could have been avoided,
plus Hillerman and Welles sparring with each other, pulling out all the acting stops would have been great.
Personally, the most I would credit Higgins as - and cited above - would be a ghost writer for a dissolute skirt chasing, partying Robin who after establishing the "Robin Masters" brand and making big bucks
let Higgins do all the grunt work/hard yards and then put his monicker on the work Higgins wrote. That Robin Masters was on display in "Squeeze Play", when without a second thought he betrayed
Higgins and Magnum to be virtual indentured servants to Buzz Benoit because of gaming losses.
But Higgins actually being Robin is a bridge too far for me, especially with what you wrote above.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"A wise gamester takes the dice as they fall and pays down quietly, rather than grumble at his luck"...Sophocles

Higgins as a ghostwriter wouldn’t make sense either. Based on the scene I described above, why would Higgins be tempted to read “just the first chapter” of something he had ghostwritten himself? This happened after TM and Carol had left, so it wasn’t some kind of ruse to counter TM’s earlier question about him being Robin after calling the den his own.

I agree, an Orson Welles appearance would have been fantastic, except he died about halfway through the series, leading to a rethink of the character, I would think. This episode was after his death by about 6 months, so…

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

I was just watching The Man from Marseilles from season 5 and took note of something I hadn’t remembered. It’s in the scene where Carol and TM are sitting in beach chairs at the tidal pool reading from the manuscript of Robin’s latest novel, yet to be released and Higgins catches them. He scolds them both and as he straightens up the papers the other two run off. Just moments earlier TM made a comment when Higgins says “my study” and Higgins says “quite”. This is the part of his growing questioning if Higgins is Robin, but after they leave, Higgins does something interesting. He begins to look at the manuscript himself and says “maybe just one chapter” before deciding not to read any and puts it back in the box.

This clearly shows the producers were not going down the path of trying to make Higgins into Robin in retrospect. They were only having TM question his real identity. It did make for some fun interactions between the two, but it was not a rewriting of the shows history. If Higgins were Robin, or even the ghost writer for a Robin character created by him, both of which TM considered, he would have been the author of the manuscript in the scene. Why would he be tempted to read just the first chapter of something he wrote himself?

Your points are well taken, Pahonu.
It's too bad the producers couldn't have found the extra cash to induce Orson Welles to appear in person rather than just voice overs. All the controversy could have been avoided,
plus Hillerman and Welles sparring with each other, pulling out all the acting stops would have been great.
Personally, the most I would credit Higgins as - and cited above - would be a ghost writer for a dissolute skirt chasing, partying Robin who after establishing the "Robin Masters" brand and making big bucks
let Higgins do all the grunt work/hard yards and then put his monicker on the work Higgins wrote. That Robin Masters was on display in "Squeeze Play", when without a second thought he betrayed
Higgins and Magnum to be virtual indentured servants to Buzz Benoit because of gaming losses.
But Higgins actually being Robin is a bridge too far for me, especially with what you wrote above.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A wise gamester takes the dice as they fall and pays down quietly, rather than grumble at his luck"...Sophocles

Higgins as a ghostwriter wouldn’t make sense either. Based on the scene I described above, why would Higgins be tempted to read “just the first chapter” of something he had ghostwritten himself? This happened after TM and Carol had left, so it wasn’t some kind of ruse to counter TM’s earlier question about him being Robin after calling the den his own.
I agree, an Orson Welles appearance would have been fantastic, except he died about halfway through the series, leading to a rethink of the character, I would think. This episode was after his death by about 6 months, so…

After reading the above, I think you are right, especially a ghostwriting Higgins being tempted to sneak a peek at his own work.
I would only add, that sometimes on TV series, a sloppy adherence to the series "Bible" that is supposed to contain all biographical details and major plot points could factor in to
disputes about characters. For instance on the Dick Van Dyke Show, sometimes Mel was married to Alan Brady's sister, other times it was Alan married to Mel's sister.
The Fess Parker "Daniel Boone" was the worst when it came to details. Sometimes it was set during the Revolution, the next week it was 10 years later and Washington was president,
the week after that it was back to the Revolution, then a week later John Adams was president.

[Pahonu]

I was just watching The Man from Marseilles from season 5 and took note of something I hadn’t remembered. It’s in the scene where Carol and TM are sitting in beach chairs at the tidal pool reading from the manuscript of Robin’s latest novel, yet to be released and Higgins catches them. He scolds them both and as he straightens up the papers the other two run off. Just moments earlier TM made a comment when Higgins says “my study” and Higgins says “quite”. This is the part of his growing questioning if Higgins is Robin, but after they leave, Higgins does something interesting. He begins to look at the manuscript himself and says “maybe just one chapter” before deciding not to read any and puts it back in the box.

This clearly shows the producers were not going down the path of trying to make Higgins into Robin in retrospect. They were only having TM question his real identity. It did make for some fun interactions between the two, but it was not a rewriting of the shows history. If Higgins were Robin, or even the ghost writer for a Robin character created by him, both of which TM considered, he would have been the author of the manuscript in the scene. Why would he be tempted to read just the first chapter of something he wrote himself?

Your points are well taken, Pahonu.
It's too bad the producers couldn't have found the extra cash to induce Orson Welles to appear in person rather than just voice overs. All the controversy could have been avoided,
plus Hillerman and Welles sparring with each other, pulling out all the acting stops would have been great.
Personally, the most I would credit Higgins as - and cited above - would be a ghost writer for a dissolute skirt chasing, partying Robin who after establishing the "Robin Masters" brand and making big bucks
let Higgins do all the grunt work/hard yards and then put his monicker on the work Higgins wrote. That Robin Masters was on display in "Squeeze Play", when without a second thought he betrayed
Higgins and Magnum to be virtual indentured servants to Buzz Benoit because of gaming losses.
But Higgins actually being Robin is a bridge too far for me, especially with what you wrote above.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A wise gamester takes the dice as they fall and pays down quietly, rather than grumble at his luck"...Sophocles

Higgins as a ghostwriter wouldn’t make sense either. Based on the scene I described above, why would Higgins be tempted to read “just the first chapter” of something he had ghostwritten himself? This happened after TM and Carol had left, so it wasn’t some kind of ruse to counter TM’s earlier question about him being Robin after calling the den his own.
I agree, an Orson Welles appearance would have been fantastic, except he died about halfway through the series, leading to a rethink of the character, I would think. This episode was after his death by about 6 months, so…

After reading the above, I think you are right, especially a ghostwriting Higgins being tempted to sneak a peek at his own work.
I would only add, that sometimes on TV series, a sloppy adherence to the series "Bible" that is supposed to contain all biographical details and major plot points could factor in to
disputes about characters. For instance on the Dick Van Dyke Show, sometimes Mel was married to Alan Brady's sister, other times it was Alan married to Mel's sister.
The Fess Parker "Daniel Boone" was the worst when it came to details. Sometimes it was set during the Revolution, the next week it was 10 years later and Washington was president,
the week after that it was back to the Revolution, then a week later John Adams was president.

You’re completely correct about the sloppiness regarding such details in these older shows, but it was a product of the time. They had no clue that fans of the future would be analyzing such things so granularly, so why would they consider it?

Occasionally I comment when someone who just binge watched a season comments on how many mistakes they’ve found and can’t understand why. It’s not too hard noticing a continuity error when you see the episodes four hours apart, a month apart less so! It was such a different time. If they understood such details, it would very much make sense.

[Chris109]

It's a myth. MYTH!