Home from the Sea (29 Sep. 1983)

It is July 4th and Magnum is off the coast on his surf ski when a speed boat shoots past him throwing TM into the water and the surf ski drifts away.

Director:

Harvey S. Laidman

Writers:

Donald P. Bellisario (creator), Glen A. Larson (creator),

Stars:

Tom Selleck, John Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Tom Selleck	...	Magnum
John Hillerman	...	Higgins
Roger E. Mosley	...	TC
Larry Manetti	...	Orville 'Rick' Wright
Susan Blanchard	...	Katherine Magnum - Magnum's Mother
Constance Forslund	...	Sandy - Rick's Companion
R.J. Williams	...	Young Thomas Magnum
Robert Pine	...	Lieutenant Thomas Sullivan Magnum II, USN, Magnum's Father
Gillian Dobb	...	Agatha Chumley
Geoff Heise	...	Goffrey Bonner, Maui Polo Club (as Geoffrey Heise)
Patrick Tendo	...	Toby
Norman Tang	...	Wong, the Chinese Chef
Dejohn Williams	...	Mikey
Bud Ralston	...	Naval Officer

Storyline

It is July 4th and Magnum is off the coast on his surf ski when a speed boat shoots past him throwing TM into the water and the surf ski drifts away.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 1983 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Belisarius Productions, Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

47 min 47 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Beginning with this episode, and until the end of the series Magnum wears a Rolex GMT Master wristwatch. According to the back story introduced in this episode, he inherited the watch from his father. Previously he wore a Chronosport Diver.

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Soundtracks

"Anchors Aweigh"
Music by Charles A. Zimmerman
Lyrics by Alfred Hart Miles and Royal Lovell
Performed by Tom Selleck

User Reviews

In The Depths of a Hero

(Magnum, P.I.) is one great TV show. I selected it as number one on the top of my list of the most favorite 10 TV shows and that was for objective as well as subjective reasons, and I think that kind of shows which could fulfill it both ways are quite few .. very few.

(Home from the Sea) was the first episode of the fourth season (aired for the first time at 29 September 1983), and i think it's one important instance for this show's quality, this hero's uniqueness and the immortality of them.

Firstly the plot was so new as (Magnum) has been locked up in the sea after his fall from the waterskiing board and moreover nobody knew anything about his place nor what was happening to him, and in the same time he just became captivated by the sea's current, the absence of any boats around him, and there is a shark in here too, in addition to that he must not sleep at all or will drown into the deep ! ..WOW, and when I said "new" I meant – as you see – new for TV or even for Cinema !

Secondly I've been impressed by the sudden worry of his 3 friends about him and its exposition as telepathic relationship between them, so they sensed, every one by his own way, the unseen danger around Mag ! (unforgettable moment when Higgins feels strange while the sunset.. It was incredible scene as romantic and transparency as their friendship).

Thirdly, the script's utilization of the main event and that plot to not make a thriller time only, but also to review some sad sides in Magnum's life (sides maybe were out of Magnum's depth) through very touching and smart flashbacks.. Like the story of his late wife as his only love, and how Vietnam war murdered her to make a marked wound in Magnum's history to hate war but there are deeper wounds.. Like the story of his beloved father whom learned him swimming and how to become fearless, then the father's death in Korea as American solder in 4/7/1951 when Magnum was only 6 years old.. That's revealing why Magnum always lives the fourth of July alone in seclusion. Moreover we find out, as Magnum himself during the deadlock, that he mustn't only ruminate his sorrow for his late father's memory but also he must live with that father's soul and instructions.. To remember the life of the man not his death .., and that was one part of the main message of the whole (Magnum, P.I.) for solemnizing the life itself as the designed inmost meaning behind all the fine amusement. So The breathtaking story wasn't about drowning in the sea or to be eaten by a shark.. That was the good front.. because basically it was a story about a man who must face his problems to know about himself and to challenge his own torments so he wouldn't be drowned by his blues or killed by his fears.

Fourthly : that satire – in flashy seems to be nicely pastime show – for the American policy whether it was the death of his father in Korea war then the lost of his love at the Vietnamese war (remember what kind of wars those were..), so his psychological deformation. It was all because of war, and in earlier episode there is a reference about Magnum being in a sanatorium for psychotherapy after his coming back from Vietnam, and all of this made the choice of (fourth of July) as the hard memory of his father not randomly at all !

That specific day is the American independence day, and the remembrance of their own revolution on the British occupiers. So the intended deepness of that day's choice is condemning the thinking which ruled the policy of whatever after THAT American independence (by occupying another places in the world like Vietnam and so on .. !).

Further than that look also at the irony in the celebration of the day according to everyone's personality : seeing a baseball match (TC), playing a polo match (Higgins), and a night with a hot girl on a yacht (Rick). But on the other hand you'll see Magnum's inclination to a spiritual solitude with the sea to cry alone about sorrows which come in the same day to show us cleverly – even in implied way – the ugly face of their celebrated history to decry it, and to show too the other painful side of their hero to balance him as a human being who had too many dimensions just like this Series, and in my opinion that's one of (Magnum, P.I.)'s secrets of success, charm, and immortality along with its other elements which were no less than perfect.

SO.. Thriller time, romantic moments, a psychological dimension, and a political satire.. Actually how wants more ?! Putting in mind that it was also a good intro for the fourth season as for any new viewer to perceive a lot about the title's character.. and really.. what a character and what a show.

P.S : I wrote a review about the whole show entitled (I've always Believed That Heaven is That Place where "Magnum" is Being Played Continually without Commercials !) that you can find at the show's main pages.