MAGNUM, P.I.: THE JORORO KILL (TV)
Summary
One in this detective series set in Hawaii, starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a former naval officer turned private investigator. In this episode, in the south of France, a nun asks for help with a flat tire, and a hotel worker helps her change it. She steps away and waits until a certain car passes hers, and then blows it up with a remote, ditching the habit as she escapes. At Robin’s Nest, Magnum attempts to pilfer a bottle from Masters’ highly-guarded wine cellar, but is caught by Higgins, who wryly threatens him with tear gas, saying he is soon to host an elite wine-tasting event. Magnum then receives a message from his friend Kate Sullivan, an “idealist” wire service reporter who was injured while on a story. He meets up with her, along with Rick and TC, and in private, she tells him that she is working on a story about the Prime Minister of the Jororo islands, Santos, although she considers it a “lightweight” piece and wants Magnum’s help in pursuing a more interesting one to revive her career. She shows him a photo of a David Bannister, a former MI-6 strategist who is writing an exposé, and says she wants a meeting with him. Elsewhere, Rick and Lieutenant “Mac” McReynolds spend an afternoon fishing and complaining about Magnum, whom they feel takes advantage of them in his investigations. Rick tells Mac about the Bannister case, and he offers to help.
Magnum bargains with Higgins for a bottle of wine and asks about Bannister, and Higgins reveals that he was an operative, not a strategist, but was kicked out when he took his talent for disguises too far and began appearing in drag at important events. Elsewhere, the fake nun, who is actually Bannister, commits another murder. As Kate talks with Santos, she receives a call from an informant who says that Bannister plans to kill the Prime Minister, but she keeps the information to herself. Magnum comes to meet Santos and at first thinks he has the wrong hotel, but then questions a security guard and realizes that Santos’ presence there is a secret. He sneaks upstairs to the “island delegation” on the fourth floor, but is captured and is surprised to find Kate there. He demands answers, but she merely says that Bannister is not connected to the Prime Minister and asks him to wait for further information. When he returns home, Rick and Mac inform him that Bannister is not writing a tell-all book, but is in fact hiring himself out as an assassin. Kate’s “informant” calls again and tells her that Bannister will kill Santos on Monday, and Magnum soon confronts her about her lies. She admits that Bannister was hired by Santos’ opponents to kill him and that she wanted him, Magnum, to track the killer down so she could have the “scoop,” saying that she has a reliable source. Kate and her associates find Bannister’s van, which is full of explosives, and deduce that he is using a handheld detonator. She states that she wants in on his capture, but is annoyed to realize that she may be left out. Meanwhile, Bannister listens in on their conversation.
Magnum worries that the case is “too easy” and shows Kate a tape of herself bravely reporting from a war zone, which overwhelms her, and she thanks him. He then says that he does not believe that Bannister would accidentally permit them to search his van, and when he shows her another tape of Bannister, she is stunned to recognize his voice as that of her informant. They hurry to find Santos, who is attending a private mass at a convent, and Bannister dons his nun costume again and sneaks inside. Magnum and Kate arrive just in time and a gunfight breaks out, although Santos is unhurt. Magnum pursues Bannister, and though he is at first unsure of which nun to shoot, he manages to take Bannister down. Later, at the estate, Kate and Magnum share a drink as Rick and TC listen in on Higgins’ highbrow wine-tasting. When they attempt to turn up the volume on the speaker, however, they realize that they have accidentally released the tear gas upon the guests, and they all flee from Higgins’ wrath. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: January 7, 1982 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:48:39
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:11187
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective; Drama, action/adventure
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1980-1988
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Donald P. Bellisario … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Douglas Green … Producer
- Andrew Schneider … Producer, Writer
- Gilbert Shilton … Associate Producer
- Glen A. Larson … Created by
- Reuben Leder … Writer
- Alan Sutterfield … Writer
- Alan J. Levi … Director
- Mike Post … Music by
- Pete Carpenter … Music by
- Tom Selleck … Cast, Magnum
- John Hillerman … Cast, Higgins
- Roger E. Mosley … Cast, TC
- Larry Manetti … Cast, Rick
- Tyne Daly … Cast, Kate Sullivan
- Jeff MacKay … Cast, Lieutenant McReynolds
- Burr DeBenning … Cast, Russler
- Christopher Morley … Cast, David Bannister
- Edward Fernandez … Cast, Santos
- Blaise Domino … Cast, Gendarme
- Bill Erickson … Cast, Desk Clerk
- Jeff Albert … Cast, Customs Officer
- Brandon Smith … Cast, Russler's Aide
- Geoff Heise … Cast, Reporter
- Zoulou … Cast, Doorman
- Jeffrey Cutrer … Cast, Security Guard #1
- Henry Wilks … Cast, Security Guard #2