The Major Problem With Magnum, p.i.’s Most Iconic Moment

https://popculturereferences.com/the-major-problem-with-magnum-p-i-s-most-iconic-moment/

Today, I explain why the ending of Magnum, p.i.‘s iconic “Did You See the Sunrise?” has a major flaw in it.

Okay, again, I shared it earlier because it’s such a great moment, and yet….for such a dramatic moment, the show really handled it kind of oddly. So, to set the scene up, Magnum’s buddy, Rick (Larry Manetti) sets a diversion for Ivan’s chauffeur, blocking the road with a “broken down” car. While Rick is distracting the driver, Magnum leads Ivan away, and then murders him in the woods.

So that’s how the episode ends, but then the next episode is just a crossover with Simon & Simon and that’s just…it? Magnum murders a guy and simply never thinks about it again (until a brief reference to it in the series finale)? The KGB are just okay with one of their agents being murdered? What about Ivan’s driver? He just lets the whole thing go? Or did Magnum and Rick murder him, too? Are there a couple of shallow graves in the Hawaiian woods somewhere?

I think it undercuts the whole dramatic tension of the moment by having it simply never referred to again. The whole reason why it stood out is because it was UNLIKE the rest of the show’s episodes (and TV dramas of the 1980s, in general), so for it to be just swept under the rug like that robs it of a good deal of that tension.

I imagine this was probably something that the network pushed on Donald Bellisario, which is why I don’t begrudge it too much, but it’s still a bit disappointing.