In my review for the season 6 finale, I wrote about how I prefer the Magnum season finales over the season openers. So, just to make me look stupid, they go and make a brilliant season 7 opener. You b*stards!
But it really is brilliant. For a start, you know how when you watch a series set in LA, it's really nice to see the characters have an episode where they go to an exotic location like... Hawaii? Turns out it works the other way round too! It makes a refreshing change to see Thomas having to navigate his way around a big, crowded city, and without the comfort of his plush residence, Ferrari, and old friends.
On that final point, I very much appreciate how the LA and Hawaii storylines are kept separate from beginning to end. I kept on expecting the two cases to turn out to be part of the same case in order to to get the whole gang together for the finale, but that doesn't happen. Another refreshing change.
The Hawaii storyline is totally TC's. Rick and Higgins don't get much of a look-in. I have noticed that whenever Rick has had a major storyline (his affair with a married woman, the death of his sister, his winning $1 million and then getting engaged) he's acted either like a jerk or an idiot. TC's had more luck. Here, he gets to once more show his compassionate nature and saves young Carlton from a grisly fate. Is TC a friendly Terminator sent back in time from the future to ensure the invention of the Carlton dance?
The best thing in this episode for me, though, is Dana Delaney. I've looked up her filmography on IMDB to confirm my suspicions and it's true; I've never seen her in a single thing before now. Ever. Of course, I know who she is. Body of Proof aired here in the UK and I well remember seeing her in the commercials but I never watched it. Well, maybe I should check out some of her stuff, because she's fantastic in this. Cynthia's cute, funny, intelligent, tough but vulnerable... okay, I know it all sounds vomit-inducingly clichéd but the character just works.
I'm normally someone who hates romances in my action films and TV shows, because they're typically shoehorned in, don't make sense, given the circumstances, and just slow everything down. But Thomas and Cynthia's attraction is extremely well done. Selleck and Delaney have great chemistry together. This being a feature-length episode means there's time for things to happen at a natural-seeming pace - well, until the proposal out of nowhere, and the acceptance.
But even that, I don't mind. In fact, the ending is pretty sad, when Cynthia realises that three days are maybe not quite sufficient to know someone well enough to marry them, and so doesn't accompany Thomas back home. I was having premonitions of a beautiful fairy-tale wedding, during which she would be shot dead by one of Thomas' old enemies, Sheena Easton-style. Look at me getting all romantic in my old age.
So, without doubt, a great start to season 7. Let's hope that's a sign of good things to come during the rest of it.
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