Reviews

Any presentation with a murder weekend or dramatic revival of some type tend to be riddled with tiresome catchphrases and rather pretentious scenes. Magnum must deal with at Robin's nest a parade of rather vacuous rich people, a possibility of theft and Higgins, lapsing in an out of concussion induced hallucinatory behavior due to his personal vendetta against mongooses. This episode accentuates the theatric, but is feebly anchored in any type of realistic coherence. I found it heavy on absurdities, but short of an engaging plot. Maybe in a more comedic setting, it would have been received with induced laughter. But the characterization was rather cartoonish and even the ending suffered from exaggerated and prolonged drama to be believable. More built on platitudes to be absorbing for me.

This, for me, is one of the best Monk episodes. Imagine trying to prove an astronaut committed a murder while out in space. Seems impossible but Monk is not deterred, even after he is consistently shamed by the astronaut in public. This is when Monk feels he does not measure up to the manly persona the astronaut projects, the seemingly effortless self assured cockiness. And yet the viewers will be surprised as well as Monk , himself, at how hw can and will overcome for the sake of justice and ethics. Every time I see this, I rejoice at his eventual victory, when "everything was on the line" and there was no room for error. This episode defines what true manliness consists of and Monk is surprised at how he truly does conform to it when he is willing to stand for the courage of his convictions. Monk earns his spurs in a very unique way and does not stick his head in the sand to avoid confrontation but actually embraces it.

This had to be one of the poorer episodes that I have seen in this series. An attempted extortion scheme from a man ,who claims to have insider knowledge regarding Trudy's death, leads to Monk being assaulted, dumped on the bed of an oil truck and waking up in some really small town in Wyoming, with no memory of how he got there. He falls into the clutches of a woman, who is a certifiable relative to Kathy Bates of "Misery" and is led to believe he has skills , which he obviously doesn't have and tries to do things which he is hopeless in (like climbing a ladder). In the midst of this hallucination, he manages to get involved in a senseless disappearance and does put his skills at detection to work. Improbable and unreal in every respect.

This , for me, is one of the weakest episodes" of the series. First of all, Chuck McCann was basically a whiny has been grifter who has just scraped be in comedic mediocrity for years. He has earned the enmity of his ex partner Lee Russo (played by Robert Quarry) for allegedly absconding with Lee's material. It was a slapdash plot of murky elements, which gave the episode a type of uncharacteristic unsavoriness. Jason Evers was out of character for the type of personage he portrayed and the idea of certain controversial concepts being thrown about made the entire thrust of the episode incongruous with what viewers had been known to expect from the series. I did like the return of Tom Adkins (Lieutenant Diehl),Jim Rockford's other nemesis .But this was one of the weakest entries yet and I found it not satisfying in the least.

In this episode, Mannix intervenes when the alcoholic daughter of an old friend who gave Mannix a place to live when he was going through college is accused of a murder that may have been committed in an alcoholic haze. Yet this episode resonated with me because it revolved around the reclamation of a life, almost destroyed by alcohol, indulgence and plain wrong choices. The soul searching and the deep introspection discussed between Mannix and the woman adds a very personal layer to a mystery which at first seemed airtight. And the satisfying ending gave a personal glow to the whole episode. I think one of the better ones of Season 5.

This is one of the most dismal entries in the series. A high profile, but shady lawyer dies in a phone booth after phoning Amos Burke. It turns out the suspects are all the people who this man defended and either got harsh sentences or no legal satisfaction. After seeing snippers of both their character and their particular trials, the viewer will regard both their stories and the way the story is layered as both inane and inconsequential. The acting is stilted, the motives really do not make sense and the only character I could feel any empathy toward is the eventual perpetrator. Somehow the dispatching of a seedy lawyer did not bear fruit in this story.

I guess this last episode was all there was "in the cards". The dispatching of this greeting card tyrant was totally ingenious and Amos Burke did arrive at he solution almost at the expense of his own life. I do not know what Aaron Spelling was thinking when he re-invented Amos Burke as an ineffectual espionage agent. I felt the viewers were getting cheated. I mean, an episode the following season could have revolved around Tim Tilson's marriage for instance. But an attempt to capitalize on the James Bond craze ended in abject failure and the 1994 reboot was far from endearing or convincing. But this episode was a true gem in every way.

Could the Texan be classified as a "Christian " program? Not exclusively! But the application of Christian precepts are apparent in many episodes. Many of the segments revolve around taking stands against fear, a recovering of courage,victory over enslavement to alcohol,forgiveness of various debts, and most important taking a stand against entrenched evil, no matter the cost. There are episodes, where with the help of Bill Longley, people ruthlessly shattered by tragedy and circumstance, find that there is a second chance for them to find both happiness and purpose in their lives. Bill Longley personifies an awakened conscience where the emotionally and physically downtrodden finally become the people they were always meant to be. A very fine program that can both encourage and inspire.