User Reviews

This series has always incorporated elements of the martial arts, and probably did it with as much accuracy as any prime time TV show did. In this episode we get to meet Tozan (Mako) who is a modern day samurai tasked with defending a priceless object of art with his very life.

Unfortunately, ninja were also part of the 80s and they attack Tozan and abscond with the priceless antique plate. Magnum is forced to blend eastern ways to track down the missing treasure and learns the mindset of the samurai to keep Tozan, who is now a friend, from pointlessly sacrificing his life without meaning.

A few plot twists and turns, but this show was always somewhat clever and had decent writing. The presentation of samurai values was much more authentic than the presentation of ninja, but that's probably another discussion. Definitely as must see for any fan of Mako.

Magnum gets a crash course this week in the mystifyingly black-and-white Japanese culture when he's joined by an honest-to-god Samurai (Mako) who's dead set on recovering a stolen piece of art. This one's cool because it shows what makes the warrior tick, what drives him and how it can utterly stymie a Westerner like Magnum that a man could so easily take his own life for failing to protect a porcelain plate. But the two develop a mutual appreciation over the course of this case, and we get an honest portrayal of the warrior mindset.

Also, I just realized James "The Muppet Movie" Frawley directed this.

That's awesome.

7/10

One of the things I love about Magnum is the diversity in it for the time it was made. It seems each show gave us an opportunity to at least peek inside another culture or race of people in a real down to earth sort of way. This episode doesn't fail in that regard. Yeah it might be a little over the top, but most of Magnum episodes are. This was really a show ahead of its time.

This segment has Magnum working with an old Samurai warrior(you read right)to locate a valuable plate that was stolen from the Japanese palace where Tozan(Mako)was guarding. The rub here is that this warrior's code involves suicide, mainly because he failed in his duty to protect this very expensive plate. Magnum does his best to help Tozan, and obviously talk the warrior out of killing himself. There's some comic relief revolving around dog repellent, and watching how T.C. and Rick react to the samurai angle, but nothing that memorable really happens. The fight scenes with Tozan taking on 5 or 6 others with swords was underwhelming, and a tad pedestrian, although I do enjoy Mako as an actor, as you'll see him all over the tube. To conclude, I'll say this wasn't among my favorite episodes, but it had a different angle and plot which may interest fans of this fine show.