Magnum P.I. Season 5 Episode 7 Review: Birthright
It’s about time T.C. received another piece of good news in his personal life.
The surprise that was sprung on him on Magnum P.I. Season 5 Episode 7 qualified as good news, right?
Maybe that’s still up in the air as he and his mother Verna have a lot of missed time to make up for.
Since the series began, T.C. has always had to be the adult among the former military teammates, bailing out Rick and Thomas time after time.
It’s a wonder that he’s been able to keep Island Hoppers afloat with all the time he’s invested into those two and their problems/businesses.
Over the seasons, T.C. has built a life for himself outside of his chopper business and caring for his former squadmates.
He’s taken in surrogate son Cade, forming a family. Also, he reconnected with firefighter Mahina, and their relationship also appears to be going strong.
But the case that Magnum blindly took on in this episode goes back into T.C.’s past, a place viewers haven’t visited much.
It wasn’t much of a case as the client, Verna, knew precisely who she was trying to find, the son she hadn’t seen in 36 years.
That was a perfect gotcha moment when Verna unveiled to Thomas that her long-lost son was T.C.
It wasn’t difficult to be sympathetic toward Verna after she explained why she had left T.C. all those years ago. She was struggling with mental illness and wanted to avoid her young son T.C. having to deal with that.
The problem was that no one had explained to T.C. why his mother had left. So he naturally resented her for having done so.
Magnum deserved credit for coming right out with Verna’s request to T.C. Even after Thomas had explained Verna’s circumstances to him, T.C. flat-out rejected a meeting with her.
Of course, that wasn’t that. T.C.’s people care too much about him to let things lie without offering their opinions about his situation.
Rick was correct when he argued that T.C. needed to sit down and talk with Verna for closure if no other reason.
But it was Cade who finally got through to T.C. When the boy who will never see his mother again argued that T.C. should take the opportunity to build a relationship with his mom, it was difficult for T.C. to debate that point.
Still, it took T.C. a couple of tries to set things right again.
First, he sat down with Verna to tell her he forgave her, but there was no room for his life. Later, he grudgingly allowed that maybe, just maybe, they could attempt to rebuild their relationship.
T.C. made the right choice in holding out an olive branch to Verna.
Back when she made her decision, mental illness was something to be ashamed of. Now people understand that it’s a medical condition that requires treatment, like any other. He couldn’t hold that against her.
However, Verna is another person T.C. must protect now that a mysterious hit squad is after his black ops team.
It’s been a couple of episodes since that threat was mentioned. How long before the series gets back to it, at least to some degree?
Since Magnum’s case wrapped up quickly, he joined Higgins on her case, which had them searching for an expensive necklace stolen from an elderly widower during a burglary.
It was great to see the feisty senior Gus played by T.V. veteran Lawrence Pressman (Doogie Howser, M.D.).
Gus, who had been battling cancer, still managed to shoot and kill one of the burglars with his shotgun, although the other managed to steal the necklace.
Although the necklace was pricey, Gus was more concerned with recovering it as an inheritance for his daughter Kerry, who had given up everything to care for him. Kerry was more worried about the other burglar coming after Gus for revenge.
Thomas and Juliet quickly agreed that the burglary had to be an inside job, as the bumbling burglars located the necklace far too quickly. Also, the scene was staged to look like a break-in.
Now that Katsomoto was back at HPD, they didn’t hesitate to seek his help, even though it wasn’t his case. As Magnum indicated, it felt like old times, with them trying to get Gordie to tell what he knew while they hid what they had learned.
The police also felt it was an inside job, and the greedy brother, Brett, sure appeared to be a likely suspect.
Thanks to Juliet’s people skills, they soon knew who the second burglar was, information she acquired from the dead burglar’s pregnant girlfriend.
Still, parts of the case weren’t adding up, including a dead fence and a botched sale. Childs even helped out by determining that the stolen necklace was a fake.
That was why Kerry had never filed an insurance claim since she had let the policy lapse after she sold the genuine necklace to afford an experimental treatment for Gus.
The burglar, stuck with a paste necklace, stupidly returned to the crime scene, seeking the remaining money hidden around the house. That certainly made it easy for Katsumoto and HPD to scoop him up.
To revisit T.C.’s personal life, watch Magnum P.I. online.
Did T.C. make the right decision regarding Verna?
How soon did you realize who was behind the burglary?
Wasn’t it great to see Katsumoto and Childs working together?
Comment below.
Dale McGarrigle is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
