‘Magnum P.I.’ Recap: ‘Charlie Foxtrot’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

MAGNUM P.I. -- "Charlie Foxtrot" Episode 510 -- Pictured: (l-r) Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins, Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum -- (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 510 of ‘Magnum P.I.’ To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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When we last settled in to enjoy the wondrous new season of the NBC series, Magnum P.I., we were all left in quite the worrisome place. After all, the dark men that were hunting Thomas Magnum and the remainder of his crew from that fateful mission… were making their moves to bring down the team at last, and their furious push to bring that to fruition, led to the end of Detective Childs, and the potential end for T.C. as well. Since the closing moments of that tale saw him taking fire from one of Swayzak’s lackeys. Leaving all of us to wonder if T.C. was going to be okay and exactly what Thomas would do when he learned of this attack and thankfully, the Spring Finale of this series, wasted little time in answering those questions.  
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For ‘Charlie Foxtrot’ quickly informed us that T.C. was going to be okay. Thanks to Kenny’s quick thinking, since he put down the assailant with a quick shotgun blast, and that got T.C. into surgery. Where he recovered and faced a slow road back. One that might not feature the use of his legs because of the damage done to his body. Which time will tell of course if that will be the case, but he survived and that was a relief, as was what happened while T.C. was being rushed to the hospital. For that is when the rest of the dark ops unit descended upon Robin’s Nest, just as Rick called Higgins to let her know what was happening with T.C., and that he was on his way to the hospital, and had it not been for Juliet and Thomas’ extensive training, they might not have survived the onslaught. One that put Swayzak in handcuffs and led to more work for this dynamic duo.  

Simply because, Rick never made it to the hospital to check on T.C., which was of concern since he was just leaving the bar when he made that call, and well… that led to a harrowing storyline for Rick. One where we learned, he was captured, and he had to get creative to escape his captors and keep that creativity going to continue to evade them in the middle of the night and the early morning hours, and sadly his efforts were all for naught. For eventually he was captured again. And the search for him yielded minimal results. Which meant, Thomas and Juliet had to figure out who was behind this and why, and quickly. So, they could ascertain if there was any possibility that Rick might be alive and if the odds were in his favor, find Rick and in doing so… bring this monster to justice. For Magnum had a feeling that the true villain here was with Rick and his theory, and Higgins’ fine work, finally yielded them some possibilities as to who was behind this and how that might help them find Rick.

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MAGNUM P.I. -- "Charlie Foxtrot" Episode 510 -- Pictured: (l-r) Michele Hicks as Nadine Amherst, Zachary Knighton as Orville "Rick" Wright -- (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)

In that, it appeared that Nadine Amherst, who originally appeared to have died in this mess, was actually alive and well and behind this. For she spent a lot of time with Ahman Hadid, the man that Magnum’s crew brought down, and likely fell in love with him and wanted revenge for his death. Which at first, didn’t appear to be a sound theory. Since so many years had passed between the operation and this chaos. But… the discovery that she had a son with Hadid who also passed away, allowed for this theory to make sense and that gave Magnum quite the idea. Because Rick’s capture was likely designed to have him answer for being the one who pulled the trigger on Hadid. Which meant, there was a very good chance he was alive and well and being interrogated and harmed by Amherst to enact revenge, and that meant there was an easy way to figure out where he was… through Swayzak.
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Because he was in custody and on his way to jail, and if by chance… it appeared as though he was being rescued through people that worked both sides of the fence like he did, he would lead everyone to Rick and Nadine. So, a plan was put into place to stage his escape and well… it worked like a charm. For Swayzak did indeed return to home base, where Nadine was preparing to cause Rick great harm for being the man to put down the love of her life. But thankfully, no harm came to him. For the cavalry arrived and arrested Nadine and freed Rick, and with a little brute force on Magnum’s part… okay… a lot of brute force… Swayzak was also brought to justice. Bringing an end to this dastardly plot and leaving what was left of this once proud unit… wounded but alive.

If anything, this was… an epic and moving way to wrap up this particular storyline. Simply because, the cost was high to bring Nadine to justice. After all, Greene was gone, T.C. has a long recovery ahead and both Magnum and Rick came to realize they’re not invincible and really did have a close brush with the end. And now that the dust from this battle/rescue mission has settled, we can revel in a story that did a wonderful job of bringing this particular chapter in the life and times of Thomas Magnum and his friends to a close, and truly… it will be interesting to see how these men respond to what they experienced in this tale. For that close of a brush with death, can change people fundamentally, and it would come as no surprise if such matters will be explored in great detail when this magnificent show returns to the airwaves. Until next time.

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