Memories Are Forever

The Vietnam war hangs heavy over all of 'Memories Are Forever' and you can tell from the outset that this isn't going to be sunshine and lollipops. Magnum's convinced he's spotted his dead wife in Hawaii, which has everyone (himself included) questioning his sanity. Spoiler alert: it is her, and she turns out to be a player in an intelligence operation. But she's not a spider-woman, she's a survivor, and all of this is bigger than just two forbidden lovers.

It's a story of both love and loss and very painful for our hero, but also well told. What really makes this episode is how the war is used to flesh out these characters and deepen their relationship; particularly a scene between Magnum and Higgins. When the chips are down, the static between them melts away and they're once again brothers in arms. And when we do come to an end, it really does feel like this pain will still be there when next week rolls around.

Great episode.

8/10

This top drawer, double-length tale of "Magnum" has everything the viewer had come to expect from the series, and much more.

Revealing a previously unseen backstory to the character, "Memories Are Forever" introduces us to Magnum's wife, Michelle (played by the late Marta DuBois) and the "gung ho" Colonel Buck Greene (Lance LeGault , who will be familiar to many as Colonel Decker from "The A-Team").

Incidentally, the story contains a truly jaw-dropping visual transition from Vietnam to modern-day Hawaii. Brilliant stuff. It's little touches like this that makes the series so special.

10 out of 10. The seeds are sown for many seasons to come.