User Reviews

The Love-for-Sale Boat is not a bad episode. There is eye candy, and Rick gets conned by Macks double. This time with a Japanese connection. There is a twist where Hig teaches the gal about freedoms in the us. A comedy episode, which is silly and the joke is on Rick. I did not mind it. The comedy episode, which got my attention when I was a teenager. 7 stars.

I don't know if this Magnum episode, The Love-for-Sale Boat was inspired by Pink Lady and Jeff, but not to be. The Mack lookalike is pretty much the center of this episode where a boat passes through several hands, and three young Japanese ladies get caught up in all the drama.

We learn Higgins can speak Japanese and he's quite sensitive to the plight of the three ladies who could get deported at any time.

I loved how Magnum travelled to San Francisco to find Mack (well his lookalike). Talking about lookalikes, I seriously think Joe Lo Truglio of Brooklyn 99 looks like the Mack actor for sure.

Maybe because of the popularity of Huggy Bear in Starsky & Hutch, almost every cop/detective show for the next couple of decades felt obliged, sooner or later, to introduce their own "lovable rogue" comic relief regular; a crook who has a friendly relationship with the lead characters and gives them tips.

Much as I like Huggy Bear, I've never been particularly fond of the others. But Jim "Mac" Bonnick is the worst of the bunch. To begin with, I find the character especially irritating and not at all funny. And anyway, why does a show which always had at least 50% comedic episodes need a comic relief character?

Then, he doesn't serve as an informer or in any other role for Magnum. He's been given no redeeming qualities. The most useful thing he's done so far of his own free will has been to fix a computer.

But the main thing is that the equivalent characters in other shows tend to be small-time "harmless" conmen (as they're presented.) However, when we're talking about cons involving diamonds, yachts and tens of thousands of dollars, then it's certainly not small-time anymore. Especially when he's carrying out cons like this on his own friends. Why the hell do they consider him a friend at this point, anyway?

As you might guess, I very much hope that he won't turn up in too many episodes in the future, because he spoils every one that he's in. But I fear I may be disappointed.

Okay, I've written enough, so I won't even rant about how outdated and ultra-stereotypical the depiction of Japanese women was in this episode, even bearing in mind that it's from 1985.