Ki’i’s Don’t Lie/

Emeralds Aren’t a Girl’s Best Friend

  

 

Directed by  Michael Sloan, Glen A. Larson, Philip DeGuere

Written by Bob Shayne and Richard Chapman

Synopsis, Ki’i’s Don’t Lie:  A  man stumbles into an antique shop, desperate to find a ki’i he had traced  there.  He utters a dire warning that, unless the ki’i is returned to the cave from which it came, everyone who touches it will be cursed and  die. When the antique dealer tells him it is gone, the guy stumbles out and falls to his death.  When the antique dealer begins to feel  unwell, he hires the Simons to track down the ki’i, which had in reality been stolen by a beautiful con artist.  They don’t believe the ki’i is making him sick, but they’re willing to return stolen  property.

Meanwhile, in  Hawaii, Magnum is hired (read: ordered by Higgens) to protect the items  involved in a charity auction at Robin’s estate, which includes the ki’i.  The beautiful Catherine Haley (Morgan Fairchild) is in charge of the auction, but her advances rub him all wrong.

Enter the  Simons, attempting to steal the ki’I back.  At first, the lads keep the brothers out, but eventually, they are successful in grabbing the ki’I  and running.  They haven’t returned in time, however, and their client mysteriously dies.

Magnum, finding  the Simons in this compromising situation, listens to their story and  realizes Catherine is the woman who had stolen the ki’i from California.  This is where the story has two endings.  The  Magnum episode in syndication show that he and Higgens arrive in time to capture Catherine as she tries to fly south of the border.  The Simon & Simon follow-up episode flashes back to Magnum and Higgens just missing her.

 

Synopsis, Emeralds Aren’t a Girl’s Best  Friend:  Higgens hires the Simons to continue to follow Catherine.  They find her in South America, a personal guest of the small country’s president and protected form extradition.  Rick thinks of a con that, with Janet's help, will get her into a more helpful country.

A.J. sweeps  Catherine off her feet and leads her into a trap by saying he knew the  location of an emerald mine.  Once she is lured across the border, they are able to extradite her to America for trial and return the ki’i to  the cave, ending the curse.



Higgens' wordless comment about AJ's trespassing foot. Rick's version of undercover
AJ's idea of 'undercover'
Can't ya feel the innocence?

Rick talks AJ into running a  con
Minutes later...

Review:

These are the  two episodes that comprise the Simon & Simon/Magnum crossover. 

Is it just me, or is A.J. quite the slut in  ‘Emeralds’?  Not a big deal, just struck me as odd for the young Simon to take it that far.  I’m sure it was just to keep from blowing  his cover. 

Yeah,  right.

Okay, going  back to the beginning.  The Magnum episode was fun to watch, especially as the brothers outwitted the home team.  Other than less one-liners as usual, I think the writers did a fine job of staying true to the brothers’ characters and Magnum’s.  I wish they could have ended with a less adversarial relationship, but our boys came out on top so I can’t complain.

The Simon &  Simon episode was a little disappointing to me, but only because Magnum played such a tiny role in it.  Other than a few telephone  conversations, it can hardly be called a crossover, except for Higgens’ presence in South America.  I would have liked this episode to be the  three private investigators working together, after being at each others’  throats in “Ki’i’s”. 

I’m not sure why they included Janet in the episode.  Her main purpose ended up being distracting Rick when she was kidnapped, which kept A.J. from being able to escape Catherine.  Well, Janet wasn’t even really kidnapped, just invited forcefully to keep the president company.  It seemed a little  token-ish to me, an excuse to bring her along.  I can’t imagine it was all that easy for her to watch A.J. seduce Catherine, either.  I  guess that's what bothered me enough to question what she was doing  there.

I really enjoyed the scene in prison, though. I just had to grab the sound clip - ohno.wav 80KB. Too funny!

Overall, it was  nice to see these casts working together.  I just wish it had been a bit more of a mesh.

3 out of 5 Camaros

  

 

 

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