Magnum P.I – Season 5 Episode 6 “Dead Ringer” Recap & Review

Dead Ringer

Episode 6 of Magnum P.I. Season 6 starts with Magnum and Higgins enjoying their morning coffee. They are free as they have no cases and are planning to stay indoors but Rick interrupts their conversation. He acts suspiciously, telling them when he will be back home and Higgins suspects that he might know they are dating. However, Magnum dismisses her concerns and they head back to bed.

As it turns out, Rick is sure that they are dating and Kumu finds it hard to believe him but T.C. adds that he finds it suspicious too. Kumu asks them to let it go as it is none of their business. Unfortunately, Rick is unable to let go, as Kumu and T.C. start to wonder why he is obsessed with Magnum and Higgins. T.C. thinks there is something going on with Rick and asks him to figure it out.

Later, Rick discovers what his problem is. He admits that he is in love with his baby mama but she shut him down. He feels like he is in limbo. He wants to hope for himself as he knows what Magnum and Higgins have been through. He wants to know if they are together so that he can have a sense of hope for his relationship with his baby mama. Kumu and T.C. advise him to just ask Magnum for the truth about his relationship with Higgins.

After their rendezvous, Higgins finds money in their mail and a request from an anonymous client to look into a man named Jack Hill. The client believes that Jack committed murder and wants the private investigators to find evidence. Higgins feels uncomfortable with working for an anonymous client. She wants to identify the client first and Magnum points out that in order to identify the client, they need to look into Jack first.

Elsewhere, Katsumoto prepares his speech for the hearing and assures his son, Dennis that they will be okay no matter the outcome. Dennis knows that Katsumoto is acting strong but he is scared.  Dennis decides to show up at his dad’s hearing and give him some support. Katsumoto is moved by the thoughtful gesture and heads in to plead his case.

Katsumoto gives a heartfelt speech about why the job is important to him and why he did what he did. He begs for a second chance and the panel contacts him at the end of the day and gives him the good news.

Back to Higgins and Magnum, they look into Jack and find out that he is a model citizen in construction but before that, he was a cop. Higgins thinks it is a bad idea to investigate a former cop and refuses to work on the case. She wants to track the package and find the anonymous client. Magnum, on the other hand, decides to work the case and drives to Jack’s house. He breaks in and goes through Jack’s things.

He finds a photo of a woman and a post-operation instruction note pinned on the fridge. He gets a call from Higgins and updates her on his finding. Higgins also tells him that she was able to identify the client as a woman who worked at Kings Medical. They assume their client was part of Jack’s medical team when he got an appendectomy.  They narrow their search to a woman named Dr Sally.

They visit the hospital to have a talk with Dr Sally. She tells them that Jack confessed to a murder while under anesthesia but the hospital didn’t think they have enough ground to report the confession to the police. Dr Sally asks to remain confidential and begs them to continue with the case. They promise to keep her name out of the investigation and start investigating why Jack quit the police force.

They reach out to Katsumoto who informs them that Jack went through a rough patch when his wife died a few years back. He never managed to get over the death and started relying on the bottle. He grew erratic and started seeing an escort who filed a complaint against him and Jack was let go. Magnum asks Katsumoto to get the name of the escort for them.

This leads them to Amber who explains that Jack wanted her to maintain a certain hair colour and wear a certain perfume and dress. Jack was never intimate with her though, and everything was going well until she dyed her hair. Jack went crazy and she was afraid he would turn violent. After the complaint, Jack never approached her again.

Magnum and Higgins start to suspect that Jack was trying to recreate his experiences with his wife. They believe that he tried to look for another look-alike and killed her when the fantasy failed to stick. They look into missing women who fit the description and find a link between Jack and Jenny. Jenny used to work at a coffee shop that Jack frequented and disappeared soon after Jack’s visit to the shop.

They visit the coffee shop and find out that it is run by Jenny’s dad, Abe. They ask him about Jenny’s disappearance and after five years he has been through a lot. That fateful day, Jenny offered to close the shop because he was not feeling well. She was never seen again and the police recovered her car a few days later at the bottom of a mountain trail. They searched for her but they never found her and she was assumed to be dead. Soon after, Abe’s wife left, she couldn’t handle the grief.

They go to Childs to ask for a favour to look into Jenny’s police file. They appeal to Childs’ humane side and flatter him. Childs is hesitant but Magnum explains that the case is about a dirty cop and that resonates with him.

Childs visits Jake at his house and asks to interrogate him about the renewed case of Jenny’s disappearance. Jake says that he doesn’t remember Jenny or the coffee shop. Childs appeals to the fact that he needs his help as a fellow cop and asks him to come down to the station with him.

Whilst there, he shows Jake a photo of Jenny and he lies that he has never met her. Childs tries to make it look like he is not interrogating him. He shares a sob story about his wife dying a few years back from cancer but Jake doesn’t buy it and tries to leave.

Childs changes tactics and brings up the death of Jake’s wife. This gets under Jake’s skin and he finally agrees to talk in return for a snack since he is having a headache. Magnum and Higgins, who are observing the interrogation, find the request odd but are unable to pinpoint why. Jake confesses as he eats the snack but he suddenly has a health complication. The paramedics try to resuscitate him but are forced to pronounce him dead after multiple attempts.

It turns out Jake had a peanut butter allergy and Magnum questions why Jake kept peanut butter in his house. They suspect that Jake has been holding Jenny in his house for the past five years. They rush inside and find a secret room, rescuing Jenny in the process. Jenny is relieved to know Jake is gone and she is reunited with her family.

Night rolls by and the friends meet up to celebrate Katsumoto getting his job back. T.C. and Rick call Magnum aside and ask him if he is dating Higgins. Magnum admits that he is in a happy relationship with Higgins, and Rick finds his hope.

The episode ends with Higgins telling Magnum that she is not angry he told his friends about them. She’s not worried and doesn’t want to keep their relationship a secret.

The Episode Review

This episode ended perfectly; Jenny was found alive, Magnum and Higgins went public and Rick found hope. There is also the fact that Katsumoto got his job back. It is not lost on us that Jenny will need therapy but what a relief that her family gets her back. Most cases don’t end well and this is a reminder that when we see something, we should report it. This is all thanks to Dr Sally who spoke up and saved Jenny’s life. What if she never followed her gut?

This was one of the best episodes this season. Unfortunately, sooner or later, the team will face Captain Buck’s killers. I hope they all make it through that impending ordeal.