Magnum, P.I. The Jororo Kill (1980–1988) Online

"Cagney and Lacey" star Tyne Daly appears as a reporter who Magnum met in Vietnam and who needs his help tracking down an assassin in Hawaii.

The opening scene in France bears a striking resemblance to Hawaii; a suspension of disbelief is paramount here.

Despite a team of writers, this isn't one of the strongest stories from Season 2. The concept of a "transvestite" hitman is original but the execution is somewhat disappointing. What could have been a real thriller turns out to be mildly exciting. However, female impersonator Christopher Morley is very convincing as the villainous Bannister.

Burr ("The Incredible Melting Man") DeBenning appears as one of this week's guest stars.

There's a great scene with Mack and Rick to enjoy.

7 out of 10. Really hoped this would be a stronger episode.

This episode of Magnum P.I. features an international killer for hire who is as ruthlessly efficient and compelling as those littering mostly inferior big budget blockbuster films. The twist is that the mercenary is a former MI6 agent cashiered for being openly transvestite (to use the jargon of the time and the series).

The agent, David Bannister (Christopher Morley), poses as an unseen woman editor who hires Magnum's friend Kate (Tyne Daly), with whom he only communicates by phone, to disseminate the fiction that Bannister wants to publish a book, presumably about his life and experiences. This false front is apparently to obscure his current mission, the assassination of the visiting leader of Jororo, a fictional South Pacific island nation (hence the episode title).

Speaking for myself, the voice of the unseen "editor" was clearly that of a man, disguised as that of a woman, likely because Morley is an American (from Texas!) and the couple of times he essays an English accent, the results are poor. However, when speaking in an American accent, this is not a problem.

Bannister is a deadly efficient, ruthless master of disguise, cold-bloodedly executing anyone in his way. His first onscreen appearance is in a Paris street disguised as a young nun who distracts a gendarme into helping with her flat tire then takes off and detonates a remote controlled bomb, then escaping. Sans nun's habit, we see the nun is really a boyish looking man. In various other appearances, usually lethal, always as extremely attractive young women, Bannister is cool, calculating, efficient.

He is never seen eating, drinking, sleeping, only occasionally applying lipstick, and, at the French bombing, permitting himself a smile in triumph when this sanguinary scheme succeeds. Unavoidably minimalist in form, due to the nature and time constraints of this particular episode and the genre, the depiction of Bannister shows no personal life and no glimpse into whatever (if any) heart and soul remain inside this scary human being and no hint of any redeeming qualities.

In some old footage with audio of Bannister being pursued by reporters in London some years earlier following a court appearance related to his termination as an MI6 agent, he speaks only a few words but Kate recognizes the voice as that of her unseen editor, edifying everything for Magnum.

Magnum, of course, couldn't be killed off, but Bannister's demise is a bit of Hollywood tinsel that belies all that the audience has seen up to that moment. At the end of the episode Bannister is taken out by Magnum but in a manner that strains credulity, unfortunately. Better writing might have cured that but Bannister was so formidable that a plot twist to take him out in a more credible way would have been difficult for even the best screenwriters to think out.

Frankly, this is the one of the scarier television depictions of a murderous transvestite, although none can match Alfred Hitchcock's "An Unlocked Window" for terror.