I've heard so many bad things about season 3, that I'm so far surprised that the first 2 stories in a row have been pretty good.
I had a feeling they might have recruited a new writer on the show, as a few odd things happened. For one, after countless bizarre circumstances, Waverly & Kuryakan both think Solo's had a nervous breakdown because he insists he was attacked by an indestructible woman. For another, while it often seemed every Thrush agent on the planet from early in season 1 knew Solo was an UNCLE agent, he goes undercover as a banker using his REAL name, and not one Thrush agent knows who he is! Did the writer of this story ever watch the show? (Maybe NOT!)
Quite a few familiar faces include Barry Atwater (who was an equally-evil baddie on a "VOYAGE" episode), Jeannine Riley (one of the original daughters on "PETTICOAT JUNCTION"), Woodrow Parfrey (always playing himself, this time as a dotty scientist who thinks Thrush is actually out to help the world, not conquer it), and Fritz Feld (actually playing it "straight"-- well, for HIM-- for about 2/3rds of the story (before finally giving in to silliness). William Lanteau as the UNCLE scientist must have thought he was on season 2 of "BATMAN", there was no call for his over-acting to be so awful. And in one scene, even Atwater's Thrush boss went on an insane, obsessive tirade. It takes a lot to make Woodrow Parfrey and Fritz Feld seem "serious" BY COMPARISON.
My favorite part, was when Solo suddenly convinced Thrush agent Margo (Pamela Curran) that he KNEW their operation was run by Thrush, that he had "ambitions" and didn't want to be a "white collar worker" for the rest of his life. He was SO good at this, SO convincing, it really surprised me that (to my knowledge), he'd never done this before in the previous 2 seasons!
Then the prolonged climactic chase & fight scene felt more like something from "THE MONKEES" without a rock song playing. Was somebody trying to be stupid here? (Yeah, I think so.) My jaw dropped when HARLAN ELLISON's name came up in the end credits. REALLY?? Boy. I knew he could do comedy... in fact, I wish he'd done MORE comedy. But this episode was just inconsistent in style, and might have been better if they'd picked one tone (serious or funny) and STUCK with it. Even so, I still think it was better than half of season 2.
I had a feeling they might have recruited a new writer on the show, as a few odd things happened. For one, after countless bizarre circumstances, Waverly & Kuryakan both think Solo's had a nervous breakdown because he insists he was attacked by an indestructible woman. For another, while it often seemed every Thrush agent on the planet from early in season 1 knew Solo was an UNCLE agent, he goes undercover as a banker using his REAL name, and not one Thrush agent knows who he is! Did the writer of this story ever watch the show? (Maybe NOT!)
Quite a few familiar faces include Barry Atwater (who was an equally-evil baddie on a "VOYAGE" episode), Jeannine Riley (one of the original daughters on "PETTICOAT JUNCTION"), Woodrow Parfrey (always playing himself, this time as a dotty scientist who thinks Thrush is actually out to help the world, not conquer it), and Fritz Feld (actually playing it "straight"-- well, for HIM-- for about 2/3rds of the story (before finally giving in to silliness). William Lanteau as the UNCLE scientist must have thought he was on season 2 of "BATMAN", there was no call for his over-acting to be so awful. And in one scene, even Atwater's Thrush boss went on an insane, obsessive tirade. It takes a lot to make Woodrow Parfrey and Fritz Feld seem "serious" BY COMPARISON.
My favorite part, was when Solo suddenly convinced Thrush agent Margo (Pamela Curran) that he KNEW their operation was run by Thrush, that he had "ambitions" and didn't want to be a "white collar worker" for the rest of his life. He was SO good at this, SO convincing, it really surprised me that (to my knowledge), he'd never done this before in the previous 2 seasons!
Then the prolonged climactic chase & fight scene felt more like something from "THE MONKEES" without a rock song playing. Was somebody trying to be stupid here? (Yeah, I think so.) My jaw dropped when HARLAN ELLISON's name came up in the end credits. REALLY?? Boy. I knew he could do comedy... in fact, I wish he'd done MORE comedy. But this episode was just inconsistent in style, and might have been better if they'd picked one tone (serious or funny) and STUCK with it. Even so, I still think it was better than half of season 2.