Coming after several Cathy Gale episodes, "THE DECAPOD" is a real oddball. International security meets pop music meets professional wrestling (how'd THAT get in here?). It starts off with a clearly NAKED woman taking a shower (what is this, Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO?) who, of course, is murdered by the time the story title appears on screen.
This time around, Steed is involved looking into security at a foreign embassy, where you have a very shady ambassador (Philip Madoc, who I'll always remember as the VERY mad scientist in the DOCTOR WHO story "The Brain of Morbius") and a well-known "playboy" whose job it is to negotiate a huge loan of cash (Paul Stassino, no doubt best known as the double-crossing SPECTRE pilot in THUNDERBALL). In the long run, the plot reveals itself to be very simple, but looking at it as it unravels, it SEEMS a lot more confusing than it is. It just doesn't seem to follow the normal plot structure of this show, especially when the pro wrestling angle comes into it.
Steed pulls a "Napoleon Solo" in this story, "recruiting" an innocent outsider, nightclub singer Venus Smith, to help him get information from inside the embassy. But U. N. C. L. E. Was always upfront with people when they did this-- they knew what they were getting into. Steed proves himself an absolute CAD here (in the best/worst George Sanders tradition) by CONNING Venus into thinking she's auditioning for a possible singing tour of the Balkans. Perhaps with better writing, this could have come off as genuinely funny. Instead, it's mostly awkward, as both she and the playboy diplomat keep talking at cross-purposes, neither quite sure what's going on with the other. She even briefly becomes worried that she might wind up in someone's "harem".
What makes it worth sitting thru is Julie Stevens as Venus. She's a "character"! While not an "action" girl by any means, she's got as much attitude in some scenes as Cathy Gale-- maybe more! (In this, she actually reminds me a bit of ANOTHER "Smith"-- Sarah Jane.) The playboy, Yakob Borb, manages to be SO charming, she finds herself starting to care for him rather quickly (and it appears it's mutual), but she doesn't hesitate when it comes to grilling him for details about why he set up a date and then stood her up (especially when a MURDER takes place where they were supposed to meet). I also found it funny when she says to one of Yakob's bodyguards, "HEEL, boy!"
By the end of the story, we find out the ambassador is not the obvious villain we thought he was, Steed gets involved in a brief wrestling match (with Patrick Macnee doing his own stunt-work!) and Venus is angrily telling Steed, "Well DON'T do it again!" "As if I would..." he replies... but by the look on his face, you can see, he's ALREADY considering doing just that! (It's amazing she didn't clobber him in a later episode.)
Addendum (10-20-2022): I'm thrilled to see that the 2009 Region 2 DVD has drastically-sharper picture and sound on this episode that the 2006 disc had.
This time around, Steed is involved looking into security at a foreign embassy, where you have a very shady ambassador (Philip Madoc, who I'll always remember as the VERY mad scientist in the DOCTOR WHO story "The Brain of Morbius") and a well-known "playboy" whose job it is to negotiate a huge loan of cash (Paul Stassino, no doubt best known as the double-crossing SPECTRE pilot in THUNDERBALL). In the long run, the plot reveals itself to be very simple, but looking at it as it unravels, it SEEMS a lot more confusing than it is. It just doesn't seem to follow the normal plot structure of this show, especially when the pro wrestling angle comes into it.
Steed pulls a "Napoleon Solo" in this story, "recruiting" an innocent outsider, nightclub singer Venus Smith, to help him get information from inside the embassy. But U. N. C. L. E. Was always upfront with people when they did this-- they knew what they were getting into. Steed proves himself an absolute CAD here (in the best/worst George Sanders tradition) by CONNING Venus into thinking she's auditioning for a possible singing tour of the Balkans. Perhaps with better writing, this could have come off as genuinely funny. Instead, it's mostly awkward, as both she and the playboy diplomat keep talking at cross-purposes, neither quite sure what's going on with the other. She even briefly becomes worried that she might wind up in someone's "harem".
What makes it worth sitting thru is Julie Stevens as Venus. She's a "character"! While not an "action" girl by any means, she's got as much attitude in some scenes as Cathy Gale-- maybe more! (In this, she actually reminds me a bit of ANOTHER "Smith"-- Sarah Jane.) The playboy, Yakob Borb, manages to be SO charming, she finds herself starting to care for him rather quickly (and it appears it's mutual), but she doesn't hesitate when it comes to grilling him for details about why he set up a date and then stood her up (especially when a MURDER takes place where they were supposed to meet). I also found it funny when she says to one of Yakob's bodyguards, "HEEL, boy!"
By the end of the story, we find out the ambassador is not the obvious villain we thought he was, Steed gets involved in a brief wrestling match (with Patrick Macnee doing his own stunt-work!) and Venus is angrily telling Steed, "Well DON'T do it again!" "As if I would..." he replies... but by the look on his face, you can see, he's ALREADY considering doing just that! (It's amazing she didn't clobber him in a later episode.)
Addendum (10-20-2022): I'm thrilled to see that the 2009 Region 2 DVD has drastically-sharper picture and sound on this episode that the 2006 disc had.