Max is playing a U.S. Customs agent supposedly checking the Chief's suitcase at an airport while the Chief gives him his assignment. Max cuts up the cloth suitcase and throws items all around. He's supposed to be checking for someone smuggling in part of the plans for another secret formula, which, like they do so often, is divided into three parts.
The next person he is to check is a little girl (played by Caroline Adams, Don's daughter) who says she's meeting her parents. Max smiles at her and her doll and lets her through. Now checking her bag wouldn't have done any good, as we soon learned the doll held the formula in a recording played when you pulled the string to make the doll talk. As we soon saw the KAOS agents in action, when you pulled the doll's string the first time, you heard doll talk, but the second pull got you the formula.
They get wind that the drop place is at Valerie's School for Expectant Fathers, so Max and the Chief sign up to join a course so they can nose around. When told about dipping one's elbow into bath water to make sure it's not too hot, Max does so without rolling up his long-sleeved shirt. When Valerie is talking to him, he casually holds the doll by its feet with its head under water. The teacher casually says, "I think you'll find your baby will be happier if you keep her head above water."
When the Chief quietly tells Max that he suspects the supply room is where they do their KAOS work because it's the only room that's locked, Max tells him he has a clever way to get a look in there. He calls out, "Miss Valerie, can I take a look in the supply room?" Of course, she says no.
Bumbling Max bumps into one of the KAOS agents carrying an identical doll when everyone leaves when the class is suddenly called off early. The students were all told to take their dolls home to practice. Of course, Max accidentally switched dolls with the agent, and unwittingly has the doll with the third part of the formula. The KAOS agents figure it out and one goes to Max's apartment to get it back, which is how Max learns how the formula is being stolen.
He goes back to the school to get into the supply room, but is caught by the two men and Valerie, who take the three dolls as they are headed for a flight to Los Angeles. They lock Max in the supply room, with 6 more identical dolls on a shelf. Valerie tells Max that one of the dolls will open the door to free him when he pulls the string. But one of them is a bomb and will blow the place up if you pull that one. Max asks, "What if I don't pull any strings?" she tells him that there's only enough air in the room for 30 minutes.
Of course, the room was much larger than that and would have had enough air for longer, but no matter. What I wondered about was why would the KAOS people have bothered to set up the bomb and the other doll with the string that would open the door for anyone they captured?
Before Max can get out, the Chief comes to the rescue. When the Chief learns about the escape by airplane, he informs that Larabee is at the airport and he can intercept them. This is where Larabee, who was seen a lot in the early years, but didn't start to be featured as somewhat dumb until the middle of the 4th season, takes over as the agent who makes Max look like a genius. Throughout Season 5 some Larabee dumb things were hilarious, some were painfully dumb. We see the dutiful agent checking the IDs of a young couple, pausing to let through the flight crew-at least, a pilot, co-pilot, and stewardess, without questioning the fact that all three were holding identical dolls-the very dolls he was looking for.
There was an extra joke at the end which I won't spoil, but the good guys did win. Unlike the other reviewer here, I thought this was a rather funny episode, good enough for an 8. I do agree that Max was too dumb at times, but there were several fresh ideas in this script, even though the notion of talking dolls that have secrets in their recordings was used in an earlier episode. That's just the premise, the actual plot was totally different.
The next person he is to check is a little girl (played by Caroline Adams, Don's daughter) who says she's meeting her parents. Max smiles at her and her doll and lets her through. Now checking her bag wouldn't have done any good, as we soon learned the doll held the formula in a recording played when you pulled the string to make the doll talk. As we soon saw the KAOS agents in action, when you pulled the doll's string the first time, you heard doll talk, but the second pull got you the formula.
They get wind that the drop place is at Valerie's School for Expectant Fathers, so Max and the Chief sign up to join a course so they can nose around. When told about dipping one's elbow into bath water to make sure it's not too hot, Max does so without rolling up his long-sleeved shirt. When Valerie is talking to him, he casually holds the doll by its feet with its head under water. The teacher casually says, "I think you'll find your baby will be happier if you keep her head above water."
When the Chief quietly tells Max that he suspects the supply room is where they do their KAOS work because it's the only room that's locked, Max tells him he has a clever way to get a look in there. He calls out, "Miss Valerie, can I take a look in the supply room?" Of course, she says no.
Bumbling Max bumps into one of the KAOS agents carrying an identical doll when everyone leaves when the class is suddenly called off early. The students were all told to take their dolls home to practice. Of course, Max accidentally switched dolls with the agent, and unwittingly has the doll with the third part of the formula. The KAOS agents figure it out and one goes to Max's apartment to get it back, which is how Max learns how the formula is being stolen.
He goes back to the school to get into the supply room, but is caught by the two men and Valerie, who take the three dolls as they are headed for a flight to Los Angeles. They lock Max in the supply room, with 6 more identical dolls on a shelf. Valerie tells Max that one of the dolls will open the door to free him when he pulls the string. But one of them is a bomb and will blow the place up if you pull that one. Max asks, "What if I don't pull any strings?" she tells him that there's only enough air in the room for 30 minutes.
Of course, the room was much larger than that and would have had enough air for longer, but no matter. What I wondered about was why would the KAOS people have bothered to set up the bomb and the other doll with the string that would open the door for anyone they captured?
Before Max can get out, the Chief comes to the rescue. When the Chief learns about the escape by airplane, he informs that Larabee is at the airport and he can intercept them. This is where Larabee, who was seen a lot in the early years, but didn't start to be featured as somewhat dumb until the middle of the 4th season, takes over as the agent who makes Max look like a genius. Throughout Season 5 some Larabee dumb things were hilarious, some were painfully dumb. We see the dutiful agent checking the IDs of a young couple, pausing to let through the flight crew-at least, a pilot, co-pilot, and stewardess, without questioning the fact that all three were holding identical dolls-the very dolls he was looking for.
There was an extra joke at the end which I won't spoil, but the good guys did win. Unlike the other reviewer here, I thought this was a rather funny episode, good enough for an 8. I do agree that Max was too dumb at times, but there were several fresh ideas in this script, even though the notion of talking dolls that have secrets in their recordings was used in an earlier episode. That's just the premise, the actual plot was totally different.
