"The Freeze" is one of the weaker third-season episodes, although it is redeemed somewhat by a relatively large part for guest agent John Zaremba (formerly Dr. Swain on "Time Tunnel," which also gave this series its frequent guest agent Lee Meriwhether). And, in particular, it allows guest-villain Donnelly Rhodes a significant screen presence and a chance to gnaw on the scenery mercilessly.
According to Patrick White's "The Mission: Impossible Dossier," Paul Playdon had to write this script in haste, and it shows in a number of plot lapses. First of all, we're told that the statute of limitations is about to expire for the armored car robbery that Rhodes, as bad guy Raymond Barret, committed five years before. According to the tape recording at the beginning, Barret has posed as another man for five years hoping to wait out the statute of limitations. The problem with this is that the statute isn't "saved" by finding incontrovertible evidence of Barret's guilt (namely, the stolen money); it can be stopped at any time simply by the prosecution filing criminal charges against him before it expires. Finding the money would be nice, of course -- but it's probably not necessary to gain a conviction.
And then, at the end, Barret is told that the statute has "ten more minutes" to run. Since we're also told that it's about 5:30 p.m., there had better be a court clerk's office still open somewhere -- and some district attorney ready with the charges all typed up and set to file -- if they're going to take advantage of this! The problem, of course, is that either Playdon assumed that finding more evidence, not filing charges, was necessary to "stop" the statute from running, or he assumed that the audience wouldn't know enough about the law to understand that.
The rest of the plot is essentially a combination of the first season's "Operation Rogosh" with a more cumbersome time-shifting con, and Playdon's earlier script, "The Mind of Stefan Miklos," in which the con is intended, eventually, to be uncovered both by Barret and by his two former accomplices who are pursuing him. One odd feature is that most of the duties given to Barney and Willy in this episode involves the laborious construction of the cryogenic apparatus that is supposed to convince Barret that he's been "preserved" for more than a decade until there's a "cure" for his "disease." Since the IMF could hardly have constructed a real cryogenic device, and since all that Barret really has to see is a tubular chamber with a lid that closes over him, there doesn't seem to be much point to the endless hoses being connected, the testing of various gas inputs, etc. All that this really seems to do is to give Barney and Willy something to do, and the director/editor a periodic "cutaway" from the rest of the team working to lure Barret into their con game.
Despite the plot weaknesses, Donnelly Rhodes had a plum part as the ruthless Barret, and he plays the part to the hilt. Rhodes' Barret is an eye-popping menace with nothing to lose, demanding "cooperation" from the various IMF members (even as he's falling into their trap). He probably has more screen time than any of the IMF characters, and he makes the most of it -- presaging the later seasons when capturing thugs like Barret and recovering the loot from bank robberies would become the IMF's staple instead of toppling foreign governments as they usually did during this era of the show.
As noted earlier, this episode also offered a relatively large role for John Zaremba, who always brought both an air of authority and smooth assurance to his portrayals -- which is why he was often cast as a judge, a scientist and, especially (as here) a doctor. Considering how easily Barret has to buy the story that he has a fatal disease (despite, of course, not feeling sick at all), only someone with Zaremba's gravitas could make Barret's credulity seem so reasonable. Mention also should be made of Vince Howard as Barret's former cell mate who provides the IMF with the critical information that Barret had been posing as someone else. Howard only has a few scenes (mostly to throw Barret's former accomplices onto the right scent), but he makes the most of a small role. In later years he would get better roles, and he shows flashes of the range he would bring to them here.
According to Patrick White's "The Mission: Impossible Dossier," Paul Playdon had to write this script in haste, and it shows in a number of plot lapses. First of all, we're told that the statute of limitations is about to expire for the armored car robbery that Rhodes, as bad guy Raymond Barret, committed five years before. According to the tape recording at the beginning, Barret has posed as another man for five years hoping to wait out the statute of limitations. The problem with this is that the statute isn't "saved" by finding incontrovertible evidence of Barret's guilt (namely, the stolen money); it can be stopped at any time simply by the prosecution filing criminal charges against him before it expires. Finding the money would be nice, of course -- but it's probably not necessary to gain a conviction.
And then, at the end, Barret is told that the statute has "ten more minutes" to run. Since we're also told that it's about 5:30 p.m., there had better be a court clerk's office still open somewhere -- and some district attorney ready with the charges all typed up and set to file -- if they're going to take advantage of this! The problem, of course, is that either Playdon assumed that finding more evidence, not filing charges, was necessary to "stop" the statute from running, or he assumed that the audience wouldn't know enough about the law to understand that.
The rest of the plot is essentially a combination of the first season's "Operation Rogosh" with a more cumbersome time-shifting con, and Playdon's earlier script, "The Mind of Stefan Miklos," in which the con is intended, eventually, to be uncovered both by Barret and by his two former accomplices who are pursuing him. One odd feature is that most of the duties given to Barney and Willy in this episode involves the laborious construction of the cryogenic apparatus that is supposed to convince Barret that he's been "preserved" for more than a decade until there's a "cure" for his "disease." Since the IMF could hardly have constructed a real cryogenic device, and since all that Barret really has to see is a tubular chamber with a lid that closes over him, there doesn't seem to be much point to the endless hoses being connected, the testing of various gas inputs, etc. All that this really seems to do is to give Barney and Willy something to do, and the director/editor a periodic "cutaway" from the rest of the team working to lure Barret into their con game.
Despite the plot weaknesses, Donnelly Rhodes had a plum part as the ruthless Barret, and he plays the part to the hilt. Rhodes' Barret is an eye-popping menace with nothing to lose, demanding "cooperation" from the various IMF members (even as he's falling into their trap). He probably has more screen time than any of the IMF characters, and he makes the most of it -- presaging the later seasons when capturing thugs like Barret and recovering the loot from bank robberies would become the IMF's staple instead of toppling foreign governments as they usually did during this era of the show.
As noted earlier, this episode also offered a relatively large role for John Zaremba, who always brought both an air of authority and smooth assurance to his portrayals -- which is why he was often cast as a judge, a scientist and, especially (as here) a doctor. Considering how easily Barret has to buy the story that he has a fatal disease (despite, of course, not feeling sick at all), only someone with Zaremba's gravitas could make Barret's credulity seem so reasonable. Mention also should be made of Vince Howard as Barret's former cell mate who provides the IMF with the critical information that Barret had been posing as someone else. Howard only has a few scenes (mostly to throw Barret's former accomplices onto the right scent), but he makes the most of a small role. In later years he would get better roles, and he shows flashes of the range he would bring to them here.