An episode of the underrated fifth season of 'Mission: Impossible'.
No tape recorder opening this time. We are plunged into the mission immediately. Barney Collier ( Greg Morris ) and Willy Armitage ( Peter Lupus ) have broken into the Interoco Chemical Plant somewhere in the Middle East ( how prophetic! ) to destroy the formula for a deadly new chemical called Dehominant-B, which the regime intends using against a neighbouring country. Barney accidentally gets contaminated by the stuff, and is taken prisoner. Willy escapes.
So now the I.M.F. have two problems to contend with - get Barney out before he dies, and complete the original mission.
Breaking a cardinal rule, they decide to recruit an 'innocent' - a drop-out scientist named Jerome Carlin ( the late Christopher Connolly ). At first they offer him money to join them, but he refuses, so instead they make it appear as though his girlfriend has been kidnapped. He signs up for the trip.
The journey to the laboratory involves a conduit tunnel. But then Carlin recognises Paris ( Leonard Nimoy ) and Doug ( Sam Elliott ), and realising he has been conned, refuses to co-operate further...
Not only a very tense episode, but a thought-provoking one as it brings into question the I.M.F.'s ethics. In common with other young Americans at that time, Carlin bitterly resents the fact that his country is meddling in the affairs of others. Originally, the arguments were to have been a lot more robust, but Laurence Heath rewrote Marc Norman's script to bring it more into line with the show's adventure format.
Connolly is good as the argumentative scientist. British viewers probably best remember him for his role in the long-running soap 'Peyton Place'. Larry Linville, who plays 'Colonel Orlov', was the Bible-thumping 'Major Frank Burns' in the seminal comedy series 'M.A.S.H'. This marked the first time viewers saw the character of 'Doug', played by Sam Elliott, originally planned as a replacement for Peter Lupus ( until fans demanded his reinstatement! ).
Episodes such as this helped bring a new dimension to the long-running show.
No tape recorder opening this time. We are plunged into the mission immediately. Barney Collier ( Greg Morris ) and Willy Armitage ( Peter Lupus ) have broken into the Interoco Chemical Plant somewhere in the Middle East ( how prophetic! ) to destroy the formula for a deadly new chemical called Dehominant-B, which the regime intends using against a neighbouring country. Barney accidentally gets contaminated by the stuff, and is taken prisoner. Willy escapes.
So now the I.M.F. have two problems to contend with - get Barney out before he dies, and complete the original mission.
Breaking a cardinal rule, they decide to recruit an 'innocent' - a drop-out scientist named Jerome Carlin ( the late Christopher Connolly ). At first they offer him money to join them, but he refuses, so instead they make it appear as though his girlfriend has been kidnapped. He signs up for the trip.
The journey to the laboratory involves a conduit tunnel. But then Carlin recognises Paris ( Leonard Nimoy ) and Doug ( Sam Elliott ), and realising he has been conned, refuses to co-operate further...
Not only a very tense episode, but a thought-provoking one as it brings into question the I.M.F.'s ethics. In common with other young Americans at that time, Carlin bitterly resents the fact that his country is meddling in the affairs of others. Originally, the arguments were to have been a lot more robust, but Laurence Heath rewrote Marc Norman's script to bring it more into line with the show's adventure format.
Connolly is good as the argumentative scientist. British viewers probably best remember him for his role in the long-running soap 'Peyton Place'. Larry Linville, who plays 'Colonel Orlov', was the Bible-thumping 'Major Frank Burns' in the seminal comedy series 'M.A.S.H'. This marked the first time viewers saw the character of 'Doug', played by Sam Elliott, originally planned as a replacement for Peter Lupus ( until fans demanded his reinstatement! ).
Episodes such as this helped bring a new dimension to the long-running show.