Max and 99 are now about to start their delayed honeymoon. But Max gets a telegram ordering him to two weeks active duty in the Navy. He goes to the office and learns that the Chief got the same telegram-they both have to report within 24 hours. Max is puzzled because he believed joining the Navy Reserve was just part of their cover. The Chief explains that the Navy doesn't know they're secret agents.
The Chief's problem is that he was supposed to meet a Spanish secret agent and turn over some valuable papers to him. Max volunteers 99, since she won't be going on her honeymoon anyhow. The Chief agrees.
The two men report together to an aircraft carrier-some scenes were filmed aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown and we get a laugh as Max flips his large duffel bag over his shoulder-and right over the side of the ship. We see the chief is a mere sailor while Max is an ensign. The officer who checked them in reported right away to the captain that their papers were in order, but he didn't have any record showing to expect these two men. The captain says he'll check on it, but to keep an eye on them and don't give them anything important to do.
This leads to Max giving a speech to a group of sailors, including the Chief, about the importance of a taught ship and that their assignment is a "PDD" -which stands for Paint Detail Detail. Naturally Max assigns the tallest sailor to paint the floors and the shortest one to paint the ceilings. He wants to leave the Chief out of the work, but he tells Max not to do that because it will raise suspicions. So Max assigns him to paint the very top towers highest above the deck as the Chief grimaces.
Not long after, the pair see a newspaper photo of 99 with that Spanish agent, Jose Vargas and the Chief immediately knows it's an imposter because he is signing something in the photo with his right hand. He tells Max that you and I are the only two people who know he's left-handed. We need to stop 99 from giving him those papers. They also figure that KAOS sent them fake orders because of their knowledge about Vargas.
Now I would think all they need to do is find a way to make a telephone call to 99, possibly send her a telegram as a backup. This is where the script let us down. Max and the Chief go to the Lieutenant to get permission to go ashore. He informs them that Ensigns are not required to ask permission to go ashore...but the captain has ordered Max to stay on the ship. He didn't say anything about the Chief, but our guys never follow by having him ask permission to go ashore.
Next they ask to see the captain. They are told the captain cannot be disturbed. So Max removes the lieutenant's hat and skims it into the water. The lieutenant says, "Now you're going to see the captain.
Whey they are brought to the captain, instead of saying we have urgent business and need to phone someone at our workplace, or something similar, they actually ask the captain to let them use one of his helicopters. Permission denied, so Max skims the captain's hat into the water.
In the brig-where you knew this would lead-the Chief angrily tells Max that even though tossing the lieutenant's hat got us to see the captain, tossing the captain's hat did not get us a helicopter. Max calmly says, "Well we know that now." That's my favorite line in this episode. My favorite scene was when he was lecturing the men. I thought it brought Barney Fife lecturing the prisoners to mind. I always remember Barney calling out, "Rule Number One: Obey all rules."
They plot ways to get out of the brig and finally do so, but the alarm sounds and they are being pursued all over the ship as they try to find a way to go ashore. Finally they are caught and the captain tells them he has orders to get them a helicopter, even though he has no idea what it's about.
The Chief and 99 crash into the office as Vargas is signing a receipt for the papers 99 is giving him. Max exclaims he's an imposter and KO's the man-before realizing he was signing the paper with his left hand. 99 explains that they caught the phony Vargas and this is the real one.
This was another script by the foursome of Burns, Hayward, Sultan and Stern, and that probably does explain some of the disjointed actions of the characters. The four needed to work together more, or have a continuity person go over the whole thing.
We have unanswered questions: If KAOS knows about the agent being left handed, why didn't they just have their phony wear some sort of bandage and claim he hurt his hand, so he's going to sign with his right hand today? Or have him take an hour or so practicing to be able to passably sign his name left-handed? He wasn't supposed to write a treatise, merely sign his name.
If, as the Chief said, only he and Max knew about the left-handed matter, how did 99 find out the man she met was an imposter? Through it all, wouldn't it have been simpler to phone 99, from the ship, or just off it, to tell her about this business? Why did they have to rush there via helicopter? However they got from the helicopter drop off spot to the office, they could have easily telephoned more easily and more quickly.
Since 99 didn't try to get them off the ship, who gave the captain the orders to get them a helicopter? Nobody else knew they were on the ship. There was also one really dumb line form Max as they were boarding the helicopter. He actually asked where the wings were, then tried to back off when told there weren't any. How could he be so ignorant of helicopters in 1968?
They had some good sight gags during the escape from the ship attempt. If this had been a drama, the negatives I pointed out would cause it to have a low score. Since this is a farcical comedy, they only hurt it a couple of points. I'm giving it a 6. One thing positive: It didn't seem like any other episode in the series, especially with Max being the boss of the Chief.
The Chief's problem is that he was supposed to meet a Spanish secret agent and turn over some valuable papers to him. Max volunteers 99, since she won't be going on her honeymoon anyhow. The Chief agrees.
The two men report together to an aircraft carrier-some scenes were filmed aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown and we get a laugh as Max flips his large duffel bag over his shoulder-and right over the side of the ship. We see the chief is a mere sailor while Max is an ensign. The officer who checked them in reported right away to the captain that their papers were in order, but he didn't have any record showing to expect these two men. The captain says he'll check on it, but to keep an eye on them and don't give them anything important to do.
This leads to Max giving a speech to a group of sailors, including the Chief, about the importance of a taught ship and that their assignment is a "PDD" -which stands for Paint Detail Detail. Naturally Max assigns the tallest sailor to paint the floors and the shortest one to paint the ceilings. He wants to leave the Chief out of the work, but he tells Max not to do that because it will raise suspicions. So Max assigns him to paint the very top towers highest above the deck as the Chief grimaces.
Not long after, the pair see a newspaper photo of 99 with that Spanish agent, Jose Vargas and the Chief immediately knows it's an imposter because he is signing something in the photo with his right hand. He tells Max that you and I are the only two people who know he's left-handed. We need to stop 99 from giving him those papers. They also figure that KAOS sent them fake orders because of their knowledge about Vargas.
Now I would think all they need to do is find a way to make a telephone call to 99, possibly send her a telegram as a backup. This is where the script let us down. Max and the Chief go to the Lieutenant to get permission to go ashore. He informs them that Ensigns are not required to ask permission to go ashore...but the captain has ordered Max to stay on the ship. He didn't say anything about the Chief, but our guys never follow by having him ask permission to go ashore.
Next they ask to see the captain. They are told the captain cannot be disturbed. So Max removes the lieutenant's hat and skims it into the water. The lieutenant says, "Now you're going to see the captain.
Whey they are brought to the captain, instead of saying we have urgent business and need to phone someone at our workplace, or something similar, they actually ask the captain to let them use one of his helicopters. Permission denied, so Max skims the captain's hat into the water.
In the brig-where you knew this would lead-the Chief angrily tells Max that even though tossing the lieutenant's hat got us to see the captain, tossing the captain's hat did not get us a helicopter. Max calmly says, "Well we know that now." That's my favorite line in this episode. My favorite scene was when he was lecturing the men. I thought it brought Barney Fife lecturing the prisoners to mind. I always remember Barney calling out, "Rule Number One: Obey all rules."
They plot ways to get out of the brig and finally do so, but the alarm sounds and they are being pursued all over the ship as they try to find a way to go ashore. Finally they are caught and the captain tells them he has orders to get them a helicopter, even though he has no idea what it's about.
The Chief and 99 crash into the office as Vargas is signing a receipt for the papers 99 is giving him. Max exclaims he's an imposter and KO's the man-before realizing he was signing the paper with his left hand. 99 explains that they caught the phony Vargas and this is the real one.
This was another script by the foursome of Burns, Hayward, Sultan and Stern, and that probably does explain some of the disjointed actions of the characters. The four needed to work together more, or have a continuity person go over the whole thing.
We have unanswered questions: If KAOS knows about the agent being left handed, why didn't they just have their phony wear some sort of bandage and claim he hurt his hand, so he's going to sign with his right hand today? Or have him take an hour or so practicing to be able to passably sign his name left-handed? He wasn't supposed to write a treatise, merely sign his name.
If, as the Chief said, only he and Max knew about the left-handed matter, how did 99 find out the man she met was an imposter? Through it all, wouldn't it have been simpler to phone 99, from the ship, or just off it, to tell her about this business? Why did they have to rush there via helicopter? However they got from the helicopter drop off spot to the office, they could have easily telephoned more easily and more quickly.
Since 99 didn't try to get them off the ship, who gave the captain the orders to get them a helicopter? Nobody else knew they were on the ship. There was also one really dumb line form Max as they were boarding the helicopter. He actually asked where the wings were, then tried to back off when told there weren't any. How could he be so ignorant of helicopters in 1968?
They had some good sight gags during the escape from the ship attempt. If this had been a drama, the negatives I pointed out would cause it to have a low score. Since this is a farcical comedy, they only hurt it a couple of points. I'm giving it a 6. One thing positive: It didn't seem like any other episode in the series, especially with Max being the boss of the Chief.
