The title of this review refers to master spy John Drake's parting shot to the head of the opposition after defeating her FIVE henchman. Ha ha ha. This is the only episode directed by Stuart Burge and it's too bad because he turned in an installment laced with subtle humor. The levity, along with clean execution of well written dialog and sharp witty cuts to the next scene make this a memorable show.
If you're a fan of The Prisoner and not intimately familiar with Danger Man / Secret Agent, you might be interested in knowing that one of Number 6's catch phrases, 'Be seeing you', is uttered by John Drake several times in various episodes of the both the 1960-62 and the 1964-66 Danger Man series.
I think he gets that line off best in this particular episode. He crashes through a ceiling into a room full of bad guys, knocks one out, swipes a tape recorder full of compromising information, and as he hoists himself back through the hole in the ceiling let's go a cooly uttered 'Be seeing you'. It's hilarious.
I read that McGoohan once noted to someone that the expression, and the sign he would make forming his thumb and forefinger into a loop over his eye, was an early Christian symbol (the sign of the fish).
Now let's get down to the business of what these reviews are all about and see what we have in the spy gadget department. Oh, it's a spyware bonanza this time out. First we have Drake planting an eavesdropping device remotely. In the past we have seen this done with a "fishing pole" that doubles as a bug launcher. We've also seen an undisguised rocket launcher of sorts made out of aluminum. Both of those devices used a C02 cartridge as the propellant.
But Spy Gadget Headquarters is getting more sophisticated as time goes by. Here Drake fetches a sleek dart shaped bug from a fountain pen. Then he slides open a hidden compartment on his umbrella (wow!), and slides the dart in. He unscrews the tip of the umbrella, takes aim, and fires the projectile home. An antenna eeks out of the anterior of the dart just after it finds home, and transmission commences.
But wait. There's more! Drake then retrieves a portable spy typewriter. Now we have seen his typewriter before in various guises. But this version does triple duty. It receives the transmission from the dart bug, it acts as a two-way radio for John to speak to a fellow agent, and later acts as a triangulation device to home in on a tracking device planted on a car. Wow!
So that's one, two, three, four, five, six spy devices, counting the bug on the car. It's almost too much! No wonder Drake always wins. The opposition could only muster up one pathetic, easily discovered lamp bug. Drake to opposition: "GET A CLUE!".
Be seeing you...
