The Only Way to Die

This was a very good episode, with a lot of the famous plot devices that made this such a great spy spoof: Smart's classic lines "would you believe" and "missed by that much," the shoe phone, the fellow agent in a cramped place (a mailbox here.) There's even a pretty good fight scene in the climax, that's funny but shows Max can be an effective spy when he puts his mind to it. Unfortunately, he screws it up pretty badly at the end, but he wouldn't be the bumbling Agent 86 we all loved if he did everything like James Bond. All in all, I'd say this is one of the best episodes I've seen in the last couple of months that the RTN network has been airing the shows. As I recall, the first two seasons were the best and they gradually went downhill from there. So far, the RTN has the first two seasons on their schedule, so I'm enjoying them while I can. That's a good boy, Beau! Dale Roloff

Max survives a murder attempt, but CONTROL tells everyone he died so that Max can catch The Blaster. The Blaster has been blowing up government buildings every year to help destabilize America. The only clue Max has discovered is that The Blaster is arriving on "The Lover."

While Max hides out, a grief stricken 99 must guard playboy Antonio Carlos Carioca. Max realizes that Carioca is really The Blaster but is unable to convince anyone in CONTROL of this fact because everybody believes he's dead.

Max Smart plays dead so he can nab the bad guys - loved the bit where he was upset that chief didn't look upset during the funeral and that not many people arrived. Nice gags, well timed slapstick.