Old Man Out: Part 2

But Old Man Out is one of my 4 favorite MI episodes. (The Mind of Stefan Miklos, Submarine, and The Mercenaries are the others) Why do I rank it so high. Mary Ann Mobley is the biggest reason and that needs no further explaining. There's the music on the calliope which is hard to get out of your head afterwards. Heck, I am hearing it now as I write this post. I just love this two-parter.

In common with the other reviewer who gave this episode a 10, I am very impressed with Mary Ann Mobley in this outing. I think this two-part MI adventure is probably the best guest role she had in her entire career, because: she's in a lot of scenes; she looks absolutely stunning in her circus performer costume; she appears to be having great fun in the role; and, finally, both episodes look amazingly good on dvd! I guess they were shot on film; it really shows, like watching a movie.

I liked the more deliberate pacing of this two-parter. It's true that unlike most MI missions, the action, setback, more action pattern does not come boom-boom-boom; it's more gradual. Honestly, the way that most MI episodes are done, the action is packed in almost too tightly!

Cyril Delevanti, as the aged and frail cardinal--well, he really, really does look very aged and frail! His appearance helps the reality of the premise.

The big finale of the episode, when our team is working on their getaway, is very suspenseful and well done.

Mary Ann Mobley guest stars in this episode as Crystal and is needed for the mission because of her expertise. Crystal works in the circus and does an act where she spins while suspended by her teeth from great heights. She'll be the main attraction at a fake circus--one that will just happen to set up near a prison where an elderly Cardinal is incarcerated. It seems that Cardinal Vossek (Cyril Delevanti) is the voice of the opposition and he's being silenced. Their mission is to somehow get the man out of the prison and back to safety in the West.

The team needs a man inside the prison so Rollin (Martin Landau) gets the dubious honor. So, while Crystal is performing, he picks pockets using his skills in magic. But, he wants to get caught and soon is. This is what you'll see in episode one.

In episode two, the Cardinal's execution date has been set--and the team needs to operate quickly. This is also because the torture of the old man is to increase dramatically--and in his health, there isn't a lot of chance he'll last much longer. So, using some diversions, Brigs gets into the prison dressed as a colonel--with the 'escaped prisoner' (Roland) in tow. He basically goes inside and using intimidation and bravado, manages to convince everyone that he's important and they give him the run of the place. Can they manage to sneak the old guy out in the midst of all this confusion? A serious weakness of the episode is that so much of it was taken up just recapping episode one. I really think this is because they were padding what COULD have been done in only one episode. Still, despite the padding, it is entertaining. But it does make you wonder how ANY country could have such lousy security in their prisons--especially with political prisoners!

By the way, despite Cyril Delevanti looking sickly and older than dirt, he managed to live another decade following these episodes.

Rollin Hand's attempt to free the Cardinal takes an unexpected turn. He has been taken away for interrogation.

The IMF team need to improvise and do it quickly. The elderly Cardinal might not withstand any torture.

Dan Briggs finds that the circus is now under suspicion by the officials, they are asking awkward questions.

Crystal finds that she has to do more than fly on the trapeze to divert attention. She needs to get involved in a cat fight with Cinnamon.

Once again the circus antics is more filler than thriller. Also the cat fight was probably meant to be frivolous and titillating but to me was a bit silly and dated.

This could had been an effective single episode story.