Thrush wants to kidnap a noted geologist to help in their scheme to destroy California via the San Andreas Fault (a plot later reused in the 1978 "SUPERMAN" movie). But in a case of mistaken identity, they try to put the snatch on a man, Buzz Conway (Jack Weston), who's running out on a mountain of unpaid debts. UNCLE uses this to their advantage, deliberately substituting Conway for the scientist, WITHOUT telling him what's going on. For a spy agency prone to recruit "innocents" into their game of espionage, this seems more under-handed than usual!
At one point, Solo finally clues Conway into what's going on, and at first, all he wants is to get OUT as fast as he can! But one things leads to another, and eventually, he begins to take pride in helping out his country. It gets really amusing when the bad guys, refusing to believe he's NOT who they think he is, threaten Ilya's life, and he agrees to help out... and actually proves very instrumental in SABOTAGING their plans!
Among the players are Thrush agents "Narcissus Darling" (Barbara Bouchet), who Solo has apparently crossed paths with before and says is the most beautiful woman he's ever met; and "Marvin Elom" (Leon Askin), who wants to burrow deep into the Earth (his name is "mole" spelled backwards; in fact, he could have been one of the models for Jack Kirby's villain "The Mole Man"). Marvin desires Narcissus, but she seems to like Solo more, which adds an extra level of humor and humanity to the confusion.
I felt almost certain by the end that Waverly would offer Conway a job, at least as some kind of consultant, but it was not to be... and it was sad how quickly he fell back to his old self-destructive habits.
Following at least a half-dozen episodes I was beginning to get increasingly BORED with, this one from the start impressed me as having the right balance of drama and humor, and Solo was back to his proper "smoothness". For the first time ever watching this show, I found myself guessing who the writer might be-- AND I WAS RIGHT! Dean Hargrove repeatedly turned in some of the very best scripts for this series, and it's easy to see why he had such a long and VERY successful career as writer & producer in TV, for decades after this.
At one point, Solo finally clues Conway into what's going on, and at first, all he wants is to get OUT as fast as he can! But one things leads to another, and eventually, he begins to take pride in helping out his country. It gets really amusing when the bad guys, refusing to believe he's NOT who they think he is, threaten Ilya's life, and he agrees to help out... and actually proves very instrumental in SABOTAGING their plans!
Among the players are Thrush agents "Narcissus Darling" (Barbara Bouchet), who Solo has apparently crossed paths with before and says is the most beautiful woman he's ever met; and "Marvin Elom" (Leon Askin), who wants to burrow deep into the Earth (his name is "mole" spelled backwards; in fact, he could have been one of the models for Jack Kirby's villain "The Mole Man"). Marvin desires Narcissus, but she seems to like Solo more, which adds an extra level of humor and humanity to the confusion.
I felt almost certain by the end that Waverly would offer Conway a job, at least as some kind of consultant, but it was not to be... and it was sad how quickly he fell back to his old self-destructive habits.
Following at least a half-dozen episodes I was beginning to get increasingly BORED with, this one from the start impressed me as having the right balance of drama and humor, and Solo was back to his proper "smoothness". For the first time ever watching this show, I found myself guessing who the writer might be-- AND I WAS RIGHT! Dean Hargrove repeatedly turned in some of the very best scripts for this series, and it's easy to see why he had such a long and VERY successful career as writer & producer in TV, for decades after this.