The Man NOT From U.N.C.L.E.

I've been acquainting myself with a classic 60s series, The Man From UNCLE, for the first time. For those not familiar with the show, it's about the adventures of two spies -- a suave American with the unlikely name of "Napoleon Solo" and his Russian partner, Illya Kuryakin -- who work for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, an international organization that sort of works as an espionage version of Interpol.

The episodes vary widely in quality; some are boring, cheesy, and dated, while others are exciting and witty, with a James Bond flavor (which makes sense, since Bond creator Ian Fleming was a consultant for the show). For me, the best episode I've seen so far is definitely "The Project Strigas Affair."

The guest star for the episode is William Shatner, who plays Michael Donfield, a civilian recruited by UNCLE to help the regular characters on their latest case. That case involves removing Laslo Kurasov -- an ambassador for a fictional Balkan nation, and the presumptive next president of that nation -- from power, as his explicitly stated goal is to heighten tensions between the west and Eastern Europe until war breaks out.

Mr. Kurasov's political influence, and popularity among his own citizens, makes him untouchable for assassination, so the UNCLE agents instead devise a plot to neutralize him as a threat by ruining his political career. UNCLE leaks information to Mr. Kurasov's security team about a new secret weapon being developed by the U.S. military, a mysterious substance known only as "strigas." Their goal is to get Mr. Kurasov so intrigued that he will waste his nation's money and resources on the search for strigas, which in reality, of course, doesn't even exist.

That's where Shatner's character comes in, as the UNCLE agents recruit him to pose as the once loyal inventor of strigas, who is now looking for the highest bidder.

You may be able to spot a couple of plot holes already. For one thing, if Mr. Kurasov's evil intentions are such common knowledge among UNCLE agents, why can't they just inform the other diplomats, so they will not be so easily swayed by Mr. Kurasov's hawkish attitude? The bigger plot hole involves the basic concept of the episode: Why recruit a civilian for this case? Dialogue does try to provide an explanation: Donfield (Shatner) is an engineer, which lends him creedence as an inventor, and his recent past -- he just quit a highly lucrative job so that he can start his own business -- is sure to raise suspicion in anyone who performs a background check on him.

Still, none of that changes the fact that it all seems like a huge, and hugely pointless, risk. Donfield has no training, no experience, and no familiarity with protocol. Why put him in danger, and why risk the success of the whole operation on a civilian when UNCLE could just as easily assign an agent with undercover experience to pose as the inventor of strigas? With UNCLE's resources, they could easily create a false identity for such a man, including an equally intriguing past.

These plot holes occurred to me, but didn't bother me. Why? Because it's a fun ride, first of all. The writers pack a lot of suspense into this episode, and the general feel is similar to that of a heist film, even though nothing is actually being stolen. We stay on the edge of our seats waiting to see what the next step is in UNCLE'S plan, and whether or not Mr. Kurasov and his men will figure out that it's all a lie, thus putting Donfield's life in danger.

The most intriguing aspect of the episode is the central question, if the government asked you to risk your life for the good of the world, would you do it? How would you react? Would you be capable? Despite the unlikeliness of the entire scenario, the episode makes the events seem almost plausible, by virtue of Donfield's very realistic response to this unexpected call to duty. Sure, he eventually signs on, but first he thinks it's a misunderstanding, or a joke, or maybe these two people claiming to be international secret agents are just plain crazy.

Shatner's skilled performance has something to do with selling these points, but the real credit belongs to Henry Misrock, whose script hits all the right notes as we journey with Donfield through his adventures. Also, it's Donfield's inexperience, and the question that goes with it -- will Donfield make a mistake at a crucial moment? -- that adds a lot of extra suspense to this story. After all, the UNCLE agents know what to do when something goes wrong. Michael Donfield, however, is not a man from UNCLE, and so despite his best intentions, he really is a bit of a wild card.

Interestingly, many of these plot elements are echoed in a later episode, "The Foxes and Hound Affair," starring Patricia Medina and Vincent Price as two rival villains who match wits with each other, and with UNCLE, in their competition to get a promotion within their villainous organization. The plot again centers around a fantastical element -- instead of strigas, we now have a machine that allows its user to read minds -- and also again features a civilian who gets caught up in the action -- this time, it's a naive and timid young woman named Mimi Doolittle. Both episodes also make the odd decision to make the guest star the center of attention (although more so in "The Project Strigas Affair," less so in the later episode) only to never mention him again later in the series.

Furthermore, both episodes feature a villain who sort of sees through UNCLE's plans but his warnings are invariably and repeatedly ignored or mocked by his superiors. Price plays this role in "The Foxes and Hound Affair," as he repeatedly figures out UNCLE's plans, only to be over-ruled by rival villain Lucia Belmont. In the other episode, the role is played by Leonard Nimoy (that's right, Nimoy and Shatner together in the same episode before Star Trek!) who plays Vladeck, a henchman to the villainous ambassador. Mr. Kurasov dismisses all of Vladeck's information and warnings with barked orders and insults, repeatedly referring to him as "you fool." Part of the suspense in these episodes involves wondering whether the characters played by Nimoy and Price will ever get the satisfaction of showing up their incompetent bosses.

I thoroughly enjoyed Price's character -- Price himself is always fun as a performer, and I loved the friendly rivalry between Leo G. Carroll's good guy and Vincent Price's bad guy; they play for opposing teams, but still enjoy a friendship.

My only real problem with these episodes is how they treat women. Only three women get any good screen time in these episodes, and none of them are very flattering for the gender. The only notable female role in "The Project Strigas Affair" is Donfield's wife, who alternately supports, fears for, and scolds her husband, but never has any identity other than as a "wife." She adds absolutely nothing of significance to the story, nor to the world in which she inhabits.

"The Foxes and Hounds" affair features two central female characters, and while they both have a stronger identity than Mrs. Donfield in the other episode, neither portrayal is exactly feminist. First, there's Miss Doolittle, who is depicted as inadequate merely because she doesn't know how to effectively use her sexuality. When we first meet her, she's trying out for the role of a magician's assistant, and she is overwhelmed by the revealing nature of her costume (which really isn't that bad). She tries to protest, and cover her body with her arms, but eventually just reluctantly accepts the costume with a nervous laugh. She is depicted as being both embarrassed by and nervously excited by the costume's eroticism.

Later, when she and the UNCLE agents are captured by the bad guys, the agents devise an escape plan that hinges on Miss Doolittle's ability to seduce the guard. Miss Doolittle protests that she simply doesn't know how to be seductive, and her first attempt prompts the guard to say with contempt, "are you kidding?" UNCLE agent Kuryakin gripes, "you're a woman, haven't you had your basic training" in seduction? When she says that she hasn't, both spies -- the heroes! -- try to seduce her, in order to awaken the seductress inside of her. Her next attempt to seduce the guard succeeds.

The other female character central to the episode, Miss Belmont, would raise even more ire from feminist viewers. Miss Belmont is thirsty for promotion within her company, but her ambition is depicted as unrealistic. She repeatedly complains about how difficult it is for a woman to get ahead of the male competition, but her largest impediment is clearly not her gender but the fact that she is truly incompetent. She kidnaps the wrong agent, asks all the wrong questions, ignores warning signs from her peers, and lets the good guys escape. When combined with her complaints about the difficulties of the woman in the work place, her incompetence seems to be sending a clear message to female viewers -- and that message is that women should stay in the home. Like good ol' Mrs. Donfield, who knows her place is to stand by her man.

Wow. This blog entry started out with the intention of strongly recommending these two episodes for home viewing, but now I've almost talked myself out of it. Still, the fact remains that if you can get past the plot holes and the dated treatment of women (which seems more to be a product of its time than any actual contempt for women) these adventures can be a lot of fun.