THE INNOCENT: Still Tracey Alexander (Dorothy Provine). See previous review.
REVIEW: Okay, fun recap by way of an expense account audit, though it's more of a reminder for those who DID catch Part I. We do rejoin the action by showing scenes from the later part of Part I, repeating the villain's most immediate plans and setting up the death trap we left our heroes in. If Part I was skewed towards the guest stars, Part 2 is much better for the UNCLE agents. Solo's escape is great stuff - they should have tied his feet - with his pulling up Illya and Tracey's rope up even as it burns. In fact, while David McCallum is always the more physical performer, Robert Vaughn does more than usual here - the fight with the salon strongman, riding the hood of a car to jump aboard a plane, getting stuff thrown at him, has to put a parachute on while falling (good miming from Vaughn), and so on. McCallum also gets his share of dangerous action - gets dragged by a tractor, submerging in muddy irrigation canals, getting wrapped in mummy bandages, etc. It's a very exciting episode with varied (and witty) action.
I had a lot to say about Alexander's mixed metaphor gimmicks in Part I, but the team's betrayer, Dr. Kavon, throw another theme into the mix. He's Alexander's mentor, so there's supposedly a connection between the two, and Kavon is... the member of an ancient Greek death cult?! That's right, the last of the Sons of Medea (so he didn't recruit his pupil), and though he seemed to teach the humanities, his secret experiments are about mummification (specifically, of the living, i.e., Illya) and he has a blade secreted in his crutch. If Alexander took anything from him, it's the eclectic mélange of villain themes. Alexander obviously loves him, but wants to send him off to an old folks' home, so you know a betrayal is coming. Indeed, he kills Alexander at the very end, and causes his own death by accidentally planting his blade in the plane's controls (not that this would cause such an explosion). So a LOT going on, too. Alexander's second in command, a scarred heavy called Parviz, is uncomplicated in comparison, but David Sheiner has such a strong presence that you're sorry to see him get gunned down so unceremoniously, though they make up for it by sending him off in a newlyweds' car, to some amusement.
The grand chess game between Solo and Alexander is still going. Move, countermove. Capture, escape. Mystery, detection. Brag, counterbrag. It's fun. Of course, Alexander is playing several opponents at once, so he has the harder game. His bit of adultery to cuck the Prince into submission before he assassinates his country's elected president is quite adult, but as it turns out, there's a lot happening off-screen. I suppose UNCLE is in the background moving pieces, it's still a little underwhelming that our agents aren't actively involved in the final checkmate. Seems the South Asian country at stake (which Alexander wants to use to as a base) got wind of everything and the murder, right there in the open, fails because the president has a protective vest on, and all the rebels have been captured. Oh well.
As for Tracey, she wears her best frock, a slinky number designed by Alexander himself never does get her papers signed, but as a widow, I suppose getting her hands on Alexander's assets would be easier (we're still told they'll be tangled up in criminal investigations for a while). She kisses her finger and puts it on Solo's lips as a "gratuity", but she shows a preference for Illya who gets full smooches. Nevertheless, a president is better, and she's soon sidling up to the assassination survivor. We, of course, end on a weird joke (Waverley taking their drinks). That hasn't changed with the look of the show.
ONE SPY TOO MANY - THEATRICAL RELEASE: There are three major changes in the European theatrical release of the story's combined parts. One is the opening credits rolling over Parviz giving the base soldiers the runaround, which helps explain why security is so lax at the army facility. Another is the absence of the sequence with Alexander's parents on their chain gang. The quarry is simply a pick-up point for Alexander's helicopter departure. And finally, there's a whole subplot that stars TV's Batgirl, Yvonne Craig, as the Channel D girl who, initially provides a bit of connective tissue (we see the agents coming into the office through the front, since the movie omits the television opening sequence, of course), but otherwise treats her as a Moneypenny type who flirts with Solo (he has a date with her, but has forgotten her name, not a good look, and it's honestly a waste of time, a prank by Waverley and his niece). The movies usually have more sexual content, and this one is no different. We see Yvonne tanning herself with her top undone, for example, and Alexander's seduction of Princess Nicole leaves less to the imagination (the scene plays out in bed instead of shouting at each other from another room). Solo also surprises the Princess naked in a hot tub and she invites him in (he doesn't have time).
HEARD ON CHANNEL D: "How did you get out of your tomb?" "Well, you see, there was this lamp." (Parviz and Tracey)
BONDED: See previous review. Teru Shimada who plays Sing Mok, the president who's the target of the assassination plot also played Mr. Osato, a Japanese industrialist whose company is a front for SPECTRE in You Only Live Twice.
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-High: A very fun second half, filled with action and humor.
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