It's All Done With Mirrors | Lisa | Will The Real Good Guys Please Stand Up | One Thousand Fine
Carry Me Back To Old Tsing Tao | Random Pics | Fan Fiction Links

i spy took me completely by surprise with it's charming humour - the two male leads have such a comfortable chemistry that you can't help but grin through entire episodes. And yet, even with that frivolous humour, you can tell it's a shell, and the episodes can often be hard-hitting and angst-ridden. That combination of feel-good friendship and really well carried out whumping, is a killer. The initial euphoria that came with discovering such a wonderfully light and fun series, actually led to quite a downer when i got the second boxed set. They boxed the episodes randomly, so i got an artificial high with the first lot and then got dumped into virtual despair with the second let, when the angst and difficulties started for real. Scotty's personality makes for some difficult moments, as in times of distress he can become quite removed and cold. I might discuss it in more detail in individual episode sections below, but it has to be said that despite watching all the episodes i still have problems with some of his reactions.

Kelly Robinson is mostly the whumpee, and with good reason. Robert Culp acts pain brilliantly, discomfort really makes him look as if his stomach is churning, beatings lead to him curled into foetal positions. The inner anguish that he manages to express on his face in episodes like It's All Done With Mirrors is fantastic. Alexander Scott is undercover as Kelly's coach and trainer, and also does a great job of providing the comfort when Kelly gets whumped. Bill Cosby took a little while to warm up to his role, being new to this kind of acting, but soon his underplayed style really became the character. The two of them were born to act opposite each other. So, actually, seeing as i've just mentioned a whump ep, let's start with that one.

(some of the ep sections are unfinished, i'm workin' on 'em)

It's All Done With Mirrors

And so it really was. Done with mirrors. The temptation to say scathingly this is 'the brainwashing episode' is somewhat blown out of the water by the fact that i can't remember any other brainwashing eps in any others shows. And even if i could, this one is done brilliantly enough to escape any cliche or pigeon-hole. The premise is that Kelly is kidnapped, drugged and worked over by a Dr Zoltan Karogy, a famous behavioural scientist. Through torture, drugs and hypnotic tecniques with lights, Karogy takes just a night and half a day to break Kelly and decieve him into thinking Scott is a double agent and must be killed. The brainwashing, although given plenty of focus, actually only takes the first part of the episode and the rest is Kelly's continued fight against himself and attempts to kill his friend.

I only noticed that guy injecting Kelly when i was doing the caps for this site, and believe you me i've watched it enough times that i should have seen it before. It was quite quick though, and i guess i was watching Kelly and not the lackeys. In this scene i was also well impressed with the strength of the guy that supports Kelly's upper body as they carry him over to the chair. He's basically carrying him with a hand under each armpit, and taking most of his body-weight - Robert Culp isn't a particularly heavy man but he's still going to be a fair weight! I thought that was impressive. I guess it explains why scientists assistants have such big biceps. All that manhandling. Excuse me while i go squee about the manhandling for a second... ::gallops off into a corner::

There's quite cool bit once they're broken Kelly, when they instill the memory that will help him associate Scott with pain and hurt. They do it well, there's no point explaining it because you're better off watching it, but suffice to say i thought it was an effective filming technique. Throughout the episode, as you can see from some of the caps, Culp has Kelly constantly avoiding eye-contact, which works really well. He's always turning his head, looking all over the place but at his captor, or Scotty when he is freed. This added to the fact that his trigger is reflected sunlight, makes for a constantly blinded, unbalanced look. His physical inability to see clearly is a direct reflection of his mental state through the whole affair.

The catatonic state in which Kelly is led off screen by Scott gives thought to all kinds of sequels. The episode, annoyingly, is finished with a scene of them tidying up after busting Karogy's lab. They don't give an indication of how much time has passed though, so i'm satisfied to let my mind roam over recovery periods and comfort for the brainwashed spy. Excellent episode, made even better with Culp's fantastic acting, and Scotty's resistance to give up on his partner even after he tries to kill him.

Lisa

Starting out with Kelly feigning double-vision so that both he and Scott can work undercover on a fishing trawler, this episode had a good foundation for some fun. Kelly in dirty white clothes and a sleeveless white top, sweeping deck? Hubba! Then, in the subsequent scene he developed a cigarette, and i was thoroughly lost to his rugged beauty.

Will The Real Good Guys Please Stand Up

They put this at the end of the first box set, although it was actually filmed in the middle of the second season. It's a good season ender though, as enemy agents are trained to impersonate Kelly and Scott and take over from them while they are kidnapped and held in a locked garage. The ultimate goal is to get hold of the guy our agents were meant to be protecting, and then leave them with the blame once the dirty deeds were done. Suffice to say, Kelly and Scott aren't too pleased about the whole idea, and decide to break free. The first time that involved nearly suffocating themselves with fire-smoke. ::snort::

One Thousand Fine

This was the actual first season ender ep, and it was another excellent one. On a case they think is going to be the normal old thing, an old flame of Kelly's turns up, engaged to the man their mission revolves around. The look on his face when she walks up is heart breaking. He's so shocked and devastated he doesn't even try to hide it, he turns away muttering "Listen, uh, i gotta go string a racket or something...". Their mission means they have to stay in close quarters, Kelly, the woman, her fiance and Scott. The invitable happens and Kelly and Thingy have an all out 'i challenge yoo to a dual over theee wooming!' fight. Scott breaks it up, cue much manly i'm-not-really-hugging-you-i'm-stopping-you-killing-that-man type grappling. Mmmm.

Carry Me Back To Old Tsing Tao

Only the second episode i ever watched and they bestowed whumpage and comfort on Kelly, bless their hearts. First the guys get jumped in their room, and one thing i can't convey in screen caps is the awesome gut-punch Kelly gets when he enters their hotel room. It propels him right out of shot, and looks just great. After that little encounter, the bad guys crash our guys truck, and beat on them a little more. Then Scott wraps Kelly's rips, while Kelly tells stories. Aw. Plus, when Scotty shakes Kelly conscious - he squeaks!! That man's noises just get better and better. Grrrawr!

Random Pics

Hover your mouse over the image to see what episode the cap comes from.

I Spy Fic Links

Sadly, there's hardly any i spy fic out there, and what there is took some finding. Wheat From Chaff by Dorinda is a brilliant resolution fic to It's All Done With Mirrors, with some original concepts and great angsting and comfort. It's a slasher, and there's graphic sex, but it compliments rather than dominates the fic, and is excellently done - definitely worth reading. There's a small collection of fics here, and out of those i'd recommend Prelude To The Hunt by Aunty Alta which fills in what happens before Home To Judgment, with some excellent torture. She's also written The Long Night, set after the episode, which was not quite as good i thought, but still very enjoyable.

We now have, due to the crusading of my dear Silverhammer, an I Spy section at ffnet! So go here and check out Silverhammer's amazing writings.

and finally, my ispy icons are heeeeeeere!