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Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:
Four descendants of Nazi officers meet in Zurich to find Hitler's 5 billion dollar gold stash which they plan to use to finance terror. The IMF team replaces one of the men with Nicholas, but his cover is almost blown several times, nearly compromising the mission.
Memorable Quote:
How the hell are we supposed to get it out? ~Max
Give me fifteen minutes. ~Grant
Highlight:
How the hell are we supposed to get it out? ~Max
Give me fifteen minutes. ~Grant
Highlight:
Both scenes where Nicholas's back is against the wall: first when the others ask him for 3 digits of the bank account number (which he doesn't know), and later when they asked him for his watch crystal (which he doesn't have). It's compelling to see him squirm and have to think on his feet with the entire mission at stake.
Lowlight:
Lowlight:
There's a huge hole in this episode -- the man who Nicholas replaces is never seen or heard from after the opening when he's taken into custody by Max who is pretending to be a Swiss policeman. Unless they locked this guy up somehow, he surely wouldn't have rested until he found the others considering there was 5 billion dollars on the line. At the very least, we should have heard something about what happened to him.
Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:
- This episode is based on Season 1, Episode 15 from the original series.
- The long song is back! My favorite part is when Nicholas appears in the tux -- it's the combination of the music (just hearing the beat by itself) and Penghlis looking like a boss. I hadn't recognized any of the scenes in the song from the show until this episode where we see the shot of Max flashing a badge.
- Hitler's secret treasure, 5 billion in gold, and Nazi descendants looking for it in order to start a new Reich -- now that's what I call a hook!
- It's hard for me to believe that it took this long for the descendants to try and claim the gold, given that it's 5 billion dollars.
- One thing I like about this show is that each episode so far has been in a different country, which is nice variety. I also have found all the team members to be quite likable.
- The cemetery has a database? And it's hackable? Is Riley Davis involved?
- Whoa, I actually remembered part of the ending! Once they got to the tomb and saw the "A.Lois, " I remembered that the period came into play and felt a vague familiarity with the scene even though I hadn't seen it in almost 30 years.
- I also remember learning about bullet proof vests through this show and wondering why everyone in a dangerous profession wouldn't wear one (I've mentioned this before on the blog regarding MacGyver).
- It would have been interesting if one of the other conspirators was a plant also, maybe from a rival intelligence agency.
Final Analysis:
Strong episode! It's a bonkers plot (as Nazi episodes often are -- see The Ten Percent Solution), but it's entertaining, clever, and creative, and the villains (especially Graff the leader) are well acted. It moves to the number one spot in my rankings.
I loved the beginning of this episode. Outstanding international atmosphere. Great pyrotechnics. And a stash of hidden gold that evoked immediate memories of "Gold Rush" on "MacGyver", which would air on the same network only four months later. After that, I don't know if I was just too tired when I watched it or what, but I lost interest in it and a hard time making sense of it as it continued, especially the ending inside the crypt. I've noticed a bit of a recurring theme with this series in that I enjoy so much of the set-up and watching the characters think on their feet (like you, I loved Nicholas having to scramble to get out of the bank account number jam), but the endings are often unsatisfying and confusing. It might be in my interest to watch this one again as I recall getting sleepy by the second half and I probably missed something that would have made it work better. From what I recall, I'm afraid I'm ranking it #5 thus far. Now if Riley Davis was actually involved, it would have shot straight to #1!
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you mention your favorite part of the theme song is Nicholas in his tux as that always stands out to me too....something about the thumping score at that moment in the theme song that gets me going. Also, if you think this Nazi plot is bonkers, wait till season 2's infinitely more out there Nazi plot. In general, the season 2 storylines are crazy beyond belief.
I wasn't expecting your last place ranking - you should watch it again! And there's another Nazi episode? I'm looking forward to some "crazy season 2 storylines."
DeleteThat's interesting that you identified the same part of the song as I did. You're right on with the "thumping score" -- it would have been great if they would have let that go even longer instead of just a few beats.
I just watched this one again and will rank it third thus far, in between "The Condemned" and "Holograms". I still didn't really get the ending in the crypt. They went to all the trouble to hide and camouflage the gold but the blond guy (name??) found it anyway, shooting Nicholas into a bulletproof vest and presumably killing the other guy outright? Were they planning to just seal the guy inside till he asphyxiated before leaving when the cops conveniently arrived? Did Casey call to tip the cops off? And why didn't the cops show any interest in stopping the team to interview them about the crime? Small details perhaps but it added up to an ending that was more confusing that entertaining to me. I liked most of what went on though.
DeleteI didn't read too much into the ending - seems pretty common in all shows where the cops arrive right at the end (in MacGyver it's always after he's done all the hard work), and in all the MI episodes so far the team just waltzes away without having to answer too many questions.
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