Mission: Impossible -- Episode 8: The Pawn

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

A chess grandmaster and his daughter want to defect from the Soviet Union, and the IMF team catches up with them at a chess tournament in Prague.  Nicholas assumes the grandmaster's identity while the other team members help him escape.  But when the escape is delayed, Nicholas has to survive a championship game of chess.

Memorable Quote:
Remember the girl in the coffee shop?  One who only liked intellectual types?  What was her name?  ~Rudensky
The girl in the coffee shop.  There were so many.  ~Nicholas
So many?  You, Antonov?  So many girls?  ~Rudensky
So many...coffee shops.   ~Nicholas

Highlight:

The entire subplot of Nicholas having to play championship-level chess in disguise was fantastic.

Lowlight:

Phelps overdoes it as the boisterous wealthy Texan, and it's hard to believe that the Russian woman wouldn't have found a way to take him out at some point.  And his character wasn't even necessary for the plot (except for leaving the duffel bag to set up the Major).  That's one problem with this show is that they feel like they have to have roles for each person on the team even when they're not needed.

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:

• A chess episode!  I love chess, even though I haven't played in a long time.  I got into it in 2nd grade and was on the high school chess team in 12th grade, but I haven't dusted off the set in quite a while.  Maybe this episode will inspire me to make a triumphant return.
• 5:29 mark -- fun moment as Max does a magic trick for the team.  All these characters have a sort of politeness and childlike innocence about them, and 8 episodes in we hardly know anything about their personal lives.  That's not necessarily a complaint -- while it would be nice to have more background on them, I actually like the emphasis on plot over character.  If you asked producer Peter Lenkov, he'd say good tv is all about character, and his critique of the original Hawaii Five-0 could be applied to this show as well, that there's basically no character development (at least so far). But the flip side of that is what we've seen in the new MacGyver where we feel like we're being hit by a character development 2x4.  For my tastes, the original MacGyver had it just right as a plot-driven show with character background sprinkled in nicely throughout.
• Whoa, this chess rivalry is heated!
• They seem to be implying that Antonov is a Soviet (at one point the Major says that the dinner will be to celebrate two Soviets), but then why is there a Czech flag next to his name at the chess match?
• It's a good thing that the guys that Nicholas impersonates on this series are roughly the same height and build that he is.
• The dinner scene has a Lost Love feel to it from the magician, the disappearing defector, and the unhappy short-haired blond Russian woman.
• This was one of the few episodes that I remembered a few things about, but I had thought that Nicholas had actually seen the chess moves (e.g. NK4) digitally appear in the ring rather than feel them by morse code.  It's one thing to feel a few letters and numbers, but it's another to pick up "If you read me, please adjust your tie."
• The other thing I remembered about this one was when Nicholas takes off his mask in Antonov's room and hides behind the door and then blends in with the reporters. Great scene.

Conversation:

Brian Trenchard-Smith, episode director

I remember we shot the Chess championship in the ornate Queensland State Senate doubling as a Prague hotel. I was impressed with the redress of the foyer as Guest reception, complete with visitors' book. The art department had even written people's names in, in case the camera saw the page. I added my own name Jack D. Ripper. An hour later officials were up in arms at the defilement of the Senator's actual visiting book. Not a prop. Ooops! The producer promised to fire the culprit, till I told them it was me. Sorry. Can't fire the director in the middle of a shoot. It was all forgotten quickly. Isn't Max Phipps great as the Russian?

Final Analysis:

Love this episode!  I had fond memories of it as a kid and it delivered again with a fun and compelling storyline on a topic (chess) that I enjoy.  It may not have been really necessary for Nicholas to go through with the match, and even then it probably would have been fine if he just lost early or resigned.  But the way it played out was really cool, and I was glad that he had to make at least one move on his own without help from the grandmaster.  Ranking it 1 out of 8.