Young Indiana Jones -- Episode 9: Demons of Deception

To Watch: Click Here

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

Indiana Jones is a courier running messages from the French command center to the front lines. He gets some leave time and visits Paris, where he hooks up with exotic dancer and rumored spy Mata Hari. 

Memorable Quote:
Corporal? One other thing. Germans don't take spies alive.  ~Lt. Gaston

Highlight:
Great scene where Indy is spying right outside the German trench, even if it's hard to believe that he would allow himself to fall asleep.

Lowlight:

I was surprised to see Indy get into bed the first time with Mata Hari (just didn't think the show was going to go there), but I get it. But by the fourth time, it was getting to be a bit excessive.

Brushes with historical figures:

Philippe Pétain

Mata Hari

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

• I noticed in the opening credits that the Paris part of this episode was written by Carrie Fisher. I checked IMDB and it is indeed Princess Leia Carrie Fisher, not some other Carrie Fisher. The only other episode of tv she wrote was for Roseanne. And she's not this episode's only connection to Star Wars. 
• Not-so-fun fact: The battle of Verdun lasted 303 days,the longest known battle in human history. 
• 2:45 mark - what's up with the two French generals? They look like twins.
• 22:00 - the German plane shooting at Indy on the ground is reminiscent of the Last Crusade, and Indy's outfit is reminiscent of the German motorcyclists from that movie. 
• I like how Indy destroys the flawed battle plans instead of delivering them, but it's unclear why he doesn't get in trouble for that. The next scene shows him in battle, so it's not as if the French command doesn't know where he is. 
• We're back in Paris, where many years ago young Indy palled around with Norman Rockwell and encountered a crazed Pablo Picasso.
• Upon arriving in Paris, Indy meets a friend of his father's who is a professor at the Sorbonne. I didn't recognize him, and it wasn't until I checked IMDB after watching the episode that I learned who the actor is: Emperor Palpatine! Whoa!   
• The coolest thing about the Mata Hari character is not even in this episode. Back in Spring Break Adventure, Indy is in the back of a car with his cousin on his way to Mexico. They're looking at a magazine and gushing over Mata Hari. The scene, which you can see here, lasts only 10 seconds, but it's a pretty awesome job of foreshadowing. I wouldn't have even remembered this, except I was just recently rewatching part of Spring Break Adventure because I wanted to remind myself what happened with the jackal and why Indy enlisted in the Belgian army. They never do say what he did with the jackal once he got it -- is he still carrying it around with him in Europe? 

Final Analysis:

I liked the first half of the episode and thought it was comparable to and an extension of the previous episode, but the Mata Hari stuff was not my cup of tea. Ranking this 4th out of 9 (all), and 4th out of 4 (older Indy).