Laurie's Review
Melanie's Review
Laurie's Review:Spy vs. Spy is one of my favorite Season 3 eps, and scene for scene, line for line, it's very well balanced. It's creative, witty, quick, fun and moves along like a well-oiled machine. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it and each time I watch it, I notice something new. Not in my top 10 but it does make the top 15-20.
I really like Ray in this episode. From start to finish, I love everything he says and does, and he's the source of much of my enjoyment when I watch Spy vs. Spy. He's a wonderful comic actor but it's his facial expressions, gestures and body movements more than his lines. Every dS actor seems to have a standout ep or two. Spy vs. Spy and The Ladies Man are Callum's. The lines may be in the script, but the body language is all his. It's not often Fraser takes a back seat to either Ray, but he does in this ep.
Having Fraser look for a new apartment was a nice back drop - too bad he didn't eventually find one. I wonder if the area he was hunting in was close to his old neighborhood or near the Consulate since he seems to know the people in the area.
Maury Chaykin was great as Pike, likeably bizarre. I didn't care for his Mojo Rising character at all - he was just too creepy (and he reminded me of Floyd in Cold Comfort).
All the guest stars were good. I didn't find out that Martha Burns is married to Paul Gross for quite some time after I first saw Spy vs.Spy so it was kind of fun watching the ep with that knowledge in mind. Of course, I also didn't know at the time that David Marciano's real life wife played his ex-wife on the show.
I have to say I'm in total agreement with Ray's distaste about being in the morgue, especially when he has to contend with Mort's many references to food, the opera singing, and Fraser sniffing the dead man's breath ("that's one of the most disgusting things I've ever glimpsed"). Poor guy, being left alone to fingerprint the corpse. "I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it."
Fraser becoming part of the ballet is so predictable and when he rides the horse it's almost over the top but somehow it still fits into the ep. I think it's really comical. And I love the horrified look on Yuri's face when he sees all the dancers' feet closing in on him.
Observations:Recently I noticed that several extras on the street pop up more than once. I spotted the lady in the blue dress and big hat three times, the young guy in shorts and tank top three times (twice during the opening scenes and once at the end) and the woman in jeans and tank top twice. No doubt there are others.
Mr. Hanrahan strikes me more as a World War II veteran, and he may be, in addition to being a Korean War vet. He has to be at least 80, so I assume he wasn't a new enlistee or private when he served in Korea. And as for Nada trying to pass herself off as his daughter, I think it would have been more convincing if had said he was her grandfather.
When the lights dim at the ballet, the only color in the sea of black is Fraser's red serge. Anyone else reminded of the little girl in the red coat from Schindler's List?
Other than Chicago Holiday, is this the only time we see Fraser in dress reds with the formal belt?
Favorite Moments:Fraser in his brown uniform. He should have worn it regularly in Seasons 3/4 instead of in just one ep.
Fraser agreeing to trespass (just this once) after Dief jumps at the door to Hanrahan's apartment and it opens.
Fraser saying "hey" to Mort.
Ray wearing the dead spy's jacket. This surprises me considering how he hates being around dead people.
The exchange of tongue twisters between Fraser and Nada. "Rusty Ruggles" is particularly funny. And Fraser being told repeatedly to "shhhh" because he's disturbing those around him.
Fraser telling Nada, "Oh, you're Russian? I'm sorry, I mistook you for being English."
The cars scenes with Pike, the wild backseat rides, hearing about Ray Vecchio and Armando Langoustini.
The kid at the bus stop. Twice he's in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ray and Fraser both tell him he just needs a little bit of glue for his boombox.
Fraser on the computer at the police station and Ray trying to sneak a peek at what he's doing, the conversation that follows, Ray telling him to take a chill pill. I don't recall Fraser every calling anyone a liar before this.
Fraser correcting Lt. Welsh about the current name of Zaire, and Welsh's reaction.
Ray commenting he doesn't like old people sleeping in his bed because they smell funny, Fraser commenting perhaps he smells funny and Ray sniffing his jacket.
Frannie waking Ray up from his overnighter in the cell, and Ray finding drool on his mouth.
The way Fraser tracks the car, almost identical to his methods in Chinatown.
Lots and lots of yellow rubber duckies.
The Dave Clark Five bits.
The expressions on Fraser and Ray's faces after Pike disappears.
Nitpicks:If the RCMP files that Fraser has accessed are top secret, why is he reading them out loud?
Duesies:Fraser: Ray? It's this way.
Ray: No, no. It's this way.
Fraser: Well, Dief is very rarely wrong. . .
Ray: Okay. This time when you're talking to the landlord, do not volunteer that he's a wolf, okay?
Fraser to Dief: Well, you are a wolf.
Then in response to Dief: Yes, I know, but most people aren't as open minded as you.
Ray: Don't talk to the dog in public, Fraser. It embarrasses me.
Fraser: Understood.
Ray: Okay.Fraser: Maybe it's a combination of electromagnetism, cellular phones, radio waves - something's confused him.
Ray: Oh, yeah, that must be it.
Fraser: You know, Ray, it's sad. It's sad and pathetic to watch a grown man gloat over besting a dog.
Ray: You have your hobbies, I have mine.Ray: Are you completely nuts, Fraser?
Fraser: Not completely, no.Mort: That dental work. It looks like it was done by gardening tools.
Fraser: You see here?
Mort: What?
Fraser: One cap on his third distal molar.
Mort & Fraser: Cyanide.
Ray: Hey, hey, hey, include me here!Pike: We believe the Colonels have an agent deep in America, code name Nautilus.
Fraser: An odd designation. Does he lift weights?Pike: How much do the Canadians know?
Fraser: Well, that depends on the Canadian. Educational opportunities vary from region to region. . .Ray: You mind telling me what the hell is going on, Fraser?
Fraser: Have you ever seen The Magic Flute?
Ray: Oh, yeah, hundreds of times.
Fraser: I'm sure you'll agree with me it's the most interesting evening in the theatre.
Ray: Oh, yeah.Fraser: Well, if the FBI files are closed to us, perhaps the RCMP will be more generous with their information sharing. You know, I hope Francesca doesn't mind me using her station.
Ray: Yeah, right. She'll never wash those keys again. It'll be like "Wayne Newton typed here" or something.Welsh: How the hell did you get into the FBI files?
Ray: It's Canadian files.
Fraser: RCMP files, Sir.
Welsh: Canadians have computers now?
Fraser: Strangely, yes. In addition to that, we also have our own news magazine, Maclean's, as well as a special edition of Sports Illustrated, although that is something of a hot potato in the area of cultural protection, which, I might add, the Americans refuse to acknowledge even exists.
Welsh: That's terrific. You're to stay out of this, Detective. Is that clear?
Ray: Yes, Sir.
Welsh: All right. I'll clear you with the shooting team, but you're to have no further involvement in this. If you do, you'll be teaching traffic directing in Zaire.
Ray: Yes, Sir.
Fraser: Sir, Zaire has changed its name. It's now the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Welsh: I don't care.
Fraser: Ah.Nada: Do you often sleep at the station?
Ray: I live by my wits, a calling that affords me at times no great measure of security.Pike: I know everything. I know everything. They tell me everything. I mean, I know everything. You graduated from high school with a 61% average.
Ray: 62.
Pike: That's a failing average where I come from. You're 5' 10 1/2, you weigh 159 pounds, your vision is 20-60, you got, uh, no, 20-45.
Ray: Astigmatism, I have astigmatism.Ray: Hey, you think I'm losing my hair?
Fraser: No, it's full bodied and bushy, Ray. It's this way... At the rate he's losing gas, he couldn't have gotten much farther than this.
Ray: Maybe he got gas.
Fraser: Oh, Ray, come on, you know it's impossible to find a gas station in downtown Chicago.Ray: Hello, am I the only one here who doesn't know who Nautilus is?
Fraser: Yes, it would appear so, Ray. (to Ruth/Nautilus) I had my suspicions when I first disarmed you. The way you laid your fingers along the trigger guard. Very professional.
Ray: Partners means sharing. You ever hear of that, Fraser?
Fraser: Yes, I understand that. Could we deal with it later?
Ray: Partners means sharing.Fraser: It's interesting you should mention the Dave Clark Five, Mr. Pike, since it's not generally known that they were more than merely entertainers.... [I would have liked hearing what came next]
Keepership:Ray's blue clip-on shades.
Grade:A+. It's a totally delightful romp.
Melanie's Review:If I had to quickly list as many of the 3rd and 4th season episodes as possible, from memory, I would probably fall at least one or two episodes short--and Spy vs. Spy would probably be one of the episodes I would forget about. It tends to slip my mind, lurking in the shadows and dodging conscious thought.
So now I've spent several days (or, at least, several hours over the course of several days) thinking about this episode. I've watched the tape twice. I've skimmed throught the transcript and I've read other reviews. Even now, Spy vs. Spy is behaving like a will 'o the wisp, immediately drifting out of my mind as soon as something else catches my attention.
What is it about this episode? Why does my brain try so hard to forget about it? There are episodes that I strongly dislike (Body Language comes immediately to mind) and there are episodes I'm of two minds about, but this one--I just don't care.
A strongly integrated A and B plot is usually one of my requirements for praise, and on the surface it would seem that Spy vs. Spy has that requirement down. Albert Hanrahan stumbles into a spy game, and it turns out that his dearest companion is an agent herself. But on closer inspection, I notice that the two plots don't interact as much as one might think. H has almost nothing to do with the central investigation until the very end.
I think my greatest dissatisfaction with the episode is one of style. The A plot (the adventures of Mr. Hanrahan) has almost a gentle, poingnant quality. He's a very sympathetic character, and his scenes are quite touching. On the other hand, the B plot (Spy vs. Spy) owes much of its style to the episode's Mad Magazine roots. It's all whiz-bang fireworks, cheap gags, speeded up graphics and a frenetic, almost incoherent plot. It makes about as much sense as one of Pike's diatribes. "I drive the car! I do the talking! You draw the conclusions! Get it? Get out!"
Sidebar: Once in a while, I'll doze in the morning while the news is on TV. When that happens, I have vivid dreams, driven in part by the contents of the news. My subconscious takes a magical mystery tour of current events in a nonsensical order: a house fire, a sports event, a flood, an overturned dump truck on the Beltway. I find myself thrown willy-nilly into unfamiliar circumstances, doing things I'd never do and saying things I'd never say. Spy vs. Spy has that kind of dreamlike quality: there are several surreal scenes in this episode that are disturbingly out of step with the dramatic coherence of the rest of the show.
If the entire episode had been surreal, I might not mind so much; at times I am reminded of light-hearted episodes like The Man Who Knew Too Little or Invitation to Romance. But these episodes were consistently humorous. Spy vs. Spy lurches back and forth between the bizarre and the commonplace. Albert Hanrahan is a serious character with the same kind of depth as Mrs. Gamez, Garrett or Quinn, not a farcical cartoon.
Alice falls down the rabbit hole and finds herself at the ballet. The sight of Fraser carrying on a conversation after the performance begins, repeatedly ignoring the shushes from the other members of the audience, is something that could only exist in Wonderland. From there, the dream spins wildly into further nonsense, as Fraser rushes the stage and dances a while for fun (somehow neither the dancers nor the orchestra seem concerned enough to stop) before riding away with a flourish in a conveniently mobile piece of scenery.
Then there are the two scenes in Pike's super-animated car. The nausea-inducing high-speed scenery in the background of both scenes serves to distract attention from the nonsensical dialog. The first such scene, with Fraser in the back seat, is all style and precious little content. Total useful information: 1. there is a weapons stockpile at stake, 2. the Colonels are former KGB, and 3. there's a Colonel named Nautilus. The second Pike scene, with Ray in the car, reveals absolutely nothing to do with the case or the episode.
Finally there is the farcical confrontation at the ship; just about nothing in this scene makes any sense.
Pike: It's over. I almost had you three years ago with the diamond merchant and the 9,000 pairs of fake French blue jeans at Antwerp.It's all played for laughs, but then the silliness comes to a screeching halt as the story lurches back to the Hanrahan plot:
Nada: I have never been to Antwerp.
Pike: And again last year, at the boat show in Buenos Aires. Remember that? With that freight full of fake Dave Clark Five memorabilia?
Nada: I hate the Dave Clark Five.
Pike: Twenty years. For twenty years I've hunted you, Nautilus.
Fraser: Excuse me.
Pike: Yeah?
Fraser: I think twenty years ago she still would have been a child.
Nada: I was in eighth grade.
Pike: You were in the eighth grade. What, the eighth grade, that would make you, what, twelve and a half? Thirteen? Plus twenty. . .23. . . 32. No. That's a valid point. That's a valid - Oh, so you're the one! I knew it. I was right the first time, wasn't I? Don't, don't. I don't want to know how old you were twenty years ago or what grade you were in 'cause it's too confusing to me. I'm not good with math, so--
Fraser: Actually, I was educated at home, and my exams, they were all flown in by bush plane.Ruth: Who's going to stop me?Thank God Dief recovered from his drugged state in time to stop this hackneyed dialog! Personally, I would have preferred an outcome that focused more closely on Albert's self-esteem and identity as a hero rather than on his status as Ruth's patsy:
Hanrahan: I am. . . You used me. You lied to me every step of the way.
Ruth: Oh, shut up. People lie. You lie. That's life.
Hanrahan: No, no. Not about you. I had - I had real feelings about you.
Ruth: You know what? You're an old fool. And you're right, you're a coward. You hide behind ideas of love when the fact is you're afraid to take what you want.
Hanrahan: No I'm not. No I'm not. I'm not afraid any longer.
Ruth: Don't make me shoot you.
Hanrahan: You're going to have to.Ruth: Who's going to stop me?I will give the episode points for a couple of continuity moments, which is something I always love to see. This is the only 3rd season episode in which Fraser is shown to be reaching out to the community while searching for a new place to live. Yea, amen! They should have devoped that further. And Ray's conversation with Pike, while having absolutely no bearing on anything having to do with this episode, does provide the best clue--just about the only clue--of where Ray Vecchio is, what he is doing, and how he got involved in the mysterious undercover assignment. This gem of information is written into a scene in a way that makes no sense whatsoever, but it's a gem of information nonetheless.
[WHAM! Ruth crumples to the ground. Cut to shot of Albert, weilding a tire iron.]
Albert: I am.
Duesies:Welsh: Look, the shooting team from Internal Affairs, they want you available to them so don't leave the building.
Ray: But I didn't shoot anybody.
Welsh: We don't have punching teams, so you're just going to have to make do.Pike: At first, I thought that the Canadians weren't involved, but now I think you're RCMP.
Fraser: Well, I am.
Pike: I know you say you are, but I think you are.
Fraser: I am, I said.
Pike: You've got RCMP written all over your face. Who the hell would ever think you were undercover?Pike: How much do the Canadians know?
Fraser: Well, that depends on the Canadian. Educational opportunities vary from region to region--Welsh: How the hell did you get into the FBI files?
Ray: It's Canadian files.
Fraser: RCMP files, sir.
Welsh: Canadians have computers now?
Fraser: Strangely, yes.Ray: Don't you ever sleep?
Fraser: Well of course I do, Ray. As a matter of fact, I just had a 30-second nap coming down the stairs. It was very refreshing.
Second Runner-Up Nitpick of the Week:Ruth--whose secret identity as Nautilus is unknown to anyone--wears a plain grey wig to cover her stylish grey coiffure. Why?
Runner-Up Nitpick of the Week:
In broad daylight, in full view of a public street, two Russians are brandishing machine guns and yelling orders at more than six American longshoremen? Way to do the secret agent thing, Nada.
Nitpick of the Week:
"That's trespassing. Well, maybe just this once. . . ." When did Fraser start practicing situational ethics? Not only does he break into H's apartment, he conducts a fairly intrusive search.
Moment of the Week:The saga of Armando Langoustini
Mountie Superpower of the Week:The non-intrusive postmortem technique.
Runner-Up Fraser Factoid:Ray: Come on, the Russians can't afford food let alone spies, Fraser.
Fraser: Well, people can starve, Ray, but a government can always afford spies.Fraser Factoid:
"In addition to [computers] we also have our own news magazine, Maclean's, as well as a special edition of Sports Illustrated--although that is something of a hot potato in the area of cultural protection which, I might add, the Americans refuse to acknowledge even exists."
Ray's Big-City Wisdom:Ray: Hello, am I the only one here who doesn't know who Nautilus is?
Fraser: Yes, it would appear so, Ray. I had my suspicions when I first disarmed you. The way you laid your finger along the trigger guard. Very professional.
Ray: Partners means sharing. You ever hear of that, Fraser?(Very good point, Ray. Fraser shuldn't have left her alone in your apartment if he had suspicions--and he shouldn't have kept his suspicions to himself.)
Runner-up Cringe-worthy moment of the week:The gruesome face, eyes bulging, of the garrotted Russian in the coat closet.
Cringe-worthy moment of the week:
Fraser striking up a conversation after the ballet has begun. His grandmother would have slapped him for such rudeness.
Snack to enjoy while watching Spy vs. Spy:Chicken tetrazzini, with peach melba as a dessert. We'll do the autopsy after dinner.
Grading:
H is for Hero B Spy Games D A Night at the Ballet F Overall Grade C
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