Mary Ann Mobley guest stars in this episode as Crystal and is needed for the mission because of her expertise. Crystal works in the circus and does an act where she spins while suspended by her teeth from great heights. She'll be the main attraction at a fake circus--one that will just happen to set up near a prison where an elderly Cardinal is incarcerated. It seems that Cardinal Vossek (Cyril Delevanti) is the voice of the opposition and he's being silenced. Their mission is to somehow get the man out of the prison and back to safety in the West.
The team needs a man inside the prison so Rollin (Martin Landau) gets the dubious honor. So, while Crystal is performing, he picks pockets using his skills in magic. But, he wants to get caught and soon is. This is what you'll see in episode one.
In episode two, the Cardinal's execution date has been set--and the team needs to operate quickly. This is also because the torture of the old man is to increase dramatically--and in his health, there isn't a lot of chance he'll last much longer. So, using some diversions, Brigs gets into the prison dressed as a colonel--with the 'escaped prisoner' (Roland) in tow. He basically goes inside and using intimidation and bravado, manages to convince everyone that he's important and they give him the run of the place. Can they manage to sneak the old guy out in the midst of all this confusion? A serious weakness of the episode is that so much of it was taken up just recapping episode one. I really think this is because they were padding what COULD have been done in only one episode. Still, despite the padding, it is entertaining. But it does make you wonder how ANY country could have such lousy security in their prisons--especially with political prisoners!
By the way, despite Cyril Delevanti looking sickly and older than dirt, he managed to live another decade following these episodes.
The team needs a man inside the prison so Rollin (Martin Landau) gets the dubious honor. So, while Crystal is performing, he picks pockets using his skills in magic. But, he wants to get caught and soon is. This is what you'll see in episode one.
In episode two, the Cardinal's execution date has been set--and the team needs to operate quickly. This is also because the torture of the old man is to increase dramatically--and in his health, there isn't a lot of chance he'll last much longer. So, using some diversions, Brigs gets into the prison dressed as a colonel--with the 'escaped prisoner' (Roland) in tow. He basically goes inside and using intimidation and bravado, manages to convince everyone that he's important and they give him the run of the place. Can they manage to sneak the old guy out in the midst of all this confusion? A serious weakness of the episode is that so much of it was taken up just recapping episode one. I really think this is because they were padding what COULD have been done in only one episode. Still, despite the padding, it is entertaining. But it does make you wonder how ANY country could have such lousy security in their prisons--especially with political prisoners!
By the way, despite Cyril Delevanti looking sickly and older than dirt, he managed to live another decade following these episodes.
