Comments from The I Spy Forum continued
There's also a lovely little bit in "It's All Done With Mirrors," where a drugged and brainwashed Kelly Robinson says to Alexander Scott "You're all the same."
Suddenly, there's no slightest trace of fun left in Scotty -- and you hadn't thought, until that line, that there was any left. "What?" Scotty says. "What did you say?"
"Traitors, man. The traitors are all the same."
And that final level of tension leaves Scotty.
That moment, where he thinks that the ugliest of monsters is emerging from his friend's subconscious -- which would damage their friendship irrevocably -- only to be relieved that his friend only wants to kill him because he believes he's a traitor, is brilliant.
July 21 2003 at 5:20 PM
From: desirae
Oh I wholeheartedly agree. This one small scene said so much. The look on Scotty's face when Kelly said his comment about "you all being the same" was wonderful. His emotion when he realized what Kelly meant was brilliant!
Great stuff!
desirae
July 22 2003 at 4:07 PM
From: Alta
I think this one scene was always a defining point for me and one of the reasons why I Spy was so special. Those few words, muttered by the dazed Kelly, and then Scotty's sudden freezing demeanor . The words were enormous in possible context and, as mentioned, would have meant the end of the friendship if Kelly hadn't clarified his intent. And Cosby was absolutely brilliant in how he handled the scene too . You could feel the temperature drop 40 degrees in an instant, then warm right back up......and with limited dialogue. Fantastic!
July 23 2003 at 12:58 PM
From: Tatia Loring
I have to agree with everything that has been said so far about TONIA. Excellent reviews by the Colonel and everyone else. Chris, I listened carefully and I think anything that may have made Zugman appear to be a racist may have gotten mixed in the dubbing/translation. Zugman comments on Kelly and Scotty being equals and displaying "harmony" when he shows Tonia the newspaper clippings of them from around the world - and he says that this is harming their propaganda - the party line, but I don't think Zugman is ever portrayed as a racist. His hate is directed towards Kelly because of his
daughter, and he is focused on getting revenge by tearing apart Scotty and Kelly.
In fact, it didn't even cross my mind that Zugman was a German name - he just seemed to represent an Eastern European communist agent.
The only time, other than the scene in "It;s All Done With Mirrors," that has been discussed - that I ever caught a racist comment was in "Lori" when Malachi Throne's "evil" character calls Scotty "Boy." And that is the only other time, I think we ever see Scotty lose it - when he pummels Malachi Throne's character on Hoover Dam. But he stops and regains control of
himself, as always. Cosby did a wonderful job as Scotty. We always knew Scotty had powerful emotions held in check, just under the surface, but he was always in control of them. His intellect was the stronger force in his personality and demeanor, than his emotional side .... which of course played beautifully against Kelly who was far more the emotional, hair-trigger half of the pair. And Culp always played Kelly with great finesse, insight, and balance ... his highs were higher and his lows lower than Scotty's - and he made it all so believable - from scene to scene, from comedy to drama - in very different episodes, from week to week.
And I didn't hear anything equivalent to the line you mentioned, Chris - "As Kelly says later on... "I had prejudices, I was stupid." ... Kelly does apologize to Tonia in her apartment, saying that he misjudged her - but as a person (her motives). Race did not enter into it at all.
I do remember reading somewhere that they had problems with Ms. Uggums' wardrobe for this episode - that she just looked too good ... and they finally borrowed a dress off of a woman in the street (I guess watching the filming in the neighborhood) - and she wore that..
Ms. Uggums was very good in her role as "Tonia" - not too sweet, not too docile, not too feisty - but a workable combination of them all - and she played her as being duped and deluded by Zugman in a totally believable manner, too. The interactions between her and Scotty, Scotty and Kelly, and Kelly and Tonia were all very, very well done. David Opatashu, as Zugman, stood out in every scene he was in.
G.D. Spradlin role as the guys' superior was also very interesting. You couldn't tell whether he was playing along or was actually going to allow the Italian police to take Kelly away without so much as a formal government protest. Spradlin, who often plays villainous roles, also played the "bad guy" in the pilot for "The Greatest American Hero" ... (I "think" I may have mentioned - that our Mr. Culp has worked with everyone out there twice ....:-)
This is only the second time I've seen "Tonia" - the last time was on late night TV - and the episode was cut to shreds in the hands of the "commercials" adders. The scene where Scotty waits for Kelly after his escape from the Officers Club - and offers him his gun - was totally cut out. So the storyline played out a bit differently when Kelly tells Zugman "3 to 1 Scotty is waiting outside of this office." With the scene outside of the Officers' Club cut out, you still didn't know then, if Scotty was really outside Zugman's office - or if he still believed Kelly was guilty of killing Tonia. It made Scotty's appearance at the end more suspenseful and heightened the emotional interplay a bit more. (The ONLY time perhaps, that one of those "cuts" didn't hurt the story too badly.)
Admittedly there were a few flaws here and there - but Alf Kjellin kept the pace going beautifully - and Earle Hagen's music matched the scenes to perfection. TONIA definitely falls into the "A" category.
As ever, Tatia
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