*Random Thoughts about Random Trading Cards*
Long dreaded; it had to happen eventually. Today's random card turned out to be "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling," which just so happens to be one of my least favorite episodes. For fairness' sake, I decided to bite the bullet and watch the episode again before jotting down my random thoughts.
Once again, Number Six becomes involuntarily involved in psychological experimentation- this time venturing into the science fiction territory of mind-body swaps as recently invented by one mysterious Professor Seltzman.
Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed following the mind-swapped Number Six (in the body of a nameless Army Colonel played by Nigel Stock) as he navigates his old stomping grounds upon waking up in his original London flat as part of the plot.
I was astonished by his lack of surprise at seeing the familiar London high-rises and the casual out-of-left-field appearance of a long-time fiance who just so happens to be his superior's daughter. Finally, there is the absurdly mundane nature of his desktop calendar with a lineup of exciting events including a dentist appointment and a reminder to drop the car off at the garage. (Apparently, his Lotus Seven is still overheating.)
And let’s stay with Lotus for a moment- if nothing else, the abundant footage of KAR-120C making its way through bustling London traffic and later journeying through France and Austria is one of the biggest selling points for a rewatch.
So, what else do we have? Let me start with what we don't have: for large parts of the episode, we definitely do not have Patrick McGoohan (who, with mind and body, happened to be on the set of "Ice Station Zebra" during the filming of this episode).
Consequently, Nigel Stock's reenactment of some of the series’ signature scenes, including the classic intro, feels quaint and almost embarrassingly off. However, as the story unfolds, he impressively compensates for his lack of rage with his capacity for range, credibly enacting disbelief, despair, and hope for resolution.
Stock's Number Six is far less fiery in navigating the minefield of convincing his associates and superiors of his true identity. Yet, he is emotionally nuanced in his quest to reveal himself to his faithful fiance, Janet, through a passionate love scene, which neither Zena Walker's character, nor the audience would even remotely have gotten from the great McGoohan himself.
The rest of the plot is reminiscent of a Danger Man adventure, including a convoluted setup for identifying the whereabouts of Professor Seltzman, the inventor of the mind-body-swap technology. And indeed, why would anybody NOT layer four transparencies identified through the albeit simple alphanumeric code A1Z26 in a projector and view the result with special lenses attached to their regular glasses?
At the end of the episode, the elderly mastermind behind the potentially dangerous technology reveals himself to be even more sinister than anticipated.
While Number Six regains his old identity through a three-way transference procedure, the poor Colonel falls victim to an intellectual sleight of hand, resulting in one final, unforeseen body-mind swap: The evil professor Seltzman, visibly rejuvenated through the Colonel's physical features, departs from the Village, leaving his victim's mind behind - in his own dying body. Of all the possible plot twists, not even I could have seen that coming.
(Random side thought: Wait a minute! There is no way Number Six would take his car to a garage. For all we know, this detail upset McGoohan even more than the kissing scene when watching the filmed material after his return from Hollywood. It’s just so very, very un-Six-ish.)
