The headquarters of John Steed's agency is an impenetrable fortress designed to keep The British Empire's secrets safe, as well as its government in the event of an emergency, such as WWIII. Let me correct that: until the beginning shot, it was an "impenetrable" fortress. Now, everyone can get to it, knows about it, and knows one of its most precious secrets: the identities of every British spy undercover.
After the breach, the agency head, Disco, calls Dr. Cathy Gale (?) to report to the compound. It was the first time she had ever received a call from Steed's higher ups, and the first time she had been invited to their lair. Disco needs an outsider and a field agent to give a fresh view of the situation; so, Dr. Gale and Steed are recruited to lead the investigation. The agency needs those documents back pronto. They guest-timate that if they don't get that info back within 16 hours time, their secret agents will be as good as dead.
A dense spy episode, The Nutshell finally gives a behind the scenes look into Steed's organization. But more importantly, it shows a more realistic look inside a spy agency than could even be accomplished today. Long before it was done in James Bond, this is the first time that a spy agency was shown to use electronic voice recognition, and finger print analysis for entry into a secure site. And can anyone think of a time previously that a "friendly" black site was ever shown to western audiences? Skipping "24", how many times has it been shown presently? In fact, the Producers of the James Bond film,Dr. No, had to turn the camera away in order to get the "softening" up sequence and its introduction of torture past the censors. Here there are entire torture sequences that are put up front and center for viewers. Electrocution, brainwashing, sleep deprivation and starvation; hyper-realism, thy name is The Avengers. If you agree or disagree with these methods isn't the point; the fact that they acknowledge a Western government was using these means is years ahead of its time.
With the exception of the ending, this story got stronger as it went. We start off with a perfect heist of sensitive documents. Then we continue on with double spies, secret landing fields, agents cracking under too much work, etc. Although it's pretty hard not to know which side Steed and Gale are on, it is still a good sign of great writing that there were many signs why we couldn't even trust them.
Also, Phillip Harrison sucked me in with his design of the still unnamed agency fortress. The floor where the cat burglar dodges roaming cameras, and works a microfiche station, seemed ultra ahead of its time. But there were also the bland stations such as the photograph room that gave an air of realism to the set.
I give this a 9.0.
After the breach, the agency head, Disco, calls Dr. Cathy Gale (?) to report to the compound. It was the first time she had ever received a call from Steed's higher ups, and the first time she had been invited to their lair. Disco needs an outsider and a field agent to give a fresh view of the situation; so, Dr. Gale and Steed are recruited to lead the investigation. The agency needs those documents back pronto. They guest-timate that if they don't get that info back within 16 hours time, their secret agents will be as good as dead.
A dense spy episode, The Nutshell finally gives a behind the scenes look into Steed's organization. But more importantly, it shows a more realistic look inside a spy agency than could even be accomplished today. Long before it was done in James Bond, this is the first time that a spy agency was shown to use electronic voice recognition, and finger print analysis for entry into a secure site. And can anyone think of a time previously that a "friendly" black site was ever shown to western audiences? Skipping "24", how many times has it been shown presently? In fact, the Producers of the James Bond film,Dr. No, had to turn the camera away in order to get the "softening" up sequence and its introduction of torture past the censors. Here there are entire torture sequences that are put up front and center for viewers. Electrocution, brainwashing, sleep deprivation and starvation; hyper-realism, thy name is The Avengers. If you agree or disagree with these methods isn't the point; the fact that they acknowledge a Western government was using these means is years ahead of its time.
With the exception of the ending, this story got stronger as it went. We start off with a perfect heist of sensitive documents. Then we continue on with double spies, secret landing fields, agents cracking under too much work, etc. Although it's pretty hard not to know which side Steed and Gale are on, it is still a good sign of great writing that there were many signs why we couldn't even trust them.
Also, Phillip Harrison sucked me in with his design of the still unnamed agency fortress. The floor where the cat burglar dodges roaming cameras, and works a microfiche station, seemed ultra ahead of its time. But there were also the bland stations such as the photograph room that gave an air of realism to the set.
I give this a 9.0.
