The first “sequel” episode (and it may be the only one – I don’t recall any others), this one follows up on “The Quadripartite Affair” and again features David McCallum’ wife Jill Ireland in her previous role as well as Anne Francis as the devilish THRUSH agent Gervaise.
Ireland’s character is brought back into the fold as “bait” to capture Gervaise, and as before, Ireland and McCallum has some great scenes together. Why Gervaise and her colleagues would want to kidnap her… well, it’s never clear. Vengeance? They need a fifth player for Tuesday’s poker party? If it was stated directly I didn’t catch it. But no matter, it’s still an entertaining episode. And Illya saves (and gets) the girl!
By the way, the episode title refers to a chess maneuver that plays as a subtext to the whole episode, as explained in a great scene between Solo and Gervaise.
An early dinner party scene features a who’s who of production personnel in cameo roles, including creator Sam Rolfe, co-producer Norman Felton, producer Joe Calvelli, and future Superman director Richard Donner as a very drunk houseguest.
UPDATE: Hey, look, it’s on-line!