How did he always manage to find the tape recorders? Every week they're hidden in a different place, but he always managed to find them somehow. Anybody know how he did it?
That's the one thing I always found hard to believe about the show. Still a big fan though!
Any thoughts?
He'd receive a call at some point in the day, tell him where to go, at what time, and where to find it. If he's to meet someone there, they tell him what to say.
shareUhh...He was told where to go?
shareThat doesn't make any sense. Most of their missions are time sensitive, so why would they waste valuable time having Jim Phelps drive all over creation just to listen to a 60 second tape recording? Why wouldn't they simply give him the information when they contact him? No, your explanation doesn't add up. That can't be the reason.
shareIt's all very technical, undercover type stuff. They can't leave the information at Jim's house, for fear somebody might follow the messanger. Plus, have you noticed that Jim is always driving a different car when he goes to get his mission? Most likely he has to change cars before arriving at the place the tape recorder is hidden, just in case he's being followed. Sure, it's a complicated system that takes time, but then again ALL of the IMF's tactics are complicated, aren't they? I mean, why bother setting up elaborate plans when they can just shoot the guy and be done with it?
shareI mean, why bother setting up elaborate plans when they can just shoot the guy and be done with it?Have you ever actually watched the show? Every week it's a case where "just shooting the guy" very clearly would NOT take fix the situation the IMF force is tasked with resolving. That's why it's called "Mission: Impossible".
Since you're not satisfied with any answer anybody gives you, the only way to get a REAL answer would be to ask creator Bruce Geller, but unfortunately for you, he's DEAD.
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Yeah, I would have loved that to come up in one of the opening strategy sessions. "Uh, Jim, why don't we just get a gun and shoot the guy?"
share@ OP: Don't mean to be a dick but next you'll be demanding a technically detailed explanation of how Barney came up with all those incredible gadgets.
shareUh, no I wouldn't. Because it's clearly explained in the first season, when Briggs is shown each week choosing the team members from a portfolio, that Barney is an electronics genius and inventor.
shareObviously the tape recorder thing was stylistic whether anything like that in real life would be reasonable I don't know.
I like to speculate on the whys and wherefores though.
My theory is that IMF is a private contractor. Clearly minimal contact between IMF and the government is desirable. Jim has a list of drops and in some cases keys to things like vending machines, pay phones. When a mission comes up Jim is contacted with a drop number where the tape can be found. He goes to the drop and listens to the tape with all the essentials of the mission. He somehow informs his contacted, maybe leaving a message at the drop, if he accepts or declines. I fhe accepts he probably has a contact that gives him complete dossiers on the mission principals.
Just my theory.
BTW I read in the Mission Impossible dossier that the tape scene was used because it saved a whole act , since it laid out the need for the mission and the pricipal players in a couple minutes.
It could be that Briggs/Phelps had a regular schedule and map of dead drops and a list of the prearranged phrases. We simply didn't see it when he found a tape telling him his services weren't required at the moment. For emergencies, they could just call him like they did in "Invasion" (Season 6). Yes, there are plenty of holes in that theory, but it does fit in with the fact that neither Briggs or Phelps ever appeared to have day jobs like every other team member.
shareSpeaking of the season six episode Invasion, I always felt sorry for Jim because just when he's on a date for the first time in five years, Kevin McCarthy's treasonous plans and an earthquake have to screw up his whole evening.
Laugh while you can, Monkey Boy!