This was never one of my favorite episodes, but just watched this the other night for the first time in years and I thought it was pretty solid. The chemistry between rollin and Cinnamon is off the charts ofcourse and I liked the way they had to get that reel out of there right under everybody's nose. And with them frantically shooting at hundreds of balloons was pretty hilarious as Rollin and Cinnamon just scooted on out of there by boat.
shareThis is one of those episodes that's "lost in the rush" in the face of such epic first season episodes such as The Pilot and Old Man Out, and of course follow-ups from the next two seasons.
I remember seeing A Spool There Was, when it was first broadcast on CBS. I always liked it. I guess I was fascinated by the fact I never knew there was such a thing as a wire recorder. Dumb pre-teen at the time. :-P
LOL. I had the same reaction with Sparrow and the Ransom. They were never my favorites, but after rewatching them lately, I think they're pretty strong. THere's just so many great episodes I guess in comparison to the others maybe not as great, but great nonetheless.
shareYears ago, a poster here (was it you, jayhn1111?) asked for everyone's list of Top Ten Mission: Impossible episodes. There were SO MANY brilliant choices that it soon became a Top 20 and then Top 25 list.
"A Spool There Was" was on my original list... For all the reasons you mentioned on your OP thread. For a season 1 episode, it was an interesting change of pace.
Oh wow I wish that thread still existed. If it was me I don't remember starting it. I'd be curious what everybody's favorites are. Being I'm rewatching the series now, I'm realizing there's a lot I don't remember so I wouldn't even be able to come up with my own top 10. That's a good thing because most of these episodes so far are pretty fresh for me. I do remember being partial to seasons 2 and 3 though. Do you like season 1 overall? I know there's no Peter Graves but there's some gems in there.
shareThere was also another thread to rank the seasons. With the exception of long time poster Pacwarbuf (who loves The Syndicate Years!) most were partial to seasons 2 and 3. As am I.
My preferences in order are 2, 3 and 1. To answer your question, I do like season 1 very much. The writers and producers were still finding their way, perfecting the Mission: Impossible formula. It was more a rough and tumble seasons whereas 2 and 3 were smooth as silk operations. Maybe too much so for some viewers. Just my opinion, though.
"A Spool There Was" is actually in my top ten M:I episodes. It has a lot of things going for it, including being the only episode where Rollin and Cinnamon pretty much work alone together on a mission. Since Landau and Bain were married at the time is made for an exciting, well-written and intimate episode.
shareIt's a first season favorite of mine as well.
shareMy top ten favorite MI episodes (in no particular order) are:
The Pilot
Lovers Knot
Illusion
The Diamond
The Short Tailed Spy
The Amateur
Operation Rogash
The Falcon
Butterfly
Fool's Gold
Next?
You're on a roll Maria! Thanks for giving the board that little extra jolt
shareWow, high praise, jayhn1111! I think Maria needs to know who you are: the Guru/Godfather of the Mission:Impossible Old Timers. At one time the OP of the longest running thread here until IMDB deleted it. "Something needs to be said" doncha think? 😉
shareWow now THAT is high praise thanks! I am so not worthy of it 😂 On this board you are all the gurus here and I bow to all your mission impossible knowledge.
shareI forgot to mention (okay, it's now the Top Twenty favorite episodes):
The Legend
The Slave
The Visitors
Zubronik's Ghost
Nicole
The Diplomat
Trek
The Elixir
The Seal
The Choice
The one thing about A Spool There Was that really annoyed me is twice Roland was referred to as "The Armenian". I know that Roland was "The man of a million faces", but in this case, it doesn't play.
Here's to young Mister or Miss Driscoll. May he or she be born during the last war this world ever has to fight.
Why Maria? Why doesn't it play?
Top Ten:
Illusion
The Carriers
Spool There Was
The Exchange
Heir Apparent
Recovery
The Mercenaries
The Glass Cage
The Test Case
The Vault (tie) The Killing
I heard that "it doesn't play" line from All About Eve, and I always thought it was a cool line. In fact (to go OT for a moment), I've always loved every line of dialogue Bette Davis had in that movie.
Now back to A Spool There Was. One of the few problems I had with MI was that no matter what nationality Rollin had to play, he always had his Blue eyes.
Laugh while you can, Monkey Boy!
Hey, Landau has played Native Americans and Mexicans (with blue eyes) too. 😀
shareI know that. In fact, one of the reasons for this was probably because tinted contact lenses were probably to uncomfortable to wear for more than a few minutes at a time.
Even devoted MI fans can nitpick the show. It doesn't mean that we love don't love the show any less.
Laugh while you can, Monkey Boy!