Sunday, June 29, 2008

"Murdersville" and my love for Hubert

This is one the best late Emma Episodes. It takes a different tact than most straight Emma Avengers episodes because instead of one creepy mastermind trying to kill her, A WHOLE TOWN IS TRYING TO KILL HER!!!!! . There is nothing really wrong with this episode at all (except some personal problems I have with it). Like most of the Avengers episodes coming out at this time ("The Positive Negative Man," Mission... Highly Improbable," and "You Have Just Been Murdered."), this one is pure gold. But it contains some extra special moments that make it one of my top ten.
First off, this is not an Emma episode clone of "The House that Jack Built." Its completely different mostly because of the inclusion of cool side characters like Forbes and Hubert and Mickle. Hubert and Mickle are so naturally sadistic that it brings tears of joy to my face. And no matter how many times I watch this episode, I always feel bad for Forbes when Hubert and Mickle break all of the priceless glassware. This is also one of the Emma episodes where there are some quality interactions with Steed (I live for Baby Brian!). The tag is hilarious (watch for Steed getting his ear caught) and this episode brought about the invention of "deadly cream pies." This episode truly has it all.
Except, WHY DIDN'T SHE JUST RUN AWAY? WHY? OH WHY? Emma has a long amount of time to escape "Murdersville" (the town, not the episode) and she doesn't. Also another moment that I hate is when Steed knocks out the bartender by laying the bartender's head on the bar. Its the lightest of taps and it knocks him out. I guess Patrick Macnee was just feeling lazy. Also, the helicopter scene (while still pretty cool) is seriously underwhelming.
So, while Murdersville has no real glaring flaws, it just lacks some polish. There were some stupid choices made in the storyline, but that being said, the characters, the idea, and the great acting by Emma Peel make this a great episode.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thought I'd check in. Nice, I see the difference. The old ones weren't bad, but this one seems to have a lot more explanation. Cool.

And loopholes in plotlines bug me too.

The Film Doctor said...

You probably find the helicopter scene underwhelming due to the many similar fancier scenes in recent movies. I think the the helicopter scene is quite good considering the limitations of the Avengers TV budget. By the way, who is Hubert?

George Kaplan said...

Hubert is the guy with the pipe who always looks smug and mean.

Anonymous said...

I always find it funny that Emma never suspects anything until she sees the policeman's incorrect socks!