Watched Room with a Rack--and let's talk favorite episodes
In my effort to get more Kelly and Scotty in my life, I watched Room with a Rack, one of my top ten. I'd always watched it for emotion and a wallow in H/C before, but this time, I watched for story.
It holds up as a story really well, but what interested me the most this time around was how sparse the story telling really is. The viewer never sees the initial torture scene, and Kelly is already into his 6 week recovery period (although quite early, I think) when he has the nightmare at the very beginning. I find it fascinating and wonderful that Scotty is sleeping in the same hospital room as Kelly. He's not merely propped in a chair, but clearly sharing the same room. Kelly is described as pathologically unable to make decisions, and obviously, this new boss Anderson wants to get rid of him altogether. He goes over the head of the psychiatrist to let Kelly out of the hospital quite suddenly. So, Scotty takes him to rich Don Jose's villa party for a vacation. There they meet Lindy, who knows Don Jose, but apparently knows Kelly and Scotty even better. She figures so prominently in Kelly's support system that Scotty feels safe leaving them to go back to Madrid to confront Anderson. There, his suspicions are confirmed (although the viewer doesn't really get the gist of what he'd suspected) and he's able to go back to the countryside, confer with Lindy and quite easily (it seemed to me) find Kelly while he's being tortured anew and change the dynamics. Luckily, Kelly's depression has lifted and he's able to deal with the bad guys admirably.
Exciting and dramatic, but there are such long periods of time between scenes that I am amazed there are not dozens of missing scenes written. How did Scotty rescue Kelly from the original torture? Apparently the powers that be felt Kelly would fold more easily than Scott? Who is Lindy, and how do they know her so well? She's a marvelous, funny and original character, a very modern woman for the late sixties, not dependent on a male for her support, even if she apparently jet sets around (in her own plane) to high society events. If this series was made today, she'd be a regular, turning up every once in a while on their cases. It's clear that she has shown up before at least once, if not more, in their past--but that's only vaguely mentioned. Don Jose is explained away that Kelly gave him tennis lessons in another country--Kelly doesn't even remember him. Why does Scotty know and have an invitation to the villa? Especially since later it is revealed that Kelly and Scotty were not on the original guest list. Scotty can fly a plane! Does he do this any other time? Seems to me he flies a helicopter once? Maybe in Viet Nam or another Asian country?
Scotty is a powerhouse of love, support, tenderness, strength and partner. He only leaves Kelly with someone he trusts, and only because he needs to substantiate his theory--which he does. In the scene with Anderson where he shows off his prowess in the gym, Anderson thinks Scotty wants another partner, which Scotty does appear to agree to. We all know that is not true, Scotty has his own agenda, and it ain't abandoning Kelly. Ever.
Oh, Kel--how does a man who appears so brittle (in many episodes) survive as a spy? He's got inner grit. Here, he's so clearly angry at himself for his own perceived failures that he can't see that his survival is the success. He feels broken, so he is. It isn't until he's once again locked in the torture chamber that he breaks down and cries, which cleanses the remorse. He's back to cynical, cocky, tightly wound Kelly in the morning when the bad guys return.
Absolutely love when Scotty finds Kelly on the rack and asks how he's been, Kelly replies "Shorter." With one word, Scotty knows that Kelly is better and able to hold his own. And it's not until after that that Scotty reveals to Kelly that he was a pawn in the entire game, used to pass along bogus info to the other side. Ah, the deception of life--but Kelly has healed, and he has Scotty by his side. The wonderfulness of the two of them.
Great episode (even though we had a power outage when I was watching and had to finish it the next morning.)
Talk about your favorite episodes, and why!
It holds up as a story really well, but what interested me the most this time around was how sparse the story telling really is. The viewer never sees the initial torture scene, and Kelly is already into his 6 week recovery period (although quite early, I think) when he has the nightmare at the very beginning. I find it fascinating and wonderful that Scotty is sleeping in the same hospital room as Kelly. He's not merely propped in a chair, but clearly sharing the same room. Kelly is described as pathologically unable to make decisions, and obviously, this new boss Anderson wants to get rid of him altogether. He goes over the head of the psychiatrist to let Kelly out of the hospital quite suddenly. So, Scotty takes him to rich Don Jose's villa party for a vacation. There they meet Lindy, who knows Don Jose, but apparently knows Kelly and Scotty even better. She figures so prominently in Kelly's support system that Scotty feels safe leaving them to go back to Madrid to confront Anderson. There, his suspicions are confirmed (although the viewer doesn't really get the gist of what he'd suspected) and he's able to go back to the countryside, confer with Lindy and quite easily (it seemed to me) find Kelly while he's being tortured anew and change the dynamics. Luckily, Kelly's depression has lifted and he's able to deal with the bad guys admirably.
Exciting and dramatic, but there are such long periods of time between scenes that I am amazed there are not dozens of missing scenes written. How did Scotty rescue Kelly from the original torture? Apparently the powers that be felt Kelly would fold more easily than Scott? Who is Lindy, and how do they know her so well? She's a marvelous, funny and original character, a very modern woman for the late sixties, not dependent on a male for her support, even if she apparently jet sets around (in her own plane) to high society events. If this series was made today, she'd be a regular, turning up every once in a while on their cases. It's clear that she has shown up before at least once, if not more, in their past--but that's only vaguely mentioned. Don Jose is explained away that Kelly gave him tennis lessons in another country--Kelly doesn't even remember him. Why does Scotty know and have an invitation to the villa? Especially since later it is revealed that Kelly and Scotty were not on the original guest list. Scotty can fly a plane! Does he do this any other time? Seems to me he flies a helicopter once? Maybe in Viet Nam or another Asian country?
Scotty is a powerhouse of love, support, tenderness, strength and partner. He only leaves Kelly with someone he trusts, and only because he needs to substantiate his theory--which he does. In the scene with Anderson where he shows off his prowess in the gym, Anderson thinks Scotty wants another partner, which Scotty does appear to agree to. We all know that is not true, Scotty has his own agenda, and it ain't abandoning Kelly. Ever.
Oh, Kel--how does a man who appears so brittle (in many episodes) survive as a spy? He's got inner grit. Here, he's so clearly angry at himself for his own perceived failures that he can't see that his survival is the success. He feels broken, so he is. It isn't until he's once again locked in the torture chamber that he breaks down and cries, which cleanses the remorse. He's back to cynical, cocky, tightly wound Kelly in the morning when the bad guys return.
Absolutely love when Scotty finds Kelly on the rack and asks how he's been, Kelly replies "Shorter." With one word, Scotty knows that Kelly is better and able to hold his own. And it's not until after that that Scotty reveals to Kelly that he was a pawn in the entire game, used to pass along bogus info to the other side. Ah, the deception of life--but Kelly has healed, and he has Scotty by his side. The wonderfulness of the two of them.
Great episode (even though we had a power outage when I was watching and had to finish it the next morning.)
Talk about your favorite episodes, and why!