The Avengers Forever: Illuminations

	Illuminations Page 14 of 14

Look - (stop me if you've heard this one before) But There Were These Two Fellers...
by Jonathan Woods

The fascinating "Look - (stop me if you've heard this one) But There Were These Two Fellers..." plays as if filtered through John Steed's weariness of the same old cat and mouse spy game. The villains, now literally vaudeville clowns, reflect Steed's youthful glances towards the past just as the series itself moves closer and closer to adolescent fantasy. Steed started out with adult-oriented adventures, beginning before The Avengers and rooted in the Second World War. Moving progressively through episodes like "The Hour That Never Was" and "Something Nasty in the Nursery," Steed sentimentally reflects through his past in the R.A.F. and draws closer to his childhood. Meanwhile, The Avengers, responding to the audience's exhaustion over the grim horrors of reality, moves towards more fantastic and joyful adventures.

"Look..." is a convergence of Steed and the series his personality fuels. The Avengers is moving logically towards Absurdism, satisfying both masters: viewers get dazzled with broader televised fantasy and Steed is granted more playful games uncomplicated by the laws of gravity. He now runs the show, cheerfully certain that no harm can come to Tara without his blessing. Conjuring up a fake vaudevillian identity is no problem for Steed, who can congregate with the psychotic villains, then pick just the right window through which to find his damsel in distress. Tara, now fitting a female role more recognizable to an old-fashioned boy, is otherwise condemned to the laws of Avengersland. The adventure for Steed now becomes more of a pantomime, which draws him closer to the rascals he is pursuing.

Although this is the only episode with a title that familiarly and humorously addresses the viewer, "Look..." is not warm and cozy, and is no mere comedy. At least, its jokes are not the reason for celebration. Instead, it is a frank admission that 1) comedy is a serious and sometimes perversely dark business and 2) secret agents eventually get jaded about death. First, hardly a single jokester in the show is without some tragic failing and sadness—one vaudevillian is perpetually confined in a sack with chains (perhaps never wanting to escape), while gag writer Bradley Marler is isolated amidst enormous piles of castoff jokes. So lonely and desperate is Marler that he eagerly wants to work with the very clown he claims is washed-up; this anxiety certainly blinds him to the possibility that this clown intends to kill him.

In general, the two Scaramouch hit men are way too facile and enthusiastic with killing when one considers their seemingly law-abiding history. The glee with which they assassinate their victims suggests that "killing" and "slaying" are not merely figurative in the minds of professional comedians. More broadly, perhaps the clown's ritual, exemplified by the Punch and Judy show, is a reenactment of man's savage nature and history, translated safely for man's entertainment. For these motley fools to turn to murder is not a big stretch, since they act out violent pantomimes upon others and themselves—habitually and under a veil of makeup. Conversely, our cynical hero, John Steed, is so acquainted with real violence that he views it with familiarity and, sometimes, an inappropriate sense of humor and entertainment. To some degree, he must also be bored by it all, especially when you consider how many adventures he has been on—and on a few cases twice! In "Look...", he not only seems unconcerned that people are dying, he contributes to speeding up the process. Clearly, he is familiar with this terrain of revenge and double-cross, but he blithely makes mistakes he avoided in the past. He has good reason to suspect that one of the directors at Capitol Land and Development Company may be involved in the murders, but he updates them uniformly with all his discoveries, frustrating the hidden villains into rash acts of murder to cover their tracks. No one's death seems to trouble him—he certainly doesn't blame himself!

This seemingly contemptuous indifference has spread to Tara; unmoved by Lord Bessington's surprising launch out the window and down several stories, she coldly gives chase to his murderers without a trace of loss or pain—which is odd since she was beginning to warm up to the old fellow. The episode ends with Steed defying logic, as his nemesis Maxie Martin did earlier, by using an impossible quick-change technique that leaves him as the clown taking Tara to the opera. What separates Steed from the villains is his relationship towards the Law; they were woefully on the wrong side.

I believe that this is an important and telling chapter in the life of Steed. The episode itself is fun and effortless to watch, with some great stinging points. The playful prologue that freezes on the grim visage of the murderous clowns exiting stage left is underscored nicely with some foreboding music. The soundtrack often contradicts the idea that the proceedings are just merry fun. The colorful cast, often lauded, is truly inspired, with surprises galore to keep the viewer constantly stimulated. While some fans have claimed that "Look..." doesn't belong in Avengersland, I contend that it actually expands the landscape.