The Avengers Forever: The GLG Reports

	The GLG Reports Page 66 of 67

K is for Kill
By Grant L. Goggans

"We British do things by the inch." A humorless, but occasionally charming bit of cold war hokum sees the Avengers in France for the second time this season, ostensibly because Steed can't stand loose ends and this gives him the chance to tie up an 11-year old mystery, when an early-awakened K agent was (very, very briefly) involved with Mrs. Peel. There's some very good location filming in Paris, but some major problems arise from shooting in France. Most crucial is the lack of an identifiable guest star or two. Frankly, some of the finest moments of The Avengers stem from our heroes working alongside, if not recognizable, then at least very good British actors. This bunch just doesn't cut it, a trend that would be even more apparent in the four Canadian episodes. Also problematic is the grand scale of the plot, which certainly requires two episodes. You have to wonder just what the Avengers are doing amid all this gunplay and armed skirmishes between mobs of soldiers. While the French military seems all too happy to get the advice and expertise of John Steed, the best agent any government could offer, all three Avengers take background roles until their hands are jerry-rigged into the action via artificial chase scenes through forests or the streets of Paris. It's far bigger and more grandiose than a typical Avengers, but on the other hand, it's not really Avengers.