The Avengers Forever: The Young Avenger

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K is for Kill, Part 2
By Joseph A.P. Lloyd

Direction: Two out of five. It must have been rather hard for the team to suddenly take on a French director, as there always is the element of the language barrier in times such as these. However, the hand held shots are rather interesting, especially when we get into the action bits. There is also a pan up Purdey's legs, remarkable for a female director (she is French, though!)

Plot: Three out of five. I find it amazing that Clemens could have descended to such depths as this after "Dead Men Are Dangerous." Although not as bad as "The Gladiators," this is nowhere near something like "Death at Bargain Prices" (in some ways the typical series four episode). However, it is The New Avengers, so it does get a good score for being bang up to date with current fears, and with the realistic feel of this series.

Music Cheese Factor: Three out of five. There are some awful bits in this score when Gambit and Purdey are chasing around Paris wine merchants, and the whole thing seems very cheesy until we arrive at the end, when it somewhat disappears.

Wittiness: One out of five. I cannot believe that this and "Dressed to Kill" were done by the same writer. There are about two mildly funny lines in the episode. One of them is right up to date (for 1977). "Wife swapping! The world is changing." "And he's still alive." "How?" "Because I'm a gentleman." Steed on his continued existence.

Action: Two out of five. Stanislav has a car pushed rather cunningly on him, and Steed, despite being shot, manages to pull down the bell, in order to kill the Russian agent. However, Gambit has another macho contest, which seems to have been straight out of "The Gladiators" (a while before it was filmed). Then, we have Steed taking another bullet, and musing over the death of his friend, something that we do not usually catch him doing in the original. Hmm.

Cars/Sets/Locations: Four out of five. We see here that Paris once again makes the episode, and the only thing we wonder is why our heroes are actually there. There are some nice French cars, again, including the then new Renault 20, which is used to get Colonel Stanislav! There seem not to be any sets, either, just real, indoor locations. So, there we have, another good score.

Introduction: Three out of five. Yes, I know it is rather cheesy, but somehow we expect our heroes to share a glass together at the end, as they do here, when they are awarded (at the same time) their hysterically titled medals. Gambit and Steed both did come very close to dying! The introduction is very strange, having Patrick Macnee's voice over is rather unsettling, and then Gambit trying to be tough again is a bit wearing. Well, that's what you get with two parts.

Freeze Frame: A Russian soldier falling over after being shot. Oh dear, it is not a very good two-parter is it?

Overall Impression: This loses out on the first part in two important ways. First, there is no Emma Peel to add some happy nostalgia to the story. Secondly, we do not have the same level of excitement as the first one did. Despite this, however, it is rather interesting, Steed comes up against bureaucracy yet again, and we are in Paris, which always does something for me. Do not bother watching this. Watch only the first part, it is a lot better.

Rating: Five and a half out of ten.