4.09 - A Surfeit of H2O

[Lhbizness]

I'd say that Steed is more intuitive in his intelligence (although the guy does read Proust, so he's not exactly represented as anti-intellectual), while Emma and Cathy are more directly intellectual, but in some ways less intuitive. Ultimately, it's less about "intelligence" and more about different types of intelligence, in terms of the whole of the series. The Master Minds makes a point of Steed being less intellectual than Mrs. Peel, but this also means that he's the only one who thinks to just unplug his speaker system because it annoys him. That whole episode is about how easily manipulable people are who think they're intellectually superior, and again it takes the analytical genius of Mrs. Peel (she's the one who gets them access to Ransack in the first place) and the down-to-earth intuition and emotional intelligence of Steed to defeat them. So whether or not you like the fact that Emma makes fun of him for "cribbing", the whole episode strikes a very nice balance.

But that doesn't much change or challenge my analysis - it's a long-standing tradition in western culture that women are represented as being more emotional/irrational (that's one of the reasons why we couldn't have the vote, remember?), while men are more logical/rational. I find it interesting that the Avengers, to some degree, turned this stereotype around without actually feminizing or masculinizing its leads. But it's just a perspective based on what happens in the episode, the character types, and the implications of certain associations with each, as I've said above. You can take it or leave it.

[Frankymole]

Proust, and Tintin (in French of course!) - sadly no Asterix

[Rodders]

Tintin is far more cool and suits Steed.

[Rodders]

one of the most underrated Season 4 offerings. For me, it is a classic and worthy of a place in the top 5.

[Rhonda]

I gave 8

[Mona]

I could take Mrs Peel being "associated with logic" a lot more seriously if she didn't do out-and-out illogical things every so often. Prime example being her method of escaping from helicopter pursuit - by running out of a forest into an open field. Logical? I think not...

Patrick Macnee himself once said that the woman has the man's role and vice versa, in The Avengers.

LOL! So true. And send her a letter from someone she's never met or a relative she never heard of and she'll pack up her luggage right away and dash off to their secluded home....over and over....

And, yeah, if a guy is coming at me, and is in odd make-up and is crackling like electricity, I think throwing myself into his body to defend myself is the LAST thing I would do...course it knocked her out, too!

[Allard]

Granny Gregson makes a surprise appearance in The Saint episode The Saint Sees It Through.

Probably one of the oddest props to reuse, maybe a mischievous set decorator?

[rob2bob]

Sorry folks for lowering the average score with my 3 rating.
To be honest for me this is one of the weakest episodes. There is so much wrong with it on so many levels.
Still we all have our views and I respect those scoring higher.