Upbeat

If Montgomery Pittman directed and wrote this adventure, you know it's good. In fact, this may have been the very last episode he wrote, passing due to cancer in the summer of 1962. His wife, Maurita, also a writer, contributed to the story.

Pittman's death followed the sudden passing of fellow writer Fred Brady, about six months earlier, which was another blow to the WB dream team.

This is actually a continuation of a previous episode in which Stu put away master spy John Van Dreelan (as Van Horn), who he had known since his undercover days in WWII. Van Horn is now working for the Russian government and plots his revenge, having JR kidnapped so Stu will rescue him and be captured himself.

Dorothy Provine returns to the series as the proverbial mystery woman (Nora) caught up in the case as is Norman Alden, looking quite sinister, playing a goon named Rene. The eventual meeting with Stu and Van Horn is very dramatic, and with some excellent dialogue between the two, again thanks to Pittman's creative writing.

Warner Brothers regular Andrew Duggan turns up as Cal. Van Dreelan, appearing a record seven times on the series, is the whole show. He was expert in multiple foreign languages. The closing plane scene is exceptionally directed, and something different for the series, which usually relied on the WB backlot.

Recommended for devout 77 SS fans. Best of SEASON 4 remastered WB dvd box set. Thanks much to METV Plus for running this super series Sunday nights.