Posing as "Lil Thaxton," Diana Prince is the "Light-fingered Lady" spearheading an Inter-Agency Defense Command sting operation against Anton Caribe (Greg Morris), a criminal mastermind orchestrating his own sting against his rival Sutton (Titos Vandis) in this tense tale that plays like a late-period "Mission: Impossible" caper, when the Impossible Missions Force targeted primarily organized crime (usually embodied as "the Syndicate").
And why not? Supervising producer Bruce Lansbury was a "Mission: Impossible" alumnus, as was Morris, who famously played the team's technical wizard Barney Collier; in addition, guest stars on the iconic spy series included Vandis and Christopher Stone, who plays Ryan, one of Caribe's crew who introduces Diana, as ex-con and noted thief Lil--hence the "Light-fingered Lady"--to Caribe. High-tech manipulation also figures into Caribe's heist, although it is Lil who is brought in to neutralize Sutton's elaborate alarm system in Bruce Shelly's tight script; Shelly had also penned the caper for the tepid "The Queen and the Thief" earlier in season two, although he engineers a more involving story this time around.
Also part of Caribe's crew is Leech (Joseph R. Sicari), Caribe's zealous security man with lingering suspicions about Diana. Hoping to expose her as an impostor, he confronts Lil with "Marge" (Judyann Elder), Lil's former cellmate, hoping to expose Lil as a fraud. Although Marge is actually an IADC operative disguised as the real Marge--another "Mission: Impossible" specialty--Lynda Carter plays it as if she didn't expect her to appear, heightening the dramatic moment. However, Lil passes the test and join Caribe's crew, further augmented by fixit-man Grease (Gary Crosby) and muscle Rojak (Bubba Smith), for the assault on Sutton's compound to boost $50 million in what Caribe expects to be his final job. Smith, a former NFL All-Pro defensive lineman, also provides comic relief based on his former profession: When Diana, as Lil, asks him, "Weren't you up for manslaughter for what you did to that quarterback?" Rojak replies, "Naw, he lived."
Naturally, Wonder Woman is invaluable to Lil's success, first in securing the specs on Sutton's sophisticated alarm system, then, secretly, during the heist, where she demonstrates her ability to communicate with a pair of German shepherd guard dogs in the only paranormal aspect (apart from Wonder Woman's very existence, of course) to what is an effective crime drama marred only by the underuse of Morris, who has little to do besides move his chess pieces from his secluded lair as it is his henchman--and one henchwoman--doing all the action.
By now, Carter seems to be honing her acting chops by the episode; here, she is developing nuance as her Wonder Woman, while locking Leech in a closet, flashes some hilarious eye-rolling; then, in the next moment as Lil, steamrolls him while letting him out. As Lyle Waggoner's Steve Trevor recedes ever further from the spotlight, "Wonder Woman" becomes Carter's showcase, and stories such as "Light-fingered Lady," in which she steals her scenes like a pro, only burnish that status.
