Mission Impossible (1966): How does it end?

Warning, spoilers. The following article outlines the main plot of “Mission Impossible” and its ending.

On September 17, 1966, the legend of Mission Impossible was born on CBS. Built to last, it graces the screen for seven seasons. The famous espionage series, which has been awarded no less than ten Emmys, is the one that spawned a film franchise since 1996, We Don’t Show Again, starring a certain Tom Cruise.

Created and originally produced by Bruce Geller, the show chronicles the exploits of a small team of secret government agents known as the “Impossible Missions Force” (or IMF) who use sophisticated methods to deceive, manipulate and disrupt hostile Iron Curtain governments, the third. World dictators, industrialists and criminals.

Dan Briggs (played by Stephen Hill) leads the team in the first season, and then Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) takes over for the remaining 6 seasons.

However, on March 30, 1973, the series aired the 22nd episode of Season 7, “La Couronne de Marnsburg” (or “The Imitation” VO) – which we summarize below. But in 1988, we pick up the same thing and start over: Mission Impossible, 20 years later, debuted on ABC for just two short seasons before saying goodbye to the screen for the last time.

Mission: Crown of Marnsburg

The iconic title tune, composed by Lalo Shifrin, plays and the episode can begin.

While transported to the United Nations, the crown jewels of the Marnsburg nation are stolen by the henchmen of glamorous criminal Jenna Cole (Barbara McNair). The latter plans to sell the jewels for $3 million: James’ (Peter Graves) mission, if he accepts, is to return them. However, the team is unable to enlist the help of the consulate, which has been stripped of valuable jewelry due to the hostility to the United States and the corruption of Danson (Lou Brown), the building’s security chief who works with Jenna Cole.

Therefore, the IMF develops a very sophisticated plan: Barney (Greg Morris) will have to win Jena’s trust as Charlie Kenyon, her dead brother’s former cellmate. Meanwhile, the rest of the team will do their best to convince Jenna that the jewels she stole were actually fakes through imitations, which they will attempt to exchange for real jewels.

Mission: Supercheck

At Jena’s Kit Kat Club, Barney introduces himself in his new identity and meets a key stakeholder from whom he seeks a loan. After asking him questions to make sure he knows his brother well, he agrees and opens the safe to retrieve the money, unaware that Barney is hiding a device that allows him to record the combination. Later, he breaks into Jenna’s office to open the safe and steal $12,000 from her. Meanwhile, the criminal meets his buyer, Stevens (Charles McGraw), who wants to see the stolen jewelry: he won’t show it until he sees the rest of his money. Back in his office, he sees the theft and asks his right-hand man, Boomer (Pernell Roberts), to look for fingerprints. He soon learns that they belong to Kenyon/Barney. He commands us to find him.

Meanwhile, Will (Peter Lupus) and Duval (Ray Ballard) knock out Jenna’s jewelry authentication expert, Gerald Carter. Duvall dons a mask like him and literally takes his place. At the Regal Hotel, Jenna’s landlords, Boomer and Eddie (Talmus Rasulala), search Kenyon/Barney’s room and discover the plans for the consulate safe and all the paraphernalia and tools needed for the heist. As they leave, they also run into Jim, who asks where Kenyon’s room is in the living room. Eddie then follows Jim as he leaves and Boomer bribes him to let him know when Cannon will be back.

Parked in front of the consulate in their rigged van, Barney and Willy send a coded message into the building.

Mission: Double Flight

At the club, Boomer shows Jenna what they found in Kenyon’s hotel room: everything points to him planning to steal the jewels. Then they both think that he doesn’t know that they have already stolen this coveted treasure. They notice the “Electro Stat” label and think that’s where Kenyon/Barney gets their high-tech gadgets. Boomer gets there and finds a dead man: well, he thinks so, because as soon as he leaves, the man gets up and calls Barney to say that the plan has worked.

Eddie finds Jim and threatens him at gunpoint: he must follow her to meet Jenna. When she meets him, he pretends that a certain Kenyon owes $200,000 and reveals that he will kill him if he doesn’t get the money soon. They have a deal, but he refuses to tell Jenna more, who lets him go—so that he is followed by Eddie, who later discovers his false identity: Marchand, a jewelry broker from South Africa.

The message at the consulate was deciphered: the real crown jewels would arrive the same day, the fake jewels had been delivered earlier to prevent possible theft. A corrupt Danson shares the news with Jenna, who decides to take the stolen crown jewels and have them analyzed by her appointed expert, Gerald Carter – who is actually Duval in disguise. The latter replaces the real jewel with a fake one and breaks it in front of Jenna and Boomer, proving to them that it is only an imitation. The latter is furious and has no other choice: she must form an alliance with Kenyon/Barney – with whom she also begins an affair – in order to get her hands on the “real” jewel that her menacing buyer has been waiting for.

Impersonated by Allan Gerrard, a supposed member of the Marnsburg Ministry of Security, Will moves the fake jewelry to the consulate for safekeeping, leaving behind something to help Barney later.

In the evening, the latter implements his plan and sneaks into the building. Thanks to his tools, he manages to “steal” the fake jewels, which he excitedly brings back to Jena. However, he has to double down because their plans for the jewels don’t match: Jenna must give them to Stevens in exchange for the promised money, and Kenyon/Barney must give them to his creditor or be killed. She then exchanges the jewels and, unbeknownst to him, gives the real jewels to Barney, then watches him go sadly, believing that he is sending her to die next.

When he meets with Stevens to finalize the deal, the latter has the jewels verified and apparently discovers that they are fake. Jena is shocked and tries to defend herself. The IMF, having now discovered the real gems, calls the police, who come to arrest Jenna and Stevens, along with all their beasts. Barney watches as she is taken away: though he then realizes that she has lied and that their budding romance is over, she smiles warmly at him, relieved that he is not dead. Close-up of a pensive Barney. The End of Mission Impossible (1966).

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, 20 years later

When the series returned in 1988, the IMF returned to work. In the final episode of this second installment of the series, titled “The Sands of Seth” (2×16), several high-ranking progressive government officials in Egypt are assassinated. Horus Selim (Tim Elliott), head of the Antiquities Department at the Cairo Museum, is then believed to be involved in the murders. Selim strongly believes that Egypt must do everything possible to return to its glorious and powerful past when it was ruled by the pharaohs.

Therefore, Jim Phelps (still played by Peter Graves) and his team are sent to Egypt on a mission to determine if Selim had anything to do with these murders and put an end to these crimes that threaten to destabilize the fragile peace process in Georgia. Middle East, East.

In the end, it is revealed that Celie revived the death cult of the god Seth through sacrificial ceremonies. His sidekick, Carnac (Gerard Kennedy), poses as a mummy to kill anyone who speaks. Jimmy, Shannon (Jane Badler) and Max (Anthony Hamilton) then claim to be part of an archaeological dig team that found important relics of the original cult of Seth, while Nicholas (Tao Penglis) and Grant (Phil Morris, son of Greg). Morris) try to break the trust between the leader and his supporters.

When the team is in danger, they end up deceiving their enemies – this includes posing as mummies and using projected holographic images to make them believe in mystical powers. It all ends with the triumph of the IMF and the destruction of the hidden temple used by the cult. Peter Graves then delivers his final words as Jim Phelps: “Today’s evil has joined the old evil. Both were lost in the sands of time.“The End of Mission Impossible” (1988).