The Man From UNCLE Episodes 30 & 31: "Alexander the Greater Affair"

- July 31, 2019

The Man From UNCLE

Episodes 30 and 31

The Alexander the Greater Affair

Writer: Dean Hargrove

Director: Joseph Sargent

Guests: Rip Torn (Alexander the Greater), Dorothy Provine (Tracey), David Sheier (Parviz), David Opatoshu (Dr Kavon)

Filmed: 15 July - 05 August 1965

Premieres: 17-24 September 1965

Places: Fort Winning NJ, Washington DC (USA), Athens and Minos Island (Greece)

The Affair

The US Army Biological Warfare Division (in Fort Winning, NJ) runs a demonstration of BG30, a gas that neutralizes the will to fight. One of the observers, Alexander the Greater, steals the gas and escapes with guard Parviz. At UNCLE HQ, Waverly talks to Illya and Napoleon about industrial magnate Alexander (nicknamed Alexander the Greater) having stolen the BG30 gas. Napoleon Solo's mission is to recover the gas. Solo finds Tracey, Alexander's ex-wife. At the University of Athens (Greece), Illya interviews doctor Kavon about a mysterious plate with the number 8. Alexander challenges Solo to an outdoors chess game with human pieces. Solo wins. Tracey and Napoleon find a mine where Alexander's parents work as slaves. Dr. Kavon reveals that the stone with "8" on it came from the Piros tomb on the island of Minos. Alexander says he wants world domination and to break all of the 10 commandments, one by one. Through Canal D, Kuryakin advises Waverly to attack the farm. Alexander tries to run away on his private plane. Napoleon invades the plane, fights, and jumps off with a parachute before the explosion. Waverly says that Alexander's empire has been dismantled.

FYI - The second season of The Man From UNCLE begins with a punch, several innovations - and color. “The Alexander the Greater Affair” is a “classic” UNCLE. Chapters 30 and 31 became the movie One Spy Too Many. Alexander, who mixes Greek mythology with the Old Testament and a giant Ego is the first really great villain of the series. Played by Rip Torn (later to become a kind of “cult” actor in movies like Men in Black), Alexander is so greedy that even being a billionaire he refuses to pay ex-wives' divorce, and he's evil to the point of enslaving his own parents in a mine in Greece. The Alexander the Greater Affair's greatest moments include the open air chess game between Napoleon Solo and Alexander, using people as pieces on a giant board. And also the scene where Napoleon Solo is placed under an ax pendulum while Illya and Tracey are tied over a bottomless pit, with a candle slowly burning the rope. As Solo and Kuryakin face death, UNCLE's accountant complains about the agents' expenses.

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