LOVE AFFAIR truly lovely from an entertainment perspective...
Been meaning to write this little review for awhile, but a computer on its last legs along with being really busy family-wise kept me from getting it posted.
Now, armed with a beautiful new computer with which to browse the internet and a whole bunch of family birthdays by the board for another year, I thought I would just make a somewhat belated post.
I rewatched this episode a few weeks ago and I have to say Brother Love was one of the most effective villains in any MFU episode. Solid Ice in the veins and facile warmth at the skin. A manipulator extraordinaire.
This episode is one I always enjoy as Napoleon is really shown as a competent agent throughout. And the scene where he has the scientist use one of his door-opening explosive charges to free his wrists from their wrapping in wire always makes me subconsciously cringe. Man, talk about being able to endure pain.
The innocent in this one isn't annoying and the plot works. But it is the Machievellian Brother Love who shines throughout. He can charm society matrons one minute, self-righteously declare himself saner than the rest of humanity while peppering his argument with quotes from great literature the next, and coolly arrange the "execution" of three people (via a bomb while they are helplessly bound in a locked room) the third. And Eddie Albert played it all to precise pitch.
And Napoleon proves the man's perfect foil: someone equally able to charm and manipulate, as well as turn his mind to just as Machievellian a design when required, yet operating from a very different (and opposing) set of values. Wonderful juxtaposition between the hero and the villain in this one to be sure. Thoroughly, thoroughly entertaining to watch.