Episode Review: "The Medarra Block"

The next episode up for review is “The Medarra Block” I watched it a couple of evenings ago and am now prepared to write down some random thoughts about it. If I accomplish nothing else, I hope at least to learn to spell ‘medarra’ without looking.

“The Medarra Block” opens with Marrakesh scenery rushing past. Then we’re crawling through crowded streets. Finally we encounter some sort of street rally. A charismatic figure is working his disciples into a state of frenzy. I wondered if this was an actual unstaged spontaneous gathering on the streets of Marrakesh, until I recognized the speaker as Arthur Batanides (born in Tacoma, Washington). Somehow, no matter how much menace and attitude Arthur Batanides projects, I can’t take him seriously. Right off I got the feeling that he was going to be the head buffoon of all the other bad guy buffoons.

There’s a close-up of Kelly and Scotty in disguise, pretending to be worked up right along with all the other acolytes—managing to be very funny and cool while doing it. Scotty soon realizes that their cover is blown (“he’s counting noses and looking for noses he doesn’t knows”). One of the funny themes of this episode is that EVERYONE seems to understand that they are spies. The chase is on, I think all the way from Marrakesh to Hollywood where they find sanctuary in a synagogue and encounter Isaac Mendoza (Jack Kruschen).

For me, Jack Kruschen is one of the best things about the episode. Mendoza is a very endearing character and very different from Jack Kruschen’s other appearance, as Aram the fishing fleet owner, and generally rotten guy in “Lisa”. I do think “Lisa” is a much better episode than “The Medarra Block”.

Taking a really wild guess, I’ve probably seen “The Medarra Block” a dozen times over forty years. I don’t think I’ve ever completely understood what’s going on, or if I ever did, I’ve forgotten. I vowed this time to really try and follow the plot but, somewhere along the way, I lost the thread. It turns out I was sort of decoyed. The key scene in the episode, as far as understanding the significance of the Medarra Block, is the one with Karim. My problem was that I was distracted by the fact that the actor playing Karim looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him. I also found his bizarre facial hair hypnotizing. The credits at the end identified Norman Fell as Karim. Norman Fell! No way! So I went back and watched the Karim scene again, and convinced myself it was Norman Fell, though it wasn’t easy. I also realized that what he was saying in his un-Norman Fell sounding accent was important. So I listened carefully and it does sort of explain everything. Sort of. Anyway, my advice is to listen carefully to Karim.

Before leaving the subject of Karim, I was amused by the amount of money he wanted from the U.S. government in exchange for “the key” to preventing war in the region. As he was about to state his price I held my breath expectantly. Would it be $100,000 or $200,000 or even a million dollars? He asked for $20,000 which even by mid-sixties standards didn’t sound like a lot to me. Kelly almost falls out of his chair at the size of the figure, but maybe that’s a bargaining ploy he was taught in spy school.

“The Medarra Block” was directed by Earl Bellamy. The criticism in the Cushman/LaRosa book of Earl Bellamy’s “get it done fast” approach really solidified my previously vague sense that his episodes have a tendency to look sloppy. There are a couple of awkward moments in “The Medarra Block”. Notably, when the scene shifts to Scotty and Kelly in their Marrakesh hotel room, there is a close up of Scotty speaking softly and meditatively about how they’re screwing up their assignment. Then there is a cut to a wider angle shot from the side and he is continuing to speak about their problems, but now in a very loud voice because Kelly is in the next room. It’s a very jarring transition and it makes no sense that he would be speaking the first part of his monologue in a very soft tone. Clearly something got screwed up here and I guess we can blame Bellamy. My guess is that the close-up was filmed later because they realized that bit of exposition was missing, or needed. I looked carefully and while Scotty seems to be wearing the same clothes, his wristwatch is different between the two shots.

Anyway, that discontinuous transition is interesting, but not really a big deal. The hotel scene is a typical good one with great banter between the two. Occasionally they seem to be using words not found in any dictionary. Then there is a knock on the door and things get even better. Russ Conway (Ken Tobey) comes blustering in, and the minute which follows is the best part of the episode. He has a way of making them seem like little boys though Scotty does get his dig in, calling him “Mr. Ivy League”. After hearing the Marc Cushman/Jordan Rich interview, I can’t see Ken Tobey without the phrase “rocket red hair” coming to mind. Unfortunately Russ Conway finishes his business much too quickly.

I’m not going to say anything about the mystery of the Medarra Block, in part because it is already fading from my consciousness, and in part because there may be people reading this who have never seen the episode or haven’t seen it in a long time. (Becca, if you’re prioritizing episodes to watch, my advice is to put this one down a bit on your list.) I’m unclear on how the action ends up shifting to that monastery, but at least it results in a locked room scene with much delightful banter. While I always find fisticuffs in TV shows problematic, the fights in this episode seem particularly lame, sort of on the level of the Batman TV show that was still running when “The Medarra Block” aired. Maybe that’s what they were shooting for as this episode is certainly not to be taken completely seriously. My guess is that convincing fights take a lot of careful choreography, rehearsal, and time, and that wasn’t going to happen under Earl Bellamy’s watch. I feel a little ashamed to be dumping on Earl Bellamy. I’ve mentioned previously that listening to him direct on some of the location audio tapes, he comes across as very pleasant, patient and easy to work with. If he also got the actors home early, I can understand why he was popular.

And that’s about all I have on “The Medarra Block”. To me it’s sort of a lower mid-level episode, though with enough good stuff to recommend it. It is notable for its absence of female characters. The final scene features Mendoza’s daughter (that’s supposed to be his daughter, right?) who doesn’t speak English (though there is a tiny hint that it’s a ruse). Kelly offers to teach her English three nights a week (he’s such a Good Samaritan) but Mendoza tells him to go back home and get a college degree first. Smart man! And there is the belly dancer in the Karim scene who is very impressive and gets a nice thing going with those finger cymbals. I wouldn’t have minded a bit more of her.

Jimmy