The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - Season 2 Episode 26: The Project Deephole Affair (1966) August 26, 2016 08:00

Title screen for the episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. called Project Deephole Affair

Barbara Bouchet's third television appearance following her first co-starring film role in Agent For H.A.R.M. happened to be in the hit spy show The Man From U.N.C.L.E.. Considering the similarities in titles, it's probably not a stretch to assume where Agent For H.A.R.M. got it's inspiration from.  Obviously there was no hard feelings from U.N.C.L.E. they knew talent when they saw it and quickly snatched up Bouchet for a co-starring guest appearance amid H.A.R.M.'s failed attempt to be made into a regular series. 

Barbara Bouchet teasing her hair while on the phone in Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode.

Barbara Bouchet plays the lovely Thrush operative, Narcissus Darling.  She attempts to kidnap a well respected scientist, Dr. Remington, in hopes of gaining information from him that could assist Thrush in demolishing California.  A task they plan to accomplish by drilling into the San Andreas fault with a massive drill and causing a statewide earthquake.  

Barbara Bouchet takes aim in episode of Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Unbeknownst to her she mistakenly targets chronic gambler Buzz Conway, sneaking out of the fire escape of his apartment in an attempt to evade his landlord.  The real target, the doctor, is in the neighboring apartment being protected in by Solo and Kuryakin.  Darling's attempt to kidnap Conway is thwarted by Solo, yet U.N.C.L.E. decides to use Conway as a lure to find out what Thrush is up to, since they are now under the assumption he's the doctor.

Barbara Bouchet teases Napoleon Solo in an episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series has been on my need-to-watch list for sometime, I even own the entire series box set, still shrink-wrapped on my shelf. The Project Deephole Affair was a nice introduction to the series, even the episode title gave me a nice chuckle!  I wonder if they were aware of the seemingly double entendre there... different times I guess!

Barbara Bouchet flirts with Solo in an episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

The episode is quite entertaining and very campy (surprisingly more so than Agent for H.A.R.M.), yet most of the main characters were so deadpan serious that it actually balanced everything out quite well.  The plot of drilling into the fault line to demolish California was a little lame, but I guess I can't expect too much from a 1966 spy series.  

Barbara Bouchet as Narcissus Darling in an episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

The role of Narcissus Darling was the typical beautiful nemesis for Barbara Bouchet, which up to this point in her career has been her main typecast, which she always plays well, and that was no different here.  Overall nothing special, but for a single television episode guest appearance it's definitely worth checking out for a small dose of Bouchet.

7/10


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