The Only Way to Die riffs on the idea of Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) being publicly dead, and using that as cover to get his mission done. But everyone is going to have to believe he’s dead including 99 (Barbara Feldon), the Chief (Edward Platt) and Fang.

Written by Arne Sultan, this episode first aired on 8 October, 1966.

While the members of CONTROL mourn the loss, we discover that the Chief is in on it. He and Smart have come up with a plan to stop a KAOS evil-doer. But can Max deal with the fact that no one but the Chief, Fang and 99 showed up for his funeral?

The enemy plan, orchestrated by someone referred to as The Blaster, seems familiar; they are planning to take down a monument. In this case the Internal Revenue building. Blowing it up would financially cripple the United States so CONTROL is pulling out all the stops to put an end to the plan.

99 is so upset by Max’s death she admits that she loves him, and is unable to keep things together while she goes after KAOS agent, Carioca (Edmund Hashim), who is The Blaster.

Thankfully, Max arrives in time to help 99 and stop The Blaster, something he does in drag, as a widow.

It’s a fun, goofy episode, and now that 99 has admitted she loves Max, though not in front of him, will their relationship proceed at all?

Maxwell Smart, Alias Jimmy Ballantine sees the CONTROL agent going undercover as a safe-cracker to stop a KAOS heist. But he’s so inept that the Chief has to order that all vaults be left unlocked so it looks like he’s pulling it off.

Written by Arnie Rosen, this episode was first broadcast on 15 October, 1966.

Adams has a sequence where his face is wrapped up in bandages. It not only works for the show, it was necessary because Adams had dental surgery that caused some swelling. Unfortunately, it also sounds like he had to rerecord his dialogue after the episode was shot.

The real Ballantine (Tim Herbert) is in prison and about to be released. He is giving Smart a crash course in safe cracking, which does not go well at all. So that’s when the Chief puts his plan into action to make sure it looks like Smart knows what he’s doing.

Oh and hey! There’s Vic Tayback as one of the baddies!

Things play out alright in the end. CONTROL had a plan in play to make sure that even if the robbery is successful, nothing will truly go wrong.

It’s funny, but I like the previous epiode a little more, though there is some pointed remarks about crime, financing, politics and police work – that’s pretty bold for the 60s.

Casablanca debuted on 22 October, 1966. It was written by Joseph C. Cavella and Carol Cavella.

Max is told to take a vacation by the Chief, while 99 goes undercover as a lounge singer in Casablanca to hunt down a KAOS assassin known asthe Choker (Morton Jacobs). Against orders (going rogue!) Smart has also gone undercover in Casablanca to track down the Choker.

Setting it Casablanca, you know they are going to have to riff on the classic film, including the name of the lounge 99 is undercover in. It’s called the Bent Parrot, a nod to the Blue Parrot in the iconic movie.

Smart is initially sent to Quebec by the Chief to get him out of town and on vacation, but you know that of all the gin joints in the all the towns in all the world, he’ll be walking into 99s. Can the pair, working together capture the Choker? Or will they confuse one another for the killer?

There are impressions of Bogart, hard drinking, piano playing, and goofy spycraft, with Feldon doing her own singing (which feels a little hit and miss to me). This one is just charming.