The Equalizer (1988) – Day of the Covenant, and Splinters

McCall (Edward Woodward) and Mickey (Keith Szarabajka) find themselves caught up in a human rights struggle when Scott’s (William Zabka) new girlfriend, Zandili (Kasi Lemmons) may be a political terrorist from South Africa being hunted in New York by mercenaries and South African law enforcement. Day of the Covenant was written by Robert Eisele and…

The Russia House (1990) – Fred Schepisi

Sean Connery, Michelle Pfeiffer, Roy Scheider, James Fox, John Mahoney, and J.T. Walsh star in the cinematic adaptation of John Le Carre’s novel, The Russia House. Written for the screen by Tom Stoppard, the film was the first, big Western film to be shot on location in the Soviet Union. Featuring a gorgeous score by…

The Equalizer (1985) – The Defector, and The Lock Box

Very quickly The Equalizer has shown that its willing to go dark and gritty, and while there are some dark moments in The Defector, The Lock Box is even darker. The Defector was written by Heywood Gould and first debuted on 2 October, 1985. An old friend, and former agent of the USSR, Felix (Joe…

Bridge of Spies (2015) – Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are always a winning combination as far as I’m concerned, and their work on Bridge of Spies just continues to confirm that for me. Using the true life story of the Abel-Powers incident, the pair take us behind the scenes of one of the major events of the Cold War….

The Expanse (2016) – Windmills, and Salvage

Chrisjen (Shohreh Aghdashloo) heads to the Holden farm in Montana to speak with Holden’s (Steven Strait) family in an attempt to better understand him and his actions, even as the UN prepares to remove him from the playing field. Windmills was written by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (collectively known as James S.A. Corey, the…

The Expanse (2016) – Back to the Butcher, and Rock Bottom

Dan Nowak pens Back to the Butcher. First airing on 5 January, 2016 the story this week moves back and forth in time a bit, taking us to an event that happened at Anderson Station when some of the workers (including the wonderful Billy MacLellan) staged a protest because the corporation that owned the station…

Mission: Impossible (1973) – The Question, and The Fountain

The IMF get back to spycraft this week with The Question. Written by Stephen Kandel it first aired on 19 January, 1973. When a foreign assassin, Nicholas Varsi (holy crap, it’s Gary Lockwood!) defects, the IMF is unsure if he’s legit or a mole, so they are tasked with kidnapping him from his safe house,…

Mission: Impossible (1972) – Committed, and Bag Woman

The IMF are taking on the criminal underworld (again) in Committed. Written by Arthur Weiss from a story by Laurence Heath this episode first aired on 22 January, 1972. It seems Nora Dawson (Susan Howard) is the only one brave enough to testify against crime boss Chandler (Bert Freed). Unfortunately for her, it seems Chandler…

Mission: Impossible (1970) – The Amateur, and Hunted

Hey look! Sam Elliott is back as Doug (yay!). And Anthony Zerbe returns as a guest star (yet again) in The Amateur. Written by Ed Adamson, this episode first aired on 14 November, 1970. Working undercover in an East European country, the IMF team have unexpected trouble when a bar owner, Eric Schilling (Zerbe) with…

Mission: Impossible (1970) – Flight, and My Friend, My Enemy

Hey look! Sam Elliott is in the title credits, Willy (Peter Lupus) is nowhere to be seen, and John Colicos is back as a guest star in Flight. Written by Harold Livingston from a story by Leigh Vance, this episode first premiered on 17 October, 1970. A coup is going to be attempted on a…