3-08. Breakout.

KGB operative Lubin (Garfield Morgan) is wary of his rescuers.

Air Date: June 10, 1970. Written by: James Mitchell. Directed by: Reginald Collin. Produced by: Reginald Collin.


THE PLOT:

Nikolai Lubin (Garfield Morgan) is a KGB operative who has managed to secure a list: The names of Intelligence controllers in the east - names that, if they reach Moscow, will be immediately marked for death. Hunter sends two Section agents to pick him up, but Lubin is a step ahead of him, turning himself into the police and getting himself sent to prison - outside the grasp of Hunter's interrogators.

Hunter has a plan. Lubin will expect the KGB to try to break him out - so The Section will break him out first. Callan is put in charge of the operation.  He quickly assembles a team, including Cross and the athletic agent Mellor (Billy Cornelius). It's an operation that will require precise timing, with any mistake having the potential to leave all three agents jailed as spies.

It's a mission in which Callan has a very personal stake. Hunter reveals to him that before he turned himself in, Lubin added one more name to his list: Callan himself!

Even in prison, Lonely finds himself doing "a job" for Callan.

CHARACTERS:

Callan: Throughout the season, much has been made of Callan's age. While training for the mission, he remarks on how he's the "oldest" of the three agents, and he has substantially more difficulty getting his climbing time down to the target length than Cross does. However, his experience makes him valuable. Something the Opposition clearly recognizes, with hs inclusion on Lubin's list signaling that he's now regarded as The Section's "top man."

Hunter: Is vocal in his frustration with his agents' failure to apprehend Lubin. He has come to rely on Callan's judgment, and openly tells Callan that he cannot trust this operation to the hot-headed Cross. By this point, he seems to regard Callan as his natural second. At the end of the episode, he actually solicits Callan's evaluation of Cross's performance - something he would never have done at the start of the season.

Cross: Though he continues to take digs at Callan's age, there's a considerably friendlier tone to those remarks. Unlike in earlier episodes, there's a hint of genuine respect when he observes that Callan never gives up and always has to "prove that (he's) the greatest." He's still not above being a smug prick, mind you, as when he laughs at Callan's distaste at visiting Interrogation - laughter that Hunter swiftly cuts short by threatening to make him visit that department to "curb (his) sense of humor."

Lonely: He finally comes to trial, where Callan's efforts lead to him receiving a light sentence. Something he has to have explained to him, as his official sentence is 25 six-month terms running concurrently. He's never quite clear about how 12 1/2 years equals six months, even when a friendly guard tries patiently to explain it to him. He is clear on his feelings for spies, however, and is less than pleased when (after some maneuvering by Hunter) Lubin ends up as his cellmate, effectively giving Callan an inside man to help with the jailbreak.  "I can't do jobs... Mr. Callan, this is a nick!"

Hunter, Callan, and Cross: Three generations of spies.

THOUGHTS:

Breakout was originally intended to be the Series Three finale, and it shows. The episode concludes various arcs that have run across the season. The most obvious is Lonely's "I'm on parole" arc, which conveniently leaves him sentenced just in time to assist with the Plot of the Week. In terms of the overall series, however, the more important arc is regarding Callan's evolving place in The Section.

All season long, we've seen Cross commenting on Callan's age, with the young man clearly seeing it as a liability. Initially, Hunter was wary of Callan, but he came to respect his judgment - particularly after Callan so carefully and tactfully handled a situation involving both Cross and Liz March.  In a way, Series Three acts as a transition of sorts: The first two Hunters valued Callan only for his proficiency at killing; but in this season, as a man who has survived into middle age in a job that regularly kills younger men, he has become a capable leader.

The standalone plot is overall a good one, taut and well-paced even as it follows the standard "prison break" formula. The third Act prison break is harmed by the visible low budget that has plagued the entire season, with the prison seemingly no more than one cell, one short hallway, and a stairwell; after all the build-up of the precision required for this operation, the realization ends up bordering on the laughable.  That aside, the story works well, moving along nicely while being sturdy enough to support the more interesting character work.

Just before the episode ends, it provides one striking image.  All the top people of The Section are together, overlooking a beach: Callan, Hunter, and Cross sitting on a porch, while Liz looks out at them through a window.  It's like a family photo.  A gathering of three generations of spies.  I can't think of a better closeout to the season.  A pity that reality intervened to result in one more episode airing after it.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

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