4-07. Charlie Says It's Goodbye.

Callan falls for a widow (Beth Harris)
who has reason to dislike his work.

Air Date: Apr. 12, 1972. Written by: James Mitchell. Directed by: Peter Duguid. Produced by: Reginald Collin.


THE PLOT:

Callan is back in his old position, and he's ready to work. Fortunately, Hunter has an assignment ready. A fairly simple one, as Callan's jobs go. Economist James Palliser (Dennis Price) has found his way into a Red File for three reasons: he has a little too much knowledge about the English economy, he has a well-known weakness for young men, and he has a lover who has recently defected to Soviet-controlled Poland - leaving him a clear risk for defection.

Despite his Red File, Palliser has "friends in high places," and Hunter makes it clear that he is not to be harmed. Callan's task is to spot any Opposition officials trying to lure him across the Iron Curtain and to stop any defection from happening. He accomplishes the first part easily, identifying Komorowski (John G. Heller) as the "handler" assigned to Palliser and tough guy Trent (Richard Morant) as Palliser's protector and potential assassin. He sets Lonely to watch Palliser while he deliberately rattles all three of his targets with the most straightforward approach imaginable: by introducing himself as a Security agent.

Everything goes smoothly, until Callan hits the one complication: Susan Morris (Beth Harris), a friend of Palliser's - and a widow with good reason to dislike Security men. She and Callan find themselves mutually attracted, and Hunter soon worries that his top man may not have his mind on his work...

Callan introduces himself to Palliser (Dennis Price)

CHARACTERS:

Callan: Though Edward Woodward is always good, the "B" plot saddles him with an unconvincing romance. He and Beth Harris are both fine as far as it goes... But it's all too rushed, with Callan declaring his love for her after all of a conversation and a half. The spy plot serves the character much better, from Callan's eagerness to get back to work to his laconic reply to a rival's threat to kill him: "We can all dream, son." Overall, however, this is a rare Callan episode in which Callan himself is the worst-characterized of the regulars - a surprise, given that this is penned by the character's creator, James Mitchell.

Hunter: Hunter is gracious enough about Callan's brief stint in the big chair, telling him that there's no real mess to clean up: "You didn't do that badly, David." It should be remembered, however, that Hunter was happy enough to leave the job just a few months ago. He isn't one to show his emotions, but I doubt he's delighted to have returned, which may explain why he's particularly harsh once he learns of Callan's affair. This is hardly the first time Callan's had a girlfriend, and Callan isn't wrong when he says that it's not interfering with the assignment.  He doesn't neglect his mission preparation, and he doesn't bungle the assignment. Still, Hunter presses him about her, warning that if Callan attempts to leave The Section for her, there will be "reprisals."

Lonely: At the party where Callan first meets Palliser and Komorowski, Lonely is enlisted to look around for "heavies." He spots Trent immediately. Callan acts skeptical with Lonely, but backs his friend's identification completely to Hunter, defending the thief's ability to sense such people as unerring. When Callan falls for Susan, Lonely can see that his feelings are serious and behaves a hint softer than normal - a bit less whining and plaintive. He also takes care to compliment Susan multiple times. Even so, when a preoccupied Callan absently apologizes for putting Lonely in danger, he gives a startled look that recalls his reaction when Callan more earnestly apologized to him in Where Else Could I Go?  As was true in that episode, it's clear that such apologies break the rules of their friendship and leave Lonely ill at ease.

Liz: After Hunter receives an anonymous tip about Callan's relationship, he asks Liz if the information is true. Liz evades the question, asking why Hunter expects her to know about Callan's personal life. When Hunter presses, she holds firm, refusing to answer: "I'm sorry, sir. I can't help you." She won't outright lie... but her personal loyalty to Callan is greater than her personal loyalty to Hunter, and she won't betray a man she regards as a friend. Hunter - a man expert in getting people to tell things they'd rather not, as we see later in the episode - drops this line of questioning immediately upon hearing her answer, only pursuing it again directly with Callan after he returns to the office.

Palliser: Guest performances are strong across the board, but Dennis Price is an unsurprising standout.  His Palliser is outwardly unflappable, calmly denying accusations of disloyalty. When The Section tries to throw his homosexuality at him, he just shrugs it off: "I quite often spend the night in flats of handsome boys. I'm becoming quite notorious for it." Still, he's not only in over his head with Komorowski; he knows it, expressing skepticism of his handler early in the episode before being lured by a recorded message from his lover. He remains outwardly calm, but we see him listen and re-listen to the message multiple times, which has the effect of making his attachment to a lover we never even see feel more real than the forced relationship between Callan and Susan.

Lonely notices Callan's changed demeanor.

THOUGHTS:

Single-episode romances rarely work, a problem that plagued almost all archive television dramas. Callan managed to actually succeed at making one of these convincing... back in Series Three's Suddenly - At Home. There, the relationship between Callan and Lady Lewis worked. We witnessed the attraction between the two characters through their interactions as much as their words, and that was supported by the way they acted once alone: Lady Lewis reading up on miniature soldiers to be able to talk about one of his interests, Callan enlisting Lonely to try to protect her. The episode wasn't among my favorites, but I had no complaints about the romance.

Unfortunately, the romance in Charlie Says It's Goodbye doesn't work, not even a little bit. The relationship between Callan and Susan is created and developed purely through declaratives. "I think I'm in love with you," Callan gasps with very little having led up to that point. A few scenes later, Susan earnestly states that she wants to marry him. Meanwhile, we see no real behavior to make us believe either of them... rendering what's meant to be the heart of the episode into trite, artificial mush.

This would probably sink the story, except for one thing: The romance doesn't actually take up very much of the running time. Callan and Susan share three major scenes, with only a couple smaller moments in between. I suspect this doesn't much help the subplot... but it saves the episode, because the defection plot with Palliser works very, very well.

This "A" plot is well-paced and well-structured. The opening scenes, first with Callan and Hunter and then with Palliser and Komorowski, establish both the stakes and the timeline. Callan deliberately rattles Palliser, leading to the next actions, which in turn lead directly to the climax. There's even a nicely executed twist in the final Act, one which surprises but also fits perfectly with the events leading up to it.

Not for the first time, I find myself impressed by how openly this more than 50-year-old series dealt with the topic of homosexuality. Nothing is "coded" here - Palliser is revealed as gay in the opening scenes, and it's clear that this is well-known. He plays sufficiently by the "rules," keeping one toe in the closet even though he's not even pretending to fool anyone, that his "friends in high places" are satisfied. The script also has clear sympathy for his emotional attachment, with Hunter even showing a rare hint of compassion toward him.

If the Callan/Susan material wasn't so overbaked, then this would be a first-rate episode. Even as it stands, I don't think the romance destroys the show. The actual spy plot, which gets most of the screen time, is well-done. The characterization of Callan may be unusually uneven, but the remaining regulars receive fine material, particularly Liz and Hunter.

I find myself still ranking this as a good episode overall.  Still, if the central romance had been done just a little more convincingly, with a slightly lighter touch and with more behavior and fewer declarations, then this might have been a great one.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

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