MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE: FLIP SIDE (TV)
Summary
One in this series of adventure dramas about the exploits of the Impossible Missions Force.
Jim receives his mission: to expose and take down a drug smuggling ring run by three men: Mel Bracken, a west-coast dealer who fronts as a music producer, Diego Maximillian, a businessman who operates the drug smuggling out of Mexico, and C. W. Cameron, a Midwestern businessman who supplies the drugs. The IMFs meet to plan their mission. Barney has prepared a fake pill with a tracking device inside. He sneaks into a truck carrying a shipment of drugs out of Mexico and places the fake pill in the shipment.
Meanwhile, Maximillian is at his usual restaurant when he sees Dana and Paris performing on stage. Dana is posing as “Cindy Dawson,” daughter of an actress who Maximillian had a love affair with years ago; Paris poses as her boyfriend. Dana manages to convince Maximillian that she is Cindy. Barney uses the tracking device he placed in the truck to track its movements and follows it. Over dinner, Maximillian introduces Dana and Paris to Cameron and his wife Bunny. Maximillian receives a call from Bracken about a new business deal in Denver, represented by “Mr. Simpson,” who is actually Jim.
Jim notices a hidden tape recorder capturing his conversation with Bracken and fends off his hired goon. Bracken allows him to take the tape. He gets Bracken to promise to deliver his shipment to him. Dana manages to get Cameron alone and makes it appear that she is attracted to him. Meanwhile, Paris gets Maximillian to secure a meeting between Dana and Bracken under the pretense of wanting to break into the music business. Cameron and Maximillian are both going to Los Angeles; Dana tells Cameron where she’ll be staying and her phone number. Bunny interrupts just as they are about to kiss and Cameron exits with her. While Maximillian writes Cameron a check for his shipment, he expresses concern about maintaining his public image.
Barney sees the truck unload its shipment at a Maximillian Enterprises facility. Dana and Paris meet with Bracken, who promises her an audition. Barney continues to follow the truck until the driver stops to get a bite to eat. He picks the lock on the truck and reports to Jim that the pills are being kept in boxes labeled as containing cans of peanuts. The truck driver notices Barney and pulls a gun on him. He breaks Barney’s radio, but Barney manages to knock him unconscious and steal the truck.
Cameron decides to call Dana while Bunny is out of town and they arrange to have dinner together. Barney stops the truck to replace the boxes inside. Dana is taken back to Cameron’s hotel room. She appears to ingest some pills and her behavior becomes more erratic and panicked. Paris arrives just as she appears to die from an overdose. Cameron, fearful that this incident will destroy his public image, bribes Paris to dispose of her body.
Barney, posing as the truck driver, delivers the shipment to Bracken as Jim arrives to collect it. Upon opening the boxes, it is revealed that Barney switched the drugs with actual cans of peanuts. For this, Jim “captures” Barney. Paris is brought before Bracken, where he relates the incident of Dana’s “death” at Cameron’s hotel room. Cameron meets with Bracken, who tells him to rush a second shipment of drugs via air mail. Jim inspects the second shipment while Barney, hidden, takes pictures.
Cameron refuses his share of the payment, feeling guilty. Barney is noticed and a firefight breaks out. Cameron and Bracken are apprehended and Bracken realizes he had been set up the entire time. As the police take Cameron away, he sees Dana nearby, realizing that she isn’t Cindy. She tells him that the real Cindy died a year ago from a drug overdose. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: September 26, 1970 7:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:12495
- GENRE: Drama, spy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, spy
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series - 1966-1973
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Bruce Geller … Executive Producer, Created by
- Bruce Lansbury … Producer
- Barry Crane … Associate Producer
- John Llewellyn Moxey … Director
- Jackson Willis … Writer
- Benny Golson … Music by
- Peter Graves … Cast, Jim Phelps
- Leonard Nimoy … Cast, Paris
- Lesley Warren (See also: Lesley Ann Warren) … Cast, Dana Lambert
- Greg Morris … Cast, Barney Collier
- Peter Lupus … Cast, Willy Armitage
- Sal Mineo … Cast, Mel Bracken
- Dana Elcar … Cast, C. W. Cameron
- Robert Alda … Cast, Diego Maximillian
- Jose de Vega … Cast, Freddy
- Kasey Rogers … Cast, Bunny
- Joy Bang … Cast, Girl
- Ford Lile … Cast, Pusher
- John Rivera … Cast, Tito