This ought to be a great episode - John 'Sondergaard' Hollis paying Peter Arne's black magic practitioner to influence a scientist to hand over his propellant formula. But there's something unsatisfying about it. Perhaps it's the way that Cathy exposits the standard explanation about magic working psychologically on people who believe in it, but the story then basically goes on to have magic working like magic, on people who can't even know that it's being used on them.
There's some nice Cathy-Steed byplay when she finds him using palmistry to chat up the barmaid halfway through. He likes a drink, Steed, doesn't he? He's ordered a good few large brandies since I started this 'thon.
I like the superimposed sparkly charm effect when the magic's happening. It makes me think about the wide variety of stories that can, apparently, be told within the Avengers format - it's a long way from here to The Big Thinker. That variety is certainly one of the things that's kept me watching so far.
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