Entry tags:

episodes

Five Miles To Midnight: "Stay close behind."/"I may never leave."
[Posting for Dorinda]

"Five Miles To Midnight" is an adventure story, with our heroes continually escaping and fleeing through the scenic Italian countryside.



* In this episode, Brett is basically ambushed at the start by Danny and the judge, the reverse of "Angie...Angie". But if my memory serves, this is the last time that Brett and Danny begin an episode without either already being together, or knowing where the other one is and being in touch (as in "The Morning After").

* Of course, Danny reveals himself to Brett by barging right in to Brett's love life:

Danny stands there, looking expectantly at Brett, chin up, blinking his long eyelashes. Brett responds in typical double-barrelled Brett fashion: he can't help but respond to the fluttery-eyelash invitation by putting his hands on Danny; but he makes sure to undercut the vulnerable sincerity of it with a joke.




* The judge wheedles Brett into helping smuggle gangster "Frank Rocco" over the border (big spoiler: as we find out right before the end, it's not the real Rocco, but Manny Howard, who works for the American Embassy--in my opinion, very likely an intelligence agent).

* Brett and Danny slide right into the happy double act, needling back and forth, Danny patting Brett with one hand while taking his drink away and sipping it. They get to run off and have a full-fledged adventure together, and they're cheery and playful:




* And speaking of double-act, here we get a good look at their propensity for double-teaming the same woman, having fun showing off for each other--Danny gives Sid a dramatic kiss goodbye, and Brett whaps Danny sulkily with the map to get his turn. Sid is happy to trade off; she makes it clear that she's not a one-man woman. And who can blame her?

* Having had their vicarious kiss by taking turns with Sid, Danny and Brett are keyed up:




The funny thing about that exchange is that it happens before Sid insists she's coming along (and blackmails Danny into it). So her presence is not really the reason. Ahem.

* They nearly get nabbed at the first roadblock, but racecar-driver Brett plays bait, zooming off to draw the cops after him. Sid worries he might get caught, but Danny is reassuring: "Are you kidding? The Scarlet Pumpernickel?" If he knows anything, he knows his boy can drive.

* As with his casual French in the last episode, here Danny slips into a bit of Italian. I like that consistency in his characterization--he's from the Bronx and proud of it, but he can also be cosmopolitan, a man of the world.

* Danny and 'Rocco' have their first argument about Brett. Rocco wants to ride up front, but Danny won't let him:


We'll see more of this same conflict later.

* Uh-oh--even though Brett is in an Aston Martin and they're in an overheating creaky truck, Brett's not at the rendezvous. Danny gets concerned, while trying not to let on. "You're not worried about Brett, are you?" Sid asks. "Oh, he'll be here. He'll be here," Danny says, looking anxiously into the distance.

When time has passed and Brett's still missing, Danny proceeds to brood most attractively:



* Rocco tries to find out why Danny is willing to do these risky and uncomfortable things. Danny's evasive, and doesn't answer him. Watching this with the knowledge that 'Rocco' is Howard, in cahoots with the judge, I find it interesting. Why does he want to know? Is he spying, in a sense, for the judge? After the whole adventure is over, Howard will be able to tell the judge in detail about the ways Brett and Danny operate--and that's just the kind of thing the judge would want him to do, too.

Danny's determined to wait for Brett and won't leave without him. As before, Rocco/Howard gets agitated about this, and Danny puts his foot down:


Even when threatened at *gunpoint*, Danny won't change his mind. Choosing Brett over the job? Is this something Howard's going to pass along, and what might the judge make of it?

(Also, please note: Danny disarms Rocco/Howard here, and takes his gun.)

* "Boo!" Brett reappears, impishly pleased with himself, preening and showing off to a relieved Danny: "*I* win first prize!"

* While Danny is away finding them food and a car, Brett gets his next turn with Sid. I like his willingness to give a backrub--it's very generous to a tired person (and he's got good hands for it). He's also generous about Danny, praising him to Sid: "Danny's off scouting around, and knowing him, he'll probably come up with a luxury hotel."

* This is a great scene, with some interesting insights into Brett. For one thing, even with Sid pitching flirtatious woo, Brett keeps including Danny:


It all comes back to Brett-and-Danny, even in pillow talk with someone else. I also love Brett's little pause in "until we...met Judge Fulton." I can't help but read that as "met each other"--and as we know, they'd already gotten fascinated and started to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with each other before they got recruited to do Fulton's dirty work.

* Another fascinating glimpse into Brett, giving us a picture of just how bad things had gotten with him, before Danny and the new job brought him to life:


That was the Lord Sinclair that Fulton so harshly berated in their first meeting, the glib tongue at the mindless parties--and it turns out Brett himself felt dead inside, not even enjoying his own lifestyle anymore. Lucky for him Danny came along (thanks to the judge)!

* To cap it all off, Brett kisses her...for a second, and then he pulls away. "I'd, uh...I'd better see what Danny'sup to." And off he hurries. It always comes back to the two of them. (And, "Yes, of course," Sid replies, letting out a long breath. Yeah, now she knows which way the wind's blowing. *g* She doesn't put the moves on either of them, after this.)

* I can't manage good caps of the next scene (it's dark, with lots of movement), but it's priceless. First, Danny does one of his trademark graceful hurdles over the wall. Next, he settles practically in Brett's lap. And finally, in delivering the good news about the car, he demonstrates a fey pertness that is both amazing and adorable to behold.

* Alas, the "hospitable" Italian count is a hotelier instead of a host, and a snitch to boot. Brett and Danny figure it out in the nick of time. Danger notwithstanding, Danny makes sure to stand right where Brett will turn around and bump into him:



Man, that arrangement of the 'accidental' full-body collision, and the body language, and the soft "What is it," with the blinking and the lovely eyelashes--Danny is definitely getting his flirt on. Same with the following bit where Brett calls him, and Danny steps to his side, saying softly, "My lord?"

Here they have another nice moment of silent communication (a.k.a. "broccoli"), where Brett just points to the statue and they know the plan. It also shows off Brett's large, capable, and well-manicured hand.



Dear me, big paws on that boy.

* And thus they escape, with great derring-do (and Brett gets Danny's money back. Aww.). Again, they communicate through silent pointing, and they choose to see who shepherds the passengers and who runs into danger to stop the bad guys. As soon as Danny wins, they shake hands, and Brett pats him off into action. Danny does some more very nice leaping, bounding up over the car and slipping his tight little self right in through the sunroof. Up up and away!

(Also, please note: Danny disarms the bad guy, and takes his gun.)

* They stop to look around and see if they've evaded pursuit--and we have proof, as in "Angie...Angie," that when Brett has his hands on binoculars, Danny can't help but have his hands on Brett.



* Oh no, bad guys in front and behind! Whatever shall they do? Turns out that what they shall do is have another sterling example of broccoli, when they suddenly get an idea at the same time, and know the whole plan without saying a word.



* And thus they delay the bad guys and escape some more, climbing up a mountainside. When they stop for a rest, Brett and Danny settle down right next to each other, and Danny eyes Brett's body.




* So, more escaping and fleeing and whatnot, and finally 'Rocco' and Sid sneak off on foot to the rendezvous, while Brett and Danny play decoy for the bad guys in an old truck...until a tire gives out. Up a hill they go, to take cover in a scenic old barn.

* And now, at last, the payoff! Danny pulls a pistol from his belt...


But we the audience know just where those guns came from--we saw Danny get them along the way (one from Rocco, one from lurking bad guy). Again, the show plays fair with us, setting up the impending gunfight well in advance.

* Now there is some shooting, tra-la--until night falls and they run out of bullets, that is. Danny starts barricading the door, while Brett starts dusting himself off and putting on his jacket, leading to one of my favorite Brett-characterization exchanges:


Oh, *Brett*, princess!

* Then, we have the first of many ancestor-stories from Brett. I love these. And here's another reason to place this episode extremely early in the series...Danny hasn't yet learned to beware of Brett's yarns. So he eagerly settles down at Brett's knee to listen, and hands him a whiskey flask (and Brett, like a well-brought-up boy, thanks him). Brett's delivery is perfect: very serious, perfectly-paced, drawing Danny in from the dramatic setup to the hushed, suspenseful climax. Pardon the extended quote, but I'd love
to get all these ancestor-stories written down.




* The bad guys apparently flee because the cops have shown up. But...it ain't the cops, it's gangsters disguised as cops. When Brett realizes this, he notifies Danny by turning his chin to see the main bad guy.



Is this the first chin-touch from him? I think it is, as I can't remember one in Overture, and it wouldn't have fit the mood of Angie...Angie. Anyway, the chin-touch (most often used to gently turn Danny's face in a particular direction) hereafter becomes one of Brett's hallmarks (e.g. Powerswitch, Anyone Can Play, Take Seven, The Time And The Place, The Old The New & The Deadly, The Long Goodbye, etc.!). I love the gentle, pushy intimacy of it.

* At gunpoint, at first they are cheeky...



...but when the bad guy sends a bullet right past Brett's head, ruffling his hair, fear sets in.

* Luckily, the cavalry arrives! It's 'Rocco'...who is now unmasked as Manny Howard, American Embassy. The reason for the deception gives us another direct look at the judge's hard and twisty methods:


An effective plan, but certainly a dark one! The judge took advantage of the fact that Danny and Brett, while smart, brave, and creative, are also amateurs at this kind of work, and enjoy improvisation and risk more than dull prudence. They served as nothing more than unknowing sacrificial goats, sent out to attract all the tigers. Getting caught by the cops would've been one thing, but they definitely could have been killed, since the gangsters were always hottest on their trail.

* And so, the judge, Rocco, and Howard all depart, and Brett and Danny are cheerful and content in their success (and didn't seem to take the plan too personally--though they were openly disgruntled when they found out, and Brett directly calls Fulton a con artist, at least they didn't punch him in the mouth). Sid, however, is aghast to discover that all her photos of the infamous Frank Rocco are actually nothing of the kind.

In trying to comfort her, Brett reinforces his unselfconscious lack of machismo:


How often do you have an action hero, who has fistfights and gunfights and adventures, who still gets to say things like "rather a giggle"?

Sid, however, is not amused. And while the boys are fussing about with a totally unnecessary clinch, ostensibly so Brett can toss Danny bodily into the back of the jeep...



...Sid drives off and leaves them to make their way back to civilization on foot. And they find themselves disinclined to get out of each other's personal space.



Off they go, for a romantic thirty-mile stroll. On the bright side, it is a lovely day in the countryside (no idea if "the border" they crossed was into France, Austria, or Switzerland), and now nobody is around to interrupt any further unnecessary clinches. *g*



And hey, who wouldn't like to take a honeymoon (their first of many honeymoons...) across Italy and its environs, anyway?