The Avengers: Quick-Quick Slow Death

Qiuck-Quick Slow Death (1966)
Starring: Diana Rigg, Patrick Macnee, Eunice Gayson, Maurice Kaufman, James Belchamber, David Kernen, and Larry Cross
Director: James Hill
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A bizarre accident puts government agents John Steed (Mcnee) and Emma Peel (Rigg) onto a dance school that's serving as a conduit for infiltrating enemy spies into Great Britain. The pair set out to unravel the operation with some infiltrating (and dancing) of their own.

"Quick-Quick, Slow Death" is one of the funniest and overall comedy-oriented episodes of "The Avengers" that I've watched yet. It's crammed full of bizarre characters and even more bizarre situations and it gets goofier and goofier as it unfolds

In fact, it's so goofy that this episode is best enjoyed if one doesn't think too much about the hows and whys of the plot and the complicated scheme being executed by the bad guys, nor the clues that Steed and Peel uncover or how they're delivered (although that tattooed garlic sausage has got to be a highwater mark for comedic absurdity). For all those reasons, I'm keeping this review short, as I think this episode is one that's best experienced cold. 

I will say that Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg are at the top of their comedic game, with their deadpan or droll reactions to the various bizarre characters and situations that Steed and Peel are confronted with as the episode unfolds. Although Macnee gets to be the comedic center in a couple of scenes, it's the way he and Rigg serve as "straight men" to other performers that make this episode that much more fun. I think that's also one of the reasons that the climactic ballroom scene with dancers and partners being switched around works when it really shouldn't have: Macnee and Rigg are pitch-perfect in every scene throughout.

Speaking of dancing, the little comedy tag at the end of this episode is possibly also one of the best so far, with the fictional characters of John Steed and Emma Peel twirling across the dance floor and fading away as the end credits begin.