THE AVENGERS: "A SURFEIT OF H20" (1965)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological*

"A Surfeit of H2O" is one of the loopiest episodes in Diana Rigg's debut season as Emma Peel, "talented amateur" assistant to vaguely defined government agent John Steed (Patrick Macnee). It also marks the showrunners' decision to depict more overtly science-fictional threats to menace the intrepid pair, in contrast to the general absence of such content in the previous seasons with femme formidable Cathy Gale.

The shift is logical enough, though. The espionage genre, largely a product of the prose fiction of the early 20th century, soon split into  "realistic" and "escapist" forms, with Graham Greene expousing the former path and John Buchan the latter. Discounting AVENGERS' lost first season-episodes, which *may* have been somewhat more down to earth, the exploits of Steed and his various partners always skewed toward the bizarre and the spectacular, with fewer signs of real-world politics than a James Bond novel.

Though a lot of episodes begin with the heroes investigating the mysterious deaths of government officials, "Surfeit" begins with a lowly poacher inexplicably drowning in an English country field. These demi-spies don't investigate by talking to informants; they read the papers and notice that a local eccentric, Jonah Barnard (Noah Purcell), believes that a second God-sent flood is due to inundate the sinful world. Thus Jonah-- apparently named for the Biblical figure who got swallowed by a sea creature-- tells Steed that he's chosen to emulate another nautical figure, Noah, by building an ark in which the righteous may survive. Meanwhile, Emma talks to Eli, the sibling of the late poacher. Eli thinks his brother may have drowned due to falling into one of the vats at a nearby winery.

Other AVENGERS episodes offer more than just one oddball. Indeed, a lot of the stories seem dedicated to the proposition that, if outsiders think the English are stodgy while others think them eccentric, it's better to be thought the latter than the former. The scientist in charge of the winery's fermentation processes, however, is depressingly ordinary, aside from his suggestive name, "Doctor Sturm." But since the viewer is given no alternative villains, it's soon made clear that Sturm has perfected a method of stirring up ferocious rainstorms that can actually drown a person out in the open. His explanation of how the weather could be weaponized actually makes a good deal of sense, and so once again the Avengers find that even the killing of a humble Englishman can lead them to the pernicious activities of England's enemies. The episode's climax takes place in a "rain room," which reproduces the conditions of an external torrent. The gimmick makes little sense, but it's fun seeing Steed and Peel fight the villains in the midst of pouring rain, while the loony Jonah acts as if he thinks the flood is coming at last.

Mrs. Peel utters a line that shows the writer's embrace of the artifice of this escapist fare. After Sturm explains his evil plan and places Mrs. Peel in a death-trap, she coolly says, "You diabolical mastermind, you."