The Last Great Adventure of the Summer

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042: The Last Great Adventure of the Summer
Season	1988
Album	02: Stormy Weather
Aired	September 03, 1988
Written by	Paul McCusker
Directed by	Phil Lollar
Produced by	Unknown
Sound Design by	Dave Arnold and Steve Harris
Music by	Unknown
Prev: Return to the Bible Room Next: Back to School

[edit] General information

Theme: God's protection, Dad as a hero

Scripture: Proverbs 23:24 See more with this reference

[edit] Summary

Terry's boring summer takes a drastic turn when he and his father are ambushed by a terrorist.

[edit] Plot

Terry Johnston is having the worst summer of his life. He tells Whit that all he and his overprotective dad have done is go to church, the library, and Whit's End. Whit sympathizes with Terry, then Dad picks him up to go see an educational film. Whit asks if they would drop some garbage bags in the dumpster on the way outside. But as they approach the dumpster behind Whit's End, a strange man suddenly steps out of the shadows. He greets Dad as "Catspaw" and demands that he hand over "the formula."

Dad looks frightened until the stranger takes a step toward Terry. Suddenly, Dad springs into action, dropping the stranger to the pavement with some karate chops. Then Dad tells Terry to run. They hop in Dad's car and race away. Terry can't believe any of this is happening. He is even more stunned when his dad reveals that he's with the CIA. Unfortunately, the stranger after Terry's dad is hot on their heels. He ends up chasing them into an open boxcar at the train depot. There, Terry and Dad are knocked unconscious with sleeping gas. They wind up in London, trapped in the penthouse apartment of an evil man named Maxim. Maxim is their strange pursuer's boss. The room is filled with aquariums. Maxim enters and demands the formula. When Dad refuses, Maxim threatens him with a tank full of piranhas.

This time Terry takes action, stomping on the stranger's foot, then smashing the piranha tank. Dad grabs Terry, and they escape to the roof. Maxim and his henchmen clamber up after them. Dad and Terry are trapped! . . . Or are they?

Just in the nick of time, Scotland Yard and the CIA appear to capture Maxim and his cronies. But Nigel won't be robbed of his revenge. He suddenly pushes Terry's dad off the roof. The agents drag Nigel away as he laughs at his "victory." Once Maxim and cronies are gone, a horrified Terry discovers that his father is safe-on a window washer's scaffolding just below the roof.

The window washers were also agents. Terry finds that everything that has happened was planned from the start. Now that Maxim thinks Catspaw is dead, Terry's father can retire from the agency and spend more time with his son! But the irony is, because everything is top secret for security reasons, Terry can't tell anyone about his adventure.

[edit] Discussion Questions

1. Should Terry's dad have kept his profession a secret from Terry?
   1. Why or why not?
2. How would you feel if your mom or dad were a secret agent?
3. Can you think of something heroic that your mother or father has done?
   1. How about caring for you, providing for you, and loving you? Are those things heroic? Explain.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Notes

• PARENTAL WARNING: This adventure about spies and international intrigue may be too intense for younger children.

• VERSION DIFFERENCE: The broadcast version of this episode has Chris mowing her lawn and having trouble with the starter.

• One very interesting note concerning the actors is that Hal Smith (Whit) does Maxim and Will Ryan (Eugene) does Nigel. Not only that, but Charles Knox Robinson (Hank Murray) does George Johnston. So "Hold-Up!" is a reversal of the good and bad guys!

• Early AIO illustrations show Whit (not Terry's father) with Terry Johnston running around a corner from a bad guy. Perhaps this episode was originally intended to introduce Whit's secret past.

• Many of the situations in this episode are similar to those in the Alfred Hitchcock movie "North By Northwest."

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[edit] Quotes