The Brothers - Recap

Jim picks up his briefing at an out-of-service phone booth and is informed that the pro-Western King Selim III of Qamadan has been imprisoned six months ago by his younger similar-looking brother Prince Samandal. Samandal is a ruthless tyrant who works with Colonel Hatafis, and the IMF must rescue Selim and restore him to the throne.

Jim assembles the usual team plus Lisa and the Hartford Repertory Company. In the briefing, Barney has Lisa check a compact with a remote that releases a drug from the bottom of a prepared bottle. They determine that Samandal has a doctor, Labashi, who is prepared to break down Selim’s mental defenses. Selim is held secretly so they’ll have to force Samandal to bring him out of hiding.

Paris arrives in Qamadan as an oil magnate meeting with the King, with Lisa and Jim in his entourage. Samandal meets with Labashi and warns that the shiekhs are getting nervous and won’t accept the cover story that Selim is on a religious retreat. Hatafis arrives and informs Samandal about Paris and warns he has some kind of deal in mind. Paris arrives to meet with Samandal, who is taken with Lisa. Meanwhile, Barney and Willy pull into a warehouse.

Paris gives Samandal a bottle of brandy and the Prince asserts he can negotiate on Selim’s behalf. Hatafis’ aide briefs his boss on the little he overhears, and Hatafis is concerned that he benefits from the old contract so if Samandal signs a new contract, Hatafis gets nothing. Paris offers Samandal a new oil deal that Samandal agrees to, then begs off of dinner that night but offers Lisa in his place. Paris fakes a medical condition and insists that Jim be brought as his doctor.

Jim tends to Paris while Samandal asks Lisa to meet him for dinner and she agrees. At the warehouse, the Repertory Company members arrive in an ambulance, dressed as doctors and nurses, while Barney welds pieces together.

Lisa has dinner and flirts with Samandal, and asks for the brandy Paris left off earlier. She waits until her glass is poured and the poison-taster samples it, then triggers the colorless drug in the bottle when Samandal’s glass is poured. After he drinks it, Samandal collapses and Lisa breaks the bottle, summoning a servant.

Barney finishes an operating table with metal bands to make it appear that someone is on it when a sheet is pulled over it. Labashi examines Samandal and concludes he has uremia. Hatafis makes sure that the brandy couldn’t have been poisoned and Lisa lets slip that Jim is working under an alias. Samandal has Jim brought in after he admits he’s out with an international playboy and his wife doesn’t know about it. Jim recommends a kidney transplant and warns that the donor must be compatible. Realizing he has no choice, Samandal orders that Selim be brought to the palace. Jim insists that the operation be done secretly and Hatafis insists that everything can be brought to the palace from the nearby American hospital. Hatafis offers the gymnasium as the largest area they have. Jim calls the hospital (actually Barney) and sets things up. Once he’s done, the servant brings in the shattered brandy bottle for Labashi to examine.

Selim is brought to the palace and Jim sets up the operating tables in the gymnasium, warning them not to move the tables. Hatafis tries to bribe Lisa and when he realizes she’s not afraid of him, demands answers. She explains that part of the deal between Samandal and Paris is that Hatafis be disposed of.

Barney and Willy go into the basement beneath the gym and start cutting through the floor above. Labashi confronts Lisa in the infirmary but Paris knocks him out and takes his place. A sedated Selim is put on one operating table and Samandal on the other. The team then uses fake blood, a dummy head, the metal body-shaped straps, and a fake piece of skin to apparently conduct a real operation. Barney and Willy set up a small lift and signal Jim and Paris above, while Hatafis watches. Jim then drops Samandal below and Barney shaves off his beard, while Hatafis sends his aide Behram to the power box. Jim then lowers Samandal while Behram cuts the power off to ruin the operation and kill Samandal on Hatafis orders.

Barney quickly rewires the circuits before another aide can come in to check the power box. They then paste a beard on Selim and raise the two brothers back up in reversed positions. Once the “operation” is over, Hatafis tells Behram to call in the sheikhs for an important announcement.

Jim and Paris take Samandal (looking like Selim) to his room and after they leave, Hatafis slips in and cuts off his oxygen, killing him. The team then removes Selim’s fake beard and briefs him on what’s going on.

Hatafis meets with the sheikhs, who refuse to deal with anyone but Selim. Hatafis announces that Selim has been murdered and Samandal and Labashi are responsible. Hatafis tries to declare himself Regent but Selim comes in and it’s clear he’s taking over as the sheikhs surround Hatafis. The team slips quietly away.

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