Chico - Recap

Jim picks up his briefing at a zoo and is informed that Ramon Prado, a major drug lord in Latin America, has obtained one half of a microfilm revealing the Pan-American Narcotics Agency’s 16 undercover agents in the region. His rival, Arturo Sandoval, has the other half and the two are trying to negotiate an arrangement to put their two halves together. The IMF must stop them.

Jim assembles the usual team plus a very special agent: a trained terrier named Chico. Barney demonstrates Chico’s abilities, using a radio transmitter on his collar to give him high-frequency orders that only the dog can hear. Chico easily removes a specific chess piece from Jim’s board. The team goes over the plans for Prado’s estate, where he stores his collection of rare coins and stamps in an impenetrable bomb shelter converted into a display museum. Jim warns Paris that he’ll have to find the stamp with the microdot on it… while Prado is watching.

Willy gets onto Prado’s estate as a groundskeeper and sabotages Prado’s air conditioning. Barney taps into Prado’s phones while Paris goes in as an Australian sailor and offers Prado a rare coin in return for four of his stamps. Prado agrees and takes Paris down to the vault, where Prado tells him there’s one stamp he can’t choose. Paris takes his pick and arranges to bring the coin later.

Prado calls for a repairman for the air conditioning and Barney intercepts the call and gets himself in as a repairman. He gets access to the ventilator shaft in the bomb shelter and attaches a hidden mike as well as a remote opening device on the grille. Meanwhile, Sandoval has discovered Jim, posing as a Syndicate courier. Jim tells Sandoval to complete his arrangement with Prado to merge the two halves of the list and eliminate the undercover agents. Jim warns Sandoval that his Syndicate bosses ordered him to make a separate deal with Prado because they believe Sandoval is sabotaging the local drug situation. Sandoval calls Prado and makes an appointment to meet with him at 6 that night, in one hour.

Paris and the others figure that the stamp Prado wanted to keep has the microdot, and Barney makes a substitute. They immediately begin their operation: Paris drives back onto the estate and goes in while Barney, Willy, and Chico sneak out of his trunk and make their way to the roof. Paris gives him the coin but Prado determines it’s a counterfeit and beats up Paris for answers. Paris reveals he had a fake stamp on him and was under orders by Sandoval to make the switch. Paris then claims he has the real microdot and Sandoval’s is a fake. Prado is skeptical and sends his man Sanchez to take Paris to get Paris’ microdot.

Once Paris is gone, Jim arrives to meet with Prado in his study. Barney and Willy lower Chico on a basket down the ventilator shaft. However, Prado’s dog Samson senses Chico and starts barking, immobilizing him with fear. Jim spills some food to distract the dog so Chico can crawl through the narrow vent and make his way to the bomb shelter. He finds the right stamp, takes it back up, and Barney switches the real microdot for an IMF-prepared one. He sends Chico back down and the dog makes the switch, but Sandoval arrive early and Prado takes him and Jim down to the vault. The electric door opener jams the remote grille-opening device Barney has, and Chico hides while Prado (unwittingly) removes the microdot half from his stamp and sets up a projector. Barney manages to find an alternate frequency for the door and Chico gets out, while Prado discovers his half and Sandoval’s don’t match. Paris is brought back with his half and naturally it matches up with Prado’s (IMF) half. Worse, the list that’s revealed names Sandoval as one of the undercover agents. Jim leaves and Prado releases Paris before having his man kill Sandoval as a traitor.

Share this article with your friends