This is one of the favorites of the New Avengers series. The series was hemorrhaging funding and they found themselves with backers out of England. This led to the New Avengers in Paris, and the final four episodes were The New Avengers in Canada.
Some rip this episode and that's fine but I feel the humor in this episode is in keeping with the offbeat nature of the series. The old spinsters in Build A Better Mousetrap, the various strange minor characters during the Emma Peel era, the clowns, these added to the eclectic feel of the Avengers. "Emily" for me, captures that.
It is more than a little obvious that the series is broke and running on fumes. The story, much like Complex, makes the episode. 'Emily' has a cat and mouse type script. The New Avengers are on the hunt for a double agent known as "the fox." His allusive nature has made him impossible to identify except for fingerprints. The fox narrowly escapes a tail by Steed, Purdey and Gambit. In his haste, he leaves a full hand print on the top of a vintage car and the chase is on. Our heroes are on the hunt for the car, the fox is on the hunt for the car. Gambit crosses hairs with an alcoholic strong man. There's a boatload of funny moments and it's not cheap laughs, it's offbeat humor.
Like all of these Canadian episodes, Macnee, Hunt and Lumley work with a Canadian based cast. Some may recognize the costars. Leslie Carlson who has appeared in Cronenberg movies is in this episode. Peter Aykroyd makes his screen acting debut in this as well. This predates his work writing and appearing from time to time on SNL. His attempt at a Russian accent offers good entertainment value.
I recommend viewing this much more than Forward Base and The Gladiators, both were also among the Canadian episodes. I do put it behind Complex which was among the best in the second season for me. It also borrows nicely from a Season Six episode I love but just saying the name may give away the story to devout fans who haven't tracked down the New Avengers episodes to watch and enjoy.