The "beauty pageant" episode where Wonder Woman must enter a Ms GI contest in order to uncover an orchestrator of bomb attacks, with the aim right at Dwight Eisenhower! Dick Van Patten is like a Bob Hope type of variety act radio personality, while Anne Francis (Forbidden Planet; Twilight Zone episode, The After Hours) is the "wrangler" of the ladies in the contest, dealing with the conflicting personalities (Beatrice Colen is a hoot as this "dragon lady", highly competitive, egocentric model, not at all hiding her intentions on winning the contest
at "all costs"). A number of military outposts are bombed so that the path of travel for Eisenhower drives through a specific area (leading to the perfect ambush and assassination). Musical performer Bobby Van, of all people, is the music arranger for the contest, but his true reason for being at the base will soon be unveiled. Good seeing Francis, an actress I have always liked, and her character has quite the startling revelation as it relates to Bobby Van and his motives. Van Patten has a field day as the popular radio personality, flirting with the girls and flashing that magnetic smile. This go-around, Steve is a background player while Carter "goes undercover" wearing this unflattering wig you'd probably associate with a mannequin, but her sex appeal is off-the-charts. I think you can watch this show and understand completely why Carter was a star
she's a damn sexy woman. The plot gives a lot of attention to the girls, and they are lovely, no doubt, but it is a detriment to superhero action. If anything, Wonder Woman catches a missile shot from a missile launcher and throws it back at the bad guys! An attempt to drop a heavy prop on Wonder Woman, and how it could affect Colen's Etta Candy (what a name!) is a rather cool moment of heroism, and Bobby Van gets to go sociopathic while Francis is "put away" for trying to give him lip service in a magic disappearing box! I was on the fence overall with this episode, because the pageant angle bored me, but it does have some merits I recommend to Wonder Woman fans as I already mentioned above.
One ludicrous conversation had me laughing: Steve tells Diana Prince (Wonder Woman's alter ego, almost always seen by Steve in military uniform) that she just isn't sexy enough to be in the pageant! That and Carter having to intervene in a bomb explosion after Steve is bopped on the head, scale the wall of the building where the girls stay, and act as if she just took a shower when Etta calls her out as having left the quarters illegally.
One ludicrous conversation had me laughing: Steve tells Diana Prince (Wonder Woman's alter ego, almost always seen by Steve in military uniform) that she just isn't sexy enough to be in the pageant! That and Carter having to intervene in a bomb explosion after Steve is bopped on the head, scale the wall of the building where the girls stay, and act as if she just took a shower when Etta calls her out as having left the quarters illegally.
