Mission: Impossible

10 Best Episodes of Mission: Impossible - Season 2

Mission: Impossible is an American television series that was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicles the missions of a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force. In the first season, the team is led by Dan Briggs, played by Steven Hill; Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, takes charge for the remaining seasons. A hallmark of the series shows Briggs or Phelps receiving his instructions on a recording that then self-destructs, followed by the theme music composed by Lalo Schifrin.The series aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to March 1973, then returned to television for two seasons on ABC, from 1988 to 1990, retaining only Graves in the cast. It later inspired a popular series of theatrical motion pictures starring Tom Cruise, beginning in 1996.

Written by Sophie and last updated on jan 04, 2023.

PS: The following content contains spoilers!

PPS: I will admit that parts of this page was written with the help of AI - it makes my work so much easier to not start from a blank page!

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Mission: Impossible - S2E11

#15 - The Council (1) (Season 2 - Episode 11)

Frank Wayne is the head of the Syndicate, and by putting the Mob's ill-gotten gains in a Swiss bank account, he threatens to ruin the U.S. gold reserve. The IMF must recover the funds and put Wayne away. Jim harasses Wayne, forcing the gangster to move his records to the Syndicate's office HQ. Then Jim and Barney subpoena and grill Wayne, while Rollin studies Wayne to impersonate his mannerisms. They fake an escape for Wayne long enough for him to call his henchman, but Rollin then takes his place. "Wayne" then orders Barney's death. With "Wayne" on the lam, the Syndicate insist that he leave town, but Rollin sells them on the idea of plastic surgery...to make "Wayne" look like Rollin!

The episode was rated 7.75 from 20 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E10

#14 - Sweet Charity (Season 2 - Episode 10)

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A husband-and-wife con team, the Hagars, rip off the wealthy for donations to charity, only to take it all for themselves. The IMF "crashes" the Hagars' get-together with a groiup of millionaires at an estate on the French-Italian border. The Hagars have converted their ill-gotten gains to platinum, and have it stored in the base of a pool table . Jim goes in as a gigolo supposedly hired by Erik Hagar to keep his wife Catherine occupied, while Cinnamon keeps Erik occupied by pretending to be a wealthy invalid. Barney tunnels into the estate and switches out the platinum bricks with an inflatable duplicate. Rollin pretends to be a hitman trying to kill Catherine, but is caught and confesses he was hired by Erik. Suspicious, Catherine hires him and then tries to flee the country. Jim fakes putting the platinum in the trunk of her car. He and she make it to the border, but Erik, follows, takes the car. Unfortunately for him, Barney and Willy have taken the real platinu, melted it down, an

The episode was rated 7.86 from 29 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E17

#13 - A Game of Chess (Season 2 - Episode 17)

Nicholas Groat, a grandmaster chessplayer, organizes a team that plans to steal gold intended for the underground in an Eastern bloc country that was intercepted by the country's authorities. The IMF must recover the gold from the authorities and keep Groat from getting it. Groat forces the authorities to move the gold from a bank to a vault at the hotel where he (and Rollin) are playing in a tournament. The hotel puts a time lock on the vault for extra security, but Groat notices that Rollin is cheating, using a hearing aid. When he forces Rollin to demonstrate, the computer "inadverently" accelerates timepieces, so Groat wants to use it to get into the vault. Rollin agrees, but requires Groat use his team. Willy fakes a typhoid outbreak and Dr. Phelps administers shots to the guards which are actually sedatives. With Groat's help they get into the vault, then take the gold at gunpoint and leave him there.

The episode was rated 7.88 from 24 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E13

#12 - The Astrologer (Season 2 - Episode 13)

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Nicholai Kurzon, despite being exiled from his home country of Veyska by a military junta, leads a popular rebellion. He has been captured by the country's head of security, Colonel Stahl, and has a microfilm that contains the leaders of the revolution. The IMF must rescue Kurzon. Cinnamon gets closer to Deputy Chancellor Grigov by pretending to be an astrologer who predicts danger for the Chancellor. Thanks to Rollin's impersonation the ruse succeeds. Barney and Rollin sneak onto the plane Stahl is using to fly Kurzon back to Veyska. Rollin cracks the safe holding the microfilm and replaces it with a fake listing implicating Grigov. Meanwhile, Cinnamon has used her predictions to turn Grigov and Stahl against each other. When Stahl consults the fake list, he arrests Grigov and his assistant, leaving Kurzon unprotected. The team grabs Kurzon and replaces him with an automated dummy, then fake an accident and "Kurzon" is blown out the airplane. When the plane lands Jim spirits Cinnamon

The episode was rated 7.89 from 27 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E4

#11 - The Bank (Season 2 - Episode 4)

Alfred Belzig, a bank director in the "East Zone", takes money from those trying to escape to the West, then disposes of them and keeps the money. Belzig plans to use the $3 million he's accumulated to support a new Nazi party. Rollin pretends to be an escapee - Belzig takes his money and kills him, allowing the team to track the money to a safe deposit box. Barney and guest team member Paul Lebarre (a former bank robber) stage a raid on Belzig's bank and steal only his deposit box. Willy, pretending to be a police man, "arrests" them and they depart just as the real police arrive. They wonder why the single box was targeted, Belzig tries to escape before he can be incriminated and fails.

The episode was rated 7.92 from 36 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E18

#10 - The Emerald (Season 2 - Episode 18)

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A plan to devaluate U.S. currency was concealed on a valuable emerald by a U.S. spy, and the emerald was inadvertently obtained by Victor Tomar, an international arms dealer. Tomar is traveling by ship, as is Yorgi Petrosian, an enemy agent sent to recover the emerald. Rollin as a card shark gets together with Petrosian and they make a deal - Rollin will cheat Tomar and give Petrosian the gem and keep the winnings. Cinnamon tricks Tomar into getting to a game when Jim pretends to take her expensive bracelet. Tomar loses to Petrosian, but Rollin double-crosses Petrosian and gets the cash and the emerald. Petrosian tries to kill Rollin but Willy knocks him out and they fake that he's been lost overboard and found by a passing trawler. Petrosian wires a message to his aide, William, to kill Petrosian. Then they knock out Petrosian, put him in Rollin's cabin with a mask, and Williams kills Petrosian-as-Rollin and disposes of the body.

The episode was rated 7.95 from 21 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E15

#9 - The Photographer (Season 2 - Episode 15)

David Redding is a photographer and a spy working for the other side, who has supervised the infiltration of 150 agents into the U.S. The agents are apparently carrying some kind of biological plague, and only Redding knows the code. The IMF must get it from him. To do so, they set up Cinnamon as a former fashion model and scientist married to Jim who is working with a bacillus-suspension formula. This gives Redding a reason to accept the assignment - he tortures "Jim" who claims the U.S. is planning a nuclear strike. Redding and his assistant Morley plan to take refuge in Redding's bomb shelter and command center after sending a signal to his country (which is blocked by Barney), but Rollin and Willy arrest them. When the IMF fakes a nuclear attack Redding leads the others to the shelter, then "kills" Willy. He tries to send more coded messages (again, blocked by Barney), and Rollin witnesses Redding coding them. At the end he leaves as it is revealed that the IMF switched Redding and

The episode was rated 7.96 from 23 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E12

#8 - The Council (2) (Season 2 - Episode 12)

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Rollin-as-Wayne orders the death of Jim, who is impersonating a federal investigator, without getting the approval of the Syndicate Council. With Jim's killing a a distraction, Rollin breaks into the safe at Syndicate HQ and duplicates the financial records. The Council, unhappy with "Wayne's" independence and the fact that the murder is attracting headlines, condemn him to death. Rollin runs, but at the last moment switches place with the real Wayne, who has received plastic surgeon to make him look like Rollin. Wayne is killed by the hitman, Johnny, and the records are used to bust the Syndicate.

The episode was rated 8.00 from 21 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E8

#7 - The Money Machine (Season 2 - Episode 8)

Walter DuBruis is a criminal financier in Africa, and has made a deal with a countefeiter, Rag Tagoor. DuBruis will pass the fake money that Tagoor manufactures, wrecking the pro-Western country of Ghalea. DuBruis is above the law unless there is firm evidence, so the IMF have to put him out of business. Cinnamon tries to corner the market on a company's copper stock, interesting DuBruis by mentioning her husband has found a new vein of copper. DuBruis plans to buy the stock for himself, but needs money. Conveniently, Rollin fakes an epileptic seizure, and DuBruis discovers that Rollin is a counterfeiter. He makes a deal with Rollin to make up fake money to make up the $5 million he needs, by providing his own $3 million as a sample. Thanks to a fake machine and Barney passing out special paper, the deal goes smoothly, but Barney substitutes fake money for DuBruis' real money, too. DuBruis attracts the attention of the foreign minister by buying up all the copper shares. Told to show t

The episode was rated 8.00 from 28 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E3

#6 - The Survivors (Season 2 - Episode 3)

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Two scientists and their wives have been kidnapped by enemy agent Eric Stavak. If Stavak doesn't get ahold of a third scientist, the other two are useless and will be killed. If he gets the third, than Stavak will have the key to an "ultimate weapon" project. Phelps and Cinnamon pretend to be the third scientist and his wife and alllow themselves to be kidnapped and taken to the other two scientists and their wives. Phelps predicts an upcoming earthquake, which the IMF team goes to work and fake-implements. Phelps digs out an escape route through a storm drain, only to be shoved aside by Stavak and his henchmen as they make their escape. While Jim leads everyone out of a perfectly-working elevator, Stavak and the others are captured as they emerge onto a perfectly-intact San Francisco street.

The episode was rated 8.10 from 31 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E9

#5 - The Seal (Season 2 - Episode 9)

Taggart. an industrialist, has a rare stolen statue that America needs to maintain a friendly relationship with a foreign country. He refuses to turn it over and IM Force are sent to get it. They need a cat, Rusty, to bypass Taggert's elaborate security. Phelps fouls the computer with a doctored key card, requiring Willy to deliver a replacement containing Barney and the cat. Cinnamon is a reporter investigating a supposed curse on the statue, while Rollin pretends to be a professor from the statue's country of origin. Rollin makes a faked grab for the statue, and Taggert has to shut down the electricity to prevent him from dying. Barney uses the brief power outage to get past the sonic detectors and drill a hole into the chamber. He then inserts a miniature crosswalk so the trained cat can go across and loop the statue around its neck. Despite the distraction of a local tank of fish, Rusty succeeds and everyone makes their escape as Taggert discovers the theft.

The episode was rated 8.15 from 33 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E7

#4 - Operation 'Heart' (Season 2 - Episode 7)

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Professor Bennett is an archaeologist who is caught up in political coup by Gomalk, the Chief of Security Police. The coup is aimed at President Rurich. Bennett was accidentally arrested and interrogated, inducing a heart attack. The team must both rescue Bennett and prevent the coup. The IMF stage an assassination, spoiling Gomalk's own intended assassination. Cinnamon, impersonating Bennett's husband, tries to frame Bennett so that President Rurich believes he is an American agent. That would screw up Gomalk's plans, so he keeps the news secret, except that Phelps tells Rurich anyway. Rurich orders an interrogation of Bennett and orders an operation. Rollin, disguised as a doctor, slips in and "discovers" a bomb in the room. Barney, Willy, and guest agent Dr. Siebert come in as a bomb disposal unit who pull guns and try to "rescue" Bennett. Rollin fakes Bennett's death and the IMF team escape with Bennett hidden in a bomb disposal gentry, and then Rollin takes Bennett's place. Rurich

The episode was rated 8.36 from 25 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E23

#3 - The Phoenix (Season 2 - Episode 23)

Former internal security director Stefan Prohosh has been demoted to director of a museum. He has stolen an experimental metal alloy and concealed it in a modern sculpture at his museum, and plans to sell it to a foreign power to get them to back his bid for power. The IMF must recover the metal and stop Prohosh. Rollin fakes an attempt on Prohosh and his call is interecepted by Barney, who sends Jim, Barney, and Willy. Jim reveals Cinnamon as Rollin's accomplice, and Prohosh is obliged to interrogate the two of them. This is a distraction that lets Barney and Willy secretly dismantle the sculpture, remove the alloy, and replace it with explosives. Jim slips a detonator into Prohosh's pocket and then detonates the explosive himself to make it look as if the chairman was responsible. No one is harmed in the ensuing blast but the chairman finds the detonator in the unwitting Prohosh's pocket and has him arrested.

The episode was rated 8.50 from 28 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E25

#2 - Recovery (Season 2 - Episode 25)

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Paul Shipherd, a defector from the U.S., has been put in charge of dissecting a SAC bomber fail-safe at the Vatzia Institute. The IMF must steal the fail-safe and recover Shipherd. As the pilot of the bomber, Jim plants the idea Shipherd should talk to the manufacturer in Duluth, and conveniently a wheelchair-bound Rollin and his "wife" Cinnamon are from the factory in Duluth. Jim is released and Rollin and Cinnamon are captured and forced to defuse the explosive device on the fail-safe. Rollin fakes a heart attack to get Shipherd away from his guards. Jim sneaks into the building after Barney fouls the disposal system, gets the fail-safe, and gives it to Barney, who has knocked out Shipherd. Rollin substitutes himself for Shipherd, and they wheel the "dead" Shipherd-as-Rollin out in the wheelchair in which the fail-safe is hidden. Rollin-as-Shipherd then strolls casually out with Cinnamon.

The episode was rated 8.52 from 23 votes.

Mission: Impossible - S2E21

#1 - The Town (Season 2 - Episode 21)

On holiday and going to meet Rollin at a mountain lodge, Jim stops off in a small town. However, a young couple drop a package containing a gas gun. Exposed, an old man named Doc takes Jim prisoner. The town is populated entirely by enemy agents and they plan to kill a Societ defector in L.A. Doc shoots Jim with curare and the young couple head off to kill the defector. When Rollin arrives, Doc claims Jim had a stroke and can't be moved, but Jim clues him in by blinking a warning in Morse code. Rollin mobilizes the team. Cinnamon goes in as Mrs. Jim and Barney as her chauffeur, and Willy as a trucker. Together the four of them have to get Jim out and thwart the assassination plot.

The episode was rated 8.56 from 27 votes.

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