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hannay (1988)

Coup De Grace (Episode 1 - Season 2)
Director Robert Reed
Cast Robert Powell, Anthony Valentine, Joanna David, Diane Bull
Writer Richard Carpenter
Plot
Hannay is invited to a horse race where he meets Sybil Verney, and he falls in love with her... but she hides a terrible secret (OK let me spoil it : she has two secrets : a lover and a husband. Didn't I told you that all the female characters were very modern for the period?).
The Ally


The ally for what, you mean? Well, in this episode we have two "Hannay girls", but one of them is more an ally than a love interest. In this episode we meet Sal Alford, who will also appear in The Confidence Man. As she's the daughter of a crook, she teaches Hannay how to make a safe unsafe!
The "Hannay Girl"
Well, this is the only episode which isn't feminist at all (except for Sal's character - see above).

Sybil likes to play with men. She is married, but had an affair with Sir Marcus (the bad guy), and then uses Hannay to steal something from the other guy.

Just for the record : Joanna David is Edward Fox's wife, Robert and Edward appeared together in Shaka Zulu.
The Bad Guy

The bad guy is Sir Marcus Leonard (Anthony Valentine), who used to practise fencing with Hannay and invited him to the race where he met Sybil. He was the lover of Sybil and now blackmails her so she'll return to him.

Just for the record, Anthony Valentine appeared twice in The Detectives.
Comments
This was one of my favorite episodes ever! When I saw it for the first time I was a dreamer teenager, and nothing was more romantic than the tragic ending presented here : The two lovers fight a duel for the honor of the lady, and the lady is injured protecting the good guy and dies in his arms. I LOVED it!!!!

Now I find it a bit corny, but still I like it, specially because this is the kind of episode in which in one hour a lot of things happen! In less than an hour the hero falls in love, learns how to become a thief, does the job, gets caught, fights a beautiful (and short) sword duel and suffers the loss of the loved one.

This is the scene :