Merry Christmas From the Double O Section!

H0 H0 HO7! Here's wishing all my readers a happy holiday, no matter which one you celebrate, filed with Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Man, dry eggnog martinis, and lots of spy gifts under the tree. I also hope you're able to tune in to the EPIX all-day James Bond marathon for at least a brief taste of 007, and if you're especially lucky, maybe able to make it out to a theater tonight to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy or Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. I'm traveling for the holidays, myself, and on a somewhat hectic schedule. (Hectic enough to be behind on reviews during a spy-filled movie season and to have missed my annual gift guide altogether this year, for which I'm sorry.) Since I didn't have time to think up a clever new Christmas post for 2011, instead I'll direct you to my 2006 Christmas post, from my very first year blogging, which offers some evergreen suggestions for holiday-themed spy viewing. And on top of that, I'll reprint this episode review from the Scarecrow and Mrs. King holiday episode “The Long Christmas Eve,” excerpted from my full review of that show's first season:

“The Long Christmas Eve” finds Amanda (Kate Jackson) trying out her homespun housewife wisdom on the KGB as well as the Agency, and her speech about the holiday spirit gets CIA and KGB agents to spend Christmas Eve together in a remote cabin in the woods and call a truce from trying to kill each other. Good thing, too, because WWIII seems about to break out with a whole unit of Russian soldiers on U.S. attacking American agents! Scarecrow's (Bruce Boxleitner) reaction to waking up to find Amanda serving hot chocolate to his enemy is priceless. This episode also gets points for another moment of Avengers-like weirdness when an assassin dressed in a Santa suit blows up a phone booth.

Happy Christmas to all!