The Moving Mountain

	“The Moving Mountain” S5 E21
Production 47332; Original Airdate: 6 March 1978
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	Written by; Stephen Kandel
	Directed by; Don McDougall
Guest Cast
	Guest Star(s); John Colicos as General Simeon Norbukov; Lisa Farringer as Andrea Mestrova;
	Co-starring; George Clifton as Santos; Paul Coufos as Waiter; Michael Ebert as Erhardt; Beverly Kushida as Ishihara;
	With; Christian Vance as Radio Man; Andre Landzaat as NATO Officer; Keith Langsdale as Mishkin;
Broadcast Order
Season 5
""Date With Danger (Part II)""	"Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman"

Summary[]

Santos, the leader of an ideological terrorist group, steals a USSR self-powered, heavily armored mobile missile launcher codenamed: "Mountain." He also steals six self-guided smart US missiles developed by the OSI. His plan is to use them to extort huge sums of money to finance his terrorist activities. Oscar Goldman learns that a top level KGB agent, Major Andrea Alexeyovna Mestrova, has been assigned to retrieve Mountain. He convinces her superior, General Norbukov, that she and Steve Austin work together. Oscar instructs Steve to not only recover the missiles but also the Mountain if possible. But Norbukov has a similar scheme: in addition to recovering Mountain, Mestrova is also directed to steal the US missiles. And if Steve interferes, Norbukov will instruct Mestrova to kill him. He knows she is a reluctant killer. But Norbukov has a secret trigger: Mestrova's father died two years earlier in an attempt to steal OSI weapons — and Steve Austin was involved.

Quotes[]

Oscar: I want these communications penetration proof.
Rudy: That'll take time.
Oscar: I don't care what it'll take, can you do it?
Rudy: Yeah, there goes my night's sleep.
Oscar: I'll allocate OSI funds for an extra pot of hot coffee.

Norbukov: Remember: your father was killed in an attempt to penetrate the OSI armory two years ago. This could be your opportunity to complete the mission he planned against the OSI. You know about Austin, he does not know about you. Use that advantage: block him, trick him, seduce him, do whatever is necessary.
Mestrova: Whatever?
Norbukov: I know your feelings Andrea. On this assignment there will be no necessity to kill.
Mestrova: Thank you.

Mishkin: I do not like it, she is too soft. Full of humanitarianism. It is ridiculous.
Norbukov: I agree. But she will function with higher efficiency if she believes that she doesn't have to kill. But when it is necessary . . . there is a trigger in Andrea's mind. She doesn't know about it herself. But when I pull it . . . she will kill Austin with the greatest of pleasure.

Trivia[]

Series[]

"The Moving Mountain" was the final episode of The Six Million Dollar Man. It did not, however, function as a series finale, as no conclusion was given to the lives of any of the regular characters, unlike The Bionic Woman's finale episode, "On the Run", which did conclude several dramatic threads in that series. Ultimately, however, the resolution of the emotional arcs of Oscar Goldman, Rudy Wells, Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers would be the focus of trio of reunion movies released in the late 80s and early 90s.

Location[]

The streets of Chamonix are Universal's Backlot Little Europe streets.

Plot[]

"The Moving Mountain" shares the general plot of the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me which was released in the summer of 1977. The first point is there are two agents, one from the USSR (a woman), one from the West, working together against a third party. Also, the show has the plot point of the Western agent had killed someone close to the Soviet agent in the past. In the 007 movie, it was the Soviet agent's lover; here it is her father.

Effects[]

The "ringtone" on Steve's walkie-talkie uses one of the sounds made by the Fred Sloan and Oscar Goldman robots created by Dr. Dolenz.
Steve's final bionic feat of the series is pushing the missile platform in front of Simeon's jeep to prevent his escape.