White House Plumbers
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Operation Opal failed the way you fall asleep: slowly and then all at once.
Why did these men need to visit the Watergate at all on the evening in question?
Theres no way to be sure.
Howard and Villo never make it up to the office.
Its DNC HQ or bust.
Youll remember the second attempt first attempt No.
2, really from theWhite House Plumbersseries premiere.
On the third attempt attempt No.
They plant the bugs, photograph all of the files (which files?
Unfortunately, most of the bugs are inoperative McCords not-so-handy work and the files turn up bupkes.
Alas, they dont make it up to the sixth floor.
(In real life,Barkers address bookwould give away his connection to Hunt.)
Remarkably, all this transpires over the course of about a month.
Thats because this has always been about more than an electoral victory for Hunt and Liddy.
Opal is their redemption story.
Gordon has been picked on all his life, he tells us over and over and over again.
This isnt about America or even about Nixon; its about jostling for position in the upcoming feeding frenzy.
Each man has been allowed one or two personality traits, which dont get developed so much as reiterated.
For example, did you know Gordon was hotheaded and a bit of a Nazi?
That said, Theroux does get all the best lines this week.
That toy gun is a recipe for disaster.
Only real guns in the Liddy household, he chides Dorothy.
Between you and me, I worry about some of the people with whom he surrounds himself.
For his part, Howard continues to emerge as the brains of the operation.
He thinks of every little detail, yet he thinks of nothing.
He recruits the right guys, but they never have the right tools.
Howard is his own worst enemy.
In fact, the most sensible Howardeverseems is on the eve of Break-in No.
5 (A Little Bit of …).
But mostly the show makes the same points about Howard repeatedly, as well.
Did you know hes a neglectful dad?
He doesnt even know his son David plays piano or that Saints band is decent in a suburban way.
We finally catch sight of the Hunts eldest daughter, Kevan the apple of Papas eye but its fleeting.
The final time the Plumbers head into the Watergate, we know it will be the last.
It has that special one last job energy to it.
Desperation overcomes common sense.
The criminals just werent content to walk away with what they already took.
They were too greedy.
Think Donald Sutherland inThe Italian Job.
Think of, well, several of theFast & the Furiousfilms.
But this is far more pathetic than that.
The Plumbers have yet to pull off a single job or walk away with any glory.
They shouldnt go in for one last job because they have already proved theyre no good at the job.
Unfortunately, the four failed attempts taught them the dangerous lesson that they can fail without getting caught.
