Didja Notice?

Indy previously visited Istanbul in The Secret City.

As the episode opens, the Blue Mosque is seen.

The minarets seen next in the episode appear to be those of another mosque, the Suleymaniye Mosque.

At 1:17 on the DVD, a sign on the building Stefan enters displays the names of a number of businesses. As far as I can tell, these are all fictitious. The Balkan News Agency listed here is the cover for Stefan and Indy's undercover rolls for foreign intelligence.

Indy's cover identity for French Intelligence in Istanbul is Nils Anderson, Swedish reporter for the Balkan News Agency.

Part of Indy's mission involves him meeting General Mustafa Kemal. Kemal (1881-1938) was a Turkish field marshal who became the founding father of the post-war Republic of Turkey in 1923 and was known as the hero of the Battle of Gallipoli, a campaign during the war by the Entente powers to take control of the Ottoman straits, as a transport route to the Central Powers and opening them for the Entente; the Entente forces were defeated by the Ottomans. He was granted the surname Ataturk (Father of the Turks) in 1934 by the Turkish Parliament, as father of the Republic of Turkey.

Indy claims he's never lost one of his bets with Stefan, but Stefan counters that he lost in Ankara, where he just wouldn't admit it. Ankara is the capital city of Turkey.

Indy, in his guise as reporter Nils Anderson, gives a discourse on his work as a foreign journalist in Turkey to a group of schoolchildren. Their teacher is Halide Edib (1884-1964), a Turkish writer, feminist, and teacher. Indy asks for her help in getting a meeting with General Kemal for an article he would like to write for Stockholm about Turkish nationalism, with Kemal and Edib representing two sides of the country's nationalism. Stockholm is the capital of Sweden.

Indy asks his girlfriend, Molly, to have dinner with him at Pera Palace. Later, he interviews General Kemal there as well. The scenes were shot at the actual hotel location.

At Pera Palace, Indy asks Molly to marry him and she says yes. Indy had previously asked Vicky Prentiss to marry him in "Love's Sweet Song", but she turned him down. Indy tells Molly about her near the end of the episode.

    After Monty is killed and the red document stolen, Indy and Stefan meet with some of his co-conspirators and tell them the red document was a list of French terms for a separate peace with Turkey to General Kamal, as the Turkish army has become disillusioned with the Sultan since he committed the country to the German cause. At this time, the Sultan of the Ottoman was

Mehmed VI (reigning from July 1918 - November 1922), but the script is most likely referring to his predecessor, Mehmed V, who joined the empire to the side of the Central Powers in November 1914. Mehmed V died in July 1918, a couple of months before the events of this story. The unnamed Sultan Indy meets later bears more of a resemblance to Mehmed VI than Mehmed V.

    Indy also states that the army is against the war minister and everything he stands for. The Turkish war minister at the time was Enver Pasha (1881-1922)

At 16:12 on the DVD, Indy is seen in the Imperial Hall of Topkapi Palace, former residence of the Ottoman Sultans, now a museum.

At 20:14 on the DVD, Indy and his agent cohorts chase Vescari's suspected killer across a rooftop. It appears to be the roof of the Blue Mosque, based on the appearance of the domes and spinnerets.

Indy remarks that his Russian cohort, Vasily, could be a Leninist, making him an enemy of the Allies. A Leninist is a follower of the ideology of Vladimir Lenin, the Russian Marxist seen previously in "Revolution!". Lenin convinced the Soviet Congress to withdraw from the Great War in March 1918 when he took control of the Russian government, making him a nemesis to the Allied forces of France, Britain, and the United States.

Indy receives a notice from Kemal to meet again at the Galata. The Galata is a citadel (now the Karaköy neighborhood of Istanbul) of Genoan origin from 1273.

At Indy's second meeting with General Kemal, they watch some whirling dervishes, the dancers of the Mevlevi Order of Sufism. Kemal's description of the spiritual philosophy of the order to Indy is largely correct.

At the end of the episode, Indy's superiors in French Intelligence are pleased with the results of his operation, calling it "a wonderful success." What was so successful about it? General Kemal refused the bribe that was offered him by the Allies. The only thing that might be called successful about it is the uncovering and death of "the Wolf", the double-agent Stefan.

Memorable Dialog

have you ever known me to lose a bet?.mp3

will you marry me?.mp3

I have no interest in preserving the Ottoman Empire.mp3

be careful.mp3

did you tell me anything that was true?.mp3

I think I just remembered myself.mp3