Round Table - Neptune Affair

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

The Neptune  Affair is one of those pivotal episodes in which we firmly establish that Illya Kuryakin is, indeed, a Soviet agent whose affiliation with his country is still intact.  He hasn't defected and he is not at all adrift from his homeland.  In fact, he is seen in uniform as a member of the Soviet Navy, something that comes across as a true vocation for him when he goes toe to toe with Napoleon over the origins of the plague that is affecting crops in the Soviet Union.
So, with all of that in motion, should the series have delved more deeply into the Soviet nature of our blond?  I think there are maybe only two other instances where it is referenced that Illya is Russian; Napoleon's 'smart Russian' comment (The Never, Never Affair), and another one I can't exactly quote or place.  Maybe one of you remembers where to find it.
Did we need more Cold War interaction between our heroes?
Do you have a favorite story that does go into this element of the series?

Comments

[vysila.livejournal.com]

The scene you reference in Neptune is one of my favorites from the entire series and I agree with your take on it. IK has to be considered a Soviet in good standing just in order to be "lent out" to UNCLE.

I'm pretty sure that some stories have referenced this episode/scene but can't bring them to mind. I've got a WIP on it, but it may never get finished at the rate my writing is going.

The other episode you're thinking of where Illya's Sovietness comes into play is "Love Affair", where IK and NS discuss privilege when NS goes into the garden party.

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

I can't remember whose story it is, but I think there's one where IK passes an Order of Lenin on to NS in recognition of his part in this affair.

[vysila.livejournal.com]

Oooh, fascinating! Doesn't ring a bell with me, unfortunately. Hope you remember the title at some point!

[duckys-lady.livejournal.com]

Isn't it the end of Neptune when they have diverted the crisis?

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

And another episode that puts IK in Russia is that one with the mind reading machine, can't remember the title, where the inventor says IK is thinking about being a small boy in Kiev.

[vysila.livejournal.com]

Fox and Hounds. What a fabulous episode!

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Kiev is actually in western Ukraine, though it was a member of the Soviet Union. Though I think the writer's goofed at the time thinking of it all as Russian. Illya could have been an ethnic Russian born in Ukraine.

I have a bunch of stories relating to Illya's background in my MFU world. A few where he returns to the Soviet Union sometimes willingly and one time not... He's not a defector in my world but because he doesn't spy on UNCLE and the US...I have the KGB after him. (Illya is part of GRU, the Soviet Military Intelligence) and in the Kremlin, historically there was an on-going shift of power between GRU and KGB....so when KGB was in favor I had them periodically going after Illya.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

That comment from the Kiev moment … "That's enough!" Possibly the most emotion we ever see from our Russian.

Pitch Perfect is my story in the aftermath of Foxes and Hounds and that Kiev moment.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/633201

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Love Affair, I even wrote little snippet in reference to it where IK is grousing a bit because of the assumed snub he would receive amongst those well-heeled heels.
No Difference is the story…



https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7152868/1/No-Difference