Review of the Episode "Doubled Agent" in the Cartoon Inspector Gadget

“Doubled Agent” is more than just the 36^th episode in the cartoon Inspector Gadget. It seems to be an idea that the creators of the cartoon may have gotten from the TV series Get Smart by using the word agent in the episode’s title. Inspector Gadget is assigned to investigate plans by the evil cyborg Dr. Claw to try and kidnap the Shah of Freeland who is supposed to visit Metro City the next day. Doubled Agent is a better episode than Eye of the Dragon. But neither the Chief nor his best agent Gadget realizes that there is a scientist that has created an android style robot that looks just like the Inspector.

Once the robot robs a bank in Metro City a few times, Chief Quimby and all of Metro City believes that Gadget has become a criminal. In this episode, Gadget goes to the family farm house so that Dr. Claw will think that he is on another assignment or case. In this episode though, it is not only Gadget that is clueless in some respects but a few of Dr. Claw’s agents set up a bunch of traps to try and get rid of him. When they notify Dr. Claw of their plans, Dr. Claw gets very angry at them, telling them to save him because he wants to make sure that Gadget spends the rest of his life behind bars instead. In this respect, this episode is different than some of the other episodes in this cartoon.

As usual, the brilliant investigative skills of Gadget’s niece Penny saves Metro City. After hearing the news of the bank robberies, she does not believe the news and decides to investigate what is going on. When she jumps into the back of a van being driven by two other agents, she finds out that it has been a robot that has been doing the dirty work for Dr. Claw. Meanwhile, as Inspector Gadget is driven off to prison, Dr. Claw comes up with a new plan to try and put Gadget in even more trouble. However, since Penny is still in the vicinity of the action, she sees that the truck is almost about to collide with a van. Like the episode, Gadget’s Replacement, this episode was made ahead of its time. Once Gadget’s clothing gets wet with mud, Penny overrides the robot’s controls with her computer book and switches the clothes so that the robot will wear give the clean clothes to her uncle. Even though Dr. Claw tells his agents to bring the real Gadget to his castle, they mess up and bring the robot there instead! As the Metro City Police force patiently waits for the arrival of the Shah, Dr. Claw sends the robot to kidnap the Shah. Penny saves the day by once again overriding the robot’s controls. Doubled Agent is one of the best episodes of the first season of Inspector Gadget.

In a moment that is a timeless moment in the history of Inspector Gadget, when two agents of Dr. Claw are instructed to bring Inspector Gadget to him so that the organization M.A.D. can carry out more bad schemes. However what makes this moment memorable is the reaction of Dr. Claw when he sees that his two agents have brought the robot over to him instead of bringing Inspector Gadget. One of the agents says that he thought that this version of Gadget looked different.