#jim phelps

[raethereptile]

"You use a scalpel, I prefer a hammer."

I am having so many thoughts about this line because sure Ethan is a scalpel but like no he's not he's...well ok let me try and meta for a second

Because Mission Impossible 1, he's a scalpel. By god is he a scalpel. He manipulates and deceives and seduces and tricks and betrays and sets people up and pulls off these delicate and precise maneuvers and leaves without a trace and he shows people what they want to see whether that's being flashy or subtle or dumb or smart or

And he survives the worst time of his life by using all of these skills as they're being used against him and he hates it

I think thats why I'm fascinated by his interaction with Max, because they're using the same playbook and they are aware of what the other is doing so they have a little fun with it. Like, Ethan is living through hell and he's desperate, and he's pretty scared of Max underneath that boyish grin. But it's fun. They're both being a good sport about it. Because it's mutual. But it's mutual in a very different way to Jim/Claire's manipulation of him is mutual. I'm not sure I'm expressing this well.

He hates it, just a little at first, and then by the end I think he hates it a lot because

Mission Impossible 2 happens and (if memory serves right because I haven't seen the film in years) he's trying so fucking hard not to be a scalpel. He's trying to be a hammer.

And he's rough and abrasive and reckless and little bit feral. He's split lips and bruises knuckles. He hits hard and expects to be hit harder, because he's punishing himself and punishing the world and it shows. He learns violence as a tool and learns how to use it. And he hammers his way through the problem because he can't stomach the thought of being a scalpel anymore.

And then, slowly, through mi3 and beyond, we see him walk the path back to being a scalpel.

He'll never forget what Jim and Claire did to him but maybe he doesn't let the wound fester anymore and let's it start to heal.

But he can never be a scalpel again.

Because he's learned the advantages of a hammer too.

Sometimes you need to be a ghost but sometimes you need to make a scene.

Because a scalpel could never fight the way Ethan fights. To the bitter end, blood between his teeth, and not necessarily his own. Would never drive a car off a building to get to the bottom faster, wouldn't drive a car post drowning to death, wouldn't crash a helicopter on purpose. Could never do the most extreme of the stunts that Ethan pulls off.

I mean, he's better at them because he can be a scalpel while doing them. But to do them at all...

But a hammer could never put on a mask and become someone else. Could never seduce a target. Or interrogate someone without them ever figuring out they were interrogated. Or break in somewhere to steal what they need and leave without a trace.

Walker could never have done what Ethan did in Paris. Because Lark and Walker weren't two different people. They were the same person with part of themselves hidden behind a vail so they could blend in. But Ethan. Ethan thought "I need to be Lark" and then became him. Dead eyed stare and "I slaughtered women and children with smallpox" and the White Widow trapped in his gaze terrified down to her marrow. A hammer couldn't do that. Only a scalpel.

Ethan swings between scalpel and hammer as needed and becomes something of the two combined, becomes something terrifying

It's what marks him, out of all the IMF, as the living manifestation of destiny. As the mind-reading, shapeshifting, incarnation of chaos. The one they tell stories about, the stories that surely can't all be true

So Ethan's not a scalpel. And he's not a hammer. I'm not sure what he is. And maybe Ethan wonders about that sometimes too.

Side note: I would like to invite the king of mission impossible 1 meta @deanwinchestersfloralwallpaper to way in, since I'm sure they'll be able to articulate all of this much clearer than I have

#mission impossible fallout #mission impossible 1 #mission: impossible #mission impossible #ethan hunt #august walker #max mitsopolis #jim phelps #claire phelps #meta #mission impossible meta

[nade2308]

Mission Impossible (1996) and MacGyver (2016) parallels

Part 1 || Part 2

@thethistlegirl

#ethan hunt #jim phelps #sarah davies #mission impossible #angus macgyver #patricia thornton #nikki carpenter #macgyver #macgyver 2016 #tom cruise #jon voight #kristin scott thomas #lucas till #sandrine holt #tracy spiridakos #my gifs #mission impossible gifs #macgyver gifs #my edit #missionimpossibleedit #parallels #I was surprised to find so many in a short span of time for both movie and show #I was fully prepared to make only one set #and then I rewatched both scenes and went damn I need a separate one #realizing this in lord's year of 2023

[assignmentimprobable]

MI-1 in a nutshell

Ethan: oh shit oh fuck oh man

Claire: Gaslight. Gatekeepé. Girlboss

Luther: teehee (90s hacker voice) I’m in.

Kittridge: I want that twink Obliterated.

Krieger: now this is a knife

Max: oh, another twink for my collection. Splendid.

Jim: DID YOU FUCK MY WIFE ETHAN

#mission impossible #mi1 #ethan hunt #luther stickell #claire phelps #yeah yeah. I know Ethan’s a twunk #fucking Sue me #max mitsopolis #jim phelps #franz krieger

[grande-caps]

Mission Impossible (1996) Quality : HD screencaptures Amount : 2.959 files Resolution : 1.920 x 800 px

-Please like/reblog if taking!

#grandecaps #mission impossible #mission impossible edit #tom cruise #ethan hunt #jon voight #jim phelps #emmanuelle beart #claire #henry czerny #eugene kittridge #ving rhames #luther #jean reno #krieger #kristin scott thomas #capped by macfraser82

[fourthreee]

i stayed up way too late making these

#mission impossible #mission: impossible 1966 #mi 66 #og 4:3 #text post meme #barney collier #rollin hand #cinnamon carter #the great paris #jim phelps #eartha kitt #undescribed #i have so many more of these planned #buckle in comrades #mission impossible show #i have never been so pleased with myself #please add further to my ego by sharing these far and wide

[ethanhuntfemmefatale]

The thing is. Claire and Jim’s marriage is failing. Claire isn’t happy in her marriage to a terrifying ruthless immoral older man. So Jim brings home a new toy and his name is Ethan Hunt. And he’s young and funny and smart and he’s like Jim except he’s still naive, and he’s nice to her. He does such a good job of pacifying Claire, he does too good of a job. They feed each other to Jim, is the thing.

#I can’t fully explain but #do you get it!!!!!! #mission impossible #ethan hunt #claire phelps #jim phelps #Jim recruited Ethan because of a prank!!!! he needed someone funny—Ethan is playful—Jim is not playful—do you understand!!!!!

[anastablack]

Collage for my unpublished fic. Maybe one day I'll finally translate it into English

#jim phelps x rollin hand #rollin hand #jim phelps #mission: impossible tv show #mission impossible 1966 #mission: impossible #my collage

[there-is-no-before]

#jim phelps #miranda carroll #station eleven

[centaurianthropology]

Ah, that familiar moment when I get really into a show that’s old enough it’s completely dead.  There is no fanfic, no fanart, no meta.  I am screaming into the void about ‘Mission: Impossible’ (1966), because WOW IT’S SO GOOD, and for a show that deliberately minimizes character background, every one of the characters is so vivid.  You can pry Barney and Rollin from my cold dead hands, because they’re both delightful.    And there is no one screaming back, because this show is also old, and very episodic, and extremely 1960s.

Hello, Dead Fandom, my old friend.  I’ve come to shout at you again.

#Mission Impossible (1966) #it's just so fun #and I really like all the characters #and because the show deliberately never went into their backgrounds #or relationships #there's so much room to meta and write fic #and it's all just non-existent #because this show is old #and the fic is probably in print zines somewhere #if it exists at all #blaaaargh #old fandom woes #dead fandom woes #Barney Collier #Rollin Hand #Jim Phelps #Cinnamon Carter #Willy Armitage

[kajaono]

I think one of the best example why you do not fuck with fans is Jim Phelps in Mission impossible. people today are still angry that Jim Phelps was turned into the bad guy and killed off... 1996.

#mission impossible #jim phelps #mission impossible 1 #mi1

[chiickies]

Peter Graves and Greg Morris opening an episode of The Electric Company.

Can't find an exact date, but it seems to be from the early 70s (I want to say 72 or 73?). GOD I adore this video.

"Will it work?"

"Well, I hope so."

#so so silly #mission: impossible #the electric company #peter graves #greg morris #jim phelps #barney collier #mission: impossible 60s #mission: impossible tv series #the electric company 70s

[thegaslightbrigade]

Favorite Jim Phelps Looks (1/?)

(s2,e1; s2,e2

s2,e18; s4,e10

s4e15; s5e11)

#jim phelps #mission: impossible (tv) #mission: impossible 1966 #mi 1966 #peter graves #thank u pluto tv 🙏 lol #I'll do ones for the other characters as I can 💕

[nade2308]

“Bad dreams are ghosts of our fears and worries, haunting us while we sleep.” 

― Maria V. Snyder

Part 1 || Part 2

Ao3 link here

@whumptober

@thethistlegirl

#whumptober2023 #no.12 #I haven't slept in days but who's counting #mission impossible #gif #ethan hunt #jim phelps #tom cruise #jon voight #my gifs #mission impossible gifs #missionimpossibleedit #my edit #exhausted Ethan #nightmares #guilt #part 1

[patwrites]

Tom Cruise is older in Dead Reckoning Pt. 1 than Jon Voight was in M:I 1. Ethan Hunt is now older than Jim Phelps. Much to think about.

#ethan hunt #jim phelps #mission: impossible #mission impossible: dead reckoning- part one

[youcallyourselfafilmcritic]

Never will a popular movie series have as funny an origin to me as the Mission: Impossible ones

Imagine they didn't make a Bond movie for ages came back & the focus was on his protégé it's revealed he's the villain trying to sell out the secrets of MI6 and get them all killed. Then he dies and the series continues following this new guy

And like it was to the point where they didn't mention ANY of the Bond lore or other facets until about a decade and a half into this new franchise following this new guy and him getting a team

That's the M:I series. Making it in contemporary times would make the internet melt so lucky for us it got its start pre-internet

(if you don't know it started off as a 60s TV show. The only thing they kept was the theme song and Jim Phelps, who became the lead from the second season up until it ended at its 7th season and for the brief revival in the 80s. Phelps is the villain in the first movie played by Jon Voight instead of Peter Graves who played him throughout both series-he was apparently upset they didn't even ask him to come back and they made his character evil)

#mission impossible #bond #jim phelps #ethan hunt #tom cruise #jon voight #peter graves

[fourthreee]

Procrastinated writing the middle of my story by drawing a cover. Now I want to do illustrations for the whole thing.

#mission: impossible 1966 #cinnamon carter #dan briggs #rollin hand #barney collier #willy armitage #jim phelps #mission impossible #my art #fanart #dead chuffed with this actually #despite the shortcuts #i made this on a tablet which is why the text is a bit crap #android needs dtp software