"The Monkees" Rewatch: Alias Micky Dolenz

“Alias Micky Dolenz” starts out with Micky being approached by a nervous and aggressive man asking him, “When’d you get out?” Mike then convinces Micky to report the man to the police only for the station to erupt in fear, because like the man on the street, the officers mistook him for gangster and “most viscous killer in America” Baby Face Morales. The chief explains that, while they caught Baby Face, his accomplices remain at large along with the loot they stole and he would like Micky to impersonate Morales so they could finish the job. After his initial refusal, Micky agrees and visits Baby Face under the guise of being a cousin who wants to be just like him and asks for advice in order to make his impersonation more authentic. The chief then instructs Micky to go to the Purple Pelican in search for Baby Face’s henchmen Tony and Mugsy. Once there, he runs into Face’s girlfriend, Ruby, who tells him that Tony “is top dog now” and may not give him “his split.” Soon Tony and the others confront Micky-Face and a fight breaks out at the bar when Micky-Face asserts he’s not a has-been, but an “am-is” and wants his cut. After the brawl, Tony concedes top dog status to Micky-Face and agrees to his plan to pick up the diamonds. However, Tony’s misgivings lead the gangsters to tail Micky back to the pad and immediately take him where the jewels were both stolen and hidden with Mike and Peter in tow and the recently escaped Baby Face not far behind.

And finally, at episode twenty-five, we finally get a Micky-centric episode! Cue the cheers, glitter, jubilation, confetti, etcetera. Not only is it Micky-centric, but it also serves as Micky’s doppelgänger episode, almost as if the show runners wanted to make up for their oversight. (Or probably not, I’m just spitballin’.) But, of course, while it’s all well and good that Mick gets center stage, there’s a more important issue question to answer: is the episode any good? It’s… okay. It has the great line, “If you punch me the mouth and I’ll kick you in the head.” The episode’s songs and the romp/rumble in the bar are great, but when one is “Mary, Mary” that’s just a given. (Oh, and hey, even one of the songs is a double. Herrherr. Ahem. Anyway.) But I think my favorite bit might be Baby Face’s girlfriend, Ruby. The plot moves rather fast so she doesn’t get much screen time, but I think she’s a riot. Maureen Arthur, the actress who plays her, has great facial expressions.

Of course, the aforementioned fast plot does cause some problems for me, as it usually does. My biggest problem being that in less than two minutes the chief goes from meeting Micky and mistaking him for Baby Face to telling a teenager to impersonate a criminal in order to capture a bunch of other criminals. The show may frame other authority figures in the show as bigger idiots or assholes, but the chief’s gotta be one of the stupidest either way.

“Alias Micky Dolenz” is also notable for its distinct lack of Davy. Well, that is, until the last minute of the episode, an interview segment with him explaining how and why he wasn’t in it. Because I guess the producers just couldn’t help themselves or trust the audience to stick around without him for even a little bit.