This quote's a failure, you know

April 23, 2023 4:02 PM

My college philosophy textbook* contained a quote from Mission: Impossible (the TV series, not the movies): "The world's a failure, you know. Someone, somewhere, made a terrible mistake." Anyone know what episode it's from? Or do I have to watch it from beginning to end?

* James L. Christian, Philosophy: An Introduction to the Art of Wondering. No, I don't still have the book but Google informs me that it doesn't specify which episode. This textbook is the only result that comes up when you search for the quote.

posted by goatdog to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

This site purports to have complete transcripts of every episode of the TV show. I tried doing a Google search of just that site for various snippets of the quote you're looking for but came up empty-handed.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 4:11 PM on April 23, 2023

Response by poster: I didn't realize that there was a 1980s revival of the show. Maybe it's in there somewhere.
posted by goatdog at 4:40 PM on April 23, 2023

Best answer: From season 4 episode 21, Lover's Knot.
posted by xxx9038709992203 at 4:42 PM on April 23, 2023 [8 favorites]

Response by poster: You are amazing! Thank you!
posted by goatdog at 5:03 PM on April 23, 2023

In case you’re interested in quotes with a similar sentiment (or just a chuckle), the question made me think of this Douglas Adams quote from the Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy: Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake coming down from the trees in the first place, and some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no-one should ever have left the oceans. Link to Goodreads page with a bit more of the surrounding text, about the problem with and the fate of our planet.
posted by meijusa at 9:55 PM on April 23, 2023 [2 favorites]