History Awesome / MissionImpossible

For the Awesome page of the ''Mission: Impossible'' films, see [[Awesome/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries here]].

* In "Death Squad", when Barney and his cellmate are about to be hanged by a corrupt police force for crimes they (certainly Barney) didn't commit, Mr. Collier's refusal of a blindfold drives his formerly nervy colleague to take his punishment like a man and similarly decline. [[spoiler:Fortunately this doesn't become a DyingMomentOfAwesome for either of them, as the rope has been rigged to break by the IM Force as part of the rescue.]]

* The already awesome theme music has a PublicSecretMessage: the Morse Code symbol for the letter M is "dash-dash", while Morse Code for the letter I is "dot-dot". So the theme music, which is built around a "dash-dash, dot-dot" rhythm, is also typing out the show's initials in Morse Code.

* Several instalments, like "The Killer", "The Council" (parts one ''and'' two), "The Mind Of Stefan Miklos", "Operation Rogosh" and "The Heir Apparent" are basically Episodes Of Awesome.

!![[Series/MissionImpossible The TV Series]]

!![[Film/MissionImpossible The first movie]]
* The CIA heist, showing that an intense scene in a summer blockbuster can be done without explosions and body count, but with an emphasis on silence.
* Ethan's escape from Kittridge, as soon as he figures out the mission was a mole hunt with him suspect number one, he just keeps him talking until he blows up the fishtank as a distraction. Causing him to [[OutrunTheFireBall outrun a wall of water.]]
* The climax at the end definitely deserves a mention, but it wouldn't be complete without the music. Until this point, the music has been this cacophony of musical instruments. But when [[spoiler:Kreiger nearly loses control of the helicopter before you think he]] slices Ethan's head off, the music does the M:I equivalent of a "CHARGE!!!" and then blows out the M:I Theme crystal clear in a different key in a musical equivalent of "And the fight is on!". It's so awesome it makes this troper smile and get goosebumps. The sequence is so RuleOfCool that even Creator/RogerEbert admits in his review that even though there's no plausible way a chopper could fit inside the Chunnel and have room to maneuver, it looks so damn awesome that you simply let it go.
* Let's not forget the scene immediately preceding the fight atop the train. Ethan ruins Phelps' entire plan just with a pair of glasses.
-->"Good morning, Mr. Phelps."

* In "Robot", Leonard Nimoy plays (in addition to Paris) Gemini - the double of a deceased premier; usually when he or Martin Landau play multiple characters in an episode with makeup on there's still a touch of IdenticalStranger, but Gemini/the premier genuinely doesn't look anything like Paris. The makeup department (specifically Bob Dawn)'s Crowning Moment Of Awesome for the series.
* On the meta level, Barbara Bain played Cinnamon Carter for three seasons. She won three Emmys for the role.

!! The film series as a whole
* Tom Cruise's ongoing pattern of unbelievable commitment to the projects, from risking his life to do various stunts to meeting fans at four different premieres for ''Mission Impossible III'' within four hours, having personally piloted his helicopter between them, to conducting the freaking orchestra for the ''Mission Impossible'' theme.