History Headscratchers / JamesBond

** Bond's standard cover is that her works for a company called Universal Exports. My guess is that [=MI6=] has deliberately cultivated a shady reputation for Universal Exports, implicating them in stuff like smuggling, corporate espionage, even assassination. So when Bond, a Universal Exports employee, shows up asking suspicious questions, getting into gunfights, and sneaking around secured facilities, people will figure out he's a spy and assassin, but they'll think he's a ''corporate'' spy and assassin, not a government one.

* What bothers me is the fact that MI-6 put effort into giving him a false ID, cover story and the like but every single time, he introduces himself by his real name, to the big bad, im pretty sure its established somewhere that alot of the criminal circles at least share info when they aren't being paranoiacs, so i'm pretty sure when they start seeing info that is basically 'cause of death: James Bond' start repeating itself, people would of gotten wise by now, did'nt MI-6 at least try to give him a false name?

** Her original actress speculated that they did once have a fling long ago when they first started at MI6, but mutually decided to keep it platonic after that.

** There is of course possibility that Connery is real James Bond who retired and provides deniability to MI6 for every Bond untill Craig (who is either reboot or Connery's son), as in "Sure we had an agent with that name, but he is retired here is his adress if you want to meet him." And after they visit Connery, someone suggests investigating possibility that some third party tried to false flag MI6 by impersonating retired agent.

** Bond's standard cover is that her works for a company called Universal Exports. My guess is that MI6 has deliberately cultivated a shady reputation for Universal Exports, implicating them in stuff like smuggling, corporate espionage, even assassination. So when Bond, a Universal Exports employee, shows up asking suspicious questions, getting into gunfights, and sneaking around secured facilities, people will figure out he's a spy and assassin, but they'll think he's a ''corporate'' spy and assassin, not a government one.

* ''Headscrathers/NoTimeToDie''

* Headscratchers/DrNo
* Headscratchers/FromRussiaWithLove
* Headscratchers/{{Goldfinger}}
* Headscratchers/{{Thunderball}}
* Headscratchers/YouOnlyLiveTwice
* Headscratchers/OnHerMajestysSecretService
* Headscratchers/DiamondsAreForever
* Headscratchers/LiveAndLetDie
* Headscratchers/TheManWithTheGoldenGun
* Headscratchers/TheSpyWhoLovedMe
* Headscratchers/{{Moonraker}}
* Headscratchers/ForYourEyesOnly
* Headscratchers/{{Octopussy}}
* Headscratchers/AViewToAKill
* Headscratchers/TheLivingDaylights
* Headscratchers/LicenceToKill
* Headscratchers/GoldenEye
* Headscratchers/TomorrowNeverDies
* Headscratchers/TheWorldIsNotEnough
* Headscratchers/DieAnotherDay
* Headscratchers/CasinoRoyale2006
* Headscratchers/QuantumOfSolace
* Headscratchers/{{Skyfall}}
* Headscratchers/{{Spectre}}

*** Not to mention Judi Dench's M, Irma Blunt from OHMSS, Ms. Bell from LALD and the ice-skating instructor from FYEO, just off the top of my head.

** It's worth noting that Bond has interacted with non-conventionally attractive women in his missions. Judi Dench's M, Irma Blunt from OHMSS, Ms. Bell from LALD and the ice-skating instructor from FYEO, just off the top of my head. Bond simply doesn't flirt, let alone have sex with them, and finds other ways to manipulate them if he has to.
** Also, [[FridgeBrillance a surprising percentage of Bond girls have some justification for being attractive,]] since many are spies or criminals themselves who may have gotten where they are partially for their ability to manipulate people through seduction. Another good chunk are molls or trophy wives.

** Amusingly, the novel version of ''Goldfinger'' starts off the main plot by the coincidence of having Bond, while stuck in an airport lobby in Miami, run into the guy who was sitting next to him when he was busy breaking Le Chiffre's bank in ''Casino Royale''. Remembering Bond from that instance is what prompts Mr. DuPont to offer him a short-term job, as Mr. DuPont suspects he is being cheated at cards (which he is, by Goldfinger) and knows Bond is a world-class card player.

** As pointed out above, it seems that there wasn't much of Spectre left after Blofeld failed for the first time. No matter who you are, volcano bases, custom spaceships and hundreds of soldiers don't come cheap. After YOLT, most of the people who could have challenged Blofeld for leadership probably pulled a ScrewThisI'mOuttaHere before they lost what little they had left and/or were arrested in their weakened state. All his following failed schemes, the last of which resulted in his death, were increasingly low key, involving less and less potential competitors.

*** The SPECTRE in the films is usually credited to the screenwriter who originally adapted ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'' (which was remade as ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain''), and the producers chose to quit using it. Even as indicated below, we see the death of Blofeld who is not referred to by name in the film ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', nor is SPECTRE mentioned.

*** [[Film/{{Spectre}} Nope.]] Ironically, it's [[HilariousInHindsight exactly the opposite way around]]! But you're sort of [[Series/{{Futurama}} techically correct. The best kind of correct!]]

* Headcratchers/OnHerMajestysSecretService

*** As the more realistic Sandbaggers and literary Bond show, Bond being 7th out of 9 agents is probably the only lethal-force using SIS agents who exist. MI6 isn't an army and nine agents is pretty damned good.

* How many agents does Q outfit? If he's MI6's quartermaster, be he only seems to deal with 00 agents. Do the average MI6 agents get weapons from a different person or something?

[[folder: Bond's still working for MI6]]
* FYI, in real life the term MI6 (Military Intelligence Section Six) had fallen into official disuse after World War I. So when will the show use the current official name of British foreign intelligence, that is Secret Intelligence Service (SIS)? I thought that, since the series has been rebooted, the writers will finally use SIS instead of MI6.

*** Fair point. But the thing is, James Bond and M are SIS agent themselves. They should refer their own service correctly, yes? Bond saying that he's MI6 is like CIA Director saying that he works for OSS.
*** Bond isn't an SIS agent. He's an MI6 agent. In whatever universe Bond takes place in, MI6 never fell into official disuse.
*** Maybe MI6 is in ''official'' disuse, but that doesn't stop it from being in ''operational'' disuse.

** Bond works for MI6 the same way that George Smiley works for the Circus - it's the name the creator used and it's got name recognition.

* Say what you will about it's ValuesDissonance, competent female secret agents have been common in the series as long as it's been on film, so why, whenever another 00 agent is seen or mentioned, are they never female? A 00's jobs seems to be a combination of universal infiltration (they can go in without a cover story), and elite commando. Whatever disadvantage the average woman might have in a fist fight with the average man could easily be made up for with Mi6's extensive training and arsenals, and seeing how much globe-trotting 00 agents do, wouldn't it be smart to have a more diverse set for different situations? We've never seen any black or asian 00's either.

** James Bond ''does'' hold the rank of Commander with the Royal Navy (like Fleming, he joined Naval Intelligence during the war, though due to the FloatingTimeline of the movies, that's not necessarily World War II). From Naval Intelligence he was recruited by MI6; the official story is that after leaving the Navy he took up a job with Universal Exports. The newspaper shown in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' obviously decided that "British Naval Commander Murdered" was a better headline than "Salesman murdered" even if it is slightly misleading.

* Okay, I know that there ''are'' other 00 agents that shown up in previous films, but all of them are either glorified RedShirts or turned traitor (006 and Raoul Silva, who's possibly a former 00 agent) they might as well dropped the whole 00 branch altogether, considering 007 seems to be the ''only'' agent who get things done. I mean, what's the point of 00 branch if 007 is the only competent agent, especially when it's implied by 006 in ''Film/GoldenEye'' that every 00 agents are supposed to be equal in skill, yet every time they showed up (aside from occasional meetings) and didn't turn evil, they dropped like flies. Now, I realize that the series is called 'James Bond' so 007 is supposed to be the main character who gets to advance the plot, but most of the time he seems to be the only field agent MI6 has at disposal. Don't James Bond get support from time to time in his missions? He did get 006's help at the beginning of ''[=GoldenEye=]'' (even if he was planning to go rogue anyway) When SPECTRE was a threat, Bond seems to be the only one going up agaisnt them. Where are the other agents? When Raoul Silva bombed MI6 and other agents are recalled, none of them are present at their new secret underground base or even be M's bodyguards at the public inquiry? I could go on.
** I believe Thunderball has shots of all the double 00 agents together who are ordered to follow up different lines of enquiry, Bond just so happens to have stumbled on clues that leads him on the correct path. Also, there is another double o agent mentioned in The Living Daylights as ready to take over the mission should Bond be unwilling to do it. But the bottom line is, as you note, the series is called 'James Bond' not 'Agents of MI6' and therefore concentrates on Bond...if it helps just pretend the other 00 agents are off having their own missions at the time.

** The car accessories sometimes get neglected. In ''Film/Goldeneye'', he simply didn't use any of them. In ''The World Is Not Enough'', the car got sliced in half before he got to fully use it.

* Okay, I know that there ''are'' other 00 agents that shown up in previous films, but all of them are either glorified RedShirts or turned traitor (006 and Raoul Silva, who's possibly a former 00 agent) they might as well dropped the whole 00 branch altogether, considering 007 seems to be the ''only'' agent who get things done. I mean, what's the point of 00 branch if 007 is the only competent agent, especially when it's implied by 006 in ''GoldenEye'' that every 00 agents are supposed to be equal in skill, yet every time they showed up (aside from occasional meetings) and didn't turn evil, they dropped like flies. Now, I realize that the series is called 'James Bond' so 007 is supposed to be the main character who gets to advance the plot, but most of the time he seems to be the only field agent MI6 has at disposal. Don't James Bond get support from time to time in his missions? He did get 006's help at the beginning of ''GoldenEye'' (even if he was planning to go rogue anyway) When SPECTRE was a threat, Bond seems to be the only one going up agaisnt them. Where are the other agents? When Raoul Silva bombed MI6 and other agents are recalled, none of them are present at their new secret underground base or even be M's bodyguards at the public inquiry? I could go on.

** But there ''are'' some older women. Take Number 2 in ''From Russia with Love'', for instance. Bond simply doesn't try to seduce those, he just fights them.

** MsFanservice mixed with RuleOfCool. Bond films would lose a lot of their appeal with Bond romancing plain-looking women.