Fausta, The Nazi Wonder Woman
Writers: Bruce Shelly and David Ketchum
Director: Barry Crane
Airdate: April 28, 1976
Set in: 1942

Synopsis: In Nazi Intelligence Headquarters in Germany, Fausta Grables has been sent by the Fuhrer himself to Colonel Kesselman to head "Operation Fraulein" to capture Wonder Woman. Grables shows Kesselman film footage of Wonder Woman. When he dismisses it as American propaganda, Grables vows to bring Wonder Woman in personally, using Major Steve Trevor as bait. The Nazis are aware of their relationship, and plan to use it to capture her. Fausta leaves immediately for Washington D.C. with her henchmen.

Meanwhile, Steve is working late at the War Department. He sends Diana home, but as she leaves, Fausta enters, disguised as a cleaning woman. She gasses Trevor, and smuggle him out of the building inside a trash bin. The next morning, Diana is very worried when she arrives to find Steve's desk in disarray, and the Major missing. Her fears are confirmed when she receives a phone call from Fausta posing as "Elouise Livingston", and saying that she found a note from Steve meant for Wonder Woman. She goes on to tell Diana that the note was found near a warehouse. Diana thanks her, and changing to Wonder Woman, rushes to the warehouse.

As Fausta and her cohorts observe, Wonder Woman easily handles the thugs waiting for her, and to their amazement, bends steal in her bare hands, and flings the men about like toys. Fausta is thrilled that the Amazon is everything she hoped. Fausta is particularly interested in her golden lasso, watching her use it to force one of the kidnappers to reveal Steve's whereabouts. Wonder Woman rescues Steve, who was bound and gagged inside a crate. Allowing them to escape, Fausta and her associate, a Nazi spy undercover as an American Colonel, marvel at the truth of Wonder Woman's abilities, and hatch a plot to capture her and return with her to Germany.

Steve, recovered from his ordeal, and Etta attend a bond rally where Wonder Woman is scheduled to appear. Etta expresses regret that Diana had an appointment to give blood and is going to miss Wonder Woman, but Steve tells her with a wink that someday, he'll introduce the Yeoman personally. However, when Wonder Woman appears at the rally, she is wearing a golden mask. For the crowd's enjoyment, she swings a heavy mallet and rings a bell to set the target for the day's rally. Suddenly, a second Wonder Woman appears—and she knocks the bell into the air, saying with a smile that the sky's the limit when it comes to buying bonds. Fausta, disguised as Wonder Woman, lifts a heavy barbell, to the crowd's delight. However, when Diana goes to life the barbell, she falls through a trap door and is knocked out by Fausta's agents with chloroform. Using her own lasso, the agents demand to know how to render her helpless. Unable to resist, a groggy Diana tells them if they remove her golden girdle she will be only as strong as a normal women. Knocking her out completely, they put her into a waiting car at the side of the stage.

Meanwhile, Steve and Etta rush to meet "Wonder Woman" as she is hustled off stage, and Steve recognises her as an impostor and demands to know what they've done with the real Wonder Woman. Fausta drives off, and Steve and Etta commandeer a taxicab and follow Fausta and the Colonel until the cab runs out of gas. Stuck with no gas coupons, Steve is frustrated and angry, and then he hears the sound of engines. Running out of the cab, he sees an unconscious Wonder Woman being loaded into a Nazi plane. He runs to try and stop them, but succeeds only in capturing the Colonel, who ells him he is too late. Wonder Woman is being taken to the Fatherland.

General Blankenship refuses to allow Steve to mount a rescue operation, saying it's too dangerous to go after her behind enemy lines. He tries to assure Steve that Wonder Woman is capable of taking care of herself, but a distraught Major protests. The General orders Steve to take some leave. Steve disobeys the order, instead spending hors in the radio room in the hopes that they will get some clue as to where the plane is headed. When they hear a transmission from "Operation Fraulein", Steve and Etta are thrilled to know that Wonder Woman is alive. Steve tells Etta that he's going on furlough—behind enemy lines, and asks her to cover for him with the General. She reluctantly agrees, and Steve hitches a ride to the UK aboard a friend's bomber, meeting with a friend, Charlie Scotts at England's Office of Strategic Services. Charlie offers to connect Steve with a contact inside Germany, and the Major takes off for the Fatherland.

Meanwhile, a chained and helpless Wonder Woman is interrogated by Colonel Kesselman, who still believes her strength and speed to be mere parlour tricks. Wonder Woman notes his dismissive comments towards Fausta, despite the fact that the female operative succeeded in capturing her. Colonel Kesselman wants to torture information out of Diana, but Fausta tells him there is no need—and demonstrates by using the lasso. Against her will, Diana tells them about Paradise Island. However, Kesselman finds the notion of a secret island of super-women ridiculous, and foolishly tosses the lasso and golden girdle away—only to have Wonder Woman catch them and, her strength restores, burst out of the leather restraints holding her. Unaware that Steve is in Germany, she escapes.

Unbeknownst to Steve, his contact, Rojak, is leading the him in circles. The Nazi double agent is all set to do-away with him when Steve realises the deception. However, before Rojak can kill him, he is struck from behind by a young girl with a shovel. A member of the Underground, she leads him to the castle headquarters of "Operation Fraulein." However, Steve's rescue attempt turns to disaster, as Fausta and Kesselman capture him and plan to sue him as bait to re-capture Wonder Woman.

When Diana Prince arrives at work the next day, she is confused when the General informs her that Steve has been taken captive by the Nazis, and Etta confesses that Steve went to Germany to try and rescue Wonder Woman. Visibly upset by this news, the General suggests Diana take a few more days off, and she thanks him. Wonder Woman leaves immediately for Operation Fraulein headquarters, where Steve warns her that it's a trap. As she destroys the chains binding him, the walls begin to close on them. Kesselman gloats, sure that his trap will kill them both, but Fausta remains wary. However, the hydraulic motors are no match for Wonder Woman's strength, and they escape only to be caught in a trap of Fausta's design—a cistern filled with water, and electrical cables ready to electrocute both her and Steve at the flip of a switch. Wonder Woman once again confronts Kesselman and Grables, and appeals to Fausta as a woman. Can't the agent see that Kesselman completely dismisses her because of her gender? Fausta begins to waver, and Kesselman pushes her into the water to die with the Americans. Fausta betrays her superior officer, helping Wonder Woman and Steve escape, and the former Nazi joins the German Underground.

Curiouser, and Curiouser...
The first comics villain adapted for the tv series, Fausta Grables first appeared in Comic Cavalcade #2 Spring 1943 issue in a story entitled "Wanted by Hitler, Dead or Alive", and the contest between Wonder Woman and Fausta at the War Bond rally was pulled directly from the pages of the comic.

Applause-worthy: In a nifty nod to real history, the cab Steve commandeers was meant for "Senator Truman" who will, of course, become first Vice-President, and finally President Truman when FDR dies in office. Steve dictates a note for Diana to Etta, and insists that Etta sign it with the familiar "Steve", a fact which seems to fluster the WAC slightly. An insubordinate Steve defies General Blankenship, and stages a daring rescue in Nazi Germany, turning the tables nicely on the familiar "Wonder Woman always saves Major Trevor" scenario...

Cringe-worthy: Unfortunately, Steve's rescue attempt is a bit of a miss—Diana frees herself, and has to go back to Germany to rescue the now-captured Steve. The episode features the first "girdle grab" where Diana loses the magic belt that allows her to retain her strength and cunning away from Paradise Island when her own magic lasso is used against her. Also, it sets up the unfortunate trend of chloroforming/gassing Wonder Woman in order to incapacitate her, and has some needlessly kinky bondage scenes. Also, Grables radios to headquarters speaking English rather than German for no apparent reason other than the fact that Steve needed to overhear that radio broadcast.

Episode entry by Yeoman Prince