Combat - More Episode Reviews

A Day in June. Season 1 - The first show. The episode starts out strong as we see Jansen and Murrow as Sargents and romantic rivals in England waiting for the D-Day invasion.  Both are still working on their characters so both Saunders and Hanley are rather generic. Shecky Greene shows up as the  "Comic Relief" and the whole episode is much more upbeat and humorous than the latter series. Unfortunately, it ends with a rather lame firefight. Rating ***

Any Second Now. Season 1 -Hanley is caught under rubble in church with an unexploded bomb. A well done episode - but predictable.  Rating **1/2

Just for the Record. Season 1 - An interesting, if completely unrealistic, episode that has Saunders captured.  Later, a reluctant French woman helps him escape. Another episode hurt by the requirement that at least 6 Germans must be killed per episode. Well written and allows Murrow get out of uniform and do a little acting. Rating ***

The Squad Season 1 -  A Southerner joins the squad and he's full of fight although disappointed to be in the "Yankee army".  Later on a night patrol, he endangers the squad  -then saves it - with his "Southern Valor".  Kudos to the actor (Bolt)  who prevents his character from being a Hillbilly stereotype. A pleasant, action-packed episode.   Rating **1/2

A Child's Game Season 5. Saunder's men are ordered to take a farmhouse that is defended by a determined group of teenage German soldiers. Although the ending is touching, this episode loses a lot of its punch through bad casting. The teenage German soldiers are simply too old and look a lot like the 18-20 year olds you'd find fighting any war. Had 14-16 y/o's been cast the episode would've been stronger Rating **1/2

The Wounded Don't Cry. Season 2. An excellent episode that could've been much better with more attention to realism. Yes, I know those Waffen SS were fanatics, but I doubt many wounded SS men were Kamikazes.  Nor do I think Kirby would've missed their badly hidden potato mashers. And the final shootout could have been much more interesting if it'd hadn't been so over-the- top. Somewhat of a missed opportunity but Murrow and Karl Böhm are superb. Rating ***