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What's with all the Exciting Music during the opening shots of Hanley's jeep? Are we in the middle of a chase scene and just don't know it? WOW! Our ENGs didn't even last three minutes! Okay, Walsh is only wounded, but still.
Hanley walks down those steps very gracefully. He never once looks at his feet. That's hard to do. Sidecars always look silly. Even when they're bearing potentially menacing Krauts, they're still silly. I never see this many house numbers painted on the walls in any other deserted French town we pass through. How convenient.
What a trendy little French boy -- he has a Beatles haircut. Um, Hanley? Since when does giving a kid chocolate make them leave you alone? (DA!) -- Hanley should sneak around half-crouched more often. He does it veddy nicely. There's a nice shot of Hanley's giant shadow entering 9 Place Vendee. Very atmospheric. But the shot of his shadow climbing the stairs is a bit odd. The shadow start out behind him, but by the time he reaches the top, it gets ahead of him. Are there multiple lights lining the staircase? Why, oh why does Hanley assume the wounded guy he finds is Captain Howard? Shouldn't he at least check for dogtags? And do Kraut and American radios look that much alike? With all the buildings around, Hanley just has to jump in the truck for cover? The very truck the Krauts are loading up? Really? That's the best cover he can find? There are buildings only a few steps away. But then we wouldn't use up a bunch of screen time with him bouncing around in a truck giving cigarettes to Kraut drivers. That would be such a shame, you know. Why doesn't the kid just take Hanley by the hand and lead him down the stairs to the wounded American? That dog doesn't seem to like the kid much -- he runs off a lot. Is he looking for Saunders? Those stairs did it again -- Hanley's shadow snuck right past him this time too. Hey, I dig those handy buckles on Hanley's boots that're the perfect size for his bayonet! All that dying Kraut agent says is, "noch einmal." That's not much of a "last message." I'd really want my last words to be something more memorable than, "yet again." Or is he saying he's been killed before? Hanley's awfully sure there are no Kraut snipers left in the town, isn't he? He stops right in the middle of the road to light up. This ep isn't as boring as I remembered it, and Hanley always looks nice when he's playing spy, but it'll never be on my list of favorites.
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For once, we don't assume
the mine we hit was the only one in the forest. Smart boy, our
lieutenant.
