Edmund Blackadder spends much of Season 4 comically trying to "get out of" the war, or the front lines. His efforts are for naught. By the end of this episode the mood has changed, the laughter stops, and he does what all soldiers do: scared to death, but you go anyway. They all do, even Captain Darling, who didn't realize he would be in this position and has had the rug yanked out from under him at the last minute.
I discovered the Blackadder series in the early '90s and watched all four seasons. At that time I was living with my grandparents, and when my grandfather and I were watching this particular episode, and Baldrick questions why there has to be a war, my grandfather, a homebound WW2 vet, said, "Good point."
When they go over the top and the film is slowed down, and the piano is playing those end notes, it seems very final. The red poppies on the field are a quiet testimony, as to any battle, in any war.
When they go over the top and the film is slowed down, and the piano is playing those end notes, it seems very final. The red poppies on the field are a quiet testimony, as to any battle, in any war.