Disguised as German soldiers, Hogan's Heroes must abort a mission to blow up a bridge when a German patrol surprises them, and when Sergeant Carter, struggling to carry the dynamite and the plunger detonator, gets left behind, he must juggle more than "One Army at a Time" as Carter not only finds himself accepted as a member of the Heer (German Army) unit on patrol--he receives a field promotion for disrupting the saboteurs and capturing their explosives!
That's the setup for writer Laurence Marks's wacky premise that he approaches with his usual situational plausibility--this isn't a grandiose or elaborate scheme--and narrative clarity that sees the Heroes still needing to destroy the bridge, and since Carter's "moonlighting" job as a German soldier means he technically can locate and recover the ordnance, Colonel Hogan, the leader of the Allied intelligence and sabotage unit operating covertly from Stalag 13, "orders" a reluctant Carter to return to his new German buddies to get back the Heroes' explosives.
However, when Gestapo Major Hochstetter gets wind of the sabotage attempt, he immediately suspects the Heroes of being the perpetrators and arrives at Stalag 13 to order commandant Colonel Klink to increase security including stepped-up roll calls that keep Carter hopping to and fro, and when Carter learns that his new German unit will be shipping out shortly--his being issued earmuffs means, as he puts it, they won't be invading Miami--that only steps up the urgency to get the dynamite and get out of the German army.
Throw in an equally wacky resolution to destroy the bridge, and "One Army at a Time" seems like a tight, modest, well-executed (by executive producer Edward Feldman stepping in as director) "Hogan's Heroes" episode, doesn't it?
Yes, it is, but seeing as it appears near the end of Season Five, there is still a sense of retread happening here as the variations on a theme are becoming repetitive; Carter's being impressed into the German war effort echoes Season Two's "The Swing Shift," when Corporal Newkirk, masquerading as a German factory worker, finds himself drafted into the army. And, when Carter, returning to Stalag 13 in broad daylight as German "Private/Acting Corporal Hans Wagner," must conspicuously upbraid Hogan to avoid suspicion, it's another rehash of Larry Hovis's shouting-Hitler shtick.
Hovis does get a nice spotlight here, and Marks, never forgetting that the Germans were always formidable foes, gives Howard Caine and Werner Klemperer some authority for their Hochstetter and Klink, respectively, in limited screen time. But by this time, the series was trapped in its narrow formula, making "One Army at a Time" the same old wine in yet another new bottle.
REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?
That's the setup for writer Laurence Marks's wacky premise that he approaches with his usual situational plausibility--this isn't a grandiose or elaborate scheme--and narrative clarity that sees the Heroes still needing to destroy the bridge, and since Carter's "moonlighting" job as a German soldier means he technically can locate and recover the ordnance, Colonel Hogan, the leader of the Allied intelligence and sabotage unit operating covertly from Stalag 13, "orders" a reluctant Carter to return to his new German buddies to get back the Heroes' explosives.
However, when Gestapo Major Hochstetter gets wind of the sabotage attempt, he immediately suspects the Heroes of being the perpetrators and arrives at Stalag 13 to order commandant Colonel Klink to increase security including stepped-up roll calls that keep Carter hopping to and fro, and when Carter learns that his new German unit will be shipping out shortly--his being issued earmuffs means, as he puts it, they won't be invading Miami--that only steps up the urgency to get the dynamite and get out of the German army.
Throw in an equally wacky resolution to destroy the bridge, and "One Army at a Time" seems like a tight, modest, well-executed (by executive producer Edward Feldman stepping in as director) "Hogan's Heroes" episode, doesn't it?
Yes, it is, but seeing as it appears near the end of Season Five, there is still a sense of retread happening here as the variations on a theme are becoming repetitive; Carter's being impressed into the German war effort echoes Season Two's "The Swing Shift," when Corporal Newkirk, masquerading as a German factory worker, finds himself drafted into the army. And, when Carter, returning to Stalag 13 in broad daylight as German "Private/Acting Corporal Hans Wagner," must conspicuously upbraid Hogan to avoid suspicion, it's another rehash of Larry Hovis's shouting-Hitler shtick.
Hovis does get a nice spotlight here, and Marks, never forgetting that the Germans were always formidable foes, gives Howard Caine and Werner Klemperer some authority for their Hochstetter and Klink, respectively, in limited screen time. But by this time, the series was trapped in its narrow formula, making "One Army at a Time" the same old wine in yet another new bottle.
REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?