Even though I believe the tense gun battles between american and german soldiers are the highlights of the Combat tv show, the series didn't shy away from more stealthy endeavors either. In this episode co-starring the excellent Twilight Zone era actor Albert Salmi, the writers show how effectively a suspenseful (and deadly) game of hide and seek can hold the audience's attention. Cat and Mouse begins with Saunders being told by Hanley that he has to return to the frontline even after he was nearly killed on patrol earlier. Saunders is now under the command of Sergeant Jenkins (Salmi), a no-nonsense soldier who shows Saunders little respect, despite them both risking their lives together. Similarly to their last patrol, this one goes badly for Saunders, Jenkins, and the other men. Several are killed by S-mines, (otherwise known as bouncing betties), dangerous german anti-personnel explosives that blast into the air and explode at groin height when someone steps near them. Eventually, everyone in the squad (except Saunders and Jenkins) is dead. The two survivors take refuge in a watermill, which the germans soon arrive at and start fortifying into a defensive position. Jenkins and Saunders are forced to move around quietly to avoid detection, and a german colonel eventually shows up at the outpost. Jenkins is eventually discovered and given to the colonel, who happens to speak english. Jenkins is threatened with execution unless he tells the germans exactly where the US lines are and draw them on a map. While this is going on, Saunders attempts to listen in by laying on some wooden planks on a story above the other soldiers. After an investigative german soldier discovers (by way of a wandering stray cat) that Saunders left his boots behind to move around quieter, he deduces there's another american hiding somewhere. Jenkins yells out for his friend to escape, which Saunders barely manages to do. He shoots several of the germans, but Jenkins is killed in the fighting. Back at base, Saunders is upset to learn that the information he and Jenkins were sent to gather came in some time earlier, meaning that Jenkins died for nothing. I have to say, I really like this episode. It definitely shows the utter futility of war, and how soldiers are often killed for a questionable purpose. While Jenkins isn't a good guy in the usual sense, he does ultimately sacrifice himself in the end by telling Saunders to run away. Speaking of Jenkins, Albert Salmi is the highlight of this episode. It's not a daily occurrence to see Vic Morrow get a squad member who is as equally stubborn as he is, but Jenkins fits this description. It's explained he had an officer's commission a few years back, but the military revoked it, thinking his violent personality wasn't fitting of someone who is supposed to be leading other soldiers. This is eerie, since Salmi would later go on to shoot his estranged wife and then himself in the early 90s. Aside from that, Cat and Mouse is another classic Combat episode delivered by the great Robert Altman, who only directed ten episodes, but is responsible for a large part of the show's success.
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