User Reviews

Saunders is assigned to destroy a German radar facility with his squad and the specialist Sgt. Rawlings guided by the Maquis Marchand. They need to succeed since seventeen bombers are waiting for them to take off. However the real Marchand was murdered and replaced by a German officer to lure the Allied forces. Along their journey, they are under surveillance of German soldiers and a sniper kills Sgt. Rawlings. Marchand guides them to a fake radar installation and they use the radio to communicate their success. Out of the blue, they learn that Marchand is not a French underground fighter and they need to destroy the true radar installation to protect the bombers. What will Saunders and his squad do?

"Counterplay" is an engaging episode of "Combat!". The screenplay should have been improved and hide that Marchand is an impostor. However, the tension in the episode is worthwhile watching. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Contra-Ataque" ("Counter Attack")

"Counterplay" is an excellent story about American & German intelligence having it out amidst the French Underground. The Americans know the Germans are having a field day with our B 17 Bombers because of a hidden radar station. They send radar expert Technical Sergeant Rawlings (played by H.M. Wynant) to recon German radar via White Rook and the French Underground.

Ed Lakso did it again, another superb screenplay! Character development is excellent and combined with the top notch acting of Peter Mark Richman, Robert Ellenstein, Louis Mercier, and Vic Morrow, White Rook puts on a great show. "Counterplay" is filled with suspense, intrigue, intellectual as well as physical combat, and some memorable scenes. When Littlejohn laid a whack on one of our antagonists, I broke up laughing; the timing was so perfect. I had to play it over a few times. Hats off to Richman's stunt double in the chase scene; he must have really hurt himself. And the ending sequence with Louis Mercier as Paul DuBois shows us a real long time pro in action. Excellent casting right down to the last player.

Director Alan Crosland Jr. really put the time & effort into "Counterplay." The major combat sequence was extremely well done and relative timing involved in the whole episode was perfect.

Caje's last line and Saunders' reply are priceless. "Counterplay" was extremely entertaining from every angle and some of the scenes make us laugh because they're so well done. Great episode!

The episodes involving a German imposter in the unit's midst tend to be among my favourite ones as they add intrigue and a layer of deception to proceedings. This one doesn't work as well, feeling a bit flat and contrived.

Rick assigns Vic and his squad to a very important mission: destroy a German radar installation before a vital Allied air mission is launched. They're to be guided to the radar outpost by a French resistance leader, but the Germans are way ahead of them: guest star Mark Richman is a German officer who killed the Frenchman and is impersonating them. He leads Vic and his men to the wrong outpost which they successfully blow up, and Vic radios back: "Mission accomplished" to his superiors who give the airplane operation the go-ahead.

When Vic learns of the deception, it's off to the real radar post with time running out to destroy it.

It's an exciting episode that benefits from the interesting story that lets the audience in on the German ruse from the outset, rather than suddenly spring it as a surprise "reveal".