Although PTSD wasn't identified as such until after the Vietnam War, it has been a part of every war ever fought. In this extremely good episode of Combat, a captured Saunders has to fake being afflicted with this disorder so that he can safely get back to his own forces. The Odyssey begins with Hanley trying to keep the squad together while they're under attack from german forces. After the confrontation, Hanley notices Saunders is missing. He's been wounded and taken by a French civilian to a german medical outpost near some railroad tracks. He's dressed in a Wehrmacht uniform and has tags identifying him as a german. When a german doctor and his aide step away for a few moments, the civilian tells Saunders his only chance of survival is to pretend as if he's shellshocked and unable to talk or hear. Saunders manages to successfully fool the doctor, but his assistant is not convinced. He fires a rifle right beside his head, but Saunders doesn't even blink. Believing he really is battle fatigued, the germans put Saunders on a train for injured personnel. Here, he deceives more germans who ask him for a cigarette by pretending not to know how to talk. Once they leave the car, Saunders pulls the train's emergency brakes and busts open a car holding many American POWs. Saunders and a prisoner named Private Loring manage to escape into the countryside. Loring finds a picture in Saunders' uniform of the family the uniform belonged to, which leads to Saunders telling him not to look through things like that. Loring and Saunders eventually come to a farmhouse, with only Saunders opting to go inside. Inside, he finds a woman who doesn't believe he's an american because of the german uniform. Shortly after, a truck pulls up outside. Some german troops enter the house, find Saunders putting on his facade of trauma, and escort him out. Loring is shot once he's discovered, and Saunders has to force himself not to react. He and the other germans are loaded into the truck, which then leaves. On the way to the front, Saunders is ridiculed by most of the others for appearing traumatized, but an overweight soldier named Sergeant Weber defends him by pointing out he's in the Afrika Korps. As the truck comes under attack from US forces, the germans jump out and Saunders hurls himself into a shell crater for cover. Weber jumps in after him. When the americans kill enough germans, Saunders picks up a kar98k and points it at Weber when he isn't looking. Saunders tells him he's not actually a german and that he doesn't want to have to kill him, but is forced to after Weber tries to go for his weapon. Saunders is then rescued by american forces, and can't believe Weber is dead, saying he shot him in the leg. When a soldier tries going through Weber's pockets in order to see where the rest of his platoon is, Saunders tells him he's the only one who should look through them. Once again, Combat defines the word classic with this one, and I was surprised Morrow didn't direct it. The main reason why this episode is so great is because for one of the only times in the series, Saunders is completely at the mercy of the germans, and has to put on an act for an agonizing amount of time in order to deceive them. Like some other episodes, Odyssey also shows really well that people fighting a war often have more in common with each other than they realize, even if they're on opposite sides. I loved seeing Weber be the only enemy soldier to show respect towards Saunders, which makes it all the more sad when the latter is forced to shoot him later on. The look of betrayal on his face when he realizes Saunders is american is brutal. Weber actually put trust in him, and it shows how war brings out both the best and worst of the human race. Overall, Combat has a lot of great episodes, but this one (I'm sure) will remain among the best long after I've watched the two remaining seasons.
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