Once again, I find myself writing about another episode of Combat when, earlier today, I wanted to review something else I have a lot of feelings for. I have to do this though because this episode is so brilliantly made that I can't put off discussing it for even one day. In this extremely riveting episode, we are finally afforded the opportunity to see Caje, the squad's only French speaking member, becoming the main focus. The episode begins with the squad embroiled in a large and chaotic gun battle set in a town. The fighting is savage. House to house, and room by room. In the heat of the moment, Caje throws a grenade through the window of a house, only to find there are no Germans in there. A french civilian gets in the way of the explosion and is killed. Saunders and some other men later find Caje in a state of shock over what he has done, and he has the telltale, unfocused gaze of a soldier who's seen too many things he didn't want to. Because Caje has accidentally killed someone the same ethnicity as him, it weighs him down heavily, but this isn't even the tip of the iceberg. Later, Caje comes to a houseboat docked in a river where he finds a bottle of alcohol and a kind of music box that features a miniature couple dancing. He tries to relax here for a while until Saunders shows up. Saunders, at first, attempts to sympathize with what Caje is having to deal with, since he knows how difficult this can be. He's had many people serving under him get killed, but tells Caje he can't put the blame on himself or it's going to destroy him inside. Shortly after, a young girl enters the houseboat, and Saunders recognizes her as the daughter of the man whom Caje killed earlier. Micheline, as she is called, has no idea what happened to her father, but she knows her mother was killed. Caje talks to her in french, and Saunders suggests Caje does the unthinkable and tell her what happened to her dad. He does, but doesn't say he was the one who killed him. It's still an incredibly difficult moment for the both of them. This starts a caring, but in the long run very destructive, relationship between Caje and Micheline (Andrea Darvi). Caje feels like it's his responsibility to make sure nothing happens to her, and it begins to interfere with his duties as a soldier. Hanley tells Saunders that he better get Caje to start obeying orders again instead of trying to comfort Micheline, or else he's going to face charges. Meanwhile, Caje spends as much time with Micheline as possible, almost like there is no war. Eventually, Saunders has had enough and he does something he didn't want to have to do. He tells Caje the squad can't wait any longer and they need him back at the front to fend off an imminent german attack. An old man has been found who is willing to take care of Micheline (for a price). As expected, Caje doesn't like the idea of leaving her in the care of someone who only wants money and not Micheline herself, so he tries to resist giving her up. Micheline is pried from his arms forcibly and given to the other guy, and Saunders lets Caje know getting this attached to her is his own fault. Back in the town, Caje has a small amount of time to feel sorry for himself before the attack starts, but Saunders, frustrated and out of compassion by this point, plainly tells him if anything happens to Micheline, he won't know about it. His only job is to stay behind Saunders and listen to orders, nothing else. The attack comes, and the squad fights just as hard as they did in the beginning of the episode. After reinforcements come up to drive the germans back, Caje unexpectedly gets his wish and sees that Saunders has retrieved Micheline for him. He still has to leave her in the care of the old man, but at least he got to say goodbye to her. Caje is also told that if he wasn't in the village, she could have died. This is it, the perfect Combat episode. I certainly didn't expect this level of quality from an episode so late into the season (the last episode of season 1 as a matter of fact), but it's a testament to how well written a lot of these shows are. There are so many different reasons to praise this episode. I really liked seeing Saunders undergo so much change in just one episode. He starts out understanding what Caje is going through, but quickly loses his patience when he realizes he can't get over what he did. The battle scenes at the beginning and end are greatly directed and really make you feel as if you're in a warzone. Unsurprisingly however, the best thing about the episode is how it portrays Caje, who for the first time, finally has an episode dedicated to just him. Pierre Jalbert shines bright in this episode, and his heartbreaking (and happy) interactions with Micheline steal the show. It's also worth noting I think this is the angriest Saunders has ever been in the show so far, and at someone who isn't Kirby, no less. During the scene where the squad is fighting in the town, and Caje wants to go back and save Micheline, Saunders hits him not once, but twice. Overall, I was really in awe of how great this episode turned out to be. Season 1 of this great show sure went out with a bang.
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