Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
The survivors at the beginning of this episode talk about life in the aftermath of Bastogne, about trying to pick up and carry on, and how hard it was after seeing their friends die in such great numbers. Everything was about what needed to be done. They also speak of a feeling that started to spread among the men, a gut feeling that the war had turned a corner and might be ending, a feeling like they might actually live through this thing.
The episode takes place on a few days in February of 1945. Easy Company is stationed on the line at Haguenau, France, just across the river from a full German company. The 101st Battallion is known now as the “Battered Bastards of Bastogne, and the episode picks up with David Webster (Eion Bailey) rejoining Easy after an extended stay in the hospital. He’s been absent since Operation Market Garden, basically, and watching him try and rejoin these men after all the experiences he’s missed, it’s obvious that there is enormous resentment felt towards him. Other guys like Popeye and Guarnere managed to go AWOL from their hospitals to help Easy fight in Bastogne, and the fact that Webster took advantage of every possible minute of rehab and rest doesn’t sit well with anyone. Webster feels that resentment from the moment he arrives. He’s treated worse than the replacements are treated.
When he goes to check in for formal assignment, he finds Carwood Lipton (Donald Wahlberg) still working, even with a wicked case of pneumonia. There’s other men volunteering for dangerous work or returning early from medical leave all around Webster, reminding him of his decision. There’s Lt. Jones (Colin “Baby Tom” Hanks), a West Point graduate who is eager to get right into things, to get his hands dirty, and who has no idea how to step into the chain of command above battle-hardened soldiers. Nixon and Winters show up to discuss a patrol that’s been ordered by Col. Sink (Dale Dye). It’s a dangerous night raid on the other side of the river, and no one wants to go. Nixon and Winters have been told to find 15 men to go, and it’s obvious that they want to be cautious, that this seems unnecessary to them. Lt. Jones volunteers several times to go, but they refuse, telling him he doesn’t have the experience to go.
Webster and Jones are assigned to 2nd Platoon, and they arrive as the bearers of bad news, having heard the names of the men who are supposed to go on the patrol. It’s like handing them a death sentence. McClung, Heffron, and Ramirez are picked first, then Malarkey is picked to lead the patrol, and then Popeye, Jackson, Shifty, and Webster are also chosen to fill out the ranks a bit. In the day that unfolds before the patrol, we see the way these men are living at this point. The smallest things have become luxuries. A new shipment of PX supplies. Showers. Every death feels even more pointless. Someone carrying a sack of potatoes from one building to another catches a stray shell. There’s exceptional work by Scott Grimes as Malarkey this week. He’s somewhere beyond tired by this point, eyes sunken and burnt, and it’s like he’s been crushed in some way, his posture that of a man who can barely keep holding himself up. Jones makes the case to Nixon and Winters that Malarkey needs a break, and Miller ends up assigned to lead the patrol instead, with Jones along to observe.
The mission briefing by Winters is succinct and direct: cross the river, search a house, take prisoners, blow it up, come back alive. The difficult part is the waiting from the time of the briefing to the moment of the actual patrol. Everyone handles it differently, and watching this montage, I was struck by the subtle power of the script by Erik Bork and Bruce C. McKenna and the direction by Tony To. This episode does as good a job as I’ve ever seen of dramatizing that particular drive that’s needed to be an effective soldier and a good company. There’s really no room for thoughts of self. People have to be willing to volunteer. There’s a sense of duty that simply becomes part of daily life. You do things because they need to be done. No one wants to do them. No one sane would do any of them. But still, there’s work to finish, and people step up. Webster doesn’t fit in Easy because ultimately it’s his own ass he’s most worried about. This is the real nature of heroism we see in these guys, a simple comittment to the greater good. Bailey does strong work, and so does the cast around him. These guys have gotten to be such a limber ensemble by this point, their chemistry so solid, that there’s no weak link to single out. Everyone shines when given the chance.
The patrol itself is a remarkable set piece. There’s a great sense of geography, especially after the briefing. We know what they’re supposed to do, so we’re able to keep a running barometer on how well (or badly) things are going. One boat out of the four doesn’t even make it across the river, flipping just a few feet from shore. As the other three boats land and everyone heads in, the action becomes immersive. Once again, we don’t just watch these scenes on this show; we feel them. Credit all the tech departments for such consistently impressive work.
Things almost go perfectly. Only one American is killed, and it’s actually his own fault. Still, just the sight of his blood seems to craze some of the other men, and Jones has to work hard to keep the soldiers from killing the German prisoners they take. The cumulative grief has just gotten to be too much for these men to keep carrying at this point. This close to the light at the end of the tunnel, things truly get dark. The next day, Cobb, Miller and Webster stand on the bank on their side of the river, listening to the anguished cries of a wounded German they left on the opposite bank the night before. He hasn’t died yet, and no one has moved to rescue him. His cries echo across the otherwise quiet morning, an eerie sound. “Should we put him out of his misery?” Webster asks. Cobb practically spits his answer. “Fuck his misery.”
Because of the “success” of the patrol, Col. Sink wants another one, and even shows up for a few minutes to pep talk Winters and Nixon. He’s spent the day bragging to the other brass about what his battallion did. It makes Winters sick to think about sending the men back across for no good reason. We see him wrestling to make sense of the idea, and when he arrives to brief them for the second patrol, he lays out the plan with the same efficiency as always. It’s how he ends it that gets their attention:
”Okay... now I want you all to get a full night’s sleep. In the morning you will report to me that you made it across the river but were unable to secure any live prisoners. Understand? I want you sharp tomorrow... we’re moving off the line.”
And just like that, the patrol doesn’t happen. There’s a report filed and everyone acts like it happened, but the men of Easy Company are spared this last lurch into the breach. It is an act of unspeakable kindness on the part of Winters, and as the episode ends, we see other small joys visited upon some of these men. Lipton is given an honorable discharge. Jones is promoted to battallion staff. Winters is promoted to Major. And Webster is in some small way forgiven and welcomed back finally. The 101st rolls out, and the credits roll with them poised to enter Germany.
The next two episodes of the series are strange and exceptional, and this is the last one for those of you who watch simply because you’re battle junkies. Get your fill of Cinesite’s persuasive tracer fire here, because what’s coming in episodes nine and ten is something totally different. Also, just to note, the episode I have on tape is called “The Last Patrol,” but HBO’s website seems to indicate that the title has been shortened to just “The Patrol.” Not sure of the reason for that, but I prefer the original.
”The Last Patrol” premieres tonight at 9 PM on HBO, with repeats throughout the week.
"Moriarty" out.
