Review of The First Day

In my last review of a Combat episode, I wrote that seasons 3 and 4 were probably the best the show has ever been, and amazing episodes were a fairly common sight during this time. Right here, we have another great example of a nearly flawless episode, which is quite surprising given that it's Georg Fenady's first time directing. The First Day starts off with Saunders, Kirby, Doc and Caje receiving four new squad members. Their names are McBride, Tobin, Loomis and Tate. All of them are really young compared to Saunders and the other veterans, which leads to some doubts about how they're going to perform under pressure. While scouting an area, the squad comes across two German soldiers who haven't seen them yet. Without thinking, Tobin starts shooting at them, and then freezes when the germans retaliate. Tobin and the others kill both enemies, but he's scolded by Saunders who tells him he endangered everyone's life by giving away the squad's position unnecessarily. For all they knew, there could have been a whole army behind those germans. Even Kirby, typically the troublemaker of the group, is disgusted. Some time later, the men come to a field with tall grass when a half track comes trundling down the road. Everyone goes prone, and the vehicle comes to a stop. Suddenly, the driver decides to turn onto the road running right next to where they're laying down. Tate is positive the vehicle gunner is going to see them, so as the half track gets closer, he decides to stand up and run. Tate is immediately shot dead, and the other squad members take out the vehicle with a grenade. Saunders is remarkably uncaring about losing Tate, telling the other newcomers that he's dead because he didn't listen. Next, Saunders and the others come across their biggest challenge of the day so far: a ruined house in an open field being occupied by the germans, who have a machine gun set up in one of the second floor windows. Under covering fire from the others, Caje, Loomis and Tobin run to a partially destroyed house and use it as cover. Caje then runs behind a water tower that fell over, and gets shot in the leg as he tries to fire at the machine gun. Tobin and Loomis try to think about what their next move is, but Tobin doesn't see a wounded german in the distance getting ready to take a shot at him. Right before he fires, Loomis throws himself in front of his friend and gets hit instead. Tobin starts to panic since he's now completely alone and separated from his squad. Saunders, Doc and McBride decide to risk it and run up to where Tobin and Loomis are, and Saunders guns down the wounded german who shot Loomis. McBride starts to panic as well after seeing his friends so distraught, but Saunders talks sense into him and says they can only get back alive if he assists him. Saunders goes right down the middle of the open field in an attempt to close the distance with the machine gun, while Caje and Tobin cover him. Two grenades later, and the position is no more. After the mission, Saunders receives yet another replacement, Private Anderson. McBride, the only one of the 4 novices who showed his valor under fire and stood by Saunders like he was ordered to, tells Anderson the main thing to remember around here is to focus on surviving his first day in action. If he can do that, everything will be easier. Like before, Combat just keeps showing time and time again that nothing can deliver a classic episode quite like this show. The reason I like this one so much and consider it one of the best is it shows how mentally unprepared most people are for being in a war. Strangely, Saunders thinks it's weird how the 4 replacements are all in their late teens or early 20s, when in reality, it was more unusual to have people his age serving on the front. People back then were tougher, and if they tried to conscript people that age into the military nowadays, they'd probably die of a heart attack before seeing their first assignment. In the end, McBride manages to prove himself and is barely distinguishable from any other squad mate. Also, I have to wonder if Spielberg watched this episode, since the part with the half track looks suspiciously similar to a scene in Saving Private Ryan where basically the same scenario occurs: an infantry squad ambushes a german armored troop transport in tall grass. The only difference is the half tracks in Combat are all just American ones with german paint schemes, while SPR has the authentic sdkfz 251. Anyway, The First Day is one of the best installments of Combat season 4. I've been saying that a lot lately, but somehow, it just keeps happening.