User Reviews

Saunders and his squad go to a recon patrol in a French village. They surprise a German squad in a building and kills them, but Littlejohn is wounded. When they are ready to return to their base, a German truck arrives in the village and the troop comes to the same building. Saunders and his squad are trapped in the basement and Saunders decide to wait for the German to leave the spot. Meanwhile Lt. Hanley receives a letter to Pvt. Steve Kovac informing that his wife is dying. While the Red Cross checks the information, Hanley withholds the information to spare anxiety to Kovac. Now the squad is missing in action and Hanley does not have means to tell Kovac. When they return, Kovac´s wife is dead and the resentful soldier blames Hanley. On their next assignment, Hanley needs Kovac´s support to save his life. What will Kovac do?

"Beneath the Ashes" is another great episode of "Combat!" with two dramatic and full of action storylines. The attitude of Hanley is correct despite the consequence. The initial attitude of Kovac and his final redemption are also expected. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Coberto por Cinzas" ("Covered by Ashes")

"Beneath The Ashes" is a story about an unintentional bad decision made by Lieutenant Hanley regarding one of his men and its after effects on that man. Through Private Steve Kovac (well played by Chad Everett) we learn about the defense mechanism "projection" - projecting one's inferior impulses onto others to relieve our own anxiety.

Private Kovac is on patrol with Saunders, Caje, Kirby, & Littlejohn when Lieutenant Hanley receives a letter from Detroit stating his wife is on her deathbed. Instead of calling Kovac back, Hanley figures the squad will return in a few hours and in the meantime the Red Cross can check the letter's validity. Unfortunately the squad is pinned down in a cellar for two days and classified as MIA. Upon the squad's return, Saunders speaks a defining great line. And Radio Operator Mac (played by Noam Pitlik) puts foot in mouth to set the story in motion.

Richard P. McDonagh wrote an adequate story; his idea was to tie in loose ends at the ending which he outstandingly did when The Sarge had it out with Kovac on the battlefield. Great dialog. The cellar scene is a little unrealistic considering lack of facilities and the unlikelihood of Littlejohn's survival. Chad Everett came across adequately, but not in great fashion. Heavy artillery and combat scenes are excellent throughout. The village hand grenade scene with the German coming out of the doorway is priceless - analogous to Otis Campbell heading to jail on the Andy Griffith Show.

All in all "Beneath the Ashes" was entertaining considering a mediocre script and average acting.