Although I'm not that far into Combat's second season, I already have a feeling that this is probably the best episode in it. I say this because not only is the plot pretty interesting, but its guest star is the rare type of person who is able to stand face to face with Vic Morrow in terms of toughness: James Coburn. The episode begins with Saunders being introduced to a captured German Colonel riding in a jeep. He's being escorted by two US servicemen, Second Lieutenant Comstock and Corporal Kanger (Coburn). The latter explains that they have to get the important prisoner back to a certain battalion and can't waste any time. The jeep pulls away and proceeds to run over a mine. Kanger and his lieutenant are flung out of the vehicle and escape with only minor injuries, but the german isn't so lucky. He's not dead, but has to be healed for a period of time. Comstock and Kanger, unbeknownst to the squad, are actually germans who have been tasked with causing damage to an American battalion HQ. This explains why Kanger is so anxious to get his "prisoner" to american lines, since it gives him an excuse to wreak havoc in some important location. For the meantime though, Kanger, Comstock and the colonel are stuck in a town and forced to interact with their enemy face to face. Before long, a firefight breaks out and Saunders notices how Comstock is unwilling to shoot at the germans for some reason, and likewise, the germans seem to miss him intentionally. When Comstock confesses to Kanger how he's worried Saunders might have noticed this, Kanger shoots him. Although Saunders is convinced the germans killed Comstock, Kanger starts to raise his suspicions since he seems to know many german words and gives cryptic answers to every question. Saunders tells Hanley of this, but Hanley is able to verify that both Comstock and Kanger's names are on the roster for a certain american division. While Hanley thinks this is proof enough that Kanger is american, Saunders still has a bad feeling about it. Later, an ambulance arrives to take the german colonel back to HQ, and it appears Kanger is home free. While the ambulance is en route, Kanger gets the driver to check on the colonel by lying and saying his condition is getting worse. Kanger strangles the driver, drives the ambulance a little further until its wheel is damaged, and puts his own dog tags on the driver's corpse. Saunders eventually finds the ambulance, walks to a nearby wooded area, and tries to search for Kanger. Unfortunately, Kanger finds him first and disarms him. Kanger shouts to some germans soldiers about how he's one of them and how they need to take Saunders into custody. When Kanger is yelling to them, Saunders manages to throw a grenade towards them, killing all but one. This last german shoots and kills Kanger when he stands up, mistaking him for Saunders. The real Saunders (who is wounded) then gets picked up by american soldiers. Anyone who's seen this episode should know Coburn's performance is probably the best thing about it. He's dangerous and sly enough to be a worthy adversary for Morrow, which isn't something we see everyday. At the end, it even looks like he's beaten Saunders, but being so stupidly confident is exactly what led to his demise. Kanger at that moment had basically no reason not to kill Saunders, but instead he let him live so he could lecture him like every stereotypical supervillain. I thought it was darkly ironic how Kanger is killed because a german thought he was an american. Overall, I rightly feel that this episode belongs to James Coburn and nobody else. In it, he's shown to have no remorse, no conscience, and no regard for the life of his allies. Seeing someone like this square off against Morrow is a pleasure to watch.
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