User Reviews

In a recent review of another Combat episode, I commented that Kirby (one of the squad members on the show) is a troublemaker, but if you've been watching the series up until now, you already know that. This episode probably shows the most amount of trouble he's ever been in, so far anyway. The episode is also pretty unique in that it involves a love story, which I think is unusual for a World War 2 show. Our story begins with Saunders, Kirby, the squad's womanizing antihero, and Corporal March (Jeremy Slate) visiting a field hospital. March discovers by some strange coincidence that his wife, Lieutenant Amelia (Peggy Ann Garner) works here as a nurse, and because he hasn't seen her since before the invasion of Normandy, he begs Saunders for permission to go on leave with her for 2 days. Because Saunders is not an officer, he can't make decisions such as this, so he tells March he'll ask Hanley. Hanley talks to his commanding officer, but the permission is not granted right away. Meanwhile, Andy still has a mission to perform tomorrow, but as a gesture of kindness, Kirby of all people offers to take the assignment so Andy can be with his wife. Instead of sticking to what he originally promised Andy, Kirby and Crown (Arnold Merritt) venture into a nearby French town and try to get drunk. While at a bar, Kirby tries hitting on a woman working there whose boyfriend is a french resistance member. She doesn't speak english, but the men near her make it clear to Kirby that she's off limits. Crown senses things are about to get real bad and leaves the bar, but Kirby holds his ground. He eventually gets into a 3 on 1 fight which leaves him badly cut up and bruised. Several hours pass, and Saunders realizes that even though Crown has come back, Kirby isn't where he's supposed to be. Saunders pressures Crown into ratting him out, and Hanley scolds Crown (even though he came back) because he was not given permission to be absent and go to that town. Meanwhile, Kirby is in no shape to take Andy's place on the patrol, meaning Andy has to do the mission after all. On the bright side, he receives word that permission for him to spend time with Amelia was granted. While on patrol however, Andy is wounded by an artillery shell. Shortly after, Kirby is brought to the same hospital Amelia works in to be patched up, which leads to him noticing some things he's not supposed to. He notices that Amelia has an intimate relationship with the head doctor in spite of the fact she's already married. Saunders (and the injured Andy) show up at the hospital to check up on Kirby, and despite how badly hurt he is right now, Saunders has no mercy on him. Saunders tells him he's gotten in trouble before, but this time, he almost cost someone their life. Saunders really wants the military court to hit him with everything they've got, but Kirby humiliates the nurse in front of Saunders by saying he knows about her secret relationship. Later, Saunders talks to Amelia and finds out it is true that she likes the doctor and plans to leave her current husband, but now that he might die, she changes her mind. The doctor successfully removes the shrapnel lodged in Andy's skull and he is saved. An irate Saunders then takes Kirby back to the front. Sadly, this is last Combat episode directed by Robert Altman, who has made many of the ones I've seen so far, but this is the last time I can actually say that. The installments under his direction are typically interesting and involve some kind of moral dilemma that makes the audience think, and this is no different. I liked seeing Kirby get into as much trouble as possible, because that's all most viewers recognize him for anyway. The character Crown also disappears from the show entirely after this episode, although his actor, Arnold Merritt, comes back later in the series with a new name, I've heard. While there's a lot of reasons to watch this one, I thought the fight scene involving Kirby and the speeches by Saunders were the best bits. Saunders tries to give Amelia advice and shortly before that, he tells Kirby that her love life is none of his business. His only business is doing his job as a soldier and that's the one thing he didn't do. Overall, Off Limits is another fine chapter in the huge Combat lineup, since it shows how during wartime, even important things like relationships have to be put on hold, sometimes forever.

In what at times looks like a tune-up for his later work in M*A*S*H*, Robert Altman directs this story about March (Jeremy Slate) one of the members of the squad, who runs across his war bride (Peggy Ann Garne) working at a local Army hospital unit. What March doesn't know is that his wife is having an affair with Captain Ayers (William Windom), who eventually must operate to save March's life.

It is a little soap-opery, but the script is done well. Jack Hogan again gets to play Kirby as a major horn dog, going AWOL to pursue a local french hotty (Marie Gomez) which leads to him getting beat up and unable to go on patrol. This leads to March replacing Kirby on the patrol and getting severely wounded in the process.

Although everyone is pretty solid in this episode, and its always good to see William Windom in action, this isn't much more than a well done but mild melodrama.

Directed by Robert Altman, this story beginning the team's second campaign begins with their camaraderie, opening with the excitement of them seeing real li women as nurses at a hospital. Jeremy Slate is the guest star, so familiar from his many tv and movie roles.

Vic Morrow plays it gruff and no-nonsense, but it starts off as a light-hearted segment with the boys set to get back into action (and war's horrors). Kirby is fun with sex on the brain and it was nice to see busty Marie Gomez in her role as a French waitress Kirby filips for. She impressed me back in the day no end in significant roles in "The Professionals" and especially opposite Lee Van Cleef in "Barquero".

Show gets serious when fate intervenes and due to Kirby's being AWOL, Slate has to sub for him in their first mission and that means Jeremy's hoped-for r&r with his nurse wife Peggy Ann Garner is off. And in a small but functional part as a wounded soldier Garner is attending to we see Michael Murphy, an actor who would work for Altman frequently for decades to come.

Second half of the show segues into actual combat, with musical cues alerting us to the change in tone -no more fun and games. Slate behaves heroically, as does Morrow (it's always tough to watch Vic now in these scenes, given his unnecessary and tragic death shooting John Landis's war movie contribution to "The Twilight Zone" movie), With William Windom oddly cast as the third leg of the Garner/Slate romantic triangle, the segment's dramatic element is unsuccessful soap opera material, just as fate moves its huge hand, to quote "The Fugitive" from the same tv network ABC.

With Morrow's character equivocating like crazy, the segment's mixed messaging made me wonder if scripter Slavin had bit off more than he could chew. War is hell -check. Wartime marriages have their own set of problems, moral and practical -check. Maintaining a light-hearted, escapist attitude like Kirby does can be a survival mechanism -check. Life can be a series of damned random events that are hard to take or make sense of -check. What does it all mean -who the hell knows?

It was interesting to discover that both Slate and prolific writer George Slavin were WW II vets. As far as Altman is concerned, the barroom brawl with Kirby seems out of Altman's "Bonanza" period.