As this episode of SAS Rogue Heroes begins, viewers are shown the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. The Secretary (Rebecca Dyson Smith) approaches Officer (Max Themak) who tells her to take a message to the commander officers in all theaters. The Germans order all commando raids in Europe and Africa to be annihilated. Paddy’s men are shown killing people. Sicily was liberated in 38 days. By mid-August 1943, the German and Italian armies had retreated to mainland Italy. Mussolini had lost the confidence of the government and the Italian people. He was arrested on July 25. Paddy Mayne (Jack O’Connell) gets a shave. He asks the barber (Dusko Valentic) how he feels about the invasion and his role in it. The barber spits at Mussolini. Paddy complains about being asked to do something else. He says he wants his friend back. More people are killed.

Anthony Greville-Bell (Stuart Thompson) tells William Stirling (Gwilym Lee) that the SAS did not take any prisoners. Anthony says there are stories that the SAS boys are wild and follow no rules. William asks him not to say that to anyone, especially Eve Mansour (Sofia Boutella) who is a journalist and spy. William speaks to Eve. He says his brother was unlike himself when he thought she was dead. Eve wants to reach Paddy Mayne. William says Paddy and his men are out of bounds to journalists. David Stirling (Connor Swindells) is shown at the Gavi POW camp. He is grilled about trying to take part in an escape attempt. David says he believes he can make significant improvements to the execution of the campaign. He threatens to get himself shot if they don’t let him out. Bill Fraser (Stuart Campbell) and John Tonkin (Jack Barton) receive letters. Paddy gets a letter from Gavi. William arrives and complains about Johnny Cooper (Jacob McCarthy) not saluting him or wearing his pips.

In private, William tells Paddy that he’s been told to tolerate him in exchange for his results on the battlefield. Paddy already knows about Eve because of David’s letter. William says she must not be near the frontline or have any details of the strategy of their advance. They argue about whether Paddy and his men can be trusted with innocent people. The gravel will continue to be thrown. Paddy is told his next mission starts tonight and he must liberate Termoli from the Germans. The Italian Resistance and Riley will be sent ahead to reconnoiter the town, take out a spy, and clear the station. Paddy and the group head toward Termoli along the Biferno River on October 2, 1943. Alessia Biondi (Anna Manuelli) and Alfredo (Matteo Franco) walk around Termoli. They’re stopped so their papers can be checked. They’re eventually allowed to pass. They meet like-minded individuals. Pat Riley (Jacob Ifan) asks them about Giulio Colombo (Rok Cvetkov).

When Pat sees him, he shoots Giulio dead and says he’s a spy. He tells everyone that the British SOE intercepted transcripts of communications. Pat explains the SAS are on their way. At the 2SAS HQ in Bagnara Harbour, William meets Eve who says they got off on the wrong foot. He asks Eve if his brother is in love with her. Eve claims love doesn’t suit David. She’s heard Paddy is heading for Termoli. She says he’ll have to overcome the German rear guard first. John and Reg deal with barbed wire and find out that some of the soldiers are moving out. Paddy tells Bill Fraser he’s decided to be more human so he’s washing his feet. He says it’s not his human purpose to send men to die like cattle. Jim Almonds (Corin Silva) tells Paddy that they’re in position. They go in and clear the station of soldiers. David climbs into a hole in an attempt to escape the prison. He makes it to a rope that he uses to climb down the side of the building. A guard finds out and cuts the rope.

David crashes to the ground. William tells Eve a story about David. He claims 2SAS will be ready for engagement with enemy forces in five days’ time. William says he doesn’t deserve empathy when the real work is being done away from there by a man who drinks poitin. One man is left inside. He offers to surrender and comes out with his hands up. The officer (Terence Schweizer) says he’s a captain of the Panzergrenadier division. He says his younger brother is badly wounded. He tried but he cannot do it himself. The officer pleads for an act of mercy. Paddy checks on the wounded man and kills him. Then, he tells the surrendering officer that they have rum. William tells Eve that it’s been an odd evening like they stopped the war for them. Eve asks about having someone brief her on the progress of the war. William suspects she’ll still want more. Eve admits she’ll always want more. David is brought back into the prison and put in solitary confinement.

Paddy asks Reggie and Jimmy to put the radio together and get a signal. He tells the others to prepare their weapons and write letters home. Paddy gets mad and yells at Jim and Reg to stop talking like soldiers. Jock McDiarmid (Mark Rowley) tries to offer Paddy a drink, but Paddy isn’t having any of it. Johnny points out that GHQ said communications would be at four. Pat contacts them using the radio and gives them a password. Paddy takes over from Johnny. He’s told they have a minute before they’ll be tracked. Pat tells Paddy about the defenses. After the call, Paddy tells everyone that Riley has reconnoitered the town. Many of the soldiers are veterans so they’ll be good at what they do. Before they reach Termoli, they split up. Paddy tells one group to blow up the Campomarino bridge. Alfredo shoots and kills three men including the pervert. Then, he needlessly beats his face in and shoots him again.

Then, they just walk around shooting people. During the gunfight, Pat nonchalantly stops to tell Alessia about their SAS tradition. Paddy just drives his truck right through the town with no resistance. Jock rushes in and all the Italian soldiers are killed effortlessly. Many others are ready to surrender. Everyone celebrates with the Italians out of town. Johnny and two others prepare to blow up the Campomarino Bridge. Paddy tells Pat that none of the surrendering soldiers are wearing the insignia of the Cretan campaign on their arms. Pat says the Resistance saw some soldiers heading north in organized units. Paddy suspects the real soldiers made a tactical withdrawal. He worries the liberation party might be immature. John and Johnny encounter enemy fire. Bombs begin exploding in the city. Pat tells Paddy they were seen crossing the Campomarino bridge. Johnny yells every man for himself before fleeing. John rushes to finish setting the explosives.

He’s captured. The officer tells him that they’ve been ordered to annihilate the commandos in German. John doesn’t understand him. David believes he sees Eve. Johnny makes it back to Paddy and tells him what happened to John. Paddy says the shelling has stopped because they’re moving their Panzer tank divisions to the edge of the town. They will move tonight or tomorrow. Paddy says their orders are still to take Termoli and hold it to the last man.

 

SAS Rogue Heroes Review

The third episode had one pretty good moment with the German soldier pleading with Paddy to kill his injured brother. It’s too bad the series didn’t expand on that a lot more. It’s unfortunate but SAS Rogue Heroes really doesn’t show the human side of the struggle. Even the SAS members are portrayed as untouchable leading to many unrealistically easy situations for them.

There were far too many eye-rolling moments in this episode making things too easy for Paddy and his men. The enemies are portrayed as morons and pretty much props who can’t do anything correctly. This is on par with the Three Stooges at War based on the portrayal of the SAS and their cardboard enemies.

For instance, Pat, Alessia, and Alfredo made it through the checkpoint without a hitch. Their biggest obstacle was the pervert who wanted to have a go at Alessia. Seconds later, Pat shot a possible traitor with the gunshot ringing in the air. Interestingly, no one in the area decided to bother looking even though this was supposed to be a war.

That helped considering no one bothered looking when Pat went on a killing spree later in the episode. All the enemy soldiers must be deaf which is very helpful for the SAS. There’s no sense of authenticity here and no reason to worry about Paddy or his men because they’ll always outsmart the cardboard cutouts they call enemies.

The episode scores a 4 out of 10. Recaps of SAS Rogue Heroes can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion here.