The third episode of SAS Rogue Heroes begins three months later on November 16, 1941, at the Bagush Airstrip. Paddy Mayne (Jack O’Connell) begins arguing with the postmen about flying the plane. David Stirling (Connor Swindells) tries to explain the importance of going immediately to prevent the enemy from taking more land. Many lives depend on the SAS blowing the planes up on the ground. David warns the pilot that it’ll be on his conscience if Auchinleck’s advance is stopped by air superiority and Tobruk falls to the enemy. He is eventually told to get his man onboard the plane. As they board the plane, the men drop letters into a bag so they can be sent to loved ones back home. On the plane, a letter to one of the soldier’s mothers is read. Jock Lewes (Alfie Allen) writes a letter to his dearest Mirren to talk about marriage and the possibility of dying tonight. Eoin (Donal Finn) writes about Paddy who also writes about him.

The pilot lets David know that they’re only two minutes from the drop. He is warned that it’ll be suicide if he goes out in this. David is encouraged to protect his men, but he refuses and asks the pilot to descend. David tells his men what they’ll do before checking on Peter Mitcham (Nicholas Nunn). Before long, the men begin jumping from the planes. It is chaos as the men hit the ground and get drug by the fierce winds. They have to cut the straps on their parachutes to save themselves. David begins yelling for his men. He finds Mitcham who was dragged over the cliff and heard his spine snap. Peter says he cannot stand this pain before pulling out his gun and killing himself. David says a prayer for the man and himself. In the morning, Jock sits with his remaining men. Jonny Cooper (Jacob McCarthy) says he found explosives and machine guns. Jock believes fortune is with them so they should move to the airfields. Bill Fraser is hesitant to do so since there are only eight of them left.

One man’s arm is broken. Jock tells him he is lucky they don’t have to salute in the SAS before trying to pop his arm back into place. He works with Pat Riley (Jacob Ifan) to try to figure out where they are and where the airfields are. When Fraser says there are only eight of them, Jock says there will only be seven if he makes that observation again. He says they will head north because he would do it even if he were alone. Paddy walks alone while shooting his gun into the air several times. He eventually runs into some of the others and learns that Eoin McGonigal has died. They’ve found one machine gun and six grenades. Paddy tells Dave Kershaw (Bobby Schofield) that they’re still going to the airfields. They attempt to convince him that they need to move to higher ground before they get washed away by the rain. Dave says this was a screw-up. If they wipe themselves out, it’ll be the only thing they ever did. Paddy doesn’t like the idea of standing down.

He tells them to go ahead and he’ll catch up with them. Paddy stays behind to be with Eoin whose hand and face are being uncovered by the wind. Jock learns that water is getting into the compass and bombs. Although he is told the Lewes bombs are useless, he invented them and will decide when they’re useless. They aren’t sure they can continue because the water has turned the desert into quicksand. Jock says they’ll withdraw and come back like Julius Caesar. When David’s group camps out for the night, they begin hearing singing nearby. David says you sing the second verse now to confirm they’re not Germans. If you don’t sing it in the next 30 seconds, the procedure is to open fire. He believes they’ll be dead even sooner if it is Paddy out there. David stands up naked and begins singing loudly. Paddy and his men approach them seconds later as they all agree that the gang is not all here. In the morning, Mike Sadler (Tom Glynn-Carney) of the LRDG waits for his passengers to arrive.

Although they’re expecting 55 men, they see a small group walking down the hill nearby. Mike quickly identifies himself as a member of the Long Range Desert Group. Jock gets mad at Fraser for pointing out that there aren’t many of them left. He gives his men a pep talk before asking Mike if there is any news from Tobruk. Mike says they can talk about that later. As they walk back to the vehicles, Mike confesses it was another screw-up before saying they run the rickshaws into town. Although there won’t be many more, Jock would like to wait for them forever. Mike says he doesn’t like waiting so he’d rather go round up the others. While driving, Mike explains that everything can be predicted in the desert. They see the men on the ridge. Paddy and David learn there are only 22 survivors out of 55. He reminds Paddy that their mission was never authorized so no one will know. A few at GHQ will laugh, but they’ll be too busy losing the way to care. Paddy believes they’ll be stood down when they get back to Cairo.

David agrees but suggests they don’t have to go back since the Long Range Desert Group can find the SAS a place of sanctuary. Eve Mansour (Sofia Boutella) meets with Dudley Wrangel Clarke (Dominic West) to update each other on recent events. She wants to know where they are, but Dudley believes she wants to know about him. Dudley confesses that no one knows where they are since survivors should’ve reported back two weeks ago and didn’t. He goes on to say they would’ve been killed by the wind, sand, and thorns if they are dead. He also blames the reckless decision taken by their friends and his comrades because they couldn’t stand to lose face. Dudley complains about David’s decision to take off in a sandstorm. Eve asks what it is about David that he dislikes so much. Dudley says he invented the SAS and David had no right to destroy it or turn it into a laughingstock during the first missions. Eve is reminded that sex is fine, but feeling is not.

Mike takes the SAS to Jalo. Sirte is 350 miles northwest of there. The New Zealand reserve troop is 80 miles away, but the Kiwi fighting men have been sent north so the camp is empty. They wonder what might be at the camp while Paddy asks about a piano. They travel to the New Zealand camp to steal their supplies and a piano. Before they leave, they replace their flag with a British one. Once they get back, Paddy tells David that Eoin was trying to teach him how to play the piano so he’d like to carry on. Paddy is told to build a mess hall. Reg Seekings tells David about the rum he stole. Fraser is put in charge of keeping track of ammunitions. David asks Mike to refuel his vehicles because they will go tonight. Before they leave, they are assigned ten Lewes bombs for each man. They stop just ten miles outside of Sirte airstrip to split up. Lewes is asked to take his men to Mersa Brega while Paddy will go to Tamet airstrip. David tells Bill that questions will be welcomed in the SAS to avoid further screw-ups.

He is tasked with picking four men and traveling to Agedabia. David wants everyone to meet back here in the morning. Mike is asked to wait for them, but he admits he is tired of being the taxi driver. David tells him to go with Paddy if he is after action. Each group goes to its respective destination. At the Sirte airstrip, they find that the planes have already flown and it is empty. At Mersa Brega, Jock and his men prime their fuses. Paddy leads his men toward the Tamet airstrip. Jock and his crew try to plant bombs on as many trucks as they can without being spotted. Paddy tells Mike about the famous Lewes bomb. They’ve been primed to go off in 10 minutes so they should get on with it. He believes they’ll have plenty of time to kill the drunks in the tent nearby. Paddy runs towards the tent and the others follow him seconds later. While the others plant their bombs, Paddy and his men enter the tent to confront the enemy soldiers.

Jock kills an unsuspecting soldier before his men get caught when a Jeep pulls up. Paddy and his soldiers kill all the soldiers in the tent. He says there are two minutes to blow the planes so they’ve got to move. Jock and his men have a minute before the truck they’re hiding behind blows. Jock’s team has time to escape when the bombs explode. Paddy leaves just in time for the bombs to explode behind him. David isn’t happy that he wasn’t able to do anything at Sirte since he thinks it is a competition. At the British GHQ in Cairo, Dudley passes the latest information to Eve. Lt. General Ritchie receives information about the bombings and passes that information to General Auchinleck. Eve realizes that he is alive after all. Dudley thinks the important thing is that his creation is alive. The SAS settle into Jalo while Paddy plays the piano they stole earlier.

He takes a break and finds a scoreboard. Mayne has 24, Fraser has 37, Lewes has 27, and Stirling has 0.

 

SAS Rogue Heroes Review

The third episode of SAS Rogue Heroes was a decent experience that was full throttle from start to finish. The overall success of the episode and series as a whole will likely depend on the viewer’s preferences and what they want. From an entertainment standpoint, the episode was mostly fun even though it never felt like any of the characters were in real danger.

If the viewer is after realism and historical accuracy, they may not be satisfied with SAS Rogue Heroes through three episodes. There is a good chance that some viewers will be disappointed by the fact that the show doesn’t really try to showcase the real horrors of war either. Nevertheless, the episode was fun and genuinely thrilling at times.

The characters are likable so it is easy enough to cheer for them during their dangerous missions. The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of SAS Rogue Hero can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support our independent entertainment website by following this link.