As the fourth episode of SAS Rogue Heroes begins, it is December 29, 1941, and the SAS is 50 miles south of the German/Italian airstrips. Once they get back to the base, David Stirling (Connor Swindells) says they’re going to split into groups like before. He admits that the whole North Africa campaign is about his team versus Paddy’s team. Jock Lewes (Alfie Allen) reminds them that this isn’t a playground and the Germans will be expecting them this time. Paddy Mayne (Jack O’Connell) suggests they can get double points for each plane destroyed. Lewes is told to take Almonds and Riley to the Nofilia airstrip. Although Bill Fraser (Stuart Campbell) wants no part of this idiotic game, he is told to go with Lewes, take four men, and break off at the airstrip to attack the airfield to the west. Paddy will take Tamet again. David will lead his men to Sirte once again.

David reveals that the winner will get a bottle of 20-year-old single-malt Scotch whisky. Although Paddy likes something else, he will gladly take the whisky off his hands when he wins. In private, Jock asks David about this idiotic game. David says no commanding officer has been able to control Paddy Mayne because none of them understood him. Now, he will try to attain dominance by blowing up airplanes and they need that if they want to stop Tobruk from falling. Jock questions whether it is a clever strategy or he just wants to win the game. At Nofilia Beach in Libya, Jock tells the others that they need to wait for the moon to set. At Sirte Coast Road, David and his men intend to wait too. Paddy’s group marches toward the Tamet airstrip. Paddy thinks the moon is their friend and patience is their enemy. Jock is right that the airstrip has fences and searchlights this time.

He asks Riley to read the Bible. If he is unable to read it, the light should be sufficiently bad enough for them to move. Since they have about 15 minutes, Jock is going to pray in his own way. He gets into the water while we hear his letter to Mirren (Isobel Laidler). Jock hopes she’ll at least consider him dependable. He wishes she’ll say yes to his proposal. When he returns to his men, he tells them that they have a good cause to kill because Hitler sends innocent people to their death every day. His men split from Fraser’s group so they can hit separate airstrips. They see German reinforcements heading to Agheila where they will join Rommel. David’s men realize that they won’t be able to reach Sirte airstrip without passing that road. Jock and his men only find five planes, but they won’t care because only monsters would keep count.

David hopes there will be a break in the traffic so they can sneak in. While they sit and wait for a break, the other groups begin planting bombs. Paddy’s number climbs to 27 so David knows where his whisky is going. When the trucks finally stop, David realizes they don’t have enough time to reach the airstrip before the sun rises. As more bombs blow up, Lewes and Fraser collect more points too. David talks to Mike Sadler (Tom Glynn-Carney) about bravery and cowardice. On the way back, David throws the whisky in the air before shooting and breaking the bottle. At the base, Paddy yells to tell Johnny (Jacob McCarthy) that he wants to write down the scores. Reg thinks he should let it go. Paddy doesn’t listen and instead carves his score into the size of the Jeep. Once David returns, Paddy tells him that they did well and even got 5,000 gallons of aviation fuel.

David confesses that he decided the prize was a worthless gesture and a bottle of whisky is not a fitting reward. He is going to recommend to GHQ that Paddy be awarded the Distinguished Service Order Medal and that he be promoted to the rank of Captain. Paddy admits he is the first commanding officer that he actually liked. They wonder where Lewes is. We see him searching for Mirren. She tells him she was asking her departed grandmother a question and she said yes. Mirren wants to do it in the back of the car since that is what young people in America do. Once they get into the car and start kissing, Mirren reminds him that he has to pull out. After they’ve finished, Lewes says there will be no need for strategic withdrawals once they’re married. In the present, Jock’s men notice an enemy aircraft nearby.

They have to get out of the vehicles and run for the rocks for cover. Jock realizes they’ve made themselves somewhat of a priority. Jim and Almonds run for it while Jock stays behind the front of the Jeep. When he starts running, the Jeep is blown up sending shrapnel into his leg. Jock warns the others that the plane is swinging back around as he struggles to reach safety. He falls to the ground with bullets landing all around him. Jock gets up and has to fall again when the plane returns. He looks up and sees Mirren walking toward him. She tells him that she has to say no to his proposal because she can’t marry a man who is already dead. Jock gets up while telling her that he is still alive. Jim tries to go down there to help him. Fraser yells for him not to go down there. The plane returns and shoots Jock several times. David is surprised when he sees only one vehicle approaching the camp.

Jim (Corin Silva) tells David about Jock. He reminds him that he left him on SAS orders because it would impede the swift execution of the given mission. He goes on to suggest they’re all going to be out there with the Germans onto them. David gets mad. Fraser tells him that Jock died well. Once David calms down, Paddy walks over to him to ask who is going to be the sensible one now. Later, David gets the letters Mirren sent to Jock in which she agrees to marry him. He goes out to confront his men because he has received a letter from General Auchinleck. Before he tells them what the General has to say, he explains that the period of mourning for Jock Lewes is over. As Cooper raises the flag, David explains that the General is astonished by their work for exceeding the number of aircraft destroyed by the RAF. Paddy has received the DSO and has been promoted to Captain.

Reg (Theo Barklem-Biggs) hard to help Johnny with the flag. Fraser is awarded the Military Cross while David is promoted to the rank of Major. As David fixes the flag, he tells everyone that they achieve their goals because they do things differently and in their own way. They’re excited to learn that they’ve been awarded five days of leave. They’re given berets that they’ll wear and jump wings that were designed by Jock. David reveals that their new motto is “Who Dares, Wins”. Trucks are coming to take them to Cairo. Paddy asks for permission not to travel to Cairo with them. In Cairo, Scottish soldiers make fun of Reg and Dave due to the caps they’re wearing. Reg reminds Dave that they’re not allowed to kill them before they begin fighting. David meets with Eve Mansour (Sofia Boutella) and they end up having sex.

Fraser finds out about the fight and tries to help. When the MPs approach, everyone decides to run away. Eve tells David that she hears his new detachment is doing well. She wants to know why he got a canary if he doesn’t like them in cages. He was hoping she’d think he was compassionate when he sets it free. When Eve asks if he is compassionate, he says no. He is a boy playing a game while his father watches. If he doesn’t score enough, his father won’t speak to him on the way home. She invites him out for a drink since she wants to see the sunset from the balcony of the Empire Club. Eve admits there is someone she wants him to meet. She is trying very hard to only like him. Paddy searches for Eoin’s gravesite in the desert because he wants to read him Homer or Keats. He talks to him about that idiotic Percy French song they used to sing.

When David sees a drunk Dudley enter the bar, he says he hopes that isn’t Eve’s surprise. She admits it isn’t. Dudley (Dominic West) walks over and begins talking to him. He gives him one of the berets back that someone picked up after the brawl. There have been seven fights since 10 this morning and six of them involved men wearing the SAS beret. David believes he picked white to provoke confrontation. Dudley admits there is nothing like a barroom bar to bring men together. David asks him nicely to leave them alone so Dudley reminds him that he has achieved nothing personally. David thanks him for bringing the SAS into being and bringing back the beret before telling him to screw off. Dudley tells him that the French are coming his way and they’re the real deal. David asks Eve what that meant, but she changes the subject by asking him to dance. As they dance, Eve tells him that he should ask General Auchinleck since he just arrived.

Georges Berge (Virgile Bramly) enters with Auchinleck (Adrian Lukis) to talk to them. Georges says he has 20 of the finest paratroopers in the French army under his command and they want to kill Germans. The General says they want to deploy them in the desert, but they have to be trained. They are sending the French paratroopers to join them in Jalo so they can be trained. Eve confesses that this was her idea. The General insists he would only need to station one man at Jalo to train the French in desert warfare. Georges says it’d have to be a strong man to deal with his dogs. When David returns to Jalo, he finds Paddy trying to play the piano. David learns that he found him before telling him about the French paratroopers coming as a favor to General Charles de Gaulle. He wants Paddy to train them because there is nobody strong or tough enough to do it. Paddy says the loser finds a way to win.

David tells him that you have to make difficult decisions when you’re in command instead of playing the piano and going sightseeing in the desert. Paddy goes outside while shooting. Reg sees him and says they’re screwed.

 

SAS: Rogue Heroes Review

Concerning issues are starting to become more noticeable as SAS Rogue Heroes reaches its fourth episode. The basics such as the camerawork, charisma, and arguably even the soundtrack are good. The songs are enjoyable even if they don’t really fit the time period. When the series is dark, it is a bit too dark making it hard to determine who is talking at any given time.

The characters have charisma so none of them are obnoxious. Each has a personality that seems to be balanced out by the personalities of their fellow soldiers. Nevertheless, viewers may have difficulty developing a genuine emotional connection and caring about the demise of any given character. Perhaps the bigger problem is the disjointed story that seems to have little purpose.

Most of the scenes are fun on their own, but it doesn’t seem to be working up to anything bigger. It just feels like a slideshow of related images with no bigger purpose or objective. SAS Rogue Heroes will likely be enjoyed by most viewers although it feels like it could’ve done so much more with six episodes and the history it is based on.

The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of SAS: Rogue Heroes can be found on Reel Mockery here. Want to support our work? Find out how to do so by following this link.