As the fourth episode of SAS Rogue Heroes begins, Reg Seekings (Theo Barklem-Biggs) is shown smoking a cigarette shirtless. Reg says he just wants to sleep. John Tonkin (Jack Barton) is pulled outside by a firing squad officer (Igor Pecenjev) and others. They cover his eyes and prepare to shoot him before a vehicle arrives. John Tonkin learns that General Heidrich (Robert Dolle) has invited him to dinner. Jim Almonds (Corin Silva) goes around telling everyone that the enemy has arrived. They talk about Paddy Mayne (Jack O’Connell) losing his marbles and still having a plan. Reg claims he slept very well. They speak to Paddy who pulls up buckets of water. Paddy wants the buckets moved to the truck. Paddy tells Johnny Cooper (Jacob McCarthy) and Bill Fraser (Stuart Campbell) that they’ll leave their uniforms with the family that does the laundry before going to the frontline.
He says GHQ radioed him an urgent message last night saying the SRS must wear the correct uniforms when engaging the enemy. Once they arrive, Paddy tells Reg he will stay there and bring their uniforms once they’re clean. He picked Reg because he knows he didn’t sleep last night. Paddy believes they share the same ghosts. Reg asks for coffee. He is told to stay while Matteo (Luca Morello), Sofia (Lea Gavino), Lorenzo (Gabrielle Linari), and Francesca Amato (Valeria Panepinto) begin working. Alessia Biondi (Anna Manuelli) and Dave Kershaw (Bobby Schofield) walk together. Reg remains behind. Matteo pretends to shoot him from behind. He asks Reg how many people he’s killed. Reg continues counting higher and higher. Matteo says he’s a big hero. Matteo is told he can stay with Reg as long as he doesn’t ask any questions. Reg admits the number of men he’s killed is unknown to him. David Stirling (Connor Swindells) remains in isolation at the POW prison.
He gets upset with his food and throws the bowl against the wall. Reg plays with Matteo before learning lunch is served. Sofia comes to get them. Paddy and the others set up bombs as the tanks approach. William Stirling (Gwilym Lee) and the 2SAS rush toward Termoli. Anthony Greville-Bell (Stuart Thompson) tells William that a French female journalist was traveling not far from there. They let her pass because the regulars love Paddy Mayne. Meanwhile, Johnny sees a tank. Fraser and Dave trigger the explosions. It doesn’t impact the Panzer IV. They flee and make it back to the other end of the tunnel. Jim tells Paddy they need to get back to town because they have no bazookas to take out the tank. They leisurely discuss their options. They eventually decide to fall back. Reg eats with the family. He tells them about his relatives. Francesca insists all of this will be forgotten when he’s home by his fireplace.
Reg gets upset and leaves the table. Eve Mansour (Sofia Boutella) approaches himself outside. He tells her where Paddy is and that she’ll need to join the SAS to get to him. After an explosion, Reg says the line is broken and Paddy will come to her. He convinces her to go inside where there are some nice normal people. A mystery man walks down an alleyway nearby. William speaks to his men about the situation in Termoli. He says they cannot let Termoli fall and they will match the SRS. A spotter (Manuel Klein) reaches the tower above the town. Reg tells Eve she should join the family in the basement, but she seems to have other ideas. The spotter sees Paddy’s men and radios in their location. Alfredo arrives and tells Alessia to hide behind her American boyfriend. A bomb lands nearby and hits a truck. Another lands as Paddy’s men try to get away from the area. Reg and Sofia try to convince Matteo to go into the basement.
A man on the street seems to see the spotter in the tower. The spotter manages to kill the man. Then, he tells his men where to bomb to ensure they hit Paddy’s vehicles. Sofia and her mom leave so the SAS men can change into their outfits. Eve puts on an outfit as well. Paddy agrees to let her join them. The spotter keeps track of their movements. Sofia asks for Reg’s name and says Matteo wants him to have his toy gun for good luck. Bombs begin landing nearby. Reg is knocked to the ground by one of the explosions. He stumbles into the building to check on the family. Jim goes in with him. They find Matteo seriously injured. Jim offers to finish him off. Paddy does it. When he steps outside, he learns there’s a spotter in the tower. Reg goes up into the tower and kills him. Paddy and the others find flamethrowers. Johnny sees the tank approaching. He yells for everyone to prepare to withdraw.
They flee with the flamethrower. Eve kills a couple of enemy soldiers. Paddy and Jim kill two soldiers with the flame throwers. The tank approaches but Paddy refuses to withdraw. Johnny and Alessia see two tanks. He suspects this is where they’re going to die. The men realize they’re surrounded. Before they can be blown to bits, a bazooka hits one of the tanks from behind. The other one is blown up seconds later. Paddy learns the 2SAS have arrived. Jim says they’ve been ordered to regroup and move north. Eve looks around at the laundry. She steps outside and William tells her to get in. He leaves without her. William tells Paddy he’ll mention the whole regiment in dispatches because what they did was exceptional. Eve goes into the tower and finds Reg sitting alone. She tells Reg it might help to come back to the laundry and organize their burials. Between the 3rd and 5th of October 1943, 21 members of the SAS/SRS died while defending Termoli.
The 16th Panzer Division was held at bay for long enough for relief to arrive and Termoli was saved. David is still in solitary at the prison camp. He draws a picture of Eve on the wall and speaks to her. At the German HQ in Campobasso, John arrives to meet with General Heidrich. John tells him he’d like his freedom. They sit down and eat together. General Heidrich wanted to talk to one of them because he was intrigued. He’s interested in harnessing the power of madness. Heidrich says it inspired terror in the logical. He wants to know about Paddy Mayne. William tells Paddy that they were ordered to wear uniforms because the Geneva Convention says all prisoners in uniform are supposed to be treated decently. Hitler ordered all members of commando units to be executed regardless. From now on, surrender is no longer an option for the SAS. William reminds Paddy that doesn’t give him an excuse to treat prisoners in the same way.
Paddy says the laundry wouldn’t have been bombed if they hadn’t gone there. When they’re alone, William tells Eve he will arrange a burial party tomorrow morning for the family. He’s also organized a vehicle to take her back to Bagnara. Eve refuses to leave. John tells Heidrich about Paddy’s love for poetry. He asks about being executed even though he’s in uniform. Heidrich admits he intervened because he wanted to speak to him. John learns about the order to execute them even if they surrender. Heidrich admits he tried to make his last supper as grand as he could. He told them to come for John at midnight. Heidrich gave him one extra day of life. John is taken away by two soldiers. Paddy tells Reg he wants to see how he is. Reg admits he can’t listen to anything. Paddy offers him William Blake or sodium amytal. Either way, they go at dawn.
SAS Rogue Heroes Review
The fourth episode of SAS Rogue Heroes tried to get emotion with the loss of Matteo and his family. It almost worked, but there wasn’t enough build to really care about any of those characters. Another thing is the general lack of risk to any of the SAS members. The only blood they’ve had on their clothes is the blood of others despite supposed dangerous situations.
The action scenes are sometimes done well, but they also lack any authenticity. For instance, the Panzers in this episode were pretty lame. Paddy and his men had a full-blown conversation without any issue whatsoever. First, they had a conversation on one side of the tunnel.
Then, they ran to the other side of the tunnel and had another conversation. It’s hard to take these situations seriously because the enemy is portrayed as being so worthless. We also know that John is not going to be executed by the Germans because he’s untouchable like the others.
Based on David’s history, he never escaped the prison and remained there until the end of the war. Therefore, his storyline is pointless unless they’re going to change history for him. If that’s going to happen, it should happen soon because his scenes are pointless. The same can be said about Eve who is an unbelievable addition to the story.
Changing these things and inserting fictitious characters further muddies an interesting tale. The writers are relying on the impact of history to make viewers cheer for the SAS, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it’d matter if a bomb had landed on all of them thanks to the German spotter. It doesn’t help that there are so many of them and most are underutilized.
Plus, there are going to be countless stories that will go unanswered. We’re still waiting to find out what happened to Withers who was more likable than most of the SAS at this point. The episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of SAS Rogue Heroes can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.
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Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
