Recap / The Rat Patrol S2 E21 "The Field of Death Raid"

The Troy brothers exchange pleasantries before going back to work.

Directed by: Herschel Daugherty

Written by: Richard K. Brockway

The Rat Patrol are breaking in Pvt. Peterson (Darwin Joston), a temporary replacement for the wounded Tully. Unfortunately, Peterson isn't off to a great start, since he's gotten his Jeep stuck on a rock close to a cliff. Two Arabs come by and Moffitt asks them for help, but instead they throw a grenade at the team! The Rats quickly gun down their would-be killers, then examine the bodies. One of them carries a wallet full of German money, while the other has a photograph of Sergeant Troy with his younger brother David (Nick George), a Royal Air Force captain. What's going on? The Rats report the incident to headquarters, then arrange a meeting with David. However, none of the heroes realize that they're being targeted by Major von Brugge (Albert Paulsen), who was injured in a previous encounter with the Rat Patrol and is now plotting against them and Sam Troy in particular.

En route to the meeting, David is captured by one of von Brugge's men, Lt. Hardt (Horst Ebersberg), who's disguised as an American soldier. David tries to escape, knocking out Hardt before getting knocked out himself by Lt. Koenig (Jack Bannon), another member of von Brugge's team. The Germans take off with David, leaving the unconscious Hardt behind with Captain Troy's stenciled bag — just as von Brugge intended, because he wants Hardt to lead the Rats into his trap. Sure enough, the Rats find Hardt, and Troy intimidates him into spilling the beans.

Meanwhile, von Brugge and his troops take David to the middle of an open field, leaving him tied up and laid on his side, with a landmine behind his back; if he moves or someone else moves him, it'll explode. As von Brugge planned, Hardt leads the Rat Patrol to David. Troy is intent on rescuing his brother, but Moffitt and Hitchcock forcibly hold him back, warning him that (in Hitch's words) "that canyon is made-to-order for an ambush." Troy decides to go anyway, but takes Hardt along as a Human Shield. However, Hardt refuses, revealing that von Brugge has hidden landmines throughout the area. Moffitt shoots up a swath to detonate several of the mines, giving Troy and his prisoner a more-or-less safe path.

Sergeant Troy walks Hardt at gunpoint to David's location. Meanwhile, Moffitt orders Hitchcock to stand watch as he and Peterson take the other Jeep to look for more Germans, whom Moffitt realizes must be hiding somewhere nearby. Just as they're about to reach David, Hardt punches Troy and tries to run, only to be shot by Hitchcock.

Finally, Troy gets to David and carefully lifts the trip wire off him. David warns his brother about the land mine behind him, which Troy starts working on. Von Brugge, who has been watching all of this with Koenig, at last gives the order to destroy the Rat Patrol — but a moment later, Moffitt and Peterson roar in on their Jeep and attack, blowing away von Brugge's troops. This distraction gives Sergeant Troy time to finish disarming the mine and free David. Seeing his last chance for revenge about to slip away, von Brugge approaches the Troy brothers with intent to kill — only to step on one of his own landmines! The ordeal is over.

Troy asks David to stay for a while, but he's already overdue for his next assignment. The two brothers wish each other well and go their separate ways, but not before light-heartedly joshing each other over which one of them got sick on vanilla extract at Sam's graduation party. This leads to the exchange that ends the episode:

Hitchcock: Don't you know better, Sarge, than to argue with an officer?
Troy: That's no officer, that's my kid brother.

Tropes:

• Anachronic Order: As in "The Fatal Reunion Raid", which aired three weeks earlier, Tully is absent. However, this time there's an explanation: during Peterson's Jeep trouble, an exasperated Troy says "Tully picked a great time to get shot up." Presumably, this episode comes before "Fatal Reunion" in continuity order.
• Answer Cut: How we're introduced to the Villain of the Week.
  Troy: Somebody's trying to kill us.
  Hitchcock: Well, yeah, but who?
  [cut to:]
  Hardt: Major von Brugge! Our targets are moving.
• Boisterous Weakling: Hardt has a big mouth, but he can't back it up — which is why von Brugge chooses to sacrifice him to the Rat Patrol, as he explains to Koenig.
  Koenig: Do you feel no remorse, Major?
  Von Brugge: My dear Koenig, we're doing the man a favor. Hardt is a weakling. We have permitted him to use his weakness as a strength.
• Deadpan Snarker: Several examples. For starters, Moffitt gets a few zingers here.
  • The episode opens with him reacting to Peterson's Jeep accident:
    Moffitt: Well, that's a smashing start, Peterson.
  • When Troy reveals his brother's Origin Story, Moffitt gives David a good-natured razzing:
    Troy: [David] was in England when war was declared. Like today he joined the RAF.
    Moffitt: They must have been very desperate.
  • When Troy starts to get rough with Hardt:
    Hardt: May I remind you that according to the Geneva Convention—
    Moffitt: We're a long way from Geneva, dear heart.
  • Even Troy gets in on the act after taking David to his abandoned Jeep.
    David: What do you know, right where I left it.
    Troy: Yeah, we run an honest war.
  • And then David responds in kind:
    Troy: Take care of yourself. Remember, a guy can get hurt flying around in those crates.
    David: Yeah, I'd like a nice, safe, comfortable job like yours.
• Death Trap: A field full of landmines, leading to David Troy lying next to yet another landmine.
• Distressed Dude: David Troy. However, he doesn't go down easily, as he makes two escape attempts.
• Double Don't Know: When the Rats discover David lying unconscious in the field.
  Moffitt: Is he alive?
  Troy: I don't know. I don't know.
• Evil Cripple: Von Brugge walks with a limp, a result of his previous battle with the Rat Patrol.
• Foreign Money Is Proof of Guilt: The Rats start to realize that something strange is going on when they discover that one of the Arab assassins was carrying Reichsmarks.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: A careless von Brugge is blown to bits by one of his own landmines.
• Human Shield: Troy compels Hardt to cross the canyon with him because he realizes there's some sort of danger ahead.
  Troy (to Hardt): If anyone gets hurt, you get it first.
• I Have Your Wife: The premise of the episode. Von Brugge takes David Troy hostage to lure Sam Troy and his comrades into a deadly trap.
• It's Personal: For both Troy and von Brugge.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Troy is fairly rough on Lt. Hardt, although Moffitt stops him from going too far.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Played for Drama. Troy, who's usually much more careful, is so obsessed with saving David that he almost rushes into von Brugge's booby-trapped field. Moffitt is forced to punch him to get him to calm down and listen to reason.
• Mood Whiplash: The moment after von Brugge's Karmic Death, the Troy brothers start joking around to relieve the tension.
• One-Book Author: This episode is Nick George's only acting credit, and it's the only script written by veteran editor Richard K. Brockway.
• Remember the New Guy?: Von Brugge never appeared before this episode, making his previous battle with the Rat Patrol a Noodle Incident.
• Revenge Before Reason: Koenig repeatedly tells von Brugge that just shooting the Rats would be an easier way to eliminate them than the landmine trap, but the major won't listen; he wants Troy and his colleagues to suffer before he kills them.
  Koenig: This mission means less to you than your own personal vengeance.
  Von Brugge: My vengeance is the mission.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: A wordless variation. Troy pulls a gun on Hardt, who responds by lecturing him on Nazi superiority while taking out a mirror to light a cigarette.
  Hardt: You won't shoot; you're an American. Americans are too sentimental. Now if I were in your position, I would shoot without hesitation. That's why we eventually will win this war!
  [Troy shoots mirror out of Hardt's hand]
  Hardt (astonished): You shot at me...
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Pvt. Peterson, Tully's pinch hitter in this episode.
• Taking You with Me: David attempts this when he rolls on top of the landmine, trying to deliberately set it off. However...
  Von Brugge: Nicely done, Captain. You could have accounted for all of us if the mine had been armed.
• Translation Convention: The Nazis speak to each other in English. Perhaps it's to practice the language to talk to Captain Troy, but mostly it's for the viewers' convenience.

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