Recap / Young Indiana Jones Oganga The Giver And Taker Of Life

I have to ask myself just what it is I am doing here.

Two episodes from the first season of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ("German East Africa, December 1916" and "Congo, January 1917", first broadcast respectively on 1st April and 8th April 1992), later re-edited into a single feature-length episode entitled Oganga, the Giver and Taker of Life which is the eleventh instalment of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.

December 1916. Indy (serving in the Belgian Army as Lieutenant Henri Defense) leads his African soldiers to victory in an attack on an enemy stronghold and is promoted. His unit is then sent across Africa on an important mission to recover a shipment of weapons, but most die of disease and exhaustion. In a disease-ravaged village, he is able to rescue one small child from certain death — but the presence of the child endangers the mission, leaving Indy in a moral quandary, forced to fight his conscience, his sense of duty and his commanding officer as well as the enemy as he battles his way across country. Depressed by the turmoil around him, Indy reaches his lowest point. Hope appears in the presence of Albert Schweitzer, a profoundly inspiring and committed doctor, philosopher and musician. Helping out at Schweitzer's jungle hospital, Indy finds his faith in humanity restored and his outlook on life forever changed.

This episode contains examples of:

• All for Nothing: The ultimate fate of the mission, as the French authorities decide that the guns should be sent back to Europe — with Indy and Remy to escort them.
• Ambiguous Situation: The nationality of Sloat, the riverboat captain. Of the the two young adult novelisations of this episode, one of them, The River of Death, says he's a Dutchman (which is what the Indiana Jones Wiki goes with) — while the other, Trek of Doom, says he's English. For the record, the actor who played him, Bryan Pringle, was an Englishman.
• And Starring: Freidrich von Thun, who played Albert Schweitzer, gets this credit.
• Agony of the Feet: Remy has to have two of his toes amputated after jiggers burrow under his skin.
• Artistic Licence – History: The real Barthélemy Boganda was not actually orphaned until the 1920s after his mother was beaten to death. He was subsequently adopted by Catholic missionaries and was given the name "Barthelemy" after one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus.
• Bait-and-Switch: After the battle, Indy gets bawled out by Major Boucher in front of Colonel Mathieu for disobeying his order to retreat. Mathieu then reveals that General Tombeur has contacted him to award a citation for the whole company and a promotion for Indy.
• Bloodless Carnage: As with the scenes on the Western Front in other episodes, there's plenty of carnage in the opening battle scene, but hardly any blood is shown. Even when Indy bayonets the German machine-gunner.
• Captain's Log: Done in the form of a voiceover while Indy is writing a letter to Ned.
• Christmas Episode: Very downplayed; Christmas falls during the mission, and the men (many weakened by disease) try to celebrate it as best they can in the circumstances. This scene cuts to a scene showing several dead soldiers (including the medical officer previously shown to have been among the sick) being buried.
• Continuity Nod: The opening scene shows Indy speaking with Sergeant Barthélèmy in an unspecified African language; clearly, he took Ned's advice about learning local languages (given in the first-ever episode) to heart. Also, Indy is seen several times to be writing in his journal, which his father gave him in that first episode.
• Dead Guy Junior: When he hands the little boy over to the nuns, Indy (not knowing the kid's actual name) tells them that he's called Barthélèmy, after the sergeant who ensured that the kid came with them — and who has just died.
• The Determinator: When Major Boucher orders a retreat, Indy spots that the German machine-gun has jammed, and continues to advance towards the German lines. Everyone else follows, and the Belgian Askaris manage to overrun the German position. Indy even manages to capture the machine gun and turn it on the German Askaris. Later on, he uses the riverboat — which he'd requisitioned to transport the guns — to take Schweitzer to the African village to heal the chief's son.
• Friendship Moment: Indy and Remy's friendship becomes strained when Indy pulls rank and insists they return upriver with the guns. When they are recovering in Schweitzer's hospital, they reconcile.
• Frontier Doctor: Albert Schweitzer is one of these in Central Africa, and is widely respected by the Africans, some of whom travel long distances in order to be treated at his hospital (the only one in the region). His philosophy of Reverence for Life leads him to treat Indy and his (surviving) companions regardless of military allegiance, and has a profound effect on Indy, who has become disillusioned with soldiering as a result of the mission to recover the guns.
• Good Luck Charm: After seeing Indy struck down in battle and seemingly miraculously recover and lead them to victory, the Belgian Askaris have come to see him as one of these ... if not more.
  Remy: Two promotions in a day. First captain, now a god. You amaze me!
• Heal Thyself: Discussed between Indy and Schweitzer at the end.
  Indy: Until I met you, I thought I was becoming a person I could respect. Now I'm not so sure. [pause] I feel sick in my soul.
  Schweitzer: That's a disease even I can't treat. I'm afraid it's up to you to heal yourself.
  Indy: I don't know where to start.
  Schweitzer: You already have. [shakes Indy's hand and leaves]
• Herr Doktor: Albert Schweitzer, who was in fact from Alsace — although it was part of Germany when he was born. When Alsace became part of France after World War I, he took French citizenship.
• Historical Domain Character: Indy encounters Albert Schweitzer and his wife Helene. And a very young Barthelemy Boganda, although after the Old Indy bookends were edited out this is not stated.
• Homage: The first half has a lot of parallels to Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Apocalypse Now, with Indy's regiment going through a long trek through the jungle and down the Congo river that increasingly threatens everyone's sanity. Both films draw heavily from Heart of Darkness, which also involves a journey along the Congo river.
• Honour Before Reason: Pretty much the reason for why Albert and Helene Schweitzer get deported. Rostand is under orders to ensure that all German citizens are removed from French territory, regardless of their reasons for being there (which, in the case of the Schweitzers, involves running the only hospital in the region).
• Humble Hero: Schweitzer does not like to emphasise his many achievements.
  Helene: He hates to brag, so I must do it for him.
• Jerkass: The French corporal who tries to boss Indy and Remy around at the end. Remy, a lieutenant, immediately pulls rank and gives him a taste of his own medicine.
• Left the Background Music On. The classical music piece being played when Indy watches Schweitzer looking after his patients (many of whom have travelled far for treatment) segues into Schweitzer himself unwinding by playing the piano in the evening.
• MacGuffin: A shipment of guns (described as consisting of "two-dozen Vickers machine-guns, four mortars and two light British howitzers") which has run aground on the West African coast ^note  specifically at Cape Lopez, located in what is now Gabon . Major Boucher, Indy, Remy and their men are ordered to travel across Central Africa to retrieve it.
• Manly Tears: Shed by Joseph when the Schweitzers are taken away.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The Askaris think that Indy being saved by his locket is proof that he has divine protection. Indy prefers a more mundane explanation for his survival (ie. luck or chance), but Sergeant Barthélèmy points out that there must be something miraculous about such a small object (made of a non-ferrous metal like silver or pewter) deflecting a bullet.
• The McCoy: Indy and Remy have shades of this, in response to officers like Boucher and Rostand who are blindly following orders.
• Meaningful Name: Major Boucher sees many of the men under his command die. Boucher mean "butcher" in French.
• "Not So Different" Remark: He may be a sergeant in the Belgian Army, but Barthélèmy (who likely grew up in the chaos that was the Congo Free State) sees little difference between the Belgians and the Germans, neither of whom want to let Africans have self-determination.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: To the Africans, Schweitzer is known as "Oganga", which he takes to mean "medicine man", although as his assistant Joseph points out, a more accurate translation would be "giver and taker of life". He's called that because the Africans think that when he puts them under anaesthetic, he takes their lives — and when they come round after the operation, he gives them their lives back.
• Pocket Protector: Indy does get shot during the attack in the opening battle, but the bullet is stopped by his locket — which was given to him by Princess Sophie.
• Rank Up: Indy's bravery and quick thinking in the battle result in him being promoted to Captain. Not bad for a lad who, in addition to having been in the army for less than a year, is not even 18 yet (although he had of course lied about his age when he enlisted).
• Renaissance Man: Albert Schweitzer. In addition to being an inspirational doctor, he's also a theologian who has developed his own outlook on life, and an accomplished musician.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: When all of the Belgian Askaris refuse to carry on without the child (in effect, committing mutiny), Indy sides with them and pulls his gun on Major Boucher. He later tries to argue against the deportation of the Schweitzers, although he is unsuccessful.
• Shout-Out: The sequence on the riverboat is decidedly reminiscent of The African Queen (which is also set in World War I), with Zachariah Sloat (the boat's captain) coming across as an expy of Charlie Allnut.
• The Spock: Major Boucher, whose remorseless, unemotional devotion to the mission leads to sick men being left behind to likely die. When he also insists on leaving the little boy behind, his (already strained) relations with Indy reach breaking-point. Later, when Boucher himself falls ill, he tries to insist that he be left behind (reasoning that the rules should apply to him too), but Indy over-rules him.
  • Later on, Captain Rostand, the French officer who comes to take the Schwiezters away, has shades of this. Indy describes him as "a petty bureaucrat with a gun".
• Translation Convention: Most of the conversations between characters are probably in French (or perhaps German in the second part), but it's all in English for the benefit of the viewer.
• White Man's Burden: Discussed. Indy is honestly convinced that European rule can benefit Africa. Sergeant Barthélèmy, on the other hand, points out that the war is nothing more than competition between European empires for control of African land, and regardless of who wins, African people will get the short end of the stick.
• You Are in Command Now: Spoken word-for-word to Indy by the dying Major Boucher.
• Young Future Famous People: Perhaps the most extreme example in the show — in the original Old Indy bookend (which was edited out of the TV movie version) it's revealed that the kid whose life Indy saves (and who later saves everyone when the deserters fire on the riverboat) grows up to be Barthelemy Boganda, who led the Central African Republic to independence ^note  although he died a year before the country became fully independent .