Foyle's War

I love the mystery series "Foyle's War," but "Casualties Of War" was a casualty of history and for fans.



The episode revolves around one of the great historic events in World War II. The heroic mission of the 617 squadron would become legend and create heroes. Their mission to destroy the dams that powered the Nazi war machine was as revolutionary as the skipping bomb they carried.



"Casualties Of War" chose to rewrite history and the lives of those involved. The scientist who conceived the mission and created the unique bomb is consider one of the great minds of WWII. In the movie he is a bumbling, unethical, engineer taking credit for a woman's work.



The writer intertwines several concepts and beliefs which drag down the story:



a. War perverts the ethics of justice

b. The Nazi bombing of London is equated with the Allied bombing of dams. The English bombs are described as flooding and killing and the real purpose of cutting of electrical power is omitted.

c. Women do not receive position and recognition. As mentioned earlier a female character is added as a engineer behind the project that in reality was clearly one man's concept.



The story line is befuddled beyond the historical inaccuracies, libelous portrayal of the inventor, and strains to run politically correct themes. The ending is anticlimactic. Without revealing the ending, let it be said that the many running sub-stories and the main mystery come to a muddy conclusion.



This episode had great potential. That potential was spoiled in the script which had an agenda. The actors did their job, the crew executed their jobs well, but the writer was devastatingly not up to the task.



I love "Foyle's War" and would recommend the series. "Casualties Of War," however, is atypical and not an episode I would recommend to a new viewer.