The 7th episode of The Rat Patrol begins with Sgt. Troy walking ahead of the jeeps, destroying mines by firing bursts from his submachinegun into the sand. I'm not convinced that this is a practical way to navigate through a minefield...the mines under the sand are pressure-activated devices, and just firing a few random bursts aren't going to set them all off (probably not even a
single one unless a lucky shot hit it dead-on!) But the other Rats are humoring Troy and driving along behind him.
Soon enough, we hear the circus music that heralds Hauptmann Dietrich's arrival. For once, the Rats
do the smart thing and scatter away, instead of engaging in the usual jeep-vs.-tank battle (probably because Troy is to far away to give the order to attack!) Troy is left behind to face the oncoming panzer column but is helped by a few bursts from the fleeing jeeps.
At this point, I can't really explain what happens. Troy is alone and wandering in the desert, and the German tanks are nowhere to be seen...maybe they were afraid to enter the minefield and didn't know to just shoot machineguns into the sand to clear a path. And the other Rats and their
jeeps are off somewhere else, wondering where Troy could be. Moffitt scans the horizon and decides to move on to the rendezvous point. It took me about 2 seconds to figure out that everyone could follow their own tracks in the sand to link back up very quickly...maybe Moffitt knows this too, but he's giving Troy some payback for the events in "The Kill or be Killed Raid" is what I will assume.
Troy is quickly in bad shape, stumbling around in the desert without water. For some reason, he is
compelled to keep staring at the sun, until he finally collapses into the handy shade of the cameraman.
Troy wakes up in an aid station. Troy is blind and doesn't realize that he has been captured by
Dietrich...the nurse and doctor speak perfect english, and Dietrich's plan is for Troy to reveal the
location of the Rat's rendezvous point. Eyedrops are administered to Troy that continue his blindness
until the info can be snookered out of him. There's some excellent dialogue between Dietrich and the
doctor (who disagrees with Dietrich's methods) that makes the episode a memorable one.
Meanwhile, the other Rats are debating what to do. Tully give a stream of conscious ramble about his
"big mammy" and a butterfly. Everyone is quite concerned about Troy except for Moffitt.
Troy is getting cozy with the German nurse, wandering hands and all. Troy must have his mind on that,
because he is soon cajoled into showing where the Rats' rendezvous point is located. Dietrich reveals the truth to Troy, who is a bit angry that he has been fooled, and especially resentful of the nurse.
Dietrich arranges to have Troy taken to a POW camp, giving him a pair of sunglasses, and then the Hauptmann leaves to go "clean out a Rat's nest."
Somehow, Troy has figured out that the eyedrops are continuing his vision problem, so he fills
the dropper with water while giving the nurse a torrid kiss. Then the nurse, doc, and guards load
him into an ambulance and they're on their way to the POW camp.
Troy's eyes are slowly getting better, so after a smoke and passing a bottle of booze around, Troy springs into action, killing the doc, guard, driver and motorcycle escort. "Another time...another place," he says to the teary-eyed nurse as he speeds away on the motorcycle.
Troy arrives at the rendezvous point just ahead of Dietrich's armor column, and the Rats get away, leaving Dietrich to find just the cycle and the sunglasses. Troy and Moffitt watch Dietrich's disappointment from a nearby dune, and Troy talks to Moffitt using the same patronizing words that the doctor had used when fooling him...perhaps just a hint that Troy is playing Moffitt in the same way as well?
Though not a great story, the episode is very well written and acted. Oddly, the usual technical excellence is brought down by a shadow of the cameraman and camera in the scene where Troy collapses in the sand. But this episode is worth watching just for the fine dialogues and
character interactions.
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AIRED:
While on a mission, Sgt. Troy becomes separated from the Rat Patrol and lost in the desert. Suffering from exhaustion and sunblindness, he wakes up safe in an aid station...but things are not what they appear to be.
 Lawrence Casey |
Pvt. Mark Hitchcock |
Christopher George |
Sgt. Sam Troy |
Gary Raymond |
Sgt. Jack Moffitt |
Justin Tarr |
Pvt. Tully Pettigrew |
 Eric Braeden |
Capt. Hans Dietrich |
Salome Jens |
Patricia Bauer |
Guest Star |
James Philbrook |
Doctor Keller |
Guest Star |
Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
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TRIVIA (1)
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The cameraman's shadow can be seen when Sgt. Troy collapses onto the sand.
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QUOTES (3)
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Dr. Keller: You know...you're real anxious to get this Desert Rat Patrol, aren't you?
Capt. Dietrich: Oh, yes!
Dr. Keller: It's strange...strange how we fight for different things. -
Pvt. Pettigrew (scouring the desert for the missing Sgt. Troy): When I was two, we had a big mammy. Used to tie me to her apron string. One day, when she was hangin' out the laundry, I saw a butterfly. Somehow the string came undone, and I wandered off. I thought they'd never find me. Everything was so tall and I was so short...
Sgt. Moffit (interrupting): We can't wait here forever! -
Sgt. Moffitt: Stop calling me Sarge!
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NOTES (0)
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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Season 2 announced on DVD
06/09/113
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I find my self doing thing this sometimes.
06/09/113
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Did Dietrich Survive the War? (possible spoilers)
06/09/112
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The Rat Patrol outfit
05/17/091
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My Fictional Rat Patrol Episode
09/15/082
Season 1 Episodes
See AllEp 32
The Delilah Raid
Ep 31
The Fire and Brimstone ...
Ep 30
Mask-a-Raid
Ep 29
The Hour Glass Raid
Ep 28
The Double or Nothing Raid
Ep 27
The Take Me to Your Lea...
Ep 26
The Bring 'Em Back Aliv...
Ep 25
The Wild Goose Raid
Ep 24
The Two Against Time Raid
Ep 23
The Holy War Raid
Ep 22
The Exhibit A Raid
Ep 21
The B Negative Raid
Ep 20
The Last Chance Raid
Ep 19
The Two for One Raid
Ep 18
The One That Got Away Raid
Ep 17
The Last Harbor Raid (3)
Ep 16
The Last Harbor Raid (2)
Ep 15
The Last Harbor Raid (1)
Ep 14
The Dare-Devil Rescue Raid
Ep 13
The Lighthouse Raid
Ep 12
The Gun Runner Raid
Ep 11
The Deadly Double Raid
Ep 10
The Moment of Truce Raid
Ep 9
The Blow Sky High Raid
Ep 8
The Fatal Chase Raid
Ep 7
The Blind Man's Bluff Raid
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