When I watched Survival for the first time, I knew that it was going to be unusual and deeply emotional from the very begining. I can't say that I have ever seen another Combat episode to equal it in its intensity. I can never decide if I love it or hate it. Survival has heart rending scenes and wonderful acting by the cast, but it is almost painful to watch. Every time I watch it. my dreams are filled with its images for weeks. Here we see the ultimate struggle of men in war:the struggle to stay alive. We get to see this struggle on a large level with Hanley and his men as they try to get back to their lines but we also get to see the same fight on a personal level with Saunders. Combat has been noted as a grim blood stained war series, but I find that Survival is even exceptionaly violent for Combat. Some images always remain in my mind's eye. One of the first things that shook me about this episode was in the begining of this episode and how the prisoners were treated by the Germans. We've had discussions here about atrosity before but the Germans here are different. While in episodes like The Long Way Home the Germans enjoyed hurting the prisoners, here it is not so. The Germans are very methodic with Hanley and his men, like they are herding cattle to the market instead of men. They are tossed and pushed around, tied to a tank and made to run behind it, then dragged to a barn and left bound and without food. A scene I always found touching was when Hanley turns to the German sergeant with an officer's concern and says, "Sergeant, my men are hungry." You can see the open frustration on Hanley's face over there situation and he tries to make it better. This is just the begining of the emotion. I could talk about how I cried as I watch Saunders burnt and starving stumble through the countryside. That once tough noncom changed into a weeping man totally broken by pain and fatigue. So many images! The only thing I did not like was the ending. I think to end on the same intensity that it began, Saunders should have been found by Hanley and the others. This would have added an exclamation point to entire thing. Sorry for rambling on...Just my thoughts.

By DHines on Unrecorded Date:

I thought that I was the only one who did not like the ending of this otherwise oustanding episode. As stated, the ending should have been just as intense as the rest of the story. Saunders should have been found by Hanley and I would have liked to have seen Hanley fighting back tears as he surveys the injuries that his best noncom suffered.

By hazelnut on Unrecorded Date:

That's just what I mean, DHines, and I know some other fans who don't like the ending either. Such an episode like that should have went out with an emotional grenade explosion!
Hazelnut

By Lyne Tremblay (Lyne) on Unrecorded Date:

I agree, Hazelnut. This is one of the top episodes. And it would have benefitted from having Saunders found by his own men at the end. Also, Hanley and the others might have made more mention of Saunders during their flight through the countryside after their escape. Maybe, each of them could have expressed their concerns, emotions and reactions to having their leader missing in a devastating explosion, rather than just walk around saying how hungry they are.

Kelly's plight of having to cover all those miles on foot without shoes gives a cointerpoint to Saunder's plight of having to cover the same distance with his hands burned. Several times during the episode, Robert Altman seems to compare the painful feet of one with the painful hands of the other. Both are agonizing situations for these soldiers fleeing from the enemy. They are hard for viewers to watch. There is so much physical pain here. The scene where Saunders wakes up and finally feels the damage to his hands is so real it doesn't feel like "acting". But the psychological pain of the ending is even worse. Saunders, locked in a nightmare he can't control, reliving what must certainly be the worst event of his childhood makes me cry every time I see it.

His "I'm tired of looking after you!" that he tells the dead German says a lot about Chip Saunders. What a thing to say to your little brother who's only trying to follow you. This man has been gnawed by deep emotional pain and even guilt over a younger brother's death for a long, long time. Now, he always looks out for his men and keeps his mind focused on his missions. And when he breaks down at the end, crying like a twelve-year-old, I absolutely believe it. It is a very intimate moment. No other actor could have exposed the inner mind and emotions of a character so well as Vic did here.

PFC

By Ginette Carrier (Ginette) on Unrecorded Date:

I agree with you PFC. Vic was painfully convincing. I remember watching this episode when I was 10. At that time my cousin had been in an accident, a gas tank exploded in his face and his hands were burnt and he never regain the use of his hand. So I was sure that Saunders would never be the same. I force myself to watch it over again and it was as painful as it was the first time I had seen it.
And it strange that the other didn't talk about him. You don't lose someone that close to you without a pinch of heart. In the episode, The Hard Way Back, when Mineo told them that Saunders was dead, they were all concern and couldn't believed it. Not the Sarge. But different writer, different attitudes.
But at the end, Hanley and the other should have been at his side along the road. He needed them.
We shouldn't have to imagine the end. They should have shown us.
Sarge Ginette

By Hazelnut on Unrecorded Date:

You are very insightful, Lyne. Thank you so much for sharing that with me.

By hazelnut on Unrecorded Date:

You are 100 per cent correct Sarge Ginette. I too knew someone who was badly burned in a fire. They were burned many years ago, but they still suffer pain daily for it and even have to wear special clothing when out in the sun. Saunders' burns would have lasted a long, long time in reality. Isn't it very convenient that the Sarge is all recovered and back to normal by the next episode? Oh, the wonders of Hollywood! (grin)
Hazelnut

By Steven Firefox Tyler on Unrecorded Date:

This is the real failing of "Combat"....Ever notice, nobody ever ends up permanently disfigured or maimed? People either a) die quickly and cleanly or b)get wounds that leave no deep or permanent disability. War ain't like that, folks--your chances of coming home blind and/or minus a limb or two are MUCH higher than your chances of gettin' killed. A pat on the shoulder, or some hand-holding from Sarge and company, WON'T make a lost leg or a burned-off face "all better". Does "Romanticizing" combat injuries do ANYBODY any favors?

By Kate Godiva (Kate) (205.188.197.26) on Thursday, July 04, 2002 - 07:29 pm:

I thought that Sgt. Saunder's squad should have found him "Sgt. Saunders". That upset me too. But, I do love this episode.

By Kate Godiva (Kate) (205.188.197.26) on Thursday, July 04, 2002 - 07:34 pm:

I also think this is a masterpiece of an episode. I have not been a fan of COMBAT! long. I have been with COMBAT! for a few months. I think Victor "Vic" Morrow is a cat's meow. It's is terrible that Vic had to die, and in the manner he died. They should have put all those people in prison for life for (even if the death was accidential) killing Vic (or to death). I think episode "Survival" is a masterpiece anywhere.

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