In the words of the late Richard Machowicz, host of the great Discovery Channel show FutureWeapons, military wisdom says you only fight tanks with other tanks. Anything less is suicidal. In this riveting episode of Combat, considered by many to be among the best the show has to offer, Vic Morrow rises to challenge this theory. Like many other great episodes (not just in this show but in general), The Duel is really simple. Saunders, cut off from his men, tries to make a dash for his lines by hitching a ride with a truck driver named Mickey (Bobby Rydell). Unfortunately, the truck blows a tire and it's going to take quite a while for Mickey to fix it. A German tank, caught in the middle of an American offensive, trundles down the same dirt road the truck was on. Saunders instructs Mickey to do what he can to replace the tire while he deals with the tank. Having no anti-armor weapons or explosives, it looks like Saunders has just signed his own death warrant. His first move is to kill the two german rifleman providing cover for the vehicle with his Thompson. The tank's commander battens down the hatches, not willing to lose more of his men. Although the vehicle's turret has a slow rotation speed, the tank is able to find Saunders and starts firing hot lead at him from both a top mounted gun and a coaxial gun located in the turret. Saunders counters by lobbing grenades toward the tank, which doesn't really accomplish anything aside from letting the Nazis know where he is. Although the vehicle has a damaged track and thus moves slower, Saunders has to do all he can to stop it from proceeding. After getting hit in the leg with machine gun fire, Saunders uses a formation of small rocks for cover. The tank commander becomes much more aggressive and orders his driver to try and chase him down. When they fail to pry him out of cover, the tank uses its main gun to force Saunders into the open. Saunders decides to go for the unthinkable and rush towards the tank (fortunately the tank shells have been exhausted by this point) and actually climbs on top of the vehicle. The germans catch on to what he's doing and comically rock the tank back and forth and rotate its turret in an attempt to throw him off. Saunders manages to hold on for a respectable amount of time, but is eventually dislodged. The tank attempts to drive forward, but Saunders shoves a piece of a log in its tracks, preventing it from moving. Frustrated by Mickey's lack of progress, Saunders rushes back to the truck to see what's taking him so long, and Mickey replies he can't replace the wheel because the ground is too soft. When Saunders attempts to leave, the jack holding the truck collapses and brings the huge vehicle down on his chest. Saunders tries to drive the truck off of Mickey, but is unable to without killing him. Finally, Saunders realizes the weapon he needs to stop the tank has been in the truck all along. He tanks a gasoline container from the back and sneaks back to the tank, managing to get close to it without being seen. Just as the vehicle breaks free of the log and starts rolling again, Saunders puts the gas container at the rear of the vehicle (where its engine is). He then runs to a safe distance and shoots at it with his tommy gun. The fuel leaks, and before long, the tank smokes and starts burning. Mickey and Saunders are then brought back to US lines, with the latter playfully berating Mickey about how he's going to be a hero whether he likes it or not. Lakso really outdid himself with this one. All the reviews I've seen so far for this episode have been extremely positive, and for good reason. Saunders is at his best here, in terms of being a one man army. If he really had to, he could probably take down the Death Star all by himself. What makes the episode so exciting is the presence of a time limit. Saunders knows he has to somehow stop the tank before it reaches the truck and blows it apart. He doesn't have anything in his arsenal powerful enough to stop the tank, so the best he can do really is slow it down. It's also worth noting that this is the show's only episode to have the german dialogue subtitled, which really comes in handy during the scenes that take place inside the tank. You get to see how the german tank crews (and tank crews in general) had to work together in order to achieve victory, since one person is not going to be enough to serve as the commander, driver, radio operator, gun loader, etc. The only negative thing I can really say about this episode is how the german tank isn't even german, but American. This is a common complaint of mine when it comes to World War 2 shows and films, particularly 60s ones. They just take a cold war tank, paint iron crosses on it, and call it a day. While this does admittedly annoy the hell out of me, I can't let that ruin my perception of this episode. The bottom line is The Duel is one of the best episodes Combat has ever had, since it shows how even without the aid of his squad, Saunders is not to be underestimated.
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