The Gun Runner Raid

An outstanding offbeat and change-of-pace episode. No German convoys to race alongside and perforate with machine gun fire this time around, but instead an American convoy traveling suspiciously far behind enemy lines. What's going on here?

The Rat Patrol investigate and while all is not as it initially appeared, there is an American back of it. And who is this very model of a dandified war profiteer but a perfectly cast Steve Franken, best known as spoiled rich kid Chatsworth Osborne Jr. on THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS. Franken plays that same irksome character here as traitorous arms dealer Ned Cunningham, living like a desert king in a lavish compound, to which be brings his "guests" Troy, Moffitt, Hitchcock, and Pettigrew. Cunningham knows their names because his arms trading racket has suffered many a loss at the hands of the Rat Patrol. It's bad business, his losing money and the Rat Patrol not making any, so he suggests a mutually lucrative partnership. Troy responds with reflexive disgust and rejects the proposal, but Moffitt, ever the scholar, wants to hear out Cunningham, to tease out clues that could bring down his Axis-abetting operation.

Cunningham's pitch is a persuasive one, or it would be on lesser men than stalwart sergeants Troy and Moffitt. Returning vets, contends Cunningham, will find all the jobs taken by those who were too young to fight in the war, and all the girls married with children. Since the market for "middle-aged commandoes" will have dried up, the war heroes will soon sink to hocking their medals at pawn shops. Why not rise above the fray and declare loyalty only to lucre and lots of it?

Into Ned's sales pitch comes the drunken caterwauling of Cunningham's wife, Fay Morgan, shouting from the balcony. Here the story pivots to the poisonous relationship between Ned and Fay. There can be no doubt this story was inspired by the film WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? That Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor classic was released to great acclaim in the summer of 1966, during the production of THE RAT PATROL's first season. Franken and Spain are both excellent in their roles, trading acid-tongued barbs and attempting to humiliate each other in front of their captive guests. Troy and Moffitt are frequently seen averting their gaze from this train wreck of a relationship.

Despite Ned Cunningham's assurance That Troy and Moffitt would be traveling "first-class," the Rat Patrol is consigned to coach for this episode. Hitch and Tully are off-screen for most of the show, and Troy and Moffitt primarily play the George Segal and Sandy Dennis roles of audience to Ned and Fay's verbal volleys. Looming over the sophisticated banter and chilled champagne is the spectre of arch-nemesis Dietrich, whose arrival is anticipated at any moment to purchase arms and--should Cunningham's offer be rejected--to haul the Rat Patrol off to a P.O.W. camp or worse.

There isn't a lot of the accustomed action here, but there's also never a dull moment. One of the series' best written and acted episodes. 9/10

Under the skillful direction of the gifted Tom Gries, Steve Franken gives one of his finest performances as an American gun runner who has betrayed his country for cash. The dialog is crisp and the theme of loyalty to one's country is superbly examined. There is a sharp tension as the Rat Patrol regulars confront the turncoat and try to redeem his soul. Franken is excellent in his role and gives the traitor a humanity and depth and makes him a complex, interesting character. An unusual Rat Patrol that grapples with important themes and offers Steve Franken an opportunity to demonstrate his outstanding talent as a dramatic actor. Splendid support is offered by Fay Spain as the conflicted woman immersed in moral torture as she struggles with her relationship with a man who has betrayed his country.