"Lost Sheep, Lost Shepherd" - Recap and Review

Combat!

Season 1 Episode 3: “Lost Sheep, Lost Shepherd”

The player characters are: Hanley, Saunders, Doc, and Littlejohn.

The opening reports a massive tank battle shortly after D-Day…and its aftermath of scattered tanks, crews, and infantry. After footage of tanks driving, shooting, burning, blowing up, and in other ways failing their saving throws versus 88 millimeter armor piercing magic missiles, we finally see some familiar faces; they’re marching on a road in Normandy.

We also see these two guys with a dog.

Cut to the Lt. and Saunders. Hanley is going over a map; he wants Saunders' advice. Saunders informs him that they have about an hour and half before the enemy tanks overtake them. 

Run the opening credits. Jeffrey Hunter is guest starring as the featured NPC of the week (Sergeant Dane).

Saunders tells a soldier who is singing the chorus to "The Whiffenpoof Song" (go to 0:59 to hear the chorus) (echoing the ‘lost sheep’ reference of the title) that their destination is Paris. 

Unbeknownst (which is one of my favorite words; it looks like some foreign word, maybe an autocorrect rendition of Uzbekistan) to the G.I.s, they’re about to try their luck on the random encounter table; they’re walking into an ambush.

Not a man goes down when the sniper in the tree, and the big MG open-up on the Americans…but every tree they hide behind takes a hit. Obviously, it’s the magic bark that attracts projectiles. The Germans didn’t count on that. The sniper, to his misfortune, picked a tree without the magic bark. Saunders drops him, like the wicked witch under Dorothy's house, with a blast from his machine gun.

The guy we saw earlier with the dog (Wiggins) puts the pup down; it does what pups do, and walks off. This NPC fails his saving throw versus sudden idiocy, and goes after the dog, away from the magic trees. Scratch that NPC. Casualties are at one for each side so far.

Saunders volunteers to take half the men to outflank the enemy position. Cue the ominous sounds of a big engine and creaking treads. Cut to close-ups of individual infantry men. Oh no! It’s a tank! Will they be trapped between two fires?

Wait. It’s one of ours.

Color the two Germans on the MG obliterated.

I bet we’re about to meet guest NPC.

He’s not Captain Christopher Pike in the tanker helmet…but it is Jeffrey Hunter. He’s sullen, dirty, and low on fuel. He doesn’t want anyone riding on his tank. Hanley outranks the tanker sergeant who is not in contact with his unit. The infantry will ride.

An eerie silence greets them when they enter the battle-scarred town of Gavray…right up until the welcome wagon is rolled out courtesy of the Third Reich, beginning with a burst from a big MG. Again, no one is hit in the initial firing--the MG man failed his sneak attack check, noisily knocking out some window panes before firing. The tank attracts bullets even better than the trees did. An American goes down when he runs for shelter. 

There are two MG positions. The tank blows them each a kiss from its main gun; the sounds of silence are restored…except the NPC guest star has to blast the cross off the church…apparently he's not down with religion--or he just hates right angles.

The tank needs gas. The order from Hanley is to search house-to-house, and watch out for booby-traps.

Littlejohn is packing the dog. He hands it to Doc (the same Doc from episode 1), and enters what must be a bicycle shop. (I like the several shots taken through the bicycle wheel).

 They find a table set for a meal, and a fire going in the fireplace. Guest NPC has also found something in front of an empty-eyed building.

The devious DM has Not Captain Pike roll on the treasure table…and the fuel barrels are empty. Instead of gas, they discover an old wounded priest, and a young boy—Not Captain Pike’s expression says this is the worst treasure roll ever.

When the priest tells them that they must leave, and that everyone has left the town, Saunders makes his save to disbelieve. Not Captain Pike gets in the priest’s face, as if to inflict breath weapon damage, but Hanley calls him off.

We soon see that Saunders is wise to disbelieve when the shot cuts to an ominous view from behind a German helmet (an actual helmet, not a German named Helmut…although he could be; we’re not given his name).

The camera follows the German…he comes to a point where he looks down on a room (basement) full of the townspeople; he looks down on them the same way Not Captain Pike looked down on the wounded priest.

The people are not alone down there. There’s a German radio operator. I can tell, because he has those radio things on his head. An important message comes over the wire.

Next, it’s night. Guest NPC is on the prowl. He goes into an art shop…and nothing.

Back to Hanley and Saunders. Hanley is puzzled about why the Germans pulled out of such a commanding position…and the priest won’t talk.

Back to Guest NPC. He’s still prowling.

Cut to the two NPC tank crewmen. Saunders finds them and pumps them for information on Not Captain Pike. They describe their Sgt. as a real go-getter…and a spoiled priest; he’s a sky pilot washout (sort of, not an army chaplain as in the song). They hate him.

Saunders confronts Not Captain Pike about the matter of being a spoiled priest. He informs the former man-of-the-cloth that they are going to tangle if he keeps on as he has been. Our guest NPC gives a heartfelt explanation and claims he can never go back to being a priest after all the killing he’s done.

Saunders, in his unique, sympathetic way, not quite straight from Carnegie’s book on winning friends and influencing people, tells the tanker that he has no guts, and he’s just not man enough to be a priest. Consider that our tanker is holding a machine gun in his hands that is not quite pointed at Saunders during this discussion.

The DM throws the dice for guest NPC on the table of unexpected reactions. The tanker decides he wants to go to confession. (I particularly like the shadow of the mirror next to the candle in this shot, and the triangle it forms with the priest and guest NPC as the other points of the triangle).

Hanley, Saunders, and Doc watch, screened from the intimacy of the confession by a mere shadow barrier.

Not Captain Pike gets right with God…just in time…the German radio man has more important news. Of course, I can’t tell what it is because, in one of the things that I always loved about the series, the Germans speak German (which I don’t). The French prisoners speak French (which I do), and worry that the Germans will kill them all; the old man doing the talking isn’t worried about himself, but he can’t bear the thought of the children being killed.

Cut to Sanders and Hanley at the fountain outside. Noise in the distance. Division is about to break out. They talk about the tanker sergeant until Doc gets them. Not Captain Pike is nowhere to be found. The priest is saying in French, “They will be killed. They will be killed by the Germans…the church.” Hanley makes a roll to understand tongues and scores high enough to get the gist of the priest’s message. (Caje isn't in this episode. Neither Hanley nor Saunders speak French).

Now we’re primed for some action… Hanley and Saunders take off. There’s movement among the Germans as well. Guest NPC is waiting for them. He takes out a couple Germans with a pistol before the clerical spell of warding against high velocity lead expires. He takes a perforation or two while holding the priest's crucifix—not as effective against bullets as against vampires--who knew? Hanley and Saunders burst into the church, spraying projectiles and relieving the Germans of all their hit points. Saunders also gives the radio man a KIA result, and the French hostages are freed. Not Christopher Pike isn’t dead…yet. The villagers stream past him as he stands bleeding against the church wall. He struggles to the front of the church, and expires.

Roll the credits.

Not the most exciting episode. Saunders and Hanley are the only ones who gained any XPs. Saunders eliminated 3 enemies; Hanley brought down one. Every other enemy sent to the other realm did so with a ticket punched by Not Captain Pike--leading to the issue raised in the episode: What does all the killing in war do to a man’s soul? Saunders and guest NPC touched on it. I think it was only resolved to some extent for guest NPC after he met with the priest. I suppose the answer, as far as one may be found, should be read in the final shot before the credits.