Hogan's Heroes Episode Review: "Color the Luftwaffe Red"

Guest stars include John Crawford, Arthur Hanson and James Vickery.

Even though I do consider myself a fan of this television series, one of my biggest complaints about the show is most of the episodes are somewhat predictable. So, when I come across one that manages to throw in a few twists to keep things interesting, I do usually enjoy watching it.

That was the case with this particular episode. At first, I figured it would be the typical, predictable Hogan's Heroes sabotage stunt with the group distracting their Nazi enemy enough to walk out with the plans without anyone even noticing they are missing. So, when the episode surprised me by having that surprise search before they were allowed the leave the building, forcing Hogan to hide the map in a light fixture, I was admittedly impressed.

Adding to the suspense from that was the fact his hiding place was less than ideal and their attempt to steal the map would be discovered the second someone turned the light on. This, of course, forced them to go back into the building, steal the map a second time and, eventually, try to get through yet another search without being discovered. And, to tell you the truth, I wasn't really sure how they were going to keep the map hidden during the second search.

I thought the end of this episode was also somewhat funny, with Hogan's men destroying Klink's (Werner Klemperer) office out of protest for not getting paid for their paint work. That was a classic ending for this series and even included a parting shot at Adolf Hitler that I think I'll remember for a while.

This is a somewhat unique episode because Hogan and his men were forced to think on the fly rather than have their plan go perfectly smoothly, as is usually the case in other episodes. I definitely enjoyed watching this one as a result of that.

My Grade: A