The first of the four memorable recurring characters writer Richard Powell created for "Hogan's Heroes" was "Tiger," introduced in the second-ever episode "Hold That Tiger," the French underground leader who was brave, resourceful, and, as played by exotic beauty Arlene Martel, sexy. Unfortunately, Tiger, who appeared in just five episodes, quickly became a damsel in distress reduced by Season Two's "Heil Klink" to a doe-eyed kitten fretfully clutching her handkerchief when she wasn't simpering at Hogan. (Martel appeared in two other episodes as other underground agents more substantial than what Tiger had become.)
Why Powell relegated Tiger to the margins is unknown, but by Season Six writer Laurence Marks seemed seized by chivalry and attempted to restore her honor with "Operation Tiger," an effort that ultimately finds the underground leader still a damsel in distress in need of rescue--again--although Marks does partially succeed in providing a measure of justice for Tiger; if anything, at least he gives her a real name: Marie Louise Monet.
Learning that Tiger has been arrested by the Gestapo, Colonel Hogan, leading the intelligence and sabotage unit that operates covertly from Stalag 13, asks London for permission to stage a rescue operation; however, when his request is denied, he decides to undertake one anyway, offering impassioned speech about her importance to the war effort and how she saved his own life just a month previously. Initially reluctant to follow, the Heroes do join with their leader to rescue Tiger, who is being taken on a train to Berlin for a kangaroo trial and a quick execution.
As other reviewers have noted, the rescue is both familiar and anticlimactic, but in its final season, "Hogan's Heroes" had had every drop of originality squeezed out of it. Furthermore, Marks didn't give Martel much to as Tiger spends much of her time passively handcuffed to a pair of Gestapo agents, with only one scene giving her substantial dialog--and that is interspersed with making out with Hogan.
And given the near-melodrama of the moment, there aren't many opportunities for humor, with those largely given to Carter as Larry Hovis rehashes his wacky-German-officer shtick, even calling grim, imperious Gestapo Captain Steiger (noted television heavy Frank Marth, largely used for ballast here) "buddy." One witty moment does occur during colloquy over confiscated alleged "wood alcohol" that would be "suicide" to drink between Hogan and Stalag 13 commandant Colonel Klink, who deadpans that no one is allowed to commit suicide without written permission. When Hogan's quips that it must be three signed copies, Klink's comeback is, no, it's "four copies. One goes to Berlin."
Laurence Marks never forgot that the context for the show is Nazi Germany during World War Two, and Klink's line is a clever swipe at the bureaucracy the Nazis were as fanatical about as their anti-Semitism. Moreover, Marks's scripts, even the flawed, tired one he wrote for "Operation Tiger," still displayed an internal logic and assured writing that maintained fundamental narrative competence, particularly when delivering a measure of justice for Tiger.
REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?
Why Powell relegated Tiger to the margins is unknown, but by Season Six writer Laurence Marks seemed seized by chivalry and attempted to restore her honor with "Operation Tiger," an effort that ultimately finds the underground leader still a damsel in distress in need of rescue--again--although Marks does partially succeed in providing a measure of justice for Tiger; if anything, at least he gives her a real name: Marie Louise Monet.
Learning that Tiger has been arrested by the Gestapo, Colonel Hogan, leading the intelligence and sabotage unit that operates covertly from Stalag 13, asks London for permission to stage a rescue operation; however, when his request is denied, he decides to undertake one anyway, offering impassioned speech about her importance to the war effort and how she saved his own life just a month previously. Initially reluctant to follow, the Heroes do join with their leader to rescue Tiger, who is being taken on a train to Berlin for a kangaroo trial and a quick execution.
As other reviewers have noted, the rescue is both familiar and anticlimactic, but in its final season, "Hogan's Heroes" had had every drop of originality squeezed out of it. Furthermore, Marks didn't give Martel much to as Tiger spends much of her time passively handcuffed to a pair of Gestapo agents, with only one scene giving her substantial dialog--and that is interspersed with making out with Hogan.
And given the near-melodrama of the moment, there aren't many opportunities for humor, with those largely given to Carter as Larry Hovis rehashes his wacky-German-officer shtick, even calling grim, imperious Gestapo Captain Steiger (noted television heavy Frank Marth, largely used for ballast here) "buddy." One witty moment does occur during colloquy over confiscated alleged "wood alcohol" that would be "suicide" to drink between Hogan and Stalag 13 commandant Colonel Klink, who deadpans that no one is allowed to commit suicide without written permission. When Hogan's quips that it must be three signed copies, Klink's comeback is, no, it's "four copies. One goes to Berlin."
Laurence Marks never forgot that the context for the show is Nazi Germany during World War Two, and Klink's line is a clever swipe at the bureaucracy the Nazis were as fanatical about as their anti-Semitism. Moreover, Marks's scripts, even the flawed, tired one he wrote for "Operation Tiger," still displayed an internal logic and assured writing that maintained fundamental narrative competence, particularly when delivering a measure of justice for Tiger.
REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?
