SAS Rogue Heroes season 2 episode 5 recap: 'Different from other regiments'

This SAS Rogue Heroes season 2 episode 5 recap contains spoilers... After railing against authority for so long, Paddy Mayne (Jack O'Connell) finally gets a chance to say his piece when he comes face-to-face with General Montgomery (Con O'Neil). Elsewhere, Reg Seekings (Theo Barklem-Biggs) hits rock bottom and Lt Col David Stirling (Connor Swindells) gets his long-awaited shot at escaping from his POW camp...

It’s October 1943 and Lt John Tonkin (John Barton) is driven through the night by a group of soldiers, yet as they’re about to shoot him, he takes them by surprise and escapes. Result!

Meanwhile in Termoli, the SRS bury their departed comrades in a sombre ceremony officiated by Paddy Mayne (Jack O’Connell), who encourages them to help him call out the names of their fallen friends. Many of the men struggle in the task, yet Reg Seekings (Theo Barklem-Biggs) continues reciting names long after Paddy has moved on and adds his own name and those of the men around him.

“Put me at the front, where I won’t last a day,” says Reg. “Every night lasts 10 years, I can’t last that long.” Paddy says he’s now unstoppable and promotes him, yet none of his other comrades seem impressed and Jim Almonds (Corin Silva) sends him away while they sing a hymn for the dead.

'Different from the other regiments...' 

Later on, Bill Stirling (Gwilym Lee) tries once again to send Eve Mansour (Sofia Boutella) away, but she has very important news for him. She says General Montgomery is on his way to Termoli to congratulate the SAS and she’s been ordered by General De Gaulle to stay and represent the "Free French Forces" when he arrives. The news and the fact that she knows what he doesn’t is clearly a shock for Bill Stirling.

"I’m not leaving the frontline until we reach Paris,” explains Eve. “Where I will buy you a bottle of champagne.”

As luck would have it, the SAS is in the middle of a drunken brawl when a soldier arrives warning that Montgomery (Con O’Neil) will be arriving in a few minutes time. Apparently, they must all put on a set of new red berets, which are now SAS standard issue. Apparently anyone not doing so could find themself on a charge.

After walking through the mess hall, which is strewn with blood and broken bottles, Montgomery meets the men and finds them all wearing red berets — apart from Paddy Mayne (Jack O'Connell).

Mayne explains his actions by saying he feels the SAS are different from all the other regiments in the British Army. Montgomery tells him he cares not for the insubordination in his ranks or his soldier's mental health, so long as he keeps winning and gives him personal permission to keep wearing his sand-coloured beret. Montgomery is also rather taken with Eve Mansour, whom he meets later on, which annoys and intrigues Bill Stirling in equal measure.

Later on, Bill confesses his feelings for her, as she tells him it was he who persuaded Montgomery to allow the SAS to return to how they were operating before — and be called the SAS, rather than the SRS again.

She asks why he doesn’t tell Paddy he’s actually on his side, but he says his brother told him that Paddy needed someone to rebel against if he was to function and he’s “perfect for the job”.

'Let's blow up some trains...' 

Montgomery has also issued new orders for the SAS: Identify key junctions in the Italian rail network North of Florence and blow them to hell. As such Paddy and his men parachute into Northern Italy. “Let’s blow up some trains,” says one of Paddy’s comrades.

Their mission goes off like clockwork and they also find time to indulge in a few jeep-led attacks on German units. When they capture two soldiers, Reg is close to executing them. Paddy encourages him telling him “You’re no use to me with all that hate in you..” It’s clear he believes he won’t do it and wants to show him that such acts won’t bring him peace. It’s a gamble that pays off, as Reggie finds he's unable to execute a man in such cold blood.

However the Germans who capture SAS soldiers don’t show the same mercy and four are executed after being taken prisoner and disarmed. Their names are hallowed as the first to die under Hitler’s new orders. The Italian partisans whom the SAS had been fighting beside were also killed. Upon hearing this news, Paddy tells the men they’re heading home.

'We have 20 minutes to get free...' 

Many miles away, Lt Tonkin arrives at an Italian farmhouse, where a family invites him in for dinner. The man disappears for a while and when he returns, Tonkin starts to wonder if he’s been betrayed. However it looks like he’s got lucky, because the farmer fetched a member of the Italian resistance who says he wants to help and drops him off in a local town.

Fearing a trap, he runs off and finds himself near Montepulciano where he happens upon a woman he knew from his youth. “I married an Italian..” she explains, before inviting him in for tea. What a stroke of luck.

Meanwhile in his Italian POW camp, a fellow prisoner opens David’s cell and tells him the Italian government has fallen and the guards have left, but will be replaced by Germans, who are arriving soon. “We have 20 minutes to get free!” his friend tells him.