MovieChat Forums > Secret Army (1977) Discussion > A Question Of Loyalty (series 1) query

A Question Of Loyalty (series 1) query

posted 16 years ago by chuffnobbler
7 replies | jump to latest

I just don't understand! What am I missing?

Watching SECRET ARMY at the moment for the first time. Approaching the end of series one. It's very bleak, but I am enjoying it.

In A QUESTION OF LOYALTY, we see Major Brandt training a Nazi officer, Stoller, to take on the lfie of a British airman whose family owned a shop. Stoller has memorised the whole biography of a specific British officer.

Kessler (boo!hiss!) marches in with ID tags for a different British officer, and he and Brandt agree that Stoller will now become the officer for whom they have the ID tage.

Stoller goes off, gets found by Lifeline (as planned) and starts infiltrating. But he does this using the biography he had already memorised. That is, not the man whose ID tags he now has. Lifeline realise he's the wrong man, and shoot him.

It was plain to me, as the viewer, right from the scene with Brandt questioning Stoller about his assumed identity, that this was going to fail. It was clear that he had already assumed an identity, and that Kessler's ID tags were in the wrong name. It was obvious that Stoller's fake biography would not match his fake name. If I noticed it, and Lifeline noticed it by making a simple radio call to london, howcome Kesdsler, Brandt and Stoller never considered that this would be a problem?

This has really annoyed me, as the whole episode seemed unnecessary, and was ruined by a blatant gap in common sense and logic.

Any ideas why?!

[–] tipi-5 16 years ago

Never noticed this. I can only imagine they were short on time to find out the details behind the tags and thought that without any tags they wouldn't stand a chance. It probably also shows how Kessler has no regard for even his own side.

[–] joyfarrah 16 years ago

I dont remember this ep, but I would imagine that it is another indication of the fact that Kessler though intelligent and fanatical, is not good at intelligence work. He prefers to beat things out of airmen, refusing ot acknowledge that they will probably say anything to stop the pain. He is arrogant and refuses to admit his limitations. And Brandt cannot overrule him, once he decides to interfere in his work,

[–] davesidious 14 years ago

I think you hit the nail on the head with that one. Kessler's arrogance is his major weakness. To him, he's always right, even when it's obvious to anyone else he's not. He's petty, vindictive, fanatical, and egotistical. He's a Nazi, whereas Brandt very clearly is not a party member.

[–] deemx 14 years ago

I know this is a reply to an old thread, but I actually just watched this episode. My reasoning behind it was simply that the Germans didn't know the resistance had radio communication with the English that was that regular and advanced. For all they knew, this was just a line that operated independent of the British government (as it had for some time before John Curtis arrived) moving people to neutral countries who then would contact the British. If anything, I think this just shows how little the Germans know about the details and workings of the resistance at this point in the series.

I don't think that this is an example of Kessler not caring about his own man's life, he clearly displays regret and remorse when they find out that he died, saying what a great soldier he was, how young he was, and even going so far as to send an award he earned to his British relatives (in fact, that's about the most decent I've seen him act so far).

I don't think it was a gap in common sense, you just know more than some of the characters involved. There's no reason to assume that the Germans know all the details about the line and how they check if the airmen are genuine. Maybe Kessler took a risk based on something he didn't know a lot about, but I don't think this is a case of him knowing the guy was doomed from the start, or even of the Germans being stupid.

[–] davesidious 14 years ago

Alain was always in contact with London via radio, as they had to check the identities of British airmen who they discovered. The Germans most definitely knew the Belgian resistance groups were in contact with London, as their signals intelligence units were all over the place.

Kessler doesn't care about anything but his career and the Reich itself. To him, it seems anyone wearing a uniform who is not himself is merely a pawn to be used to his advantage. Heck, both the Luftwaffe folks he worked with ended up dead..

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] ojay2 10 years ago

Have been watching the first series and looking forward to 2 & 3. Also liked 'Allo 'Allo, with (some) obvious comparisons. The subject ep. was intriguing - just showed how things could get confusing when the aircrew numbers didn't tally. What is surprising is that the main guest actor, Clive Arrindell (Stoller), is not listed in the cast here, but does have an entry on IMDb, and apparently doing fine. While we are on the subject of Stoller, and it has already been mentioned above that he died, I won't say exactly how, but we hear two gun shots, as this was a standard training tactic: (1)bang,immobilize (2)bang,make sure. However, even if the location seemed fairly isolated, a silencer (we know they had one) could have served. And series 2 & 3 are even better - like Mission Impossible, but done without rubber masks or fancy electronic gear (-: