Catch-22
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A few key performances and solid direction across the board have mostly rendered it a watchable curiosity.
But the last episode all but undoes most of my goodwill toward it.
The finale is charitably muddled and often completely confounding.
He finds his way to a small Italian village where an Italian doctor confirms that his testicles remain intact.
It mostly scans as an excuse to shoot a gorgeous Italian villa for a few scenes.
(I suppose this counts as symmetry?)
If even one of his balls had been blown off, then he could have gone home.
Now, hes holed up in the hospital while the mission count continues to rise.
The longer he recuperates, the longer it takes for him to get home.
But asCatch-22has laboriously established, Yossarian is never going home.
Hes pulled every trick and scheme imaginable.
He even got Cathcart to agree to send him home on the basis of a nasty deal.
However, with Scheisskopf in charge, theres nothing to be done.
He sees a young recruit waiting by the plane, puking from the nerves.
His name is Christopher Snowden (Harrison Osterfield), and its his very first mission.
Yossarian provides him with a few reassuring words and even tells him that itll be fun.
The nature of Natelys death probably still lingers in his mind.
After the plane takes a bit of fire in the rear, Yossarian hears, Help him!
Im cold, Snowden keeps repeating, barely clinging on to consciousness.
Snowden keeps repeating that hes cold.
He opens up Snowdens bomber jacket to find that his guts are falling out of his body.
Abbott and Osterfields work in this scene deserves some acclaim, especially how they play the shift in perspective.
Snowden knows that hes about to die but cant convince Yossarian because hes too focused on his leg.
Osterfield conveys his characters fear as well as his wish to keep Yossarian in the dark.
After Yossarian realizes the extent of Snowdens injuries, it becomes a matter of keeping him calm and comfortable.
He eventually envelops him with his body as Snowden slowly succumbs to his wounds.
His blood is painted on Yossarians body as a reminder of what hes been fighting against the whole time.
No one should have to die like this.
Not for any war.
The entire novel hinges on that scene.
Its the basis of Yossarians transformation, the moment when Yossarian becomes permanently disillusioned with the entire military-industrial complex.
Theres a reason Yossarian walking around the base in the nude serves as such a resonant image.
Its not just protest but a complete disavowal of a uniform that sanctioned that moment.
Though the Snowden sequence in Episode 6 is immensely powerful, the aftermath is slightly disastrous.
Yossarian walks around the base nude in a catatonic state as others gawk or express concern.
Scheisskopf makes a stink, but Dreedle awards him the medal anyway, pinning it on his hat.
He has a vision of his dead friends playing in the ocean carefree.
He accepts a new bunkmate into his tent, hugging him tenderly.
And then … he goes on another mission.
This time in the nude.
The last shot is of Yossarian muttering to himself, … And release, over and over again.
Ive spent some time trying to comprehend this change in ending and what could possibly have motivated it.
In the novel, the news of Orrs escape inspires Yossarian to make a run for it as well.
Is he doing it for the memory of his fallen soldiers?
Is he thumbing his nose at Scheisskopf for forcing him to stay?
Is it somehow, in some way, for Snowden?
But, frankly, this represents another character betrayal.
It made little sense for Yossarian to quickly finish his missions in Episode 4.
It makes no sense that he would voluntarily return to the sky after witnessing Snowdens horrific death.
By capitulating to the brass, Yossarian renders his protest completely meaningless.
By staying on base, Yossarian gives the senior command exactly what it wants.
Hes going to be flying missions until hes dead or the war is over.
Its possible some will find that moving.
Seeing Yossarian become a lobotomized cog in the Air Forces machine is too much to swallow.
