412 Running for Honor

Running for Honor


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One thing I used to see in magazines in the pre-internet days was that the inspiration for this one was primarily the negative reaction to Good Night, Dear Heart, and that they wanted to craft a positive gay character as a result.

However, I can't find any evidence of this online, does anyone know how much truth there is in this story?

You may actually be thinking of the foreword in Comic #9 "Up Against A Stonewall".
 
You may actually be thinking of the foreword in Comic #9 "Up Against A Stonewall".

I read that comic, but I couldn't see a foreword in it.

I think I read this years ago in some UK magazine like TV Zone or Starburst or something. I'm talking probably 20 years or longer, so my memory could be faulty...
 
Hmm. For me, Running for Honor is a middle of the road kind of episode for me. Don't get me wrong, I do like certain elements of it but do ultimately find it lacking. For one thing, I do find the pacing to be a little slow in parts and certain scenes seem to lead nowhere (the whole subplot with Tommy's kinda girlfriend, for instance).

A part of me loves the Sam and Al dialogue in this episode (some funny stuff, especially the bit about the tea (as an Englishman who drinks tea ALL the time it made it even funnier)), but another part of me hates it. I get that Al would logically be a little bigoted against gay people being in the Navy, but I do think they hammered it home a little too much at times to the point where I almost found myself disliking Al, and that's never a good thing, in my opinion.

The climax where Phillip nearly kills himself is very gripping. I really did feel for Phillip, and found the scene where the coach talks him out of it (by revealing the truth about his own sexuality) to be very moving.

Best scene? Has to be Al's apology at the end. His quiet acknowledgement that he was wrong was done just perfectly.

My rating. Average. A decent episode.