Hi, merry! I watched that episode (or at least portions of it) and completely agree with all that you said.

I've missed parts of I believe all episodes this season, but have watched enough of each to remain apprised of main latest stuff (but not various of the subplots) that's been transpiring.

Well genplant, since much of this season has focused on the newlyweds James and Helen and their adjustment to married life, if you find that particular aspect of the storyline less interesting than others then you probably haven't missed too much! You may have noticed the title, Surviving Siegfried, has a double entendre in that his behavior in this episode is even more irritable than usual (which is saying a lot). He even comes down hard on Helen at one point. BUT it also seems to infer he survived the hardship of his WWI experiences, whereas his colleague and fellow soldier Maurice Oliver didn't, who Siegfried just learned committed suicide (triggering the flashbacks). Samuel West did a truly fine job playing a HIGH-TEST curmudgeon whose love for all creatures tugged at the heartstrings.

BTW, Michael Maloney, the actor who portrayed the older Sebright Saunders (I guess he's supposed to be the father of the snooty blonde Tristan had his eye on last season), has a key role in the miniseries Magpie Murders, which was an entertaining whodunit broadcast on PBS last fall. Interestingly, Matthew Beard and Conleth Hill play a May-December gay couple in that show, but play father and son in the series Vienna Blood!!!

I don't know how I failed to realize, after having followed and so enjoyed Magpie Murders, that Conleth Hill, the total jerk in that series, is who portrays kindly, usually mild Herr Liebermann in Vienna Blood (another series I follow). Hill, type wise, looks/seems so very different as made up for and presented in each role. Now that you've mentioned about him though, I definitely readily recognize that it's him in both!