Tuesday, March 14, 2006

About "The Unit"

About The Unit. Very lucky they happened to be in Idaho at the right moment; but then the first episode had to start fast, literally hit the ground moving. Likelihood…? Well. “You don’t want it any more that I do,” said David Palmer to the wheelchair-bound gunsmith. The affection and respect between these men was genuine; we believed it. The newest member of the Unit was clearly touched by the gift of the silenced .22. Very convenient to have had that one last pistol on hand. It was certainly useful in about 25 minutes. And being twenty minutes out in about ten minutes-if you can’t be good, be lucky? Parachuting from 35,000 feet? That I believe. Forest Service aircraft ready to go? Boom, boom, boom, up and running! The back and forth shots from Idaho to the base kept the wives’ story going. We care about them as well. Alfre Woodward always there, saying the right thing, doctors immediately, housing all set, the mover there after six minutes. Bang, bang, banging it out. Showing the two storylines certainly deepened all the characters. We see the connections, the relationships. Regina Taylor telling the new woman, “Have the courage to love him”, shows more resolute acting. The writing was clean, the edits crisp, the characters believable, the drama engaging. However, after ten or twelve weeks this could begin to look formulaic, even tired, unrealistic. The circumstances too easy. The plots contrived. Predictable.

I don’t care.

I am certain we have men as good, no... better than those portrayed by these actors. I suspect real experience has a lot more training, tedium, boredom, training, waiting, and more waiting. Punctuated by more training and then the odd hijacked aircraft assault. The Unit will show us an assault every week, an insertion every week, a terrorist taken down every week. Formulaic? Bring it on! I want to believe what I’m seeing is happening somewhere in the world today. Because -- these are our Guys! I want to cheer our guys. When I cheer for these actors, I am cheering for every Special Ops soldier, every Marine, every Seal, all of you under arms. Hooah! Semper Fi! Thanks.

No comments: