With the likes of Shawn Ryan (The Shield) and David Mamet doing the heavy lifting, I expected much more than we got. Haysbert is a commanding presence but it seemed his role was way too much in the background while the carping and moaning of the new gal on the block got way too much play.
I get the idea that the situation needs to be set up properly to hook an audience, but this smacks of a watered down concept. Not as spoofable as 24 and way less intense than The Shield so I can see myself giving it one more try, maybe two. But it’s CBS. They could mess up a two car funeral.
Shrug.
I liked it. Enjoyed Haysbert’s character and even more his wife’s character. The only thing I didn’t care for was the Colonel banging that NCO’s wife. Hopefully, he’ll get his ass handed to him at some point.
I didn’t hate it.
It’s nice that President Palmer has a better job than pitching auto insurance and that he’s got the remarkable Regina Taylor as his loving wife. But he might think about wearing some protective gear when he’s going in to face down a bunch of terrorists who have highjacked a plane and have already killed 3 hostages. He looked fine, but he would have looked stupid shot full of holes!
Nice twist at the end.
I’ll watch again.
Watched it mostly because it was on after NCIS and before Amazing Race, and doubt I’d watch it if it were at any other time or on any other channel. That said, it was okay – esp. liked the stuff going on amongst the wives (since I’m, yanno, a girl and all). Liked the very end – that was kind of cool.
Scott Foley: good. Dennis Haysbert: good. Robert Patrick: good. The Unit: bad.
I wanted to like this show a lot, but there was so much blatant stupidity I couldn’t stomach it.
Let’s start with the hijacked plane. That scenario just doesn’t happen anymore. Everyone knows that if hijackers take over your plane, their plan is to kill everyone onboard and as many others as possible, and the terrorists can only carry so many bullets. The first person who draws a gun is going to get mobbed and torn limb from limb.
The live TV reports from the scene of a hostage situation also aren’t going to happen. If it wasn’t against the code of conduct for the station (or the network, since the body dumping was visible wherever the Unit is based), there’s no way police are going to let journalists and remote trucks get that close to the action. It aids and abets criminals wanting publicity.
Then there’s the Stepford wives. All of those women just gave me the heebie jeebies. What kind of moron joins a special secret unit and doesn’t tell his wife, and what kind of moron lets two strangers run roughshod all over you. And what kind of doctor tells you you’re pregnant when a complete stranger is in the examination room with you?
If it’s counter-programmed against House and Scrubs there’s just no point in me even trying to watch this. It could be the second coming of 24 and I wouldn’t be making time to watch it. Oh well, stupid CBS’s loss.
