Over There caught my interest as soon as FX started running promos, and I happened to tune in tonight for the first episode.
I was impressed with it. The sendoffs for different soldiers were really good, with Bo and his wife and Doublewide trying to explain to her baby where she would be.
Plenty of the characters seemed interesting. I really liked Doublewide, especially her telling Mrs. B she could use the bathroom at McDonald’s but she would have to buy something first.
Bo seemed marked for doom the second he mentioned his plans to go to college, but I hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly. Likewise, Mrs. B.
I hope the series turns into something beyond a bunch of war movies cliche’s thrown together
X-Introspective college guy who joined the army to find himself (Charlie Sheen called. He wants his character from Platoon back.)
X-Hard driving drill sergent
X-Idiot lieutenant
X-Black power guy
X-Two negros share a “black moment” in this White man’s army
X-Obligatory “I’ll shoot you myself” line
X-Female soldier who insists on doing it all herself (even though she physically can’t)
X-“Here’s what I plan to do when I get home…” guy (critically injury in 3…2…1…)
X-I’ll bang this guy while my man’s off fighting
X-Annoying “hey where are you from” guy
X-Innocuous sounding nicknames with a horrific origin behind them (they call me “Rocky” because I crushed an Iraqi’s head with a big rock)
–Guy trapped on a pressure-sensitive landmine
–Jumps on a grenade to save the squad guy
–Sgt R. Lee Ermey
–Colonel Dale Dye
–He was supposed to go home tomorrow guy
–“Enemy Mine” scenario where isolated Iraqi and US Army soldier have to work together
–Gunner trapped in the ball turret and the landing geer wont go down
X-Mission accomplished
“Bogus” was the preferred adjective among the eight soldiers – most of them Iraq vets – viewing the series pilot last week at Camp Murray, headquarters of the Washington State National Guard in Tacoma.
“Thank God that’s over,” said a master sergeant as the credits rolled.
I read an article in the LA Times a week or two ago where they showed the first three episodes to a group of recent Vets. They all liked it but said the technical stuff was wrong but the day to day life stuff (which is really what the show is about) was spot on.
It does create a lot of potential for controversy. MASH dealt with the Vietnam War by setting it in the Korean War, but that setting Over There during the first Gulf War wouldn’t make any sense at all, since the two wars are so different.
I had hoped for more personally, but I do think that this will be an eye-opener for many Americans who have not followed the happenings in Iraq closely.
I agree that there were too many stereotypes–but is there a reason that we see these characters in most war movies? I think so.
Yeah, I noticed that a lot of the characters were pretty standard. I may be a girl but I watch a lot of war movies. Hopefully the charcters will break out of their extremely cliche roles in the upcoming episodes. I wonder if the wifes and husband will be more involved (will the neighbors notice Mrs. Thinkstoomuch is banging someone else?)
Loved your list msmith537. They actually did have “was supposed to go home tomorrow guy.” One of the Sargeants was suppose to ship out in a week but his orders changed on account of the new meat arriving without their sargeant. He was all furious at the world.
You did forget one thing off your checklist though:
X Survived big scary firefight, then got blown up on routine errand guy. Oh, the humanity.
I’m sure the neighbors will notice, but I wonder how Thinkstoomuch will actually find out. Even if he did use his time allotted for contact back home to get in touch with his neighbors, would they tell him? “Wow, your days suck, buddy. By the way…”
The pilot episodes of TV series are often like this; the writers have a limited amount of time to introduce the characters and the situations to the viewers, and employing cliches is a way of creating instant familiarity. The quality of the series will depend on whether they come up with interesting ideas as the story progresses or continue to go the cliche route; I’ll give it one or two more eps before I decide.
One last thought on this series. Obviously, I realize that the show is primarily about the experiences of a small group of American soldiers fighting in the current war. But, being that the war is taking place in Iraq, part of my judgment of future episodes will include whether or not we will ever be shown any Iraqis that are something more than just shadowy targets in the distance to be shot at or corpses on the ground in the aftermath of the battle.