Definitely my favorite episode so far. The last three episode arc of Peleliu has been fantastic, with each getting better than the last for me.
The fighting in this episode was brutal, in particular the bunker scene with the grenades and flame throwers. Great stuff, well shot. The remaining visual from this one, though, is one that will stick with me for a long time - Snafu absent-mindedly tossing pebbles into the opened cranium of a dead Japanese soldier. The red splash was …yeah.
No Leckie and I suspect we won’t see him at all in the next couple of episodes since he is out of the fight for good now.
Just a little bit of Basilone this time around and I worry that we won’t get enough time of characterization to really be as devastated as we should be when he is killed on Iwo Jima, a continuation of the characterization issues that most of us have had since the beginning of the series. What did everyone else think?
I agree, best episode yet. I really like the guy playing Sledge and I felt punched in the gut when Ak-Ak and the mustang LT were both killed. Gunny Haney crying made me feel like I was gonna cry.
Brilliant episode, exactly the kind of writing that has been missing in the first 3 episodes. The last 3 have been fantastic.
I knew Ak-Ak was going to be killed (from reading the book) but dammit if that didn’t take me by surprise and kick me in the gut. I really liked how they handled it too, off-screen and we all experience the suddeness of it being announced to his Marines.
This series is just falling apart for me. There was no story in this episode. The lack of a coherent story arc is troubling. Leckie has disappeared, for example.
It’s just so hard to keep track of who’s-who. So Sledge sees some guy on a stretcher and stops for a second. Who is this guy? Seems familiar. How does Sledge know him?
When putting things in spoiler boxes, please put an explanation as to why it’s a spoiler. In this case, I just thought it was a spoiler because sometimes people like to keep their speculations secret, as opposed to a major spoiler about something that’s going to happen in an upcoming episode based on what actually happened in real life.
Anyhow, this was an absolutely brutal episode, in the best possible way.
I think one issue is new characters pop up who were not there at the start , like Snafu who showed up in episode 5. In BOB I think everyone was there at the start, some guys had bigger roles in later episodes.
Sorry, I was having trouble coming up with anything to preface it with that didn’t actually spoil it and render the box itself moot.
Not really - a lot of the characters were replacements that didn’t appear until at least episode 4. The Colin Hanks character was in and out in Episode 8 and Lt. Dyke didn’t appear until episode 6 (?), as well. I really have a hard time gauging the characterization and recognizability in BOB since I’ve owned it for so long and loved it so much that I’ve watched each episode countless times.
I have watched each episode of The Pacific at least twice and have a good handle on who each guy is by the end of the second viewing. I agree that it seems that the characterization is a little thin but it might have to do with the disjointed feel of the three mostly-unrelated main characters rather than following one group of soldiers throughout. If we watched the entire Leckie line, then the entire Basilone line, then the entire Sledge line, we would probably have fewer issues with recognizing guys.
I also repeat my same complaint from previous episodes - they’re too short! One reason the characters might feel more fleshed out in BOB is that by the end, we’re looking at having spent roughly 650 - 700 minutes watching them. At this rate, the Pacific will be roughly 400 - 500 minutes long.
This series just isn’t grabbing me. It’s ok, but I’m not enjoying it nearly as much as I did Band of Brothers. I think part of it is the approach, which seems sorta…random.
The crossing the airfield sequence was very good, for what it was. I like the way it was filmed, but there’s too little narrative to support the effects.
Really like the title sequence. Pencil breaking like artillery, always a pale red wash on a white background. There’s probably gonna be some sort of award for that bit.