The Unit - fired up...

Introduction

The Unit focuses on a Delta Force unit, the US equivalent of the SAS, whose cover is a Logistics Unit at Fort Griffith. Commanded by Colonel Tom Ryan (Robert Patrick), the men in the field consist of Sergeant Major Jonas "Snake Doctor" Blane (Dennis Haybert) and Sergeant's Mack "Dirt Diver" Gerhardt (Max Martini), Charles "Betty Blue" Grey (Michael Irby), Hector "Hammerhead" Williams (Demore Barnes) and Bob "Cool Breeze" Brown (Scott Foley).

As well as showing the adventures of this Special Ops unit, this series also shows us the effect on the military wives; Molly Blane (Regina Taylor), Kim Brown (Audrey Marie Anderson) and Tiffy Gerhardt (Abby Brammell).

Ep Guide:

Pandemonium Pt1 - The Unit is on the run and marked as rogue when a powerful document to be retrieved from foreign Minister Reale goes missing.

Pandemonium Pt2 - The Unit start to unravel the conspiracy and begin the fight back, although things look grim for Mack in the custody of some very bad dudes.



Always Kiss Them Goodbye - Some deadly VX nerve agent has been stolen and a reinstated Unit must work fast to prevent a major terrorist attack.

Every Step You Take - Jonas' daughter upsets Molly by deciding to enlist, while the team sans Jonas are sent to Abidjan to rescue embassy staff from insurgents.

Inside Out - The team are in France to recover a chip containing the details of US undercover agents.

MP's - The Unit pose as MP's to escort a spoiled Country star on a morale boosting tour to Iraq.

Five Brothers - The Unit are on a mission in Beirut to rescue a reporter being held hostage when Grey is badly wounded.

Play 16 - The team return to the US with their rescued journalist and the body of their fallen comrade, except Jonas who wants to bring in the Butcher, the man behind it.

Binary Explosion - Grey and the Unit go undercover to infiltrate and break a gang in the Army who are stealing ordnance.

Gone Missing - The Unit are on an important assassination mission, but Bob's concentration falters when he starts seeing ghosts of those he's killed.

Side Angle Side - Jonas is in London to flush out a traitor, who may be an old friend.

Audio/Visual

As with most recent TV series, the picture is very good. I've not long watched Season 3 on Virgin1, and this was a definite improvement even though the Sky channel picture was pretty good originally in my view. Some decent editing during some of the firefight scenes that just add to the chaotic nature of combat.



Decent surround sound track that is replicated in French and Spanish with corresponding subtitles. Good all round effort.

One controversy surrounding this season is the replacement of the original cadence-based theme tune Fired Up with a proper theme song called Walk The Fire, both by show composer Robert Duncan. Prompting a reaction amongst fans similar to what happened with Enterprise and Russell Watson, I'm getting used to the new theme tune but much prefer the original for its more militaristic feel.

Extras

Commentaries on most, but not all, of the episodes with various crew members and cast. The cast ones are definitely the best, although it's mainly the all-male ones that are the most fun - my favourite is the one for Five Brothers, which if you know the episodes, you'd understand why.

Deleted Scenes - a few of these, nothing that special as is normally the case with deleted scenes.

The Writer's Roundtable - a half hour discussion with the writing staff, most of whom are also producers, and whilst it has the feel of something staged, it does provide the basis of a decent discussion of where the series has come from and where the major direction decisions were made and why.

Web links

Overall

I'd first seen Dennis Haybert in 24 and to be honest, wasn't that intrigued when I heard about his new series a couple of years ago. That was my loss as I chanced upon the second series part way through and got hooked. I didn't think that we would get a decent military series (NCIS excepted, although that's procedural rather than action) as they're generally either poor or jingoistic or both - like JAG, which started off fine and turned into an advert for the red, white and blue.

What I like about The Unit is that it tries to treat war as it is, chaotic, brutual and non-judgemental; so while we always assume that we are the good guys, sometimes the Unit are seen and can act in ways that make them seem the bad guys in their actions to fulfil their missions. Five Brothers is a fine example of this. Two major things happen in this episode. Firstly a central character is killed and in the sudden abrupt and rather banal way that most combatants die. It's instant with none of the telegraphing that normally comes with this kind of thing in either film or TV usually, and none of the 10 minute death throes and last goodbyes that we normally get. This wasn't the first series to do this though, that other fine US series did it with the death of NCIS Agent Kate Todd, but that was at the end of a season, The Unit threw it in about half way through in a way that is realistic and says quite clearly "no one here is immune from being killed". The second is the impact that the Unit have on a family that they effectively take hostage whilst seeking a place to shelter and work on Grey's wounds. The Unit are effectively acting as the bad guys, invading a home, threatening to kill, and then taking the life of a young boy when he tries to escape. There's no moralising or justification, it's done and the grief of the family and the remorse of Bob Brown as he shoots the boy in the back is very well done, but the mission always comes first.



The aftermath of the death of Hector Williams is really well handled. There's a lot of respect in the episode that deals with the arrival of his body back in the US, his autopsy to remove evidence of how he was killed and his memorial service. It is estimated that up to 100 hands touch the body of the average US soldier after he is killed and this episode is a tribute to that process. From the respect shown by the attending doctor to the roll call at the memorial service, it's a sobering and emotional piece of television. As an ex-serviceman, I watched in silent tearful respect as this was played out, the camaraderie of the men of the Unit a reminder of a youthful past (albeit without all the heroics and combat experience seen on TV).

There's also an emotional impact on the soldiers and their wives. Bob Brown belatedly starts to see ghosts of those he has killed, and questions whether he is doing the right thing. Jonas acknowledges that this is quite routine for all Special Ops personnel, clearly clearing his conscience a long time ago. Mack Gerhardt suffers from a form of PTSD from the last season and the ramifications of that continue in this season as he splits from wife Tiffy and elements of domestic violence are hinted at.

The military wives on the show generally get the big secondary storyline, with as much drama (albeit without gunfire) going on in their lives as those of their husbands. Military wives the world over will identify with these women, left to cope by themselves and very much becoming independent and self-reliant whilst their husbands are away on duty. Both parties then have to cope with the emotional upheaval when the men arrive back from duty. When I was serving, I never really realised (as soldiers generally don't) just what impact the life I'd chosen had on my family and a lot of marriages either broke down or changed dramatically in my unit upon return from Operation Granby. I see it more clearly now as an older and hopefully wiser man, but young men in the military are generally quite focussed on their career and also too selfish to see what is happening in their own homes. This series shows this quite well, with the men never quite understanding just what is happening with their wives or seeing why they need to occupy themselves when their menfolk are away serving on active duty. In general though, the relationships between husband and wife are quite strong, with the exception of Mack and Tiffy of course.

This series goes from strength to strength and really is must-see TV. I'd only currently place NCIS above it, and that's high recommendation from me.