For starters, The Unit is the only drama I know of about US soldiers. (HBO's Band of Brothers is long gone.) In fact, it's the only broadcast military drama I know of since China Beach ended in 1988. Given that 13% of Americans over 18 are veterans, it's about time.
And The Unit portrays one of the most elite groups in the Armed Forces, a Delta Force team. For viewers who know little about the military and less about Special Ops, it's an education. Surely it is sometimes inaccurate; surely missions are condensed. But The Unit educates the general public as much as Numb3rs does about the FBI and Law & Order does about homicide detectives. Try a reality detective show like A&E's The First 48, and you'll see how little Law & Order reflects the real thing. But some education is welcome.
The Unit is also the only show I know in which the workers' spouses are essential. We see how the team members' wives cope with their husbands' absences, their own worry, and the financial difficulties of family life on military pay.
Now, the writing. The Unit has some of the tightest, most intelligent scripts on television. David Mamet and other screenwriters do not spell out everything that a slower viewer might not catch. Early in one episode, Bob is shown picking Mack's pocket. Later, Bob acquires a piece of equipment from an Iranian in an unexplained manner. We are left to surmise that Bob had been practicing on Mack.
In another episode, a coworker spots Kim's gun in her knapsack. He's opposed to guns, he tells her. Later, he has to use it to rescue her from an attempted rape. Any other show would then have Kim say something like, "I bet you feel different about guns now." The Unit trusts viewers to imagine what he thinks.
Maybe I'm slow, but I don't know how the episodes could be tighter. During most dramas, I don't have to look at a clock to know when a commercial approaches. Sometimes just a shot held too long ("We're driving home the point here!") signals it. The Unit is simply not predictable, whether in the last moments before a commercial or in plot twists.
There's also humor. Numb3rs, Law & Order, and Without a Trace are often downright lugubrious. The Unit's banter in the field and on the base is often funny, even witty. You don't get that in many dramas.
Some reviewers have commented on Col. Tom Ryan's affair with Mack's wife, Tiffy. Mamet is surely echoing the Biblical episode in which King David spies lovely Bathsheba bathing on a rooftop, has his commander put her husband in the front line of battle, where he is killed, and then marries her. (The Bible later says, "David loved God, and God loved David, except for the matter with Bathsheba." Or words to that effect.) If you know it, the Bible story only heightens The Unit's tension.
Finally, Mamet has written that The Unit is partly about duty, dedication, and community. Tom and Tiffy's bad behavior only throws the dedication of most of the others into relief. I don't know any other serious artist, in any medium, who is trying to portray duty, dedication, and community. Duty and community have long been lost values among our artistic elite.
My hat's off to David Mamet and Shawn Ryan. I hope The Unit runs as long as M*A*S*H.
And The Unit portrays one of the most elite groups in the Armed Forces, a Delta Force team. For viewers who know little about the military and less about Special Ops, it's an education. Surely it is sometimes inaccurate; surely missions are condensed. But The Unit educates the general public as much as Numb3rs does about the FBI and Law & Order does about homicide detectives. Try a reality detective show like A&E's The First 48, and you'll see how little Law & Order reflects the real thing. But some education is welcome.
The Unit is also the only show I know in which the workers' spouses are essential. We see how the team members' wives cope with their husbands' absences, their own worry, and the financial difficulties of family life on military pay.
Now, the writing. The Unit has some of the tightest, most intelligent scripts on television. David Mamet and other screenwriters do not spell out everything that a slower viewer might not catch. Early in one episode, Bob is shown picking Mack's pocket. Later, Bob acquires a piece of equipment from an Iranian in an unexplained manner. We are left to surmise that Bob had been practicing on Mack.
In another episode, a coworker spots Kim's gun in her knapsack. He's opposed to guns, he tells her. Later, he has to use it to rescue her from an attempted rape. Any other show would then have Kim say something like, "I bet you feel different about guns now." The Unit trusts viewers to imagine what he thinks.
Maybe I'm slow, but I don't know how the episodes could be tighter. During most dramas, I don't have to look at a clock to know when a commercial approaches. Sometimes just a shot held too long ("We're driving home the point here!") signals it. The Unit is simply not predictable, whether in the last moments before a commercial or in plot twists.
There's also humor. Numb3rs, Law & Order, and Without a Trace are often downright lugubrious. The Unit's banter in the field and on the base is often funny, even witty. You don't get that in many dramas.
Some reviewers have commented on Col. Tom Ryan's affair with Mack's wife, Tiffy. Mamet is surely echoing the Biblical episode in which King David spies lovely Bathsheba bathing on a rooftop, has his commander put her husband in the front line of battle, where he is killed, and then marries her. (The Bible later says, "David loved God, and God loved David, except for the matter with Bathsheba." Or words to that effect.) If you know it, the Bible story only heightens The Unit's tension.
Finally, Mamet has written that The Unit is partly about duty, dedication, and community. Tom and Tiffy's bad behavior only throws the dedication of most of the others into relief. I don't know any other serious artist, in any medium, who is trying to portray duty, dedication, and community. Duty and community have long been lost values among our artistic elite.
My hat's off to David Mamet and Shawn Ryan. I hope The Unit runs as long as M*A*S*H.
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