Informal Rewatch: Why We Fight and Points
Why We Fight
- Opening card says it's April 11, 1945. FDR died on April 12. So why does the series have the announcement of the president's death before Landsberg and the clean-up scene we've got as the framing device for the episode?
- Anyway, chronological niggles aside, beautiful opening. I'm a sucker for a nice tracking shot, and it's all so perfectly framed - the shot of the soldiers in the house is amazing.
- Luz is a pretty key character in this episode. Interesting choice focussing on the joker in the darkest part of the series - though it's clear that although he's still trying to keep upbeat, he's as weary as the rest of 'em.
- Perco tells O'Keefe to knock it off with the love songs. O'Keefe was humming She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain when setting up the gun. Perco's definition of 'love song' is a bit odd (or the actor playing O'Keefe didn't know any period love songs to hum).
- Love the touch of Speirs mulling over whether to keep the lighter he's 'borrowed'.
- When the guys sing and Nix joins in, he doesn't sing "glory, glory" only, "what a hell of a way to die".
- It's often been commented that Web's outburst on the truck seems a bit out of character, but reading the books has made me reconsider - from the quotes Ambrose uses, Web seemed constantly pissed-off and fed-up with warfare, always complaining about the conditions. Perhaps he's yelling because he's finally seen a sizable quantity of Germans and he wants to blame them for having had a shitty couple of years. Still kind of over the top, mind you.
- God, Landsberg. I always wonder at the logistics of recreating the camp; for some reason what bothers me is who had to make all those prop corpses. Even so, though, being from a more jaded generation, the narrative of the Holocaust being familiar, nothing can really capture what a goddamn shock and confusion it must have been to discover these camps they knew nothing about.
Points
- Okay, I want a pair of blue shorts with a spade motif like Dick's got. They're really cool.
- Speirs is so hilariously eager to get up there. He's at his least creepy in this episode, I think, a lot of the time being quite childlike in his desire to get to Berchtesgaden and steal everything.
- Harry fucking giggles when stealing Hitler's cutlery, and it's the cutest thing ever.
- I bought a pair of aviator shades only because Nix looks so damn cool in his. (I don't look nearly as cool in mine.)
- Again, going back to finding out more about Web, seeing Nix find the stash of booze makes me laugh even more now because it reminds me of Webster's whining about how the champagne the Germans had was really poor quality (some people don't know how to be pleased with what they're given). Personally I just think that Web didn't realise that the officers stole all the good stuff first and he had to drink what was left over.
- I'm with Harry - it is quite confusing that Winters, of all people, would want to leave Easy and get right out to Japan, when he could just go home. But that's Winters for you.
- Started noticing that Tab's showing clear signs of stress and anxiety in this episode. There's not much mention, really, that he was one who came out traumatised (aside from a hint towards it in the epilogue), but it's given a little bit of implication.
- Ah, the Sobel v Winters showdown. And Lieb's knowing glance. Liebgott sees what you did there, tricky Dicky.
- Normally the tears of joy sneak out during the baseball scene, but I was kinda tired and not as invested in it all as I could be. ...But then the vets came on screen and I needed to wipe my eyes. Oh, I love those guys. Especially Shifty. Such a sweet old man.