To see the body caught beneath the stone
Oh wow, The Pacific. I saw what you did there.
Joe Mazzello said that "Peleliu: Hills" and tonight's episode were the most intense for him, and for my money, I would agree. "Peleliu: Hills" got me where I live emotionally, but the whole thrust of "Okinawa" was deadness and inhumanity, and holy god, was that brutal. The whole world just became things, nouns, nothing more. It's complete and utter deconstruction on every level.
There's almost nothing to say about the content of the episode, beyond being shocked at how hardened Sledge has become. He's been the protagonist most clearly transformed, to my eye: he definitely has an arc. Those scenes in the houses, with the baby and the woman -- those will stay with me for a long time. Snafu was really off his rocker tonight, just talking crazier and crazier and more and more and more. (Having just finished a rewatch of GenKill, Ray Person was coming to mind a little.) Leyden has Joe Toye's luck -- I just kept thinking "Fucking twice" after he got blown up yet again. Apparently Freddie Joe Farnsworth was in this episode, as a Lt. Thomas Stanley. I'm not sure which one that was -- I can't identify him unless he's harassing actors or riding a white horse -- but all the same, snaps for the cameo. Sledge and the letter about his dog broke my heart. It made sense to me why that should affect him, and that conversation with Snafu -- dog years, people years, war years. (I hate to break the thinky mood here, but okay: HIS PIPE. SLEDGE AND HIS PIPE. I LOVE IT.)
So, that end. I've been really curious how they would handle the end of the war. The A-bomb is basically a throwaway exchange, and no one yet believes that it might actually be over, if Sledge's face at the end of the episode is anything to go by. "Points" shows us soldiers trapped in Europe on occupation duty; the finale of The Pacific is actually going to follow them all home. Wow. That's going to be something, and I'm truly eager to see how that goes. We'll get to see Leckie and Vera, and Sid and Eugene -- and Lena will meet the Basilones, it looks like.
I loved Lena. Loved her. That romance was one of the most satisfying I've seen in a long time: she was such an incredible character, and I love how explicitly they drew the parallels between how much she loved the Marines and how much Basilone did, and that they were equals. The fact that we get to follow her further is epic and wonderful, and I actually think they might not fuck it up. (Also, she got one of the best BoB shoutouts of the whole series: "I feel like a paratrooper!" is my favorite fanservice yet.)
By the way, a note on Basilone's death scene, the way that camera pulled back on all those bodies: guys, that was straight out of the Iliad. There are all these sections in which the Homeric poet describes a man -- common men, not heroes -- in gorgeous, poignant detail, his life and his family and his loves and his work, and then, in one or two lines, describes how he's been cut down and laid low, writhing and bleeding in the dust. Over and over and over again, each one different. Amazing, how things never change.
Other than that, I got nothin'. I'm actually a little nervous about closing the canon. But I think the cohesiveness and power of the latter episodes have definitely redeemed the shakiness in the earlier ones for me. And I am really eager to see who the vets in the opening segments are.
This entry was originally posted at http://newredshoes.dreamwidth.org/1562315.html, which has
comments. Feel free to drop in using OpenID.
Joe Mazzello said that "Peleliu: Hills" and tonight's episode were the most intense for him, and for my money, I would agree. "Peleliu: Hills" got me where I live emotionally, but the whole thrust of "Okinawa" was deadness and inhumanity, and holy god, was that brutal. The whole world just became things, nouns, nothing more. It's complete and utter deconstruction on every level.
There's almost nothing to say about the content of the episode, beyond being shocked at how hardened Sledge has become. He's been the protagonist most clearly transformed, to my eye: he definitely has an arc. Those scenes in the houses, with the baby and the woman -- those will stay with me for a long time. Snafu was really off his rocker tonight, just talking crazier and crazier and more and more and more. (Having just finished a rewatch of GenKill, Ray Person was coming to mind a little.) Leyden has Joe Toye's luck -- I just kept thinking "Fucking twice" after he got blown up yet again. Apparently Freddie Joe Farnsworth was in this episode, as a Lt. Thomas Stanley. I'm not sure which one that was -- I can't identify him unless he's harassing actors or riding a white horse -- but all the same, snaps for the cameo. Sledge and the letter about his dog broke my heart. It made sense to me why that should affect him, and that conversation with Snafu -- dog years, people years, war years. (I hate to break the thinky mood here, but okay: HIS PIPE. SLEDGE AND HIS PIPE. I LOVE IT.)
So, that end. I've been really curious how they would handle the end of the war. The A-bomb is basically a throwaway exchange, and no one yet believes that it might actually be over, if Sledge's face at the end of the episode is anything to go by. "Points" shows us soldiers trapped in Europe on occupation duty; the finale of The Pacific is actually going to follow them all home. Wow. That's going to be something, and I'm truly eager to see how that goes. We'll get to see Leckie and Vera, and Sid and Eugene -- and Lena will meet the Basilones, it looks like.
I loved Lena. Loved her. That romance was one of the most satisfying I've seen in a long time: she was such an incredible character, and I love how explicitly they drew the parallels between how much she loved the Marines and how much Basilone did, and that they were equals. The fact that we get to follow her further is epic and wonderful, and I actually think they might not fuck it up. (Also, she got one of the best BoB shoutouts of the whole series: "I feel like a paratrooper!" is my favorite fanservice yet.)
By the way, a note on Basilone's death scene, the way that camera pulled back on all those bodies: guys, that was straight out of the Iliad. There are all these sections in which the Homeric poet describes a man -- common men, not heroes -- in gorgeous, poignant detail, his life and his family and his loves and his work, and then, in one or two lines, describes how he's been cut down and laid low, writhing and bleeding in the dust. Over and over and over again, each one different. Amazing, how things never change.
Other than that, I got nothin'. I'm actually a little nervous about closing the canon. But I think the cohesiveness and power of the latter episodes have definitely redeemed the shakiness in the earlier ones for me. And I am really eager to see who the vets in the opening segments are.
This entry was originally posted at http://newredshoes.dreamwidth.org/1562315.html, which has
comments. Feel free to drop in using OpenID.