THE PACIFIC - "Part Five" - Episode Review
Well, that's more like it.
I know, I know, I promised I wouldn't compare THE PACIFIC to BAND OF BROTHERS, but the recent spate of episodes had me worrying about the overall quality of this ambitious television endeavor. Once again I must remind myself that the Pacific Theater was a much different experience than the European one, a war of attrition and endless jungle drudgery, unlike the relatively fast-moving push towards Berlin and the varied locales it offered, but overall it seemed that THE PACIFIC was missing a certain fire that BAND had in spades, at least until this week's installment. "Part Five" wasn't "Breaking Point" or "Day of Days" good, but instead was closer to "Replacements" or parts of "Crossroads", and that was almost good enough.
After two episodes (as well a portion of this one) of Leckie madness, we finally got to spend some quality time with the third main character of the group, Eugene Sledge, although what we got was yet another "babe in the woods" p.o.v. of an ordinary boy in way over his head. So far Sledge has been defined by outside forces: his faith, his friend from Mobile that gets shipped out in this episode, his heart condition, and of course his naivete. His gap between imagination and experience was exploited the entire episode long, mainly in a series of reaction shots to combat hardened veterans, especially the guy who carved out the dead man's gold tooth, the innocent beach crab (that reminded me of Jesse and the beetle in BREAKING BAD's "Peekaboo"), and of course the landing on Peleliu. And unlike "Part One", this beach landing is the real deal, a crucible of bullets, blood and disorientation, and while it starts with wonder, it ends in exhaustion for Sledge and every other Marine that made it off the beach.
Once again, the series liberally borrows its visual approach/aural assault from Spielberg's iconic D-Day sequence, but it doesn't make it any less effective. I particularly enjoyed seeing the entire landing process from ship to shore, and that white light transition (as Alan Sepinwall pointed out, the tonal opposite from its use in "Part Two") was a great visual motif. Admittedly, it was hard to get a narrative rhythm going when the intensity and duration of the combat came in starts and fits, but that seemed appropriate based on the advances/retreats of the Marine probes. At least it seemed as if Sledge's mortar training took, as they successfully took out a good amount of the Japanese infantry escorting the tank.
Meanwhile, Basilone lived the good life back home, stumping for bonds, hanging with his brother (excellent advice he gave there), and getting down with movie stars (a pre-FRINGE Anna Torv, lucky guy). As with Leckie before him, I got the sense that this is anywhere but where he'd rather be, and hopefully he'll be back with his squad soon enough.
Good but not great. We'll see how the battle continues next week, and the week after that...
Episode Grade: B+