The Unit - Season 1

THE UNIT – Season 1

‘The Unit’ is a military action drama that follows the lives of the men of a covert delta force ‘unit’; as well as their wives too.  In essence it is a blend of action and the day-to-day drama, set against a military background.

Col. Ryan (Patrick)

Charles Grey (Irby)

This first season charts the lives of ‘Alpha Team’ led by the resolute and steadfast Jonas ‘Snake Doctor’ Blane (Dennis Haysbert), a resourceful and charismatic individual who leads his team consisting of Mack ‘Dirt Diver’ Gerhardt (Max Martini), Charles ‘Betty Blue’ Grey (Michael Irby), Hector ‘Hammer Head’ Williams (Demore Barnes), and Bob ‘Cool Breeze’ Brown (Scott Foley), on missions set by Col. Thomas ‘Dog  Patch 06’ Ryan (Robert Patrick).  These main characters are also joined by Molly Blane (Regina Taylor), Tiffany Gerhardt (Abby Brammell), and Kim Brown (Audrey Anderson).  And unlike other military shows, the female leads don’t play second fiddle to the men, with each possessing their own character arcs and receiving plenty of screen time and development.  Indeed, it is the balance between the husbands and wives which makes this show excellent, as it feels really well-rounded and constructed.

Hector Williams (Barnes)

Jonas Blane (Haysbert)

As one can see ‘The Unit’, possesses a rather large cast, but deals with this rather well.  Indeed, the Blanes, Gerhardts and Browns, as well as Col. Ryan are really developed throughout this 13 episode first season.  Nonetheless, it would have been nice to see abit more of Grey and William’s characters being explored, as they appear to be quite complex, thanks in a large part to the performance, of Irby and Barnes, respectively.  It is unfair to single out those actors ahead of the rest of the cast though, as they were all excellent in this season, providing much depth, and gravitas.  Indeed credit must be given to the casting team, for not only selecting a talented cast, but also selecting actors who looked ‘right’.  As all the members of ‘Alpha Team’ look like soldiers, rather than male models which some shows cast! Moreover Robert Patrick possesses the exact likeness of an archetypal military commander.

Mack Gerhardt (Martini)

Each episode, generally consists of two components; firstly, a military mission being undertaken by ‘The Unit’, and secondly, a separate plot involving the soldier’s wives on the military base.  Though the military missions are largely independent of multi-episode arcs, the plotlines involving the wives are not which allows the fast-paced action to be complemented by detailed story.

Bob Brown (Foley)

The direction, production and writing seem to be of a very high standard, with the military aspect feeling quite authentic, from the gear worn by the soldiers to the clipped form of commands utilized.  Moreover, Snake Doctor’s lines in particular, are fantastic with Haysbert delivering one-liners with panache.

In the end this first season of ‘The Unit’, represents a superb effort by show runners; David Mamet, and Shawn Ryan, to create a well-rounded military drama.  Instead of just being about guns and explosions and mindless action, the show strives to provide involving drama, which sets it apart and ahead of similar shows.  Infact, ‘The Unit’ can be regarded as the greatest military drama, to be on TV!  Thus, this writer would definitely recommend this show - if you have not yet seen it.

9/10

IMDB: The Unit

Prison Break - Season 1

PRISON BREAK – Season 1

Burrows & Schofield (Purcell & Miller)

From Hollywood powerhouse 'Fox' we are presented with ‘Prison Break’ Season 1, a prison conspiracy drama centred around the in-mates of Fox River Penitentiary.  Featuring an ensemble cast it charts multiple stories and plots, with the central story concerning the rescue of death row in-mate; Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell), by his gifted and resourceful brother Michael Schofield (Wentworth Miller).  Throughout the series the enigmatic Schofield is faced with a variety of obstacles which he must overcome if he is to save his brother from death.

Abruzzi (Stormare)

Bellick (Williams)

One of the big draws of ‘Prison Break’ is the incredible production values the audience is presented with, that make the show look really authentic and realistic.  Indeed, the majority of the prison scenes are shot at the former Joliet Prison.  Certainly, from its well-crafted opening credits to its closing credits it is impossible to not appreciate  the attention to detail and effort put into the crafting of the prison sets and environs.

T-Bag (Knepper)

Though the production value is excellent it is matched by the actors themselves.  Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller, both show they have good chemistry between each other, and they actually look like they could be related, as opposed to many shows, where so-called ‘brothers’ couldn’t look less alike!  Prison Break features an ensemble cast, and thus Purcell and Miller, share screen time with some great other actors, including the capable Amaury Nolasco as Sucre – Schofield’s cell-mate, Peter Stormate as John Abruzzi  - an incarcerated mafia boss, Rockmund Dunbar, as C-Note, and entertainingly despicable Wade Williams, as Brad Bellick – the Captain of the Fox River Correctional Officers.  The show also stars Robin Tunney, and Sarah Wayne Callies as its two main female leads, though both are less than convincing, due to a mixture of being overshadowed by better actors, and weak character design by the show’s writers.  However, a commentary on the main cast of ‘Prison Break’ could not be complete though without mention of its greatest character and actor, villainous Theodore “T-Bag” Bagwell, skilfully portrayed by the very gifted actor Robert Knepper.  T-Bag is without a doubt the season’s most interest character, particularly in terms of development and growth, and Knepper does this justice by really bringing the character to life.

Sara Tancredi (Callies)

Veronica Donavon (Tunney)

The writing for the first season of ‘Prison Break’ falls into two categories: ‘prison scenes’ and non-prison scenes’, and there seems to be a definite difference in the quality of the stories and characters between the two categories.  Whilst, the writing is of the highest calibre for scenes based at Fox River, the writing for scenes set outside, fail to match the same high standard.  This is not to say that they are downright bad, it’s just that they set the bar so high.  Fortunately, as the title suggests, much of the show is based in and around the Prison, so most of the time the writing is of the very highest quality.

C-Note (Dunbar)

Though there are many positives to this show, it is important to note its shortcomings, particularly the writing for the scenes set outside the prison as aforementioned.  Indeed, from the middle of the season onwards they just become more and more farcical and less interesting as a result.  Moreover, though the two main female characters feel quite wooden and two-dimensional, this is not much of a negative as they are not integral to the shows linear story progression.

Sucre (Nolasco)

Ultimately, however, ‘Prison Break’ is a very exciting and fast moving drama, which is filled with plenty of action, suspense and story, as well as a myriad number of twists and turns.  If you are of a mind for a very well made and well-acted drama it would be worth buying this show, as you would be missing out by not watching it!

9/10

IMDB: Prison Break

Nikita - Season 1

NIKITA – Season 1

Nikita (Maggie Q)

‘Nikita’ is a spy action drama that follows the journey of the eponymous Nikita (Maggie Q), as she proves that ‘looks can kill’ in her attempts to destroy ‘Division’ -  a rogue covert espionage organisation in addition to the organisation that trained her.

Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca)

This first season of ‘Nikita’ charts Nikita’s efforts to take down the Black Ops unit – Division – with her ‘[wo]man on the inside’ Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca).  Throughout the season the duo attempt to undermine and put an end to Division, whilst thwarting the schemes and plans of Division’s commander, Percy (Xander Berkeley) and having to face-off with one of Division’s best agents, Michael (Shane West), who personally trained Nikita!  In addition, Alex struggles with maintaining her true identity, particularly from the sharp eyes of Amanda, The Inquisitor (Melinda Clarke) – Division’s top interrogator, and Seymour Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford) aka ‘Shadow Walker’, Division’s best computer technician and hacker.

Amanda (Melinda Clarke)

Season one of Nikita features several visually impressive action sequences, from gun fights to fist fights to explosive car chases!  This is made even more exciting by a very high production value,and smart direction, as well as, great costume and set design.  Furthermore, whilst each episode is packed with action, it also contains plenty of story and character development which gives every episode a very progressive feel.  Additionally, there is a lot of suspense from the espionage aspects of the show, which helps keep the viewer completely engaged in the show.  Finally, the season also benefits from some interesting back stories told in the form of flashbacks that help to develop and flesh out its characters.

Michael (Shane West)

Percy (Xander Berkeley)

The writing in this first season of Nikita is of a good standard, though it suffers by being too clichéd and predictable at times.   Similarly, the quality of the acting proves to be inconsistent as well.  Maggie Q, Xander Berkeley, Melinda Clarke, and in particular the very impressive Aaran Stanford, all bring a high standard of acting to the show.  Regrettably, though Lyndsy Fonseca and Shane West leave something to be desired.  Though the scripting and writing provides Fonseca a lot of content and opportunity to develop her character of Alex she really seizes upon this, to make her character anything more than just a ‘pretty face’.  West on the other hand proves a bit more adept at acting, particular in the action scenes, but unless he is shooting a gun or engaged in some form of combat he comes across very wooden, with Michael becoming a very 2 dimensional clichéd character.

Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford)

Overall, though this season has been produced to a very high standard, and features a plethora of high octane action which keeps the viewer engaged and on the edge of their seat.  Moreover, anyone interested in a very good action drama would do well to purchase this first season of ‘Nikita’.

8/10

IMDB: Nikita

The Big Bang Theory - Season 1

THE BIG BANG THEORY – Season 1

‘The Big Bang Theory’ (‘Big Bang’ for short) is an American sitcom that charts the lives of four Caltech scientists: roommates, Leonard Hofstadler (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) plus their work colleagues Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar).  In addition the main cast is rounded off by Kaley Cuoco who plays Penny, a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory.

Since the end of ‘Friends’ there is been a huge number of American sitcoms of debatable quality, fortunately Big Bang does not suffer from this, and is instead a refreshingly inventive sitcom, though does make its viewers suffer through ‘canned’ laughter…  Nevertheless, it is worth putting up with as this first season provides many laugh-out-loud moments and some truly hilarious episodes!  Indeed Big Bang features some fantastic script writing, with jokes based around the nerd and geek culture embraced by Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj, but never attacking said culture.  Thus, instead of making its characters look like ‘losers’, Big Bang embraces its characters and makes this sitcom have a lot of heart which tends to be missing from most sitcoms.

Much of the comedy is centred on science, sci-fi, comic books and gaming, and thus feels relatively fresh as this content is not frequently used in comedy.  Indeed, the jokes hit home for all ages, so whether or not you know the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars there are plenty of witticisms for viewers.  Yet, as with all comedy shows not all the jokes ‘work’ but, with Big Bang, the humour mostly performs well.

As well as possessing excellent writing and humour the show also boasts a great group of actors who do justice to the writers.  Indeed, writing is only as good as it is delivered and in Big Bang this is excellent.  Likewise, there seems to be a great balance and chemistry to the main cast with each character feeling distinct and three-dimensional.  Of the five main cast members though, Kunal Nayyar and Jim Parsons really stand out.  Kunal Nayyar proves himself an excellent physical comedy actor, whilst Jim Parsons is a tour de force as Sheldon Cooper, stealing most scenes with his fascinating performances.  Not wanting to spoil your fun, all I shall say is that Sheldon is a reason on its own to watch this show!

Ultimately, this show succeeds because it pairs a talented group of actors with a gifted crop of writers, and thus makes it more than just ‘another sitcom’.  Big Bang offers a great selection of comedy and also has a big heart, which makes for an outstanding first season.  The Big Bang Theory has raised the bar for sitcoms, and is well worth buying.

9/10

IMDB Link:  The Big Bang Theory