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