The Unit

Like many I was excited to see the new show "The Unit." However, it quickly became apparent it was all wrong. First, off I having served in various Army assignment for 10 years it is easy to spot a fake. Itis a personal pet peeve to watch Hollywood botch up military genre pictures with unrealistic situations/outcomes, misplaced ribbons-medals-ranks-etc, and phony dialogue.

I think Mamet and Ryan (The Shield creator)are very talented and entertaining writers who get it right most of the time. Rule number one in writing-write about what you know. The military genre is far more technical than cop shows and a show about "Delta Force" is even more so (due to being shrouded in secrecy.) Some of the major flaws: Military wives: (sorry ladies) many are homely and over weight. The male actors: are too old and not fit enough to portray and elite counter terrorism unit such as Delta. Many Delta are former Ranger and Special Forces. The tactics: another flaw. Episode #2 features a team recovering a Chinese satellite behind enemy lines. One two man two provides "overwatch" (aka observation and security for the recovery team). They don't conceal their position, rather park a jeep on an open hilltop. "Hello?" Then the insurgents skate across the desert floor to intercept them leaving a visible and exposing dust signature. Finally they are spotted by Delta once within small arms range. How do these poorly trained insurgents get the drop on Delta? If Delta is authorized to use deadly force why wait till they are on top of your position. Weapons use: Watch how they hold their weapons-enough said. The writing: At points the dialog reads like it is ripped off an Army Field Manual-dry, brittle, forced technical speak, and unrealistic. Military Housing: So "the unit" soldier all live on the same street with CBS's version of Desperate Military Housewives? Are you trying to combine two shows? Focus on making one right first.

This is a very entertaining show. The writing is good, the characters are both interesting and multi-dimensional. The lighting and set design are very appropriate for a mainstream network series. Excellent use of steady-cam and "documentary style" camera work.

I respectfully disagree with some of the previous comments by my fellow veteran. I believe that he may not have had much contact with the spec ops community in his 10 year career.

We should remember that this is a television series- If the cameras rolled in the average combat spec ops unit, it *might* last a whole episode...*might*.

While the wives in this show do seem to be a very comely group, The same probably applies to the men- as is fitting for a cast of actors.

If anything, the actors seem a little young to be from the unit. The average age in Delta is over 30, minimum age to apply is 22. As far as out of shape, senior soldiers don't fit the 3% body fat runner look that many young garritroopers sport.

The tactics used by the actors would definitely be out of place even in an infantry unit- but I have trained with enough operators to know that they can look sloppy and distracted (unmilitary) a fraction of a second before they tear through the target. I saw one step into a room, draw, engage 5 targets, and holster in 3 seconds - Then almost get tossed off the course for not wearing a regulation helmet.

While the dialog is not what we would hear in the field (too many syllables and too few profanities), it is intended to help the viewer understand and experience the flow of tension and action- which I feel it dies well.

While the homes are officer and senior NCO grade, it is very similar to the newer housing at Ft. Bragg (Where the unit it most expressly not stationed).

I quite enjoyed the first episode in this new series. One of the things i liked was the fact that they show the families and the impact on them as well as the fun and games that the men have. I look forward to the future episodes where they develop the characters. While I was not surprised by the plot line, I thought that it was time that more information about the worlds special forces was released to the public in a format to entertain as well as educate. While the production have taken some liberties to keep us entertained and interested, its better to have it on the Television than yet another aspect of military life ignored as if it doesn't exist. While the people who are in the special forces will probably spot numerous flaws, we, the public do not have their in-depth knowledge. Some of the public will complain because its not fully of 24/7 action, looks at more than death and actually might make us think.

Watch the series and enjoy it. I have and am going to continue to watch it.

I saw the commercials for "The Unit", and was intrigued. Then I started watching this show, and it just seems to be getting better as it goes. It kind of reminds me of a Tom Clancy novel, and the last episode I saw had three seemingly separate plot lines going, which eventually became tied together, two of them ended up being parts of the same main story line. Besides the military thrills from the precision excellence of this black-ops unit (which doesn't exist, of course), there are always personal stories and lots of aspects of this show that most anybody should be able to enjoy. I love it when the good guys kick the bad guys collective asses! Well written, and good acting all around. Interesting plot twists, I was caught by surprise more then a few times. There are some really great lines, and it is so much more than just a shoot-em-up action show. My emotions were running wild. I hope this show stays around for years to come!

I'm a big fan of Dennis Haysbert so I bought the first season having never seen the show before. The first episode had a couple of scenes that almost killed all my enthusiasm for it, but I hung with it; got into the characters and enjoyed the whole season. It' takes some getting used to watching the episodes cut back and forth to the soldiers on their missions and their wives back home; that just isn't how "war movies" are done my sexist old brain says. But while the action scenes are really well done the "home stories" are surprisingly compelling too. As someone who grew up on 'Combat", 'The Rat Patrol', 'Twelve O'Clock High' I am surprised I liked this new show as much as I did. Well worth purchasing the first season.