'The Pacific' - 'Part Nine': War is even more hell than usual
Sledge goes to Okinawa
Joseph Mazzello as Eugene Sledge in "The Pacific."
A review of the penultimate episode of "The Pacific" coming up just as soon as I work on your Christmas present...
"They can't fucking surrender?" -Hamm
"I hope they don't. I hope we get to kill every last one of them." -Sledge
Okinawa was intended to be the United States' staging ground for the inevitable invasion of Japan. Instead, the fighting on the island was so savage, so devastating to both sides - and to the island's large civilian population - and such an obvious harbinger of what would happen should US troops set foot on Japan itself, that you can understand why Truman might have felt compelled to do the unthinkable and try to end the war by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
And watching the battle of Okinawa play out through the eyes of Eugene Sledge, we understand what a cost was paid even by those who survived the battle, and the Pacific theater, with their bodies intact.
The Sledge of Okinawa is unrecognizable from the eager Alabama boy who couldn't wait to go to war and prove his manhood, or the nervous boot on Pavuvu, or even the Pepeliu vet who inherited Gunny Haney's lighter when Gunny couldn't take it anymore. This is a Sledge who cares about nothing and no one but blood - who feels nothing for the Japanese soldiers he kills, nor for the civilians he sees cut down, nor even really for the young boots who are just as scared as he was on the boats heading towards Peleliu.
He is, by this point, as far gone as Snafu - and, really, farther, because the carnage and unrelenting horror of Okinawa actually helps Snafu start to rediscover his humanity.
When Sledge gets news that his dog - the dog we remember from those early scenes in Mobile that now seem far more essential than they did at the time - has died, it's just another excuse for Eugene to lose any connection to life, where it provides Snafu with an opportunity to get as warm as he can and try to comfort his buddy.
When Sledge chews out the boots for expecting different out of war than what they're seeing - in other words, for being exactly like him - it's Snafu who tries to distract Hamm with a question about where he's from. When Peck's meltdown gets Hamm killed, Sledge unloads on Peck, where Snafu recognizes the guy is so far gone that the only thing to be done is to quietly reassure him that Hamm's death wasn't his fault.
What a pair of amazing performances by Joseph Mazzello and Rami Malek, building on what we've seen before from these two so the role reversal didn't feel forced, and yet finding new levels of, respectively, despair and tenderness as the hour went along. Snafu becomes more Sledge-like, and Sledge becomes more Snafu-like (and a bit more Leckie-like as well), but both still have pieces of who they were earlier in the war.
By this point in the miniseries, the combat scenes have been so frequent and so confusing that the viewer experiences a level of combat fatigue as well, one no doubt designed to evoke Sledge's reaction to all of this. Endless, seemingly pointless combat, day after day, with no safe haven, even among the civilians. If a woman with a baby can be a suicide bomber, what respite is there?
And then we come to that astonishing, horrifying scene in the hut with the mortar hole in the roof, and the orphaned baby, and the woman begging for Sledge to put her down (just like the dog he lost?). That tableau becomes the latest image that Sledge will never be able to unsee, but it also seems to jolt him back into some semblance of humanity. The episode's time on Okinawa ends not long after Eugene has his moment of clarity, so it's entirely possible he would have gone back to his amoral bloodlust. But the episode, and the island conflict, ends in time for Sledge to leave it a shattered man, but not a monstrous one.
I first watched this episode months ago. I still shudder whenever I think about it.
What did everybody else think?
News From Our Partners
-
Total Recall: Star Trek Movies
Parental Guidance: Star Trek Into Darkness
In Pictures: The Stars of Star Trek Into Darkness
-
Reese Witherspoon Joins Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Inherent Vice'
CBS Fall 2013 Trailers: Sarah Michelle Gellar's 'Crazy Ones,' Anna Faris' Mom' and More!
Sony Trademarks Possible PlayStation 4 Slogan "Greatness Awaits"
-
Why They Went 'Crazy'
30 EPIC Wedding Disasters
'No One Lives Forever'
-
'Angry Birds' Film Dive-Bombing Into Theaters In 2016
'Fast & Furious 6' Blasts Forward With Exclusive Clip: Watch Now!
'Riddick' Trailer: Watch Vin Diesel Fight For Survival
-
Hear This: Connections gives a Guided By Voices-indebted reason to go for the opener
Watch This: The second half of Twilight Zone: The Movie more than makes up for the first
Tolerability Index: This week we're barely putting up with The Killing
-
Grimm "The Waking Dead" Review: Dead On Arrival
What to Watch Tonight: The Season Finales of Arrow, CSI, and Supernatural
CBS's 2013-2014 Schedule: New Nights for Person of Interest and Hawaii Five-0, More Comedy on Thursdays
-
The Telefile - TNT & TBS Upfront 2013: Reaping What Other Networks Sowed
The Telefile - Fall TV 2013: What's On When
The Telefile - New Girl: Wedding Do's and Don'ts
-
'Riddick' Trailer: Vin Diesel Is Back and Playing for Blood
'Rio 2' Teaser Trailer Has Landed: Let's Dance!
Cannes 2013: Celebs Invade Opening Ceremony (PHOTOS)
Get Instant Alerts on What's Alan Watching
Latest Posts
-
Some experimenting, but mostly the same old, successful CBSWednesday, May 15, 2013
-
A badger gets loose at Cece's wedding, and Nick and Jess ponder their futureTuesday, May 14, 2013
-
Has the show solved Winston yet? What stories would she redo?Tuesday, May 14, 2013
-
Dan and Alan break down the first batch of fall schedulesTuesday, May 14, 2013
Comments
Option 1
Comment instantly as a guest GuestOption 2
Option 3
Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJames P. Albani
May 9, 2010 at 10:09PM EST Reply to Commentexcellent episode
danb
May 9, 2010 at 10:22PM EST Reply to CommentThat was the most brutal thing I have ever watched on tv. I'm not sure if they give out Emmys for support actor in a mini-series but if they do, Rami Malek just clinched it.
Jeff P. Simply, yet well said - that was the most brutal thing I've ever watched on TV. I think they did a tremendous job of painting this battle as it (apparently) was - gruesome and brutal and ruthless. I'm still getting over this episode. And yes, the acting was the best it's been.
May 9, 2010 at 11:39PM ESTTavernWench I couldn't agree more about Rami Malek, who is just blowing my mind with his portrayal of Snafu. If he doesn't get recognized for his stunning work in "The Pacific," then there's really something wrong in TV Land.
May 16, 2010 at 2:33PM ESTbratcat
May 9, 2010 at 10:30PM EST Reply to Commentthere's been a mind numbing amount of battlefield action and chaos in this miniseries, even for a war film fan like myself, but its scenes like the hut scene at the end of tonight's episode that provides the payoff. Without experiencing a taste of what the hellish battle conditions must have been like in the Pacific I'm not sure I could have been able to fully appreciate the dilema the bombed out hut scene presented.
When Hammer and Snafu were looking at the baby and deciding what do I thought that they might actually perform a mercy killing. what, thats crazy?! I would never think someone would consider that in the normal world, but in this hellish world with all they have witnessed, they might actually rationalize it. Fortunately they were saved from making a decision.
The next scene with Sledge and the woman was even more powerful within that context where he now begins to come out of the fog of war and ends up tenderly holds her in his arms. Very moving imagery. The scene ends with the child's toy droopping from her hand and you realize how lucky he was that she wasn't holding a grenade.
At times Pacific has been confusing and overwhelming to the senses but I am pleasantly surprised to see that its starting to pay off and I'm looking forward to the finale next week.
Ambaryerno
May 9, 2010 at 10:33PM EST Reply to CommentThis episode was absolutely horrific. I don't think I'll ever be able to get the image of the woman being used as a walking booby trap by the Japanese out of my head.
Dezbot
May 9, 2010 at 10:44PM EST Reply to CommentAlan wrote: "If a woman with a baby can be a suicide bomber, what respite is there? "
I don't think she was a suicide bomber. I think they forced her to do it, which is why she was trying to give the baby away (to save it before she exploded).
The last two eps both made me cry. Very powerful endings. Wish the whole season had been this good, but at least the series is ending strongly.
Agree She wasn't a suicide bomber at all. In fact the japanese soldiers were using the civilians as human shields in that scene. And the fact she was trying to give away her baby, as you pointed out, is a clear prove that she was bombed against her will.
May 10, 2010 at 1:23AM ESTEightiesologist How many suicide bombers are really doing so on their own free will? Most are forced to do it by military superiors or brainwashing fundamentalists. Sure, there are those who subscribe to the intentions of the suicide bomb (i.e. the 9/11 terrorists) but for the most part, I bet most are doing it against their will.
May 10, 2010 at 9:02PM ESTsepinwall Yeah, I think we get into semantics at this point. Whether or not the woman wanted to do this (and it seemed clear she didn't), she was still being turned into a human bomb who would blow up and take others with her.
May 11, 2010 at 10:19AM ESTChris
May 9, 2010 at 10:44PM EST Reply to CommentThe performances last week and tonight have been nothing short of amazing. These miniseries have a way of discovering some fantastic actors, much like Band of Brothers.
The battle scenes have been much more brutal because the war in the pacific was not the same as in Europe. After reading so many books about the war I am not surprised by the battle scenes, but still shocked by every one of them.
JonB I can't agree that the battle scenes are "much more more brutal because the war in the Pacific was not the same as in Europe". The Pacific theatre was 'total war' as much as the war in Europe. The brutality of the aerial bombing campaign, the battle of Stalingrad, the battle of Hurtgen Forest, the Falaise Pocket, the naval war in the Atlantic (as many civilians killed as military personnel), the war fought by the Resistance, the battle of Monte Cassino, the battle of Berlin... All very different, but there's no scale to measure how brutal one battle was over another. Whichever theatre of the war you look at, you learn of huge numbers of men dying in futile attacks, countless lives wasted by bad command decisions, plundering, mass rapes (Okinawa was a particularly awful example with alleged crimes committed by both sides), innocent children and animals caught in the crossfire, national treasures crushed and burned, and so on. WW2 was total, relentless war that consumed all in its path, in one way or another, wherever it spread to.
May 12, 2010 at 1:10PM ESTEldritch
May 9, 2010 at 11:16PM EST Reply to CommentThe PBS.com website has a "American Experience" episode about how the war would have gone on after Okinawa. It describes the brutal battle on Okinawa and then goes on to the plans to invade the southernmost Japanese mainland island, Kyushu, and Tokyo after that.
The Japanese military were organizing a plan which would have every man, woman, and child fight to the death, just as Japanese soldiers had.
Their leadership believed that faced with such resistance, America would agree to a conditional surrender. The condition they most wanted was preserving their emperor as the country's head.
All this contributed to Truman's decision to drop the bomb -- which the episode said was actually an easy decision for him. American fliers had already killed more in the fire-bombing of Tokyo with conventional napalm than the atomic bomb was expected to kill.
Interestingly, those war planners didn't view the atomic bomb as we do now. General MacArthur was considering using them on the beaches as support weapons to soften up the Japanese troops for the invasion of American troops. He felt the troops were the "big" weapon. They had no concept of residual radiation lingering on after the explosion.
Danielle Rush Exactly who are the leads in this miniseries? Are they Jon Seda, Joseph Mazzello and James Badge Dale? Or is the lead solely Mazzello? I just realized that he will have appeared in nine out of ten episodes, in compare to Seda and Dale, who will have appeared in seven. The number of episodes could have been easily distributed to seven episodes for each actor, if Sledge had not appeared in Episodes 4 and 8. Especially in Episode 8. Now, I get this feeling that Mazzello has become the lead actor of this miniseries, with Seda and Dale being shuffled to supporting actor status. And this is pissing me off, because this miniseries is supposed to have THREE leads. In fact, I'm so annoyed that I cannot even get involved in this latest episode.
May 9, 2010 at 11:19PM ESTDB Cooper Why does that matter?
May 10, 2010 at 10:29AM ESTEightiesologist Casting semantics bother you that much? How does it even matter? They shared lead screen time, regardless of final episode count.
May 10, 2010 at 9:05PM ESTI'm sure most people would prefer that Basilone hadn't died tragically and thus was able to provide Jon Seda a larger role in the last few episodes.
Pch101 And this is pissing me off, because this miniseries is supposed to have THREE leads.
May 11, 2010 at 10:45PM ESTAgreed. Basilone surely had a lot of nerve to die like that before the series had even ended. Hell, I'll bet that Leckie deliberately got himself wounded just to confuse and spite me. I do hope that they get it right during the next war, otherwise I'm gonna be awfully upset!
maryploppins
May 10, 2010 at 3:26AM EST Reply to CommentUmm ... WOW. Just when I thought I could not be more disturbed or give myself even worse nightmares from the next ep of this series, it proves me wrong. Amazing episode though ... holy crap.
I know I'm going to get killed for this because I'm sure it's already been mentioned a bazillion times on Alan's blogs, but is Snafu a real person or a character made up for the series? O.k. lemme google it ...
maryploppins O.k. sorry nevermind, I answered my own question with Google. I am glad to hear that he is a real person, because wow, what a character.
May 10, 2010 at 3:31AM ESTDB Cooper Snafu was real, but in Sledge's book, he didn't do any of the things he's shown doing in this movie.
May 10, 2010 at 10:32AM ESTOr more accurately, none of those things were ATTRIBUTED to Snafu in the book. Sledge tended to keep things anonymous when he was talking about bad things ("a soldier"), though there's certainly an implication that it wasn't one of the named characters.
maryploppins Ahh interesting. I'll definitely have to read the book.
May 11, 2010 at 1:04AM EST
May 10, 2010 at 8:39AM EST Reply to CommentWow! Painful, excruciating. In last week’s post I successfully predicted that this episode was going to involve civilian casualties. By the end of the episode I felt myself desperate for the fighting to stop and to end the madness. How much worse could it possibly get? Innocent civilians massacred? Soldiers sliding into maggot-ridden corpses lying about? Or young men losing their compassion and sense of humanity? Bombing huts where women and children live? The war had to end. Anymore deaths after this would be beyond senseless. Japanese soldiers were lining up to be killed at this point, and all for their belief of the perverted interpretation of the once honorable bushido code (FYI, Japanese leadership manipulated the honorable code to convince the soldiers and airmen to perform banzai attacks and kamikaze flights, as well as have the civilians on the mainland be prepared to do the same in the name of their emperor)
The night scene where Snafu loses it and he and Sledge start yelling at each other was an excellent scene. One of the best character interactions in the series so far. The push-pull of morality between these two has lifted the series since episode #6. It is a shame that Snafu didn’t get more of a billing, but I realize he is an amalgamation of many other real-life soldiers. I now find myself dreading the last episode because I don’t want it to end, not because I want more violence, but because I am fascinated as to how these young men readjust to go back home.
JanieJones
May 10, 2010 at 10:32AM EST Reply to CommentSimply horrific and haunting. This particular series has felt so authentic in it's portrayal of battle scenes.
*Digesting The Pacific, Treme and Breaking Bad in one night is an interesting experience as a viewer.
T M
May 10, 2010 at 1:31PM EST Reply to Commentpeople must be watching a different series than me. I really want to like the Pacific and have tuned in every week, but I am so underwhelmed by the characters and the direction of the episodes, that it's been a major disappointment. Sure the production values are great, but because of the lack of continuity of the characters and because the battles are often disjointed, it's left me feeling empty about the whole thing. What happened to Lackey? The've introduced too many characters and then never brought them back. Where Band of Brothers was a 9 or 10, I'd give the Pacific a 4 or 5. Nowhere near as good.
May 10, 2010 at 11:46PM EST Reply to CommentI watched The Pacific up to episode 4, and while it improved slightly with each passing episode, I got quickly distracted by other things and just basically never felt motivated to continue. I just couldn't really tell anyone apart or what was generally going on most of the time. It pretty much killed any impact the scenes were meant to have. 3 and 4 at least developed Leckie enough, but by then, I just didn't feel to compelled to continue.
It was somewhat brought back when I caught my dad watching part 9. I happened to catch the scene of the female suicide bomber, and it left me rather taken aback by it. I'm somewhat familiar with the Japanese armies' tactics and atrocities concerning Okinawa's citizens, but that's the first I've ever seen of forced suicide bombing. Googling it only brings up reviews of the episode. Was this mentioned in Sledge's book, or Hollywood dramatizing the action (like Alan put "If a woman with a baby can be a suicide bomber, what respite is there? ")? It strikes me as the latter, and I'd greatly appreciate another source that collaborates this happening.
I figure I might watch episode five to give the series one last shot.
TinMann0715 Watch episdoes 5-7 in a row and I think from a combat and a human experience perspective you will be engaged. However, if character recognition is important to you, as it is to me, you may want to visit the HBO site to be able to put names to faces and have a better understanding of the dialogue and interactions.
May 11, 2010 at 4:10PM ESTb-ill
May 11, 2010 at 1:20AM EST Reply to CommentSo was that a grenade that rolled outta that lady's hand or a toy? I feel like sledge would have noticed if it was a grenade before he got all touchy feely but it sure does look like a colorful grenade to me.
TinMann0715 It was a children's toy, but it could have just as easily been a grenade. However, I think the point to all this was that the dying woman was holding on to it to show that she was somehow related to the dead mother and the baby. A sister, a grandmother... Sledge felt responsible for these deaths and his desire to kill Japs was overwhelmed by his humanity and mercy. Powerful...
May 11, 2010 at 4:17PM ESTb-ill Yea I guess having a tv from 1998 makes it hard to tell the difference between a toy and an explosive these days. This scene was very powerful but I feel like Sledge's turn around happened too quickly. Maybe if it had spanned 2 episodes I'd feel like it was more genuine.
May 12, 2010 at 1:52AM ESTRob WONJ
May 11, 2010 at 10:00AM EST Reply to CommentIt was brilliant. The Pacific is a tone poem of death. So dark and gruesome. Sometime the storytelling of war becomes derivative, as Band of Brothers sprouted from Saving Private Ryan (even though BoB was one fantastic event), The Pacific has shattered the mold. It is riveting. Joseph Mazzello and Rami Malek have been awesome, so much in fact I had to IMDB both of them. I couldn't believe Mazzello was the little boy I hated so much in Jurassic Park (HA!). Malek has defined his character with so many shades it's really a marvel.
I can't believe it's almost over!
robwein
May 11, 2010 at 2:18PM EST Reply to CommentI actually thought the scene leading up to the mortared hut was the most powerful (in terms of soulless destruction of the enemy) the series has done. Backed by non-intrusive but potent downcast music, the marines clinically sweep the caves with flamethrowers, grenades, and machine guns. It worked as a payoff for the brutality the series showed over 9 episodes. The flat easy killing by Sledge et al worked for me (in terms of emotional believability and catharthis for the characters) more than the baby in the hut, which has been done before (Born On The Fourth of July, among others).
TinMann0715
May 11, 2010 at 4:10PM EST Reply to CommentThey like this
Lolotaki "Academic and Soulless".
May 11, 2010 at 4:18PM ESTWe have a hell of a war (ok all wars are hell but this one even more) and somehow they manage to make you feel nothing.
I am surprised on how naive and amateur the creators seem to be.
The gore factor in Pacific is beyond anything I have seen on WWII TV and that is such a lame way to try and impress your viewers. Gore "pornography" on TV is so cliche nowdays. But the creators of Pacific seem to invest more in this than character development.
And the dialogues are so bad: "you have to be here to understand what war is"... "I have never been afraid in my life so much before..."
oh dear oh dear oh dear...
The directing is uninspired. And the casting unfortunate.
An example of all this is the Snafu character. The actor portrays him like a caricature, rolling his big eyes like a crazy person, talking like drugged and gesturing in weird way..trying to emphasize what exactly? That the hell of war makes soldiers act and talk like cartoons???
In BOB none of the actors performance was as grotesque in order to show us the impact on war on them.
But I guess when the story is weak and the director is weak, you end up using cheap tricks to force your viewers realize things.
Honestly at some point I expected to see signs over the actors writing things like "very tired soldier", "very worn out soldier", "this soldier has lost it".
But the little documentaries at the beginning say it all. You have to listen to Tom Hanks saying how horrific any battle was. Or the veterans.
Cause you simple don't get it from the series.
Except from that "hut" scene at the end of episode 9.
But waiting for 9 and 3/4 of episodes about war to finally get what war is and feel emotional? You can't call this a success, can you?
Lolotaki I wasnt specifically answering to TinMann0715, this commenting system seems to malfunctioning a bit :D
May 11, 2010 at 4:20PM ESTTinMann0715 No worries Lolotaki. The "response" you sent was to a post that I don't believe I did, "They like this" Huh??? Anyway...
May 11, 2010 at 4:26PM ESTI do respect your comments and impression of the series. However, I was a big contributor to the BoB board back in 2001 when the series originally showed. People made similar complaints about BoB as you did about 'The Pacific'. Much like any piece of entertainment... it works for some and misses on others.
Kevin J.
August 8, 2011 at 6:20PM EST Reply to CommentI watched this series then read Leckie and Sledges' books and did a rewatch. I think James B. Dale really becomes Leckie, it's believable and the best performance of the series.
I think that Mazello was poorly cast. The scenes where he freaks out at Snafu and then his commanding officer for telling him to stop shooting at the Japanese are so bad, he simply can't carry them as an actor. Reading Sledge's book you really get a sense of who he was as a person, and Mazello doesn't come close to capturing it.