Kenneth Browns Review - 'The Unit Season 4'

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I am usually not compelled to post to this or any forum, but there is no way after reading Kenneth Brown's review of 'The Unit: Season 4" I can keep my thoughts to myself. For those who don't feel like reading this entire post, suffice it to say that Brown's comments in the first section of the review (before his video review) was both insulting and inaccurate.

I usually have a ton of respect for Kenneth Brown and I take his reviews seriously. But his attacking of the Unit, one of my favorite shows over the past several years, was just out of line. Let me address his points one by one and do my best to avoid his ridiculous opinions...

1) The Unit was NEVER sold as a 'Red white and blue cash-in'. It was sold as a drama that does not romanticize the military. The very first episode in season one went to great lengths to show how the military is overbearing and controlling, and will attempt to control most aspects of life, from who your friends are, to where you live. And this particular 'unit' was very special, and was even more controlling. This was not sexy and did not glamorize the military at all. And it certainly was not 'Red white and blue'.

2) "As nuanced and convincing as The Unit desperately wants to be, it rarely achieves the complexity and realism its writers are clearly aiming for." Umm... does any show ever achieve what its writers aim for? Obviously studios will always exert control and attempt to maximize their revenues. This show is no different. I think you have a personal grievance with David Mamet. More on this later.

3) "While season four tosses some fresh storylines into the mix, the majority of its episodes follow the same setup-conflict-payoff ritual that's dominated the series... The Unit's formula reeks of Hollywood, despite its showrunners' assertions to the contrary." The whole point of this is to show their missions (of which they are of course almost always successful) and the impact on their personal lives and their mental fitness. We have witnessed from the point of view of each and every character that the work they do takes its toll on the entire family. To say that the show reeks of Hollywood is pure hyperbole and is an attack directly on David Mamet and the writing staff. Why pick on Mamet? What is your problem with him?

4) "...most of the terrorists and rival soldiers the team are tasked with stopping are grossly ill-prepared for the arrival of America's best; and several shootouts (look no further than the fourth season's opening episode) progress as if they've been choreographed by middle-schoolers with a camcorder." Lets harken back to your review of Generation Kill: "Generation Kill's effectiveness and eventual resonance lies not in its depiction of battle, but in the quiet moments of personal distress the various Marines face between engagements." OK... so you nitpick about how the bad guys are stupid in The Unit, but in Generation Kill, lousy battle scenes are OK because its not really about the battle... its about their feelings and 'personal distress'. Remember that part in Generation Kill when a platoon of un-armored Humvees rolled through a villiage under severe overhead gunfire and not one of them took a hit? That was one of the most ridiculous battle scenes I've ever seen. And there were like 3 more in that series just like it. You gave Generation Kill a perfect 5 stars. Something more is at play here.

5) "With 24, Prison Break, and a cadre of similar series haunting the airwaves, it was only a matter of time before audiences grew bored and moved onto bigger and better things." I think its awful that you are comparing The Unit with 24 and Prison Break. Totally different types of shows. The Unit doesn't do cliff hangers. It also doesn't do Jack Bauer-esque heroics and have African dictators swimming up to the White House sub-basement to take the president hostage. And it doesnt have a character like Michael Scofield outmaneuvering everyone, including the audience. What it does have is a group of highly trained US operatives who are given a mission, prepare, adapt, execute, and come back home to their wives. I don't really know how you can have a weekly military drama thats much more real than that. Maybe MASH?

6) "If The Wire taught us anything it's that infusing antagonists with convincing personalities and motivations can lead to rich, multi-layered brilliance. Sadly, The Unit seems terrified of humanizing a terrorist; mortified at the thought of granting a weapons peddler some empathy. It happens, sure, but not nearly as often as it should and usually only when a special guest star fills the shoes of an episode's baddie." This is the only point that I agree with fully. But keep in mind that the Wire (one of the best showws ever) was given free reign by HBO. And with all that brilliant writing, realism and incredible storylines and characters, it was never a commercial success. It barely survived a season 4 and 5. I don't like it, but I respect the need for studios to deliver something that will sell commercial time. I wish the HBO model were used for every TV show. Then maybe we'd get more stuff like Oz, Rome, Carnivale, Deadwood, and The Wire.

I don't know what personal issues you have with David Mamet, and I don't know why the entire first part of your review was spend slapping down any and all notions of 'realism' the show maintains. I mean, its a frakkin' TV show, not a documentary. If you simply stuck to the facts, you would have had plenty to say. I do agree with another thing you wrote... long-time viewers are likely blinded by the show's flaws. There are indeed plenty... so there is absolutely no reason for you to conjure up new ones to put in your review.