What I’m Watching: The Pacific (Miniseries Premiere)

The Pacific: Season 1, Episode 1 “Guadalcanal/Leckie” (B+)

Leave it to HBO to convince you by the end of the opening credits that what you’re watching is the single greatest television production ever made. The main title design certainly is fearsome, and HBO has quite a reputation for its quality-heavy shows and its extremely successful “Band of Brothers” miniseries from a number of years ago (which I haven’t seen, but I’ve only heard great things). This marks the first time that I’m watching an HBO miniseries live as it airs, after failing miserably to catch up on “John Adams” in time to make it past the first episode. All the grandeur and the hype leading up to it doesn’t mean that the first installment of this miniseries falls short. It may not be the most magnificent event in the history of television, but it’s still an impressive presentation. The introductory sequences back on the United States mainland help to ground the show in the time period and explain the motivations of its young heroes for going off to war. Once there, it feels like the full experience of war almost instantly, and this is only the beginning. With nine installments to come, it’s definitely going to get more intense and we’ll really get a look into the minds and souls of these characters. James Badge Dale’s character, PFC Robert Leckie, is already being established as a conscience among this corps when he mercifully ends the Japanese soldier’s life by shooting him instead of letting his fellow soldiers finish him off slowly and painfully. This may as well be a bona fide HBO series, but since it only takes place over a specific period of time and is set to play out over one season, it’s considered a miniseries. In terms of the casting, it’s a real pleasure to see not one but two “Wonderfalls” alumni appearing in an HBO production, Caroline Dhavernas as Robert’s neighbor back home and William Sadler as the passionate Lieutenant Colonel Chesty Puller.