What I’m Watching: The Pacific

The Pacific: Season 1, Episode 7 “Peleliu Hills” (B+)

From the end of last episode when the soldiers needed to take one of their own company out for the good of the group and well established in this episode, the enemy is no longer just the Japanese, but also forces that cause the marines to turn on each other, however accidentally. The shooting of two American marines mistaken for Japanese combatants in the middle of the night is another stark and unfortunate incident in a series of unfortunate and tragic unnecessary deaths in the course of this war. This episode in particular took things to a more personal extent, featuring much more direct hand-to-hand, face-to-face combat than ever before. The wounded Americans calling out the names of their fellow marines while in the midst of combat also makes watching it even more difficult to get through in terms of evoking emotion. The new moral center of the show with Leckie not seen in this episode is just as compelling, calling out “Christ! Put him out of his misery!” as the other marines tortured a wounded Japanese soldier. There is an increasing number of breakdowns as the trauma goes on, and there’s such an incredible difference between how it’s handled in big groups versus the more intimate settings, employing comfort rather than stifling. The post-battle rain scenes were very effective, but what’s even more intense and memorable is all of the dialogue between the marines, like “You can’t dwell on it, you can’t dwell on any of it,” a line which is repeated by a marine after it’s first uttered. Thanks for reading, CG! Any additional thoughts?