TV Serieseseses

Kirwan

[quote name='taniwharugby']assuming you have the right episode (how Richard/Ricardo got to the Island) I thought it was pretty lame, just gave more questions, even broached the issue of what is going on that has been speculated (ie they are in hell)[/QUOTE] 
 
I think they are clarifying rather than answering. We know that the island is there to keep the devil/man in black stuck on the island, so that was an important tidbit. 
 
It's very much a god/devil thing now isn't it. With god trying to show that he's wrong about men's nature.

taniwharugby

I agree, but this kind of thing came up after series 2 or so IIRC, and then the story seemed to veer away from that as a possibility, so to return to it, seems like they are making it up as they go along.

Kirwan

[quote name='taniwharugby']I agree, but this kind of thing came up after series 2 or so IIRC, and then the story seemed to veer away from that as a possibility, so to return to it, seems like they are making it up as they go along.[/QUOTE] 
 
Every TV show makes it up as they go along, nothing would get made if they had to write all out first. 
 
I've said before I think they had a three series idea and had to pad the middle out because of the success. Everything they are referring to now was in Season 1 & 2, and I'm pleased the smoke monster is a key element because that was the biggest WTF of the first season.

taniwharugby

yeah was little of the smoke monster thingee in the first couple of seasons (it took the African guy, Eko) along with the Polar Bear, but has certainly been about since it has had Locke's body. 
 
As for making it up, more they seemed to just meander at one point, with no direction, new characters, new things on the island, at least there is a [B]little[/B] more consistancy now....at least we didnt have to deal with the alternate lives of them

Bones

I'm actually a bit pissed off it this is the 'solution' (it's hell), as there is a whole load of other shit gone by in previous series that doesn't make any sense at all if this is the case.

Tim

Episode 3 of The Pacific was shit.

rustycruiser

[quote name='Bones']I'm actually a bit pissed off it this is the 'solution' (it's hell), as there is a whole load of other shit gone by in previous series that doesn't make any sense at all if this is the case.[/QUOTE] 
Hell is not the solution. The time split/alternative parrallel universe etc etc explanation is still very much part of the answer. The question is how does the Jacob/Smoke monster island trap tie together with the parallel worlds.

rustycruiser

[quote name='Tim']Episode 3 of The Pacific was shit.[/QUOTE] 
Why? The 1st Marine Division spent months in Australia. They couldn't gloss over that portion of the war. While I didn't like the fact that they deviated so much from Leckie's book versus the other three episode (making up the whole Stella character based on the actual Sheila), it was still a pretty good homogenization of events that occurred to Leckie and his friends in the Great Debauche. 
 
Edit: Just looked it up. The 1st Marine Division left Guadalcanal December 9th 1942, and Operation Cartwheel (Cape Gloucester and invasion of New Britain) commenced on December 23rd 1943. So a year between operations. That is more time than the BoB series, which mostly took place from D-Day (June 6th 44 to VE Day May 8th 45). One episode devoted to that recuperation period in Melbourne is the least they could do.

Tim

They don't do that kind of drama very well. The Australian characters were pretty ropey. It was just low quality TV. And dull.

Tim

The whole "gee I'd kill for a beer, and I am shaken but silent, and man I could fuck anything that moves" thing could've been dealt with in 10mins, along with some more subtle moments in the rest of the series. Then they could've shown more about what was happening in the war. It was just dull, mediocre TV.

rustycruiser

Except this is not a History Channel special on the war in the Pacific. It is a focused look on the the war through the experiences of a few Marines. Leckie, Sledge, Basilone where only in certain places. Can't really mention Tarawa when the 1st Division didn't operate there. Likewise no mention of Midway, Coral Sea etc etc.

Tim

Hey, if it makes for shitty TV then cut back those bits. I'm pretty sure decisions like that are made throughout the production. It's entertainment and that wasn't entertaining, or artistically impressive, in any way. 
 
Lots of shows will leap forward in time, or use some kind of segue to give background as to what has happened between sequences. (That's right, you sometimes need a montage.) Just because a show is about WWII and the "greatest generation" doesn't mean that it has to produced as some kind of sacred and relentlessly faithful work.

rustycruiser

To each his own. I enjoyed it. But maybe because I read both Leckie and Sledge's books, so I knew it was coming and an integral part of the narrative. Have you seen episode 4 (Gloucester, Pavuvu, Banika)? Any objections to it?

Tim

Nah, haven't watched it yet. I enjoyed the first two episodes (especially the second, didn't think that the "human drama" stuff early in the first was very good), and am looking forward to ep 4.

rustycruiser

[quote name='Tim']Nah, haven't watched it yet. I enjoyed the first two episodes (especially the second, didn't think that the "human drama" stuff early in the first was very good), and am looking forward to ep 4.[/QUOTE] 
The problem I had with the first two episodes was they didn't convey enough to the average viewer with no history knowledge how fucked up and tenuous the situation in Guadalcanal really was. The Marines where hanging on to Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, and by extension the Pacific and Australia by the skin of their teeth with no artillery, food, and even support from the Navy after the disaster at Savo Island. It really was touch and go there for a few weeks.

Tim

Yeah, they could really make more of the opening sequences (how long are the credits!) and other opportunities to give some overview.

Dodge

you're right, they didn't, I thought they were shit and don't think I'll bother watching the rest of the series. That's incredible to me since its the only TV series I've been interested in watching in the last few years. I know very little about the Pacific campaign and don't feel like I know any more now, I have no empathy for any of the characters and I had no appreciation of what you've just described Rusty.

rustycruiser

For those watching Lost, do you guys spend any time on a forum with a Lost thread? Personally, I am too stupid to catch all the little details and call backs to the earlier seasons. Not to mention I need to have someone explain things like the Einstein Minkowski Space Time Diagram to me. Without reading a Lost thread, I would probably be a lot more lost than I currently am.

rustycruiser

[quote name='Dodge']you're right, they didn't, I thought they were shit and don't think I'll bother watching the rest of the series. That's incredible to me since its the only TV series I've been interested in watching in the last few years. I know very little about the Pacific campaign and don't feel like I know any more now, I have no empathy for any of the characters and I had no appreciation of what you've just described Rusty.[/QUOTE] 
They never even mentioned the Battle of Bloody Ridge on the show. The Kawaguchi Butai almost overran the Marine Raiders and ParaMarines under the command of Red Mike Edson at Lunga during the two day attack on Henderson. To give you an idea of the scope of the US victory (from wiki): 
 
[quote]On September 15 General Hyakutake at Rabaul learned of Kawaguchi's defeat, the Imperial Japanese Army's first defeat involving a unit of this size in the war. The general forwarded the news to the Imperial General Headquarters in Japan. In an emergency session, the top Japanese army and navy command staffs concluded that, "Guadalcanal might develop into the decisive battle of the war." The results of the battle began to have a telling strategic impact on Japanese operations in other areas of the Pacific. Hyakutake realized that, in order to send sufficient troops and materiel to defeat the Allied forces on Guadalcanal, he could no longer support the major Japanese offensive on the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokoda_Track_campaign"]Kokoda Track[/URL] in [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea"]New Guinea[/URL]. Hyakutake, with the concurrence of the General Headquarters, ordered his troops on New Guinea, who were within 30 miles (48 km) of their objective of [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Moresby"]Port Moresby[/URL], to withdraw until the Guadalcanal matter was resolved. The Japanese were never able to restart their drive towards Port Moresby; the defeat at Edson's Ridge contributed not only to Japan's defeat in the Guadalcanal campaign, but also to Japan's ultimate defeat throughout the South Pacific[/quote] 
 
Edson received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Bloody/Edson's Ridge.

Kirwan

[quote name='rustycruiser']For those watching Lost, do you guys spend any time on a forum with a Lost thread? Personally, I am too stupid to catch all the little details and call backs to the earlier seasons. Not to mention I need to have someone explain things like the Einstein Minkowski Space Time Diagram to me. Without reading a Lost thread, I would probably be a lot more lost than I currently am.[/QUOTE] 
 
I barely have time for rugby threads without going into a time sinkhole like that! 
 
Fancy writing a summary of the theory of what's happening on lost?

The Silver Fern

TV Serieseseses