The Unit: Season 1 [DVD]

Ah... finally CBS produced aired and had faith in a show that WASN'T FORMULAIC... mystery-solved, every week. Here's a court case and an immediate resolution. When does that ever happen?

The nation was starving for something outside the box and outside the typical routine T.V. shows that overwhelm our video box every night, and not to my surprise... THE UNIT actually locked in a solid rating. Was the state of the world we're in the reason for the people who tuned in? Was it the fact that Dennis Haysbert who was a lot of people's favorite character from the smash FOX hit, 24? Was it the no holds barred, no mercy, no sugar-coated story-telling method?

I think it's a combination of a lot of things. My favorite reason for tuning in was that it was REAL. It wasn't like all the other CBS shows that unrealistically solve a murder in 40 minutes or resolve a court hearing in 40 minutes.

The UNIT shows the not-so-pretty side of counter-terrorism secret units. A shadow company of elite soldiers who aren't even allowed to tell their wives what they do. But, unlike many CBS shows, you actually get to know the characters in the show. You get to see the HARD mission minded Jonas Blane (Haysbert) and the family man when he returns home. You get to see what the wives have to deal with while their men are away.

The most important thing the UNIT gives its viewer is the understanding that GETTING THE JOB DONE, isn't always pretty. Isn't always moral. Isn't always negotiable. The UNIT also shows what it is to be military, what it is to be American, and what it is to do a thankless job.

This show is gritty, dark, dangerous, secretive and it comes to a dramatic and shocking finale that will leave you salivating for the 2nd season episodes to begin their run.

I'd give the DVD season set 5 stars, but the season was a mid-season replacement. Most likely a show that CBS didn't have any faith in until people starting actually watching.

Well, seeing as though it was a mid-season test show... it only had 13 episodes. So, in my opinion, this show is just getting started. The second season should have the full 24 episode run and then we'll really see what this incredible show is truly capable of.

I've always loved David Mamet films because of his brisk realistic dialogue and his preoccupation with the male code and its clash with civilization. That theme is well served in The Unit, even better than films, because he has the long-range TV landscape to develop his characters, Delta Force anti-terrorist unit who, for hardly any pay, risk their lives in international missions while their wives, living in a nondescript military base, pinch pennies and deal with the daily dramas of having husbands who could die in the blink of an eye. Avoiding sentimentality, piety, and jingoism, The Unit has an appropriately cynical look at power and the use of trickery to succeed against one's enemies and even one's bureacratic bosses. In this sense, The Unit resembles the show 24 but unlike 24, which is often over the top, The Unit employs psychological realism. Perhaps better than any TV show right now, The Unit specializes in riveting plot lines, especially employing the reversal, where the plot goes one way and then turns the tables in a way that never seems forced or arbitrary. So far the second season has proved as the good as the first. If you haven't seen The Unit, the DVD first series season is a must.

The Amazon.com editorial review hit it on the head. I am a woman, and I love this show. It is exciting, interesting, and thought-provoking; but the wives' storyline is just painful.
I believe that it's due to a combination of poor writing for the women's characters and bad acting. Most notably bad is the one having an affair with the colonel (can't think of her name, that's how forgettable she is). The actress playing Molly Blane, who is normally good, is horrible in this role. The best acting performance is for Mrs. Brown, but she needs to have better scripts.
The most interesting parts are those when the men are on their missions. The male performers are all very good actors. If I were the writers, I would get rid of the colonel's mistress and Molly Blane characters; and replace them with better actresses. And give Mrs. Brown better material to work with. If they do this, it can become a 5-star classic.