I have found "Over There" to be unmissable. It's not trying to be a war documentary. The point of a television series is to create drama, and that's why things may not play out like real-life. How come the characters don't know one another by the time they have their first combat experience? Because the audience doesn't know the characters. Those scenes are designed so that the viewer is learning who these people are. It's an example of the necessity of taking artist license. The dialogue has to be functional. The characters shouldn't be talking just for the sake of it. Information needs to be conveyed to the audience.
I find that the show thoughtfully examines the Iraq war through the eyes of soldiers who represent different viewpoints of the American public. People who have never been in the military could not necessarily relate to an experienced soldier's feelings about the various incidents that occur in each episode. Part of this show's purpose is to put the non-military audience in the soldier's place; to understand what it is to be faced with the dilemma of killing someone who may or may not be trying to kill you. Who is simply a civilian, and who is enemy? The episode in which the characters are manning a roadside checkpoint is a splendid example of just such a scenario.
The public may be able to relate to the show when they see characters who may represent their viewpoint. On tonight's episode I saw the character, Angel, (a Christian if I'm not mistaken), make a remark that he had more in common with the enemy, because of spiritual belief in the afterlife, than in his black, American comrade who grew up running around in gangs. Ryder's replacement is an American of Arab origin, who at first is viewed with suspicion by some of the soldiers in the group. The character, Dim, seems to represent the "conscience" that comes from idealism, but already he is beginning to understand that sometimes one has to kill or be killed despite best intentions.
The show also has a nice storyline about an amputee determined to go back into combat in some capacity, and the close relationship he has with his young wife. It goes further into the civilian side, following the families of the soldiers back home, and how they cope with having to maintain a seemingly normal life and handle emergencies in the absence of their loved-ones.
I'm sorry that a vet might find the show offensive. From my POV, the show does not make these soldiers look stupid. It simply emphasizes the guts it takes to do what you guys do. From the standpoint of drama, it does a very nice job, and over time it could grow into one of Bochco's best series. It's not fair to judge it by the pilot episode alone, which I enjoyed, but even as uneducated in modern military matters as I am, I saw mistakes it should have avoided. Hopefully over time, it will get the technical attention it's apparently lacking, (although I don't enough to know what's wrong most of the time.) The rest of the time, I just see good drama, and that's what it's all about.
I find that the show thoughtfully examines the Iraq war through the eyes of soldiers who represent different viewpoints of the American public. People who have never been in the military could not necessarily relate to an experienced soldier's feelings about the various incidents that occur in each episode. Part of this show's purpose is to put the non-military audience in the soldier's place; to understand what it is to be faced with the dilemma of killing someone who may or may not be trying to kill you. Who is simply a civilian, and who is enemy? The episode in which the characters are manning a roadside checkpoint is a splendid example of just such a scenario.
The public may be able to relate to the show when they see characters who may represent their viewpoint. On tonight's episode I saw the character, Angel, (a Christian if I'm not mistaken), make a remark that he had more in common with the enemy, because of spiritual belief in the afterlife, than in his black, American comrade who grew up running around in gangs. Ryder's replacement is an American of Arab origin, who at first is viewed with suspicion by some of the soldiers in the group. The character, Dim, seems to represent the "conscience" that comes from idealism, but already he is beginning to understand that sometimes one has to kill or be killed despite best intentions.
The show also has a nice storyline about an amputee determined to go back into combat in some capacity, and the close relationship he has with his young wife. It goes further into the civilian side, following the families of the soldiers back home, and how they cope with having to maintain a seemingly normal life and handle emergencies in the absence of their loved-ones.
I'm sorry that a vet might find the show offensive. From my POV, the show does not make these soldiers look stupid. It simply emphasizes the guts it takes to do what you guys do. From the standpoint of drama, it does a very nice job, and over time it could grow into one of Bochco's best series. It's not fair to judge it by the pilot episode alone, which I enjoyed, but even as uneducated in modern military matters as I am, I saw mistakes it should have avoided. Hopefully over time, it will get the technical attention it's apparently lacking, (although I don't enough to know what's wrong most of the time.) The rest of the time, I just see good drama, and that's what it's all about.