[TP REWATCH] Part Five and Part Six

[thrillingdetectivetales]

Welcome to the rewatch discussion post for PART FIVE and PART SIX of The Pacific.
You are welcome to discuss any and all aspects of the episodes in the comments on this post. Please recognize that others may hold different opinions than yours and continue to abide by our #1 rule: don't be a dick. Additionally, I ask that y'all take care to keep spoiler content off of spoiler-free threads. Otherwise, have fun!

Part Five
Spoiler-free thread.
Spoiler friendly thread.

Part Six
Spoiler-free thread.
Spoiler friendly thread.

If you'd like to chat about the episode in real time, join us over on Discord.*

To participate in discussions about previous episodes, you can visit the posts below:

Part One & Part Two
Part Three & Part Four

* Please note that during this rewatch, we have done away with spoiler friendly and spoiler-free Discord channels and will simply be using the dedicated channel for The Pacific. As such, if you participate in the discussion on the Discord server you may encounter spoilers.

Comments

Part Five [SPOILER-FREE]

[thrillingdetectivetales]

This is a comment thread for spoiler-free discussion of The Pacific: Part Five.

For spoiler friendly discussion of the episode, please see the thread below.

Re: Part Five [SPOILER-FREE]

[yourlibrarian]

In this episode I was reminded of the one in Band of Brothers, where Webster rejoins the company. For Leckie I'm guessing it was not quite as long an absence. But it was one of those episodes showing the difference between someone new arriving versus someone old returning.

I was amused by Sledge's reunion with Sidney and how they were immediately come upon by an officer.

I was surprised to see Rami Malek, mostly because knowing this was made some time ago, I hadn't realized he'd been around that long.

I felt sorry for Sledge, to have his friend leave without even having said goodbye. But it looks like he'd have been a good person to pair with Leckie in terms of conversation and experience. Also convenient that the conversation was placed in contrast to what was going on in Band of Brothers at the time.

One thing I was thinking about when they departed from the ship in the floating tank, was how little discussion there is about the technology of the time. It's such a difference from World War I. It made me wonder exactly how much they get to train with. For example, did they ever get to train in riding in such a vehicle, or entering and exiting it?

And yet again, I keep wondering why those helmets are not strapped into place, given how Sledge's comes off while he's crawling up the beach, and Bill is later lying there without it as well.

Speaking of crawling up the beach, it amazes me that later groups of men were able to do so, given the number of bodies lying on it.

The assault on the Japanese tank was tense, and the rescue by the American tank unexpected and welcome. It seemed odd to have people eating and relaxing so soon after, but I guess you do it when you can.

The gold tooth scavenging seemed a bit much at the time but I imagine a lot more of it happened as the weeks went by. I'm sure that dismembered hand with a wedding ring wasn't the only one around.

Re: Part Five [SPOILER-FREE]

[muccamukk]

There really wasn't very much training shown in the series. In reality they did train and practice landings, but the training craft were often not the ones they'd actually use. Sledge trained on one that had a ramp that let down, so he wasn't used to climbing over the side.

(A book by another marine that I read said they didn't have the tracked ones on his beach, and they all got dropped off on a reef and had to wade to shore while getting shot at.)

Re: Part Five [SPOILER-FREE]

[yourlibrarian]

Thanks for that! It did make me curious because compared to more recent equipment, what was developed for WW II was actually quite effective at doing what it needed to. I daresay part of that is exactly why Eisenhower became so worried about the military industrial complex that was in business for the sake of making money rather than serving the needs of the soldier or the nation. As it happens, I just watched the movie The Pentagon Wars last night. Although it was framed as a satire, it was based on an actual event and the memoirs of the central character. And the reality was nothing to laugh about.