The Long and Winding Road: The Most Disappointing Show of 2010

1. The Pacific

This is not a bad show. It is not a bad show by any stretch of a Ficus’s imagination (limited though that rather intangible notion is). However, when a show is billed as a quasi-sequel to the almighty Band of Brothers, with the same creative team, I expect to be blown away. I wasn’t. I barely swayed in the breeze this show managed to create. I think in many ways it is the war-genre which is dying. Especially those shows set in the Second-world-war. How many shows and films can be made without fatigue setting in? War is horrific. War is terribly violent. Its effect on individuals is tremendous. Those who fight are courageous. They die too often and die too young. I get it. Band of Brothers got it. Saving Private Ryan got it. Flags of our Fathers…You get the picture. The Pacific offered nothing new on the subject. It was simply a reproduction of many great works on WW2. Now I could have overlooked this, if it were not for the uninspiring characters portrayed in the Pacific. Here, I don’t blame the actors so much as the structure of the storytelling. The show jumps all over the place, from episode to episode making it difficult for the viewer to really get to know and care for any of the characters. Band of Brothers did have a large ensemble, but they were far better integrated into each episode and each character-centric episode was superbly crafted to really give insight into that individual. On the plus side, the battle scenes were fairly well executed. Perhaps it just a battle-weary Ficus talking, but I was mightily disappointed by the Pacific.

Until Next Time

Keep Watching Your Screens

-Ficus