S01.E03: Boarding Party

[Drogo]

Jason and the SEAL team must rescue a group of researchers being held hostage on a ship in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, Clay is ranked in the bottom five of his class, jeopardizing his future as a SEAL.

[Irishmaple]

That episode didn't hold my attention. I enjoyed the hostage rescue bits but everything else was dull. Clay's actor is listed second in the credits so I realize he isn't going anywhere but I can't stand the character and the actor isn't working for me either. Every time the show switched to a Clay scene I found something else to do. Thanks to Clay, I advanced two levels on Bubble Witch.

I'm not interested in Dead Nate's secrets either. His widow was in one episode for less than five minutes, so don't care.

I did like the sort-of friendship growing between the CIA officer and the other woman. It balanced Alona Tal's decision to see a guy after he proved himself a jerk who would take his bad mood out on her. Because that's so attractive.

The dog was not involved in tonight's action so s/he is perfectly fine. Just in case anyone was worried!

[Netfoot]

Pretty unprofessional, surfacing next to the target vessel, then blabbering away at the top of your voice for a minute before actually getting stuck into the mission.

[Raja]

The tactic that got me scratching my head  was the rescue boat breaking the cover of the ship before the gunboat arrived to suppress the terrorist reaction force.

It is a good show as a half hour action show. It is the other half making it an  hour drama which drags it down to  just okay.

[CooperTV]

OMG, the New Guy's issues and everyone lecturing him how to be better, please STOP! The New Guy's Lady Friend is waaay too forgiving also.

Jason's wife annoyed me as well this episode. She acted as if Jason was the one who was hiding "ho-phone". I didn't get what she expected to happen? Ooh, maybe Nate had a second family but then again, Nate's widow should (wo)man up and deal with it on her own.

I liked the SEAL Redneck's fear of water and sharks and how everyone was trolling him about that. The SEAL Strap Lady bonding with the CIA Analyst Lady was also great.*

 

*I couldn't manage to remember anyone's names so far.

[Irishmaple]

Same, and that's a bad sign for my continuing interest in the show because I'm good with names. I know Jason, because Boreanez. Clay, because he is irritating and I've seen it written down so it's locked in. Nate gets mentioned a few times per episode and (shallow alert) it's Daniel Gillies. Everyone else is just there. I like the SEAL candidate whose main function appears to be propping Clay but no idea what his name is. Likewise the two women, and the shark phobe, and the guy who mans the phone. When I was posting last night, I couldn't even remember the dog's name!

"Ho phone" made my day and I'm totally stealing that.

[CooperTV]

49 minutes ago, Irishmaple said:

When I was posting last night, I couldn't even remember the dog's name!

It's Cerberus! I missed the dog this episode, even though I'm not a dog person.

[Raja]

Well the S in SEAL  does stop the use of the dog. I  can imagine the howls if instead of a war dog they rolled on a mission with a porpoise, seal or sea lion 

[Irishmaple]

Wasn't there talk some time back about dolphins being smart enough to train to carry listening devices or cameras? The show could have dolphin SEALs on recon!

[CoyoteBlue]

You know Cerberus would be adorable in SCUBA gear....

[TV Anonymous]

I did not have the chance to write for the previous two episodes so these are my general comments for the series, up to episode 3:

1. Of all three new military-themed shows (The Brave, Valor and this) IMO this is the best one. It is the closest one to reality and it has good attention to details of military porn.
2. However, it does not seem realistic not to have a commissioned officer on the ground commanding. Granted, there is an LCDR in the TOC coordinating, but I think they should have an LT on the ground.
3. I got a feeling that Michaela McManus seemed to be too young to be David Boreanaz's wife. And turned out that their difference is 14 years. Not the typical age difference in military family.
4. Having their TOC in the cargo bay of a C-17 also does not seem to be too realistic.

Comments specifically for this episode:

1. SWCC! The unsung heroes of Naval Special Warfare. Too bad they are not explored further.
2. 45 minutes swim? That is quite long considering the need to jump into action right after. Why do they not use SDV?
3. A SEAL that does not like swimming. Hmmm... That is rich coming from someone who obviously a BUD/S graduate.
4. Does the bullet phase through the porthole glass? There does not seem to be glass breaking.
5. What does CENTCOM have anything to do with incident and operation happen in South China Sea and the Philippines?
6. And as always, our hero gets sex in his first date, even after the previous tension with the girl.

[sigmaforce86]

13 hours ago, Irishmaple said:

That episode didn't hold my attention. I enjoyed the hostage rescue bits but everything else was dull. Clay's actor is listed second in the credits so I realize he isn't going anywhere but I can't stand the character and the actor isn't working for me either. Every time the show switched to a Clay scene I found something else to do. Thanks to Clay, I advanced two levels on Bubble Witch.

I'm not interested in Dead Nate's secrets either. His widow was in one episode for less than five minutes, so don't care.

 Doesn't hold my attention either - it's definitely a play a game/read a story while watching sort of show.  The best parts are the actual military operations, the personal interactions not so much.  I can't seem to actually care about most of the characters.  Clay would be find if they'd just move on with it - like you said, he's second in the credits and I had mentioned in another thread his top billing obviously means he's going to become part of the team.  So other than curiosity of how he gets out of training and on Booth's Jason's team there's no suspense of "will he make it" which takes away a lot of his story.  And, to me, the whole "Because of my father I'm deep and damaged and everyone hates me" schtick just isn't an interesting character choice.

[Raja]

2 hours ago, Irishmaple said:

Wasn't there talk some time back about dolphins being smart enough to train to carry listening devices or cameras? The show could have dolphin SEALs on recon!

I have seen documentaries where they are testing to recover torpedoes and detect mines. If they have gotten as far with marine mammals as with war dogs it is  secret 

[TV Anonymous]

33 minutes ago, Raja said:

I have seen documentaries where they are testing to recover torpedoes and detect mines. If they have gotten as far with marine mammals as with war dogs it is  secret 

While the extent to what capability the military has developed with marine mammals might be a secret, the activity itself is not. Read this.

[Irishmaple]

Damn! Mind blown. This thread has turned into the highlight of my day. In my defence, I work with toddlers. This is my adult conversation.

[Ohmo]

23 hours ago, Irishmaple said:

That episode didn't hold my attention. I enjoyed the hostage rescue bits but everything else was dull. Clay's actor is listed second in the credits so I realize he isn't going anywhere but I can't stand the character and the actor isn't working for me either. Every time the show switched to a Clay scene I found something else to do. Thanks to Clay, I advanced two levels on Bubble Witch.

I'm not interested in Dead Nate's secrets either. His widow was in one episode for less than five minutes, so don't care.

I did like the sort-of friendship growing between the CIA officer and the other woman. It balanced Alona Tal's decision to see a guy after he proved himself a jerk who would take his bad mood out on her. Because that's so attractive.

The dog was not involved in tonight's action so s/he is perfectly fine. Just in case anyone was worried!

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who doesn't give a rat's ass about Clay or his training.  He's not all that.  I am interested in Nate, though.  I'd rather see more of Jason, Nate, and the guy who is Jason's best bud now in flashback than have to see more of Clay do anything.

15 hours ago, CooperTV said:

OMG, the New Guy's issues and everyone lecturing him how to be better, please STOP! The New Guy's Lady Friend is waaay too forgiving also.

Jason's wife annoyed me as well this episode. She acted as if Jason was the one who was hiding "ho-phone". I didn't get what she expected to happen? Ooh, maybe Nate had a second family but then again, Nate's widow should (wo)man up and deal with it on her own.

I liked the SEAL Redneck's fear of water and sharks and how everyone was trolling him about that. The SEAL Strap Lady bonding with the CIA Analyst Lady was also great.*

 

*I couldn't manage to remember anyone's names so far.

 

14 hours ago, Irishmaple said:

Same, and that's a bad sign for my continuing interest in the show because I'm good with names. I know Jason, because Boreanez. Clay, because he is irritating and I've seen it written down so it's locked in. Nate gets mentioned a few times per episode and (shallow alert) it's Daniel Gillies. Everyone else is just there. I like the SEAL candidate whose main function appears to be propping Clay but no idea what his name is. Likewise the two women, and the shark phobe, and the guy who mans the phone. When I was posting last night, I couldn't even remember the dog's name!

"Ho phone" made my day and I'm totally stealing that.

Ditto on the names, which is weird because I like these kinds of shows.  I still remember all of the characters from The Unit, but here, names are tough.  I know Jason, Clay, Nate, Alana, Molly, and Cerberus.  I like the guy whose wife just had the baby, but I can't remember his name.  I also like the female logistics person and the guy with the beard who hates to swim, but I don't remember their names either.  I don't care if I ever know the CIA analyst's name.  I think she's awful.  I don't know if it's the character, the actress or both that I don't like, but I can't stand her.

I did think the scene in the church when Jason and the other guy went to get the car and had to meet with the woman (pastor?) was amusing and funny.

Also thought that Jason repelling on the side of the ship and shooting through the window was pretty badass.

[Ohmo]

10 hours ago, sigmaforce86 said:

on Booth's Jason's team

I find myself doing this, too.  Since Seeley Booth was also former military, it's very easy for me to think that in some TV universe this could be Booth, with the difference being Army Rangers vs. Navy SEALS.  Especially since Jason's in charge similar to when Booth was in charge of a unit in the army.  I have to remind myself to "think Jason, not Seeley."

[Raja]

Well so far we have the Big 3. The team commander, his partner and the young buck who will join when he finishes training. Everybody else is interchangeable. They just augment those three like new guy did in the tunnel in the pilot episode. In the WWII TV show Combat made in the 1960s you basically had episodes with alternating leaders, the LT platoon leader then the squad leader Sergeant with a squad.  After many episodes you got to know 5 reoccurring soldiers but there was a constant stream of replacements that filled out the episode roster and that core of 5 privates did not always appear. Given a post Vietnam era of lower casualty rates we really don't expect to see SEALs dropping in every episode and replaced but it has only been three episodes and all the time is going to the big three

[mojoween]

Megan Draper needs to learn how to answer a question with SPECIFICS, which is something I would expect from someone I assume is in the military.  “As big as the continental United States, give or take Ohio” is as bad as her answer last week of “too many.”

I also do not care about Clay or Clay and Stella and they are both annoying.

I feel like I’ve seen Clay’s friend in something before but his IMDb is not giving me any clues

[kassygreene]

Ah, but Combat ran for five seasons, 152 (1-hour!) episodes, which broke down to 32 episodes in each of seasons 1-3, 31 in season 4, & 25 in season 5.  Splitting up the regulars was kind of necessary.

[Raja]

50 minutes ago, kassygreene said:

Ah, but Combat ran for five seasons, 152 (1-hour!) episodes, which broke down to 32 episodes in each of seasons 1-3, 31 in season 4, & 25 in season 5.  Splitting up the regulars was kind of necessary.

And without the obligatory family scenes that all war movies of that period had and SEAL Team has for its Big 3. So you got to know Cage and later additions Little John and Kirby. To be fair we are only three hours in and just now learning of the SEAL who is afraid of the ocean swimming portion of his job. Give it time for some of the other bearded warriors 

[piequinn35]

I think on this episode the team leader was on the alpha team that cleared the bridge, support actor, Jason and his guys were on Bravo team. I guess Jason was the TL on first 2 ep. Should there be an officer on the ground always?

I do remember some names: Jason and Alana their kids Emma and son don't know his name. Clay and Stella. Sonny who doesn't like swimming, Ray, Jason's friend, Lisa, the logistics girl, Mandy, CIA girl, Eric, Lt. Commander always with Mandy. Nate, dead Seal, Molly, his widow, Brian, Clay's friend. 

Cerberus is a she, Dita the hair missile dog is her real name. Well I was hoping she was in the second boat that was shooting the enemies while the first boat escaped. Jk ?

[Raja]

55 minutes ago, piequinn35 said:

I think on this episode the team leader was on the alpha team that cleared the bridge, support actor, Jason and his guys were on Bravo team. I guess Jason was the TL on first 2 ep. Should there be an officer on the ground always?

I do remember some names: Jason and Alana their kids Emma and son don't know his name. Clay and Stella. Sonny who doesn't like swimming, Ray, Jason's friend, Lisa, the logistics girl, Mandy, CIA girl, Eric, Lt. Commander always with Mandy. Nate, dead Seal, Molly, his widow, Brian, Clay's friend. 

Cerberus is a she, Dita the hair missile dog is her real name. Well I was hoping she was in the second boat that was shooting the enemies while the first boat escaped. Jk ?

Not always, normally the fire teams we have seen in 2/3rds of the episodes is so small that there is not necessarily an officer. With at least two fire teams on the ship rescue one unknown name on the force may have been the LT but I guess unless he made some mistake our Senior Chief needed to correct dramatically we did not need a higher ranking man on the ground.

[derriere]

On 12/10/2017 at 6:19 PM, TV Anonymous said:

I did not have the chance to write for the previous two episodes so these are my general comments for the series, up to episode 3:

1. Of all three new military-themed shows (The Brave, Valor and this) IMO this is the best one. It is the closest one to reality and it has good attention to details of military porn.
2. However, it does not seem realistic not to have a commissioned officer on the ground commanding. Granted, there is an LCDR in the TOC coordinating, but I think they should have an LT on the ground.
3. I got a feeling that Michaela McManus seemed to be too young to be David Boreanaz's wife. And turned out that their difference is 14 years. Not the typical age difference in military family.
4. Having their TOC in the cargo bay of a C-17 also does not seem to be too realistic.

Comments specifically for this episode:

1. SWCC! The unsung heroes of Naval Special Warfare. Too bad they are not explored further.
2. 45 minutes swim? That is quite long considering the need to jump into action right after. Why do they not use SDV?
3. A SEAL that does not like swimming. Hmmm... That is rich coming from someone who obviously a BUD/S graduate.
4. Does the bullet phase through the porthole glass? There does not seem to be glass breaking.
5. What does CENTCOM have anything to do with incident and operation happen in South China Sea and the Philippines?
6. And as always, our hero gets sex in his first date, even after the previous tension with the girl.

 

My DH was a frogman in a different nation's military and he reckons it's not unheard of for guys to dislike swimming (since almost all of it is in the dark). DH wasn't a huge fan and neither was Chris "American Sniper" Kyle, apparently.

[TV Anonymous]

20 hours ago, Raja said:

Not always, normally the fire teams we have seen in 2/3rds of the episodes is so small that there is not necessarily an officer. With at least two fire teams on the ship rescue one unknown name on the force may have been the LT but I guess unless he made some mistake our Senior Chief needed to correct dramatically we did not need a higher ranking man on the ground.

Sorry to be OoT. I admit that I do not know much about how a SEAL team organized. However, if I look into the U.S. Army model, I think their missions warrant a commissioned officer on the ground. In the Special Forces, the basic unit is an ODA, a 12-man unit commanded by a CPT (O-3). Considering their first mission originally involved four H-60s, I assumed that the assault team consisted of more than 12 men. As well, if we look into Operation Red Wings, the 12-men SEAL team was led by a LCDR (O-4).

Therefore, my point stays that their missions should have a commissioned officer on the ground. 

Edited October 16, 2017 by TV Anonymous

[Irishmaple]

Everything I know about US Military I've learned from popular culture so it's not that deep. Would you mind expanding on the acronyms you use? I'm sure the people who answer are familiar with them, but I'd like to learn. Specifically what is an ODA? A CPT? Do the numbers refer to pay grade? LCDR - Lt. Commander?  SWCC was another from further upthread. 

[TV Anonymous]

ODA: Operational Detachment - Alpha

CPT: Captain (in the U.S. Army)

LCDR: Lieutenant Commander

SWCC: Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen

The numbers after O do refer to pay grade for officers. 

H-60: Black Hawk helicopter

Edited October 16, 2017 by TV Anonymous

[Irishmaple]

Thanks. I appreciate that. Will check out the links after work.

[Irishmaple]

That was interesting reading. I fell down a complete rabbit hole and ended up following a link back to the official US Army website. Fortunately I'm not eligible or I might have accidentally enlisted!

Operational Detachment Alpha is also known as the A Teams so my pop cultural worlds collided.

Having correctly decoded LCDR, I kicked myself a bit for failing to realize that CPT was rank not an acronym.

SWCC are seriously badass.

I am familiar with Black Hawks (even saw the movie!) but I thought 4 H-60s referred to the boats which is why I didn't ask. I do remember thinking 'but I don't remember seeing 4 boats'. Not my finest moment!

I also learned that CENTCOM should not have been involved at all as the Philippines are PACOM territory. I feel way more qualified to watch the show now, which is good because I read it's been given a full season order.

Thanks again for taking the time.

[TV Anonymous]

On 10/17/2017 at 0:09 PM, Irishmaple said:

Thanks again for taking the time.

I presume that was addressed to me, you are welcome.

Not on the SEAL side but on the Delta side, if you want to know more how Special Operations operate, read Inside Delta Force by CSM* Eric Haney. That is the book that inspired The Unit even though there is none of the family drama. As well, there was a show on National Geographic Channel called Inside Combat Rescue. That was about USAF Special Operations, the Parajumpers. As it was a show about rescue, the missions were not classified.  

*Command Sergeant Major

Edited October 22, 2017 by TV Anonymous

[Raja]

8 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

I presume that was addressed to me, you are welcome.

Not on the SEAL side but on the Delta side, if you want to know more how Special Operations operate, read Inside Delta Force by CSM* Eric Haney. That is the book that inspired The Unit even though there is none of the family drama. As well, there was a show on National Geographic Channel called Inside Combat Rescue. That was about USAF Special Operations, the Parajumpers. As it was a show about rescue, the missions were not classified.  

*Command Sergeant Major

While we are at Parajumpers (PJs) and Combat Controllers which was Tyrese's role in the Transformers movies where he is attached to Josh Duhamel's Army Special Forces Team as USAF special operations airmen examples. 

Command Sergeant Major is the same pay grade as a Sergeant Major, it is his duty position which makes the distinction. Similarly in the next lower pay grade you have Master Sergeant and First Sergeant (the "Top" to get into the unforced error The Brave production made) are both the same pay grade but a different duty assignment

[Irishmaple]

We had the Canadian Airborne Regiment. It was disbanded after a horror show in Somalia which lead to a national inquiry. I don’t think there is an elite regiment anymore but Canadian Forces are currently embedded with both the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi National Army, which would make a civil war there interesting for us. In a case of TV viewing influencing real life, I’m paying attention to this now. 

[Raja]

18 minutes ago, Irishmaple said:

We had the Canadian Airborne Regiment. It was disbanded after a horror show in Somalia which lead to a national inquiry. I don’t think there is an elite regiment anymore but Canadian Forces are currently embedded with both the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi National Army, which would make a civil war there interesting for us. In a case of TV viewing influencing real life, I’m paying attention to this now. 

There was that character on Flashpoint who was a veteran of Joint Task Force 2 before rejoining the police department.

[Irishmaple]

Sam. Stayed in the show till the end. I believe there was an episode involving his experiences. A former colleague who had not adjusted to civilian life as well as Sam. That was a great series.

[TV Anonymous]

On 10/22/2017 at 9:09 AM, Irishmaple said:

We had the Canadian Airborne Regiment. It was disbanded after a horror show in Somalia which lead to a national inquiry. I don’t think there is an elite regiment anymore but Canadian Forces are currently embedded with both the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi National Army, which would make a civil war there interesting for us. In a case of TV viewing influencing real life, I’m paying attention to this now. 

The name of the regiment is CSOR, which is part of CANSOFCOM, which subordinate units also include the JTF2. If you are interested in Canadian Forces, watch Hyena Road. The military porn in that movie is top notch.

[Irishmaple]

I fell down the Canadian Forces rabbit hole yesterday. It’s disconcerting to think that I actually met some of those guys at an event without having any idea of what they did.

I saw trailers for Hyena Road but it didn’t stay in the theatre for very long and then I forgot about it. I’ll have to follow up; it did look like a good movie.

[piequinn35]

I think the Canadian Elite Special Forces is more on sniper operations helping in the ISIS problem and in Iraq.

[Irishmaple]

In a massive moment of serendipity, I just saw Hyena Road listed as the #5 Canadian movie of all time. Have to go see if Rogers is putting it up on demand.

Edited October 23, 2017 by Irishmaple

[piequinn35]

I checked the wiki page of the movie, the director, writer, producer and the lead actor are the same person. :)

[Irishmaple]

Yeah, Paul Gross. The man who gave us Men With Brooms (the reason I now watch Olympic curling) and Slings & Arrows.  I think he’s great. I do suspect that supporting him is a condition of citizenship :)

Hyena Road is actually on demand so all I need now is time to watch. Rossif Sutherland is in it too so I’m sold.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 12/10/2017 at 0:05 AM, Irishmaple said:

It balanced Alona Tal's decision to see a guy after he proved himself a jerk who would take his bad mood out on her. Because that's so attractive.

I hate that guy. If they were going to make him a stock character, they should have made him the Rudy type guy who works three times as hard as everyone enjoyed else, rather than the arrogant jackass.

Also I remember reading something about Alona Tal when she was on Veronica Mars. She was actually in the Israeli Defence Force. Must suck to have that experience and then get cast as the love interest propping up this douchebag.

On 12/10/2017 at 0:56 AM, Raja said:

It is a good show as a half hour action show. It is the other half making it an  hour drama which drags it down to  just okay.

I think i would kind  of love a half hour show that was pure action with only minimal back stories and that kind of drama. Why can't someone make that?

[CooperTV]

5 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I think i would kind  of love a half hour show that was pure action with only minimal back stories and that kind of drama. Why can't someone make that?

Isn't it called The Brave?

[Raja]

10 hours ago, Kel Varnsen said:

I hate that guy. If they were going to make him a stock character, they should have made him the Rudy type guy who works three times as hard as everyone enjoyed else, rather than the arrogant jackass.

Also I remember reading something about Alona Tal when she was on Veronica Mars. She was actually in the Israeli Defence Force. Must suck to have that experience and then get cast as the love interest propping up this douchebag.

I think i would kind  of love a half hour show that was pure action with only minimal back stories and that kind of drama. Why can't someone make that?

I guess The Rifleman, Highway Patrol, etc was last seen with Adam-12. And Adam-12 was more day in the life than just action is just something left in TV history. The actual last one that I remember was a syndicated show with Wings Hauser, a little google-fu tells me was Lighting Force in 1992

[Kel Varnsen]

17 hours ago, CooperTV said:

Isn't it called The Brave?

That show appeard to be an hour long drama too though. What I am thinking is a half hour show with just the action and minimal back home drama. So i guess that would be 21 minutes of a network show or a bit longer on cable. One thing i like about Ash vs Evil Dead is because it is only 30 minutes it is like 90% crazy action then some backstory. This show has such basic characters and backstories i am not sure why you need a whole hour.

[KenMikaze]

Bloopers:

1) When Jason shot the last hostage taker from the porthole, he was able to hit him on target, but when the camera panned on him, there wasn't any hole in the porthole or window. Besides, the shot wouldn't be clean since the thick glass of the port hole would cause the bullet to miss.
2) The show's Clark Air Base doesn't look like the exact Clark Air Force Base (PAF), nor the Iligan Port.

Quick Fact: The Seal Team Bravo could not operate in the Philippines in an active Hostage Rescue Mission as the RP is a sovereign country that has a constitution that strictly prohibit any military action done by any foreign military forces. All they could do is advise their Filipino counterparts, which, they don't really need as the NAVSOG or Philippine Navy SEAL's are quite competent to do their jobs.