Christopher Carbone

I don’t want to be one of those guys that demands 100% authenticity, I understand the need for story structure and character development, but would it kill Hollywood to pay a veteran 20 bucks to just review the script before shooting? It comes off as a insulting because it almost seems like the scriptwriters hold us in contempt because everyone in the show is either committing a felony, violating general order no. 1, or being recklessly irresponsible on duty. I’ll be the first one to say soldiers are not saints and every unit has its share of turds, but the turd ratio in this unit fantastically high. Also, why is everyone so broke that they are reduced to running super illegal schemes to make money? I think the problem, aside from bad research, is that the writers are trying to graft the Army depicted in Catch-22 and M*A*S*H onto today’s military, which doesn’t work. It’s not a draftee army anymore, nobody was tricked into joining, nobody got a ‘go-to-war-or-go-to-jail’ letter, everyone in the army now is a volunteer and we’ve been at war for a while. The idea that the army would have an outpost like the “orphanage” to dump their degenerates instead of wholesale separating them is laughably absurd and actually really dangerous. Speaking of really dangerous, soldiers just going outside the wire in elements smaller than a squad is pure insanity and a good way to Bergdahled. There is a fundamental lack of understanding when it comes to how the military works, let alone a medical unit, and honestly I could write a book on how off the rails this show is already. I’m a little disappointed about how we are perceived as a military, because on the surface the show looks right, but outside of aesthetics every scene articulates an overall ignorance of the source material and a deep loathing for the subject matter. I hope that the army changes the 68W MOS back to 91B or something to disassociate itself from this dumpster fire.

This movie is total trash and I love it.

This show has an interesting premise but it’s execution is vapid and overly dramatic. There’s at best a combined 5 minutes-worth of actual information per episode with the other 95% spent with “experts” vomiting canned lines to build tension prior to commercial break. It really seems like they google the topic five minutes before taping because they never say insightful, just vague descriptors. The real tragedy is that they occasionally seem to have legitimate subject matter experts on the show who are drowned out by the other regulars. It’s fake and manipulative and I would not recommend it unless you mute it for the drone footage.

This show is a form of torture that should be banned by the Geneva convention. The lead reporter character is the audio equivalent of placing your face on a griddle while cooking, it won’t kill you, but long term exposure isn’t recommended. Her motives, dialogue, and incessant yammering are something to be endured, like commuter traffic - nothing new or meaningful, just a chore you have to do as precious seconds of your life melt away. I’m sure there’s a moral lesson in here, something about career fulfillment.