"Part Three Melbourne: Felt like filler, too many storylines that took away from the main focus and left audiences disconnected." "Part Four Gloucester/Pavuvu/Banika: Disjointed episode lacked emotional investment, messy and turned off returning fans." "Part 8 Iwo Jima: Controversial episode with false advertisement, undermined significance of battle, messy storytelling."

Ranking the episodes of HBO's The Pacific isn't an easy or straightforward task, but the critically-acclaimed historical drama mini-series can be separated into its weakest and strongest showings. Releasing almost ten years after its sister series, Band of Brothers, The Pacific is another World War II memoir spun from the lives of real veterans, this time setting the action in the Pacific Theater rather than the European Battlefield. Focusing on a narrower group of soldiers than Brand of Brothers' Easy Company, The Pacific differs from its companion series in more than just the setting.

Contrasted with the easily glorified action of the European Theater,...