Having read Eric Haney's autobiography makes you appreciate just how much of his real life experience he brings to this series. It offers an extremely realistic idea of what the Delta Force and other secret organisations actually get up to behind the headlines. But also it gives an idea of their home life, far from the solitary, playboy existence we think off, instead they have real wives and children, money problems and doubts.
Real incidents taken from the book abound in the series, the mission to Iran fails because of a dust storm just as the real attempt to rescue the American Embassy hostages did. The team use specially doctored rifle rounds to kill an assassin without harming any bystanders, just as Haney did against Hezbollah snipers who were attacking US Marines in Lebannon. An old special forces colleague turns up working for South American narco-guerillas just as an ex-Green Beret friend of Haney's did in real life.
Of course it isn't perfect, sometimes the lack of budget shows. Our heroes have an unrealistic ability to blend in amongst any surroundings, even where a Caucasian, Hispanic or Afro-American face would instantly cause suspicion. They seem to be able to speak every language and master every skill, Jonas even taking command of a submarine at one point (forgiveable of course as sticking with the same characters allows the viewers to maintain continuity). The enemy seem to die instantly when shot whilst the team are constantly wounded and recover fully by the next ep. I was disappointed that they were able to track down Hector's killer, it would have been better had he just remained some random, faceless militiaman who gets away with it. I would also like to have seen Bob struggle with his drug addiction more, it seemed too easy for him to resolve. One annoying factor is that they're nearly always right, I would like to see them more fallible and other people who have a different point of view to sometimes be proved correct, you're not necessarily worthless just because you don't have the Ranger tab. When a technical expert says his task will take a certain amount of time it seems unfair to just arbitrarily give him a fraction of the period required then shout at him when he can't deliver what he always said was impossible. Also apart from Colonel Ryan there appear to be no other officers in The Unit, everyone is an NCO?
Possibly the most ruthless 'heroes' ever to exist, never hesitating to make hard choices and moral compromises, make bad decisions based on necessarily limited intelligence, kill in cold blood, risk civilian casualties, kidnap and torture for the greater good (despite Dennis Haybert's assertion on the commentary, his character shoots 2 people in the kneecap for information and threatens many more. I wonder what his friends in 'Move On' thought of that?). What other show would you have the good guys shooting dead an unarmed young boy in the back as he ran away in order to preserve the secrecy of their mission? Or bursting into a random apartment, taking an innocent family hostage and brutalising them at gunpoint, terrifying their handicapped child before killing his 14 year old brother as he goes to get help?
My favourite ep, Five Brothers, so damn intense with tough choices all around for everybody. My favourite characters, Mack and Tiffy, I've known soldiers like Mack and soldiers wives like Tiffy, they really convince in the roles. Their scene where Mack confronts Tiffy about her infidelity with Colonel Ryan and confesses his own is my favourite of the series. Contrary to some other reviewers I find the scenario highly realistic, I've seen servicemen cheat with their comrade's wives time after time, people are only human.
Some have criticised the series saying 'Every frame votes for George Bush'. I don't buy that although it's interesting in the commentaries that the cast appeal for more viewers in the 'Blue' states, the 'Red' states obviously great fans of the show. It doesn't surprise me that the actors got such a rapturous reception whenever they visited US troops overseas whilst anyone who questions The Unit's ethos on the show get's extremely short shrift.
All told, a truly excellent series and I'd love to have had a fifth season.
According to remarks and interviews made by members of the cast and crew and leaks on the internet these are some of the rumoured storyline ideas for the series finale
-The series would end with Jonas beginning to suffer with combat stress. This is aggravated by Bridget Sullivan being mortally wounded on a mission, her dying words forgiving Sam McBride for his fake attempted rape of her. As a result Jonas retires from the army and joins Molly in her real estate business. Mack would become an officer and he and his family would move to a permanent posting elsewhere arranged by General Ryan, giving him a conventional army training job without any combat role. Bob would leave the army due to his injuries and go to law school but he would maintain his links with the CIA and work as a training instructor/legal consultant for them. He is intended by the CIA to be their inside man on The Unit through his contacts but it is later revealed that he is actually still working for Tom Ryan and is effectively The Unit's mole within the agency. Charles Grey would be promoted to the new team leader with Sam McBride as his deputy. General Tom Ryan would get back together with his ex-wife and call in the numerous favours owed to them and his men to have The Unit once again placed under his command. The series would end with the entire cast assembled to watch Charles and Sam put potential new recruits to The Unit through their paces in order to bring their team up to full strength.
