The Unit - Eine Frage der Ehre (2006) : Does anyone else find it absurd

Also, why do they never wear helmets?!

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"You're wrong. It's four times the risk, and I'm double the worst trouble you ever had."

I have seen them wear helmets in a few episodes but I think the reason why they don't wear helmets more is that it is cumbersome and restricts your view and hearing somewhat. The trade off is protection of course but the kevlar helmets can only really stop rounds from handguns, plus maybe indirect glancing rounds from assault rifles at longer ranges and also pieces of slow moving shrapnel. These reasons are why Delta force wore those skateboard pro tec helmets that have no ballistic stopping capability in Black Hawk Down.

I was annoyed by the points you mentioned also, but the series gets a lot better in season 4 and made less mistakes than the earlier seasons. The reason I think season 4 onwards was better because it started to deal with non combatants getting killed for the good of the mission. Also it stepped into a Tom Clancyesque realm of "what if's" with domestic terrorists. It started to become more entertaining with the unit reacting to the situation rather than dominating it from the outset because they are so "bad ass" ala earlier seasons.

I think the point they were trying to make in the earlier seasons is that they are the tip of the spear when it comes to handling terror situations. They have the training and real world tactical experience and knowledge to defeat the enemy, more so than the domestic agencies and behind the desk agencies like the CIA etc. When i say behind the desk agencies, I mean that the unit which is based on is Delta Force, who dedicate their daily lives to shooting and tactics to stay sharp. So naturally they would be the best in such a hostage crisis. Plus their ability to side step the law and not worry about reprocussions gives them the peace of mind to get the job done, whereas the FBI HRT or DOD would have to think twice before putting a terrorist down or endangering hostages because they are bound by the conventions of law.

I also think a unit like that is above the law because they live in the grey world, where things aren't just black or white. They have to be able to bend the law or circumvent it to get things done, policy makers tend to lag behind new threats because of new technology and a changing political world.

My brother walked point for a recon platoon in Vietnam. Their signature was camouflage berets which they wore into combat. The rest of the battalion wore steel pots and flak jackets into comat but recon wore the berets and no jackets. They moved light, fast and heavily armed. Some of the tactics they used became SOP for Delta Force a few years later. Their Battalion Commander, a LTC at that time, would later become the youngest 4 Star General in the modern history of the Army. He is the individual that made the camouflage berets the signature of his recon platoon. When he handpicked the soldiers to serve in recon, his vision was of a "super infantry unit".

Such units actually ARE better than the CIA, FBI, and are technically part of DoD: the best part. And when they do wear helmets it's usually the plastic skate-helmet to prevent them from bumping their heads on window and door frames. But yeah the show was absurd.

They are often ordered to break the law, or are given leeway by their superiors to do what they need to do to complete the mission. Such was the case in the first episode and in In Loco Parentis where they were operating on US soil to save a bunch of hostages, the former to the chagrin of the FBI.

Following ROE to the letter can get you killed when the enemy, such as terrorists, doesn't follow them.

I don't think they really break from orders unless the orders are just plain stupid or unnecessarily endanger their lives or civilian/innocent lives. I would hope it'd be hard for the higher-ups with little or no combat experience to discipline SF operators for insubordination.

They are constantly made out to be far superior to every other agency because they're the heroes of the show. Just watch NCIS to see how the FBI & CIA are portrayed. In many ways the Deltas are better than the Seals.

The wives didn't really break the law, except for Charlotte driving drunk and Tiffy covering for her. Often their meddling was because they correctly spotted child abuse, spoke out against army & base policies that are unfair to struggling families of deployed soldiers, or were trying to protect their kids.

Molly did always strike me as self-righteous though, like a Bible thumper chastising others for their sins while oblivious to their own. She was upset about having to put her mother into a nursing home for $6000 a month so she took a job with Blackthorne, but what did she do before then to help put her daughter through college and supplement Jonas's modest army salary? She fell for that scam when she saw an opportunity for the wives' investment club, which prompted her to get more involved with Blackthorne and want Jonas to go work for them to make a lot more money. It's nice that she wanted her husband to make more money with less physical risk, but it seems like she was always looking to get easy money and/or expecting Jonas to provide for both of them.

They're ruthlessness is just fine, we need people like that. What is annoying is that they always seem to be right and lord it over other people, you want someone to put them in their place at some time.

Joxer -

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They're ruthlessness is just fine, we need people like that. What is annoying is that they always seem to be right and lord it over other people, you want someone to put them in their place at some time.

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Their sacrifices are great.

I can just hear the Unit reading that bolded part ^^^ laughing with bravado and saying, "You can try. LOL" Right? They need that confidence.

But then I thought, to really do that, you'd just have to become one of them, first.

Finally, I think, remember when Bob shot Mac? How he felt? The blisters on his hands? The support of the other unit members? And, Mac's learning moment, too? THAT puts them in their place like no one, and nothing else, can.

The EYES see only what the HEART can comprehend. 

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They're ruthlessness is just fine, we need people like that. What is annoying is that they always seem to be right and lord it over other people, you want someone to put them in their place at some time.

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The only someone is someone even nastier than "people like that." Or, God Himself.

Yes, I found the Unit absurd. Try Generation Kill. It feels far more real.