Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Tonight’s episode of the ambitious BAND OF BROTHERS finally clarifies something, and with this clarification, the true shape of the show snaps into place. It’s a crucial episode for the series, and it’s got the perfect title. “Crossroads.” Indeed.
Credit Erik Jendresen with this smart, mature script, and Tom Hanks with the sure directorial hand that perfectly brings the material to life. Neither of their efforts would matter, though, if not for the work by Damien Lewis, who finally steps forward tonight to claim BAND OF BROTHERS as his show. He’s the star, and tonight proves it.
The show opens, as it does each week, with images of the real survivors talking about Winters, the character Lewis plays. The real Winters is in there somewhere, so try and guess which one he is. The men all talk about leadership and what made Winters a great leader. The episode then delves deep into the heart of this guy to show us what they’re talking about, and in doing so, achieves greatness.
The first images of the show are chaotic, disorienting. We’re running. We’re in a field somewhere. We get a glimpse of Winters’ face. Suddenly he crests a hill and freezes. A boy in a German uniform turns, startled, and there’s a long silent moment as they stare each other down, broken when Winters shoots the boy in the chest.
That’s a key image, one we return to later in the episode. Overall, this entry in the series makes very sophisticated use of time, flashing forwards and back, using memories to help fill in what’s going on inside Winters. When we cut to him, thinking about that field and that German boy, it’s dawn. He’s been awake, and he has to get Nixon (Ron Livingston) up for a briefing. The relationship between these two men is the heart of the series, and anytime Winter is the center of an episode, that means we get a lot more Nixon than normal, too. Lewis and Livingston both are primed for stardom, and their work in this show suggests that they are more than capable. In particular, I like the way Nixon’s drinking becomes a more pronounced problem over the course of the show. There was a sort of Dick Powell-THIN MAN-charming drunk quality to Nixon at first, but now we see him revealed as a man who uses alcohol as a crutch, who stays drunk as a way of coping with the madness of the world around him.
Basically, Winters is feeling marginalized, squeezed out of the real war in favor of inventories and reports and paperwork. These are all signs of responsibility, but that doesn’t make it any easier for Winters to sit on the sidelines while other people, like the unlucky Prvt. Alley, are killed on the front lines.
The first third of the episode features Winters trying to type up a report on a patrol he was in charge of, with the patrol itself intercut. It’s done with real grace and economy, a testament to the sure hand Hanks has developed as a director. I’m dying to see him tackle more feature work. He’s got taste and intelligence behind the camera, always a welcome combination.
When we see Winters in the field, there’s no question as to why he’s become a leader. There’s something very natural in the way he works with his troops. What begins as a tense, terrifying night raid becomes a long next day as Easy Company digs in and assaults a Dutch dike. When we see the assualt, death and injury are immediate and visceral. When Winters is typing up his report, we can see how hard it is for him to boil things down to a matter of accounting. These were men he knew, more than just casualty lists on a page.
Finally, things loop back to that opening moment, Winters and the German kid, and we see that he doesn’t just shoot that one kid. He must kill a dozen Germans before the rest of Easy shows up to support him. The resulting scene is harrowing, and in the midst of it, there’s Winters, moving through it all, untouchable, like he’s blessed. There’s a calm about him, about the way he handles himself in battle, and he’s always got a moment to help one of his men, to inspire them, to back them up. He’s not just good during battle, either. Afterwards, as they clean up from what’s happened, Winters is just as skilled. He is able to help them deal with what’s happened. He gives his full attention to each detail around him... the taking of prisoners, tending to the wounded, reporting back to the battalion. In this case, he does so well that he is named Executive Officer of the 2nd Battalion, a major promotion.
And that’s how he finds himself sitting behind a typewriter, working on a report, while the men of Easy Company go take part in Operation Pegasus. We don’t get to see the operation because Winters doesn’t, and we can feel his frustration, his need to be out there in the middle of it. He hates the idea of sending men to do something he doesn’t go do himself. It’s literally driving him crazy, and when there’s an unexpected tragedy and an unscheduled lull in the war, Winters is sent on leave to Paris to try and find some peace.
It’s a good idea, but it doesn’t work. Winters is a soldier now, not a civilian, and he doesn’t fit in regular quiet French life. He’s restless to get back to the front as soon as he arrives in Paris, and he seems unable to relax. The only luxury that seems to bring him any solace is a hot bath and dead silence. When he does return to his men, he’s just in time. They are ordered to move out for an unknown origin. They’re ill-prepared, with limited ammo and no cold weather clothing.
The last few sequences of the episode are chilling, no pun intended. They arrive in Bastongne, Belgium, where another battalion has just been battered and is pulling out. These retreating soldiers look like they’ve glimpsed Hell, like they’re the walking dead. To have to march into whatever they’re leaving behind seems like madness, but Winters and his men never hesitate. Look quickly for Jimmy Fallon in these scenes as a supply officer trying to help out. He and Winters have one quick, telling exchange:
”Panzer division’s going to cut the road south. Looks like you boys are going to be surrounded.”
”We’re paratroopers, lieutenant. We’re supposed to be surrounded.”
Finally, back in command of his men, Winters moves them out, setting the stage for the next two episodes, the most nightmarish of the series. That last shot of them heading off into the darkness, punctuated only by occasionally distant explosions, is terribly sad, and speaks again to the great character of the men this series is about.
If you’re at all interested in this series, you must see this episode. It premieres tonight on HBO at 9:00, and will be repeated throughout the week.
"Moriarty" out.
