The Pacific
Summary
Ranking the episodes of HBO’sThe Pacificisn’t an easy or aboveboard task , but the critically - acclaimed diachronic drama mini - series can be separated into its weak and strongest showings . Releasing almost ten year after its sister series , Band of Brothers , The Pacificis another World War II memoir spun from the lives of literal veterans , this meter fix the activeness in the Pacific Theater rather than the European Battlefield . Focusing on a narrower group of soldiers thanBrand of Brothers ' Easy Company , The Pacificdiffers from its associate series in more than just the setting .
Contrasted with the easily glorified activeness of the European Theater , The Pacificis considerably darker , clearly lay out in no uncertain terms just how brutal the close - quarters island - hop campaign against the Japanese Empire was . On top of that , protagonists Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge , while certainly war Cuban sandwich , are depicted as less perfect soldiers than the idealistic Easy Company . This conflict in tone , when merge with more of a big - pic focusing on the war as a whole and some uneven pacing issues , creates a greater discrepancy in quality between episodes thanBand of crony .
10The Pacific Part Three
Melbourne
concentrate on the first Marine Division ’s shore leave in Australia , this episode does n’t quite collide with the mark for a number of grounds . The selection to jarringly roundabout way focus from the warfare to a serial publication of short Latinian language vignettes was a controversial one , splitting the write up in too many different directions as Leckie and John Balisone ’s personal life are explore further . WithStella not even being base on a real person , this instalment mostly felt like filler , putting the whole ground audience stayed invested inThe Pacificon the backburner .
9The Pacific Part Four
Gloucester/Pavuvu/Banika
As the spit - tornado title might hint , the quaternary episode ofThe Pacificis one of the most disjointed . Sledge and Leckie are mile apart , as one railroad train and the other sustain his first taste of the horrific combat of the Pacific . This installment for certain does n’t shy aside from the bloodbath and barbarity of the Pacific Theater , but itdoesn’t do a right enough job earning the aroused investment of the audience , dramatically kill off unknown graphic symbol left and right without the character development to earn a reaction . The body count mixes with Leckie ’s bedwetting sub - plot like oil and water supply , result in a mussy episode that officially turned away many returningBand of Brothersfans .
Though many would debate that Band of Brothers is sound than its familiar , The Pacific ’s saturnine tone and realistic case make it far superior .
8The Pacific Part Eight
Iwo Jima
7The Pacific Part One
Guadalcanal/Leckie
Band of Brotherswas an fantastically rugged act to follow , andThe Pacific ’s first sequence being one of its weakest made this all the more evident . set forth with literal - life archival newsreel footage document the Pearl Harbor Attacks , it ’s not long before the viewer is promptly throw into the action in Guadalcanal , the series perhaps beginning a touch too over - eager to get unbent to the combat . The first installment simply did n’t do a good enough job infix audiences to John Basilone , Eugene Sledge , and Robert Leckie , and they would n’t experience unfeignedly familiar for many more episode to come .
6The Pacific Part Two
Basilone
Whereas the first instalment may have had too many move parts and not enough time , Part Two wisely makes the decision to focalise on John Basilone in Guadalcanal , ply a compelling depicting of his unit ’s struggle to fend off the Nipponese troop that had them outgunned and stranded . This episode is the first to take home how really epic the battles ofThe Pacificcould get , with every dollar of the strained budget felt on - filmdom . However , it ’s also the first sequence to highlight the serial ' problem with pacing , roll up the lengthy campaign neatly via time skip and missing some critical lineament development in the process .
5The Pacific Part Ten
Home
Rather than terminate the entire series with the Pacific Theater ’s bloody finale at Okinawa , The Pacificmade the commendable option to provide viewers with some falling action , with some unfeigned - to - living depictions of just how hard re - adjusting to household biography can be . Not only that , it emphasizes the barbarity soldier in the Pacific faced in peculiar , with a European veteran mention " You Gi - rines , you got nothing but jungle rot and malaria " . Still , the series ' finale being so tranquil somewhat worked against its legacy , refusing to go out with a eruption andinviting comparisons toBand of buddy .
4The Pacific Part Five
Peleliu Landing
midway through the serial , a break in the heavier action is taken for some much - needed character building . John Baslione ’s fame for his actions back home is a nice payoff to the horrors he endures earlier on , and Leckie ’s reunification with his companionship leads to some great character interactions . The tender berth of the episode is Sledge ’s hazing in the mortar unit , hassle viewers with a deal of Modern faces , not the least of which being Merriell " Snafu ' " Shelton . Just as the soldiers ofThe Pacificbegin to somewhat acclimatize to the tropics , so too does the audience last have a good gumption of their personality , only to be introduce to new characters seconds later .
3The Pacific Part Six
Peleliu Airfield
Peleliu Airfield could be regard a prime good example of what makesThe Pacificgreat , painstakingly re - create the drawn out battle for the vital location . The echt uncertainty of Leckie ’s destiny with those not intimate with his tale hangs in the air , as the U.S. Marines clamber to even find potable water in the swelter jungles of the island . The only thing that retain this episode further down in the ranking is the clear concern of Leckie as a cite character over the scores of unnamed Marines who perish , go againstThe Pacific ’s end in creating a true - to - life , chaotic reenactment of World War II .
2The Pacific Part Seven
Peleliu Hills
So far , many episodes ofThe Pacifichave done a great job with the ocular spectacle and hopeless holy terror that was the Pacific Theater in World War II , but Chapter 7 combines this chaos with chilling character examination . The kind - hearted Sledge ’s psyche is stretched to its breakage point , bearing witness to unspeakable horrors at Bloody Nose Ridge . In one of the most punishing and compelling scene in the entire series , he protests the insensibility his fellow soldiers have develop , trying to stop Shelton from stealing the Au fillings from an bruise soldier while he ’s still alert . The heartbreaking score of this episode only makes the rampant loss of humanity depicted all the more affecting .
1The Pacific Part Nine
Okinawa
The genuine climactic finale to the series and depiction of one of the most infamously bloody battles of the entire Pacific Theater , the penultimate episode ofThe Pacificis by far the strongest . The astonishing production note value of the battle serves to highlight the nonsense of the horror of warfare , as civilian find themselves in the line of fire just as much as the soldiers do , the final nail in the casket to Sledge ’s translation from an dreamer into a caustic cynic . The spread of Snafu ’s madness like a plague among the soldier alone makes this an unforgettable episode , the bloody crowning jewel ofThe Pacific .
