doc

first scene with dick and lew sort of paralels of when we first met them in curahee and i think i am going to cry: “come to join me for a morning swim?” / “yeah. you know me so well” (and that laugh of his!!!), nix offering him a job so they can be together after the war (saying “i thought maybe i’d drag you with me”!), the soft glances and smiles… they are married, your honor.

winters’ “thinking about it” makes me think that he just doesn’t know what the hell he’s gonna do after the war. as if he hadn’t planned that far ahead. as if he hadn’t expected to make it. or as if he thinks that the war has changed him so much that he’s just not going to fit into civilian life anymore. huh.

spiers being a bit too eager to get to the eagle’s nest the first (i would also be pissed off at the idea of the french getting there first, though. like. they lost the war. what are they doing there) + smiling smugly and saying “yes, sir” in a sort of sing-song manner.

harry welsh stealing some silver cutlery for kitty + slapping spiers’ klepto hands away from the box and winters smirking at it pfftt.

winters purposely sending easy company to the eagle’s nest.

the toccoa guys jumping and laughing on their way to the eagle’s nest, screaming “hi-ho, silver!” and waving the other guys who are still on the jeeps.

that wonderful entrance to the place by spiers? cunty.

grant looks great here, but what’s new. also: awareness is a curse.

spiers flinching at malark opening a bottle of champagne… funny but also: sad!

one of my favourite scenes, when winters announces that the germans have surrendered: nix/spiers/welsh drunk and trying to name all of the german reich, winters and lipton softly smiling to each other, spiers welcoming lip with a drunk “lieutenant lipton! <3”, welsh’s “hey, hey, have a drink. come on. just so as we can say we saw you do it” to dick, all of them “standing fast”, winter’s playful “wanna hear it?” to welsh and then slapping him in the face… they are just so important to me, i am so glad they are happy i will cry about it later, thanks.

i love how winters gifts nixon, a renowned alcoholic, an entire alcohol cellar. healthy. 

that “no one wanted to leave berchtesgaden… until they saw austria” and then showing the most beautiful shots you have ever seen of rural austria, with the mountains and everything??????????????? this whole episode is so beautiful, man.

nix’s “we’ll be comfortable here”. i like that he’s so aware that he’s a rich prick and even plays it up sometimes. he’s so deared to me.

“i wonder what will happen to us, major… to people like you and me when there are finally no more wars to occupy us”.

spiers’ “so, when are we going?” about the pacific…. dude you need to chill. relax. fes-te una tila.

també et dic, mira que posar un video propagandistic sobre japó a les tropes i dir-lis que aniran de seguida just després de declarar la victoria a europa… colega. dur.

nix’s sarcastic “they are gonna love you” about winters? laughing at him but also through barely contained lust? yeah.

perco unconsciously crouching (sad!) and liebgott teasing him (funny!).

awww, everyone looks so handsome in their uniforms… gene’s smiling, even!

easy company rigging the lottery so shifty gets to go home (that shot of the empty helmet and welsh’s knowing smile + the cadence of spiers’ voice when he says his name pffttt…). everyone is so happy for him. he really is the people’s princess fr.

“so much for the anniversary”, “no shit.” AWARENESS IS A CURSE. 

shifty’s “back home in virginia… well, i just don’t rightly know how i’m gonna explain all this.”

i always forget he gets into a car accident. like. vamos, no me jodas.

“guts and glory here applied for a transfer” (love that nickname for winters) / “13th airborne are heading out for the pacific right away. if I'm going, i wanna get it over with” (the way nix looks at him????? shut up) / “are you in on this too?” / “i can't let him go by himself. he doesn't know where it is” (the implication that nixon just follows winters everywhere? correct and welcome) / “you're leaving the men?” / “they don't need me anymore”. shut up i’m fine. this episode is full of goodbyes. I’M FINE.

“and frankly i think your men have earned the right to keep you around”

i read that the real webster was never involved in that scene in which liebgott hunts that german officer, but i am so glad they changed it to be like this. webster and liebgott are really interesting characters, they work very well with each other, and i would’ve loved to see more! 

anyone, one of the best scenes in the series. like. liebgott’s problematic, webster confronts him head on, they clash (of course) and everything fucking sucks. because the thing is: they are both right! they are both right and they end up killing that kommandant and yet nothing is fixed or changed for the better. hell fucking yeah.

webster shaking and having ticks and being all jumpy??? love to see it! (in the sense that it’s amazing to see psychological consequences of war, of course. we don’t get nearly enough in this. maybe winters and gene in episodes 5 and 6 respectively? anyway. i suppose the pacific deals with ptsd better than here).

i’m sorry that harsh cut to them on the jeep is hysterical. dysfunctional family.

“officers don't run” / “the war's over, anybody would run”.

chuck talking all fondly about guarnere to the replacements before getting shoot. chuck grant is such a pleasure of a character. he is just so nice. i just care about him so much.

spiers holding chuck’s hand. which of course doesn’t affect me in any way. like. i don’t even care.

everyone getting organized to find the guy who shot grant? “sexyback” by justing timberlake starts playing in my head. 

george saying “i don’t know who’s taking a bigger beating me or him” and then chuckling at his own joke. what a guy.

look. that scene where spiers almost kills the guy (“when you talk to an officer, you say ‘sir’”) and everyone (almost all of them toccoa men) just avoids looking? i am not responsable for my feelings, okay? do i find it all incredibly attractive? perchance. is it worrying? perchance. i don’t even like guys that much, i don’t get it.

"have the mps take care of this piece of shit" NAH NAH BRILLIANT

moore getting away with that hitler’s photo album pfftttt.

talbert wanting to demote himself to be closer with the men. 

winters and spiers talking about spiers’ future: “so, you've decided to stay in the army?” / “yes, I'm gonna stay with the men”.

malarkey gets to go to paris !!! (and winters shakes his hand instead of saluting him!).

the idea of a german general refusing to surrender to private babe heffron from south philly brightens up my days.

“captain sobel. we salute the rank, not the man” + lieb’s and nixon’s smirk…

“you are a special group, who have found in one another a bond that exists only in combat. among brothers of shared foxholes. held each other in dire moments. who've seen death and suffered together. i am proud to have served with each and every one of you. you deserve long and happy lives of peace”.

that scene of nix and winters in the lake again.

the baseball scene. i won’t talk about it. i’m not even crying. i feel nothing. it’s good to see them happy, man. god.

(aparently shane taylor does an awful swing hajshaj).

“buck compton came back to see the company, to let us know that he was all right”.

“my friend, lew, died in 1995”.

“(...) i chose not to go to korea. i'd had enough of war. i stayed around hershey, pennsylvania finally finding a little farm. a little peaceful corner of the world where I still live today. and there is not a day that goes by that I do not think of the men i served with who never got to enjoy the world without war”.

showing all the real life veterans… fuck off, i’m alright.

is this what falling for propaganda feels like.

“from this day to the ending of the world we in it shall be remembered. we lucky few, we band of brothers. for he who today sheds his blood with me shall be my brother”.

i love that we get an entire episode dedicated to how depressed lewis nixon was (would’ve liked to see more of liebgott too, though!).

“i've thought about this often. that man and I might've been friends. we might have had a lot in common”.

wonderful sequence of some germans playing classical music while the town cleans up the wrecked town.

i love when george speaks with a cig in his mouth, man.

nixon yet again showing his yale studies with that beethoven remark.

“guten tag, fräulein :)” + cut to him walking out of the farm, clearly just being slapped.

spiers all kleptomaniac and interrupting janovec’s… date.

nix’s truck almost runs over spiers and he doesn’t give a fuck.

that absolutely chiling smile spiers delivers and that soft “finders keepers”, jesus.

nix getting out of his suspenders. + winters’ “you dog”. doesn’t even surprise me anymore.

the tension between nix and winters in that scene is amazing (“only the finest for mrs. nixon’s baby boy” + “what do you think i should write to these parents, dick? (...) i don't know how to tell them their kids never even got out of the godamned plane” / “you tell them what you always tell them: their sons died as heroes” / “you really still believe that?” / “yeah, I do. don't you?”).

i mean, they always get along so well. it’s very interesting to see them fight or disagree on something, even if its as passive-agressive as this. 

this episode is a really good chance to explore the psychological consequences of war (which we already saw a hint of in the last patrol), especially with nixon and his lost of faith (or abrupt encounter with reality) and liebgott and his scenes in the latter part of the episode! love this one.

nixon’s current events lecture: the oklahoma! singing, the rita heyworth thing (“oh, rita, say it isn’t true”)...

perco’s “why don’t you do us all a favor? don’t think.” + “it's been two years since i seen home”.

all the officers playing poker! you just know they gossip like crazy.

nixon’s “she's taking the dog. it's not even her dog! it's my dog!” and “she hates that dog!”

spiers almost stealing perconte’s lighter (the man has so much of a reputation that perco almost didn’t lend it to him in the first place).

web’s “that's in bavaria. birthplace of national socialism”.

the lads singing “gory, gory, what a helluva way to die” (harmonizing and everything).

liebgotts plans for the future right in front of web’s salad (+ web trying to apologise after being rude to him and lieb brushing it off and asking him what he is studying, “get outta here, you serious? i love to read! dick tracy, flash gordon, mostly. yeah, fuck” what a guy).

george’s “you don't say. the germans are bad? hey, frank, this guy's reading an article over here. it says the germans are bad” while frank’s cleaning his goddamn teeth again.

perco’s “this guy says he ain’t a nazi. how is that in all of germany ive never met one nazi yet?”

web’s infuriated with the germans: “dragging our asses half-way around the world, interrupting our lives. for what?! you ignorant, servile scum! what the fuck are we doing here?!”

o’keefe looking at the toccoa guys after witnessing some french soldier shooting german prisoners and recieving those chiling stares: perco shrugs, george lights up his smoke as if nothing and lieb SMIRKS. when i said before that i liked conflicting characters this is what I MEANT!!

the way bull says “boy” amuses me so much… love him.

george’s “bull, smack him for me, please… thank you”.

nah, those shots of perco running after discovering the camp are always so chilling, like. it gets me every single time.

that scene where liebgott has to translate everything. 

and the music? jesus christ.

web’s “you’re not a nazi? my mistake. how about a human being? are you one of those? or are you gonna tell me you never smelled the fucking stench?”

liebgott breaking down after having to tell the prisoners to go back inside the camp.

web’s “should've killed himself three years ago. saved us a lot of trouble”.

returning to the beginning to the episode and only finishing when the song has finished… cinema.

i feel like this is one of the most conflicting episodes because, even if the conflict (the disillusion and cynicism of the troops after years of war, the sense of losing their purpose, if they ever had one) gets resolved very clearly (the liberation of the camps is “why they fight”, it’s the recompense to their sacrifice) we still get the feeling that the whole thing isn’t that resolved? i mean, the veterans at the beginning talk about how similar they really were with the german soldiers and all throughout the episode we see them kick people out of their homes and commit war crimes.

idk. i think the question at the end is “is everything we’ve done during the war (objectively terrible things, like killing and torturing) and everything that’s come from it (the ptsd and the guilt and stuff) all worth it if it means we help bring freedom to the helpless?”. and perhaps more importantly, “will this particular win over fascism allow our national consciousness to be at ease with the idea of committing other awful things in the future, also in the name of freedom?”

i’m just talking, at this point. idk. what i mean to say is that it’s very easy to feel pride at the allies for their liberation of europe, and at the same time not take accountability for having let the nations of the world (specially germany, italy, spain, etc) reach such degrees of moral degradation through fascism and dictatorships. like. people voted for hitler in ‘33. the people chose mussolini. there are people alive in spain today that still consider franco a good ruler, there are streets and squares named after him. the world started going to shit and everyone just watched.

there’s also a lot of usa-centrism in this one, too, which i don’t care for. the russians did a lot of the heavy lifting in the liberation of europe and concentration camps and stuff. but what else can you expect from an american production.

i love that we have an entire episode dedicated to how socially awkward david webster is (it makes me feel better about my own inadequacies).

that whole scene where web is smiling and trying to joke with the guys while they are visibly depressed… pfffft web mate read the room.

seeing luz that demoralized should’ve been his first clue.

lieb rolls his eyes when he first sees web.

that scene where spiers, malark and web all react differently when a bomb falls close (spiers doesn’t even blink, what a guy) + “nervous is the service?”

ron aggressively taking care of lipton when he has pneumonia.

nah spiers looks great here.

nixon’s laugh when he hears that lieutenant jones graduated from west point the 6th of june of ‘45.

when ron says “no” to jones volunteering for the patrol.

CHARLES GRANT.

liebgott forcing web to spill out what he knows about the patrol (what a cunt, i love him) + that look™ afterwards…

that unimpressed mmm from malark.

everyone who was in bastogne laughing like maniacs after a shelling…. they are so deared to me…

roe giving christenson kiehn’s dog tag.

liebgott’s “is anyone they don’t want from second? jesus christ…”

that shot of malarkey in the shower…. (is it weird that i find men especially attractive when they are visibly depressed? perchance).

george’s “goddamit, johnny, you’re breakin’ my heart, i’m telling ya”

liebgott’s “hershey bars!” and “you’ve been working out?”, what a man.

there is something about george luz that is so personal to me (not only the jokes, but also when he is slightly annoyed and serious) + “to the house i gotta blast” and “jesus, i don’t know, maybe!” around the smoke… yeah.

that little fight of stares between jones, webster and martin (johnny is hilarious).

that liebgott wink? yeah.

shifty burning something from his gun so it doesn’t shine.

how is always cobb in the group of people that never manage to do jack shit?

nah grant looks handsome as hell in this one.

the immediate silence that falls in the room when roe starts checking on jackson.

gene looking at babe right after jackson dies. that move was deliberate and i think about that every single day of my fucking life. i’m not even kidding. like. 

the little speech that web does about jackson in his narration is very interesting because it sort of introduces us to the cynicism / disillusion he’s gonna feel in the next couple of episodes. character continuity!

babe smoking!

it’s sort of brilliant casting tom hanks' son for this one. he looks so young with his red cheeks and his little pout. it’s hard to take him seriously as a lieutenant (even if he’s from west point) when he looks so much like a kid.

it’s also interesting the contrast between jones and jackson: they both looked young, but jackson looked infinitely more rough around the edges. 

i have to say it: that scene where cobb is drunk and talking shit (not really surprising, that) is one of my favourites of the episode! it’s dark and complicated and problematic and it’s exactly what we should come to expect from someone who’s been fighting in the eto for as long as he has. the tears in his eyes, his bitter smile… i only wish the other’s were as conflicting as him! i can only think of a few others: liebgott (specially in points), spiers and maybe guarnere (in most of day of days). don't get me wrong, everyone is interesting, but i have a soft spot for morally gray characters! they keep me up at night.

i also love johnny’s response (“shut up. it’s boring, okay?”), even if i don’t particularly agree. it’s all about self-preservation in the end, isn’t it? all they do is about self-preservation.

winters canceling the second patrol. that’s their dad. those are his kids.

nixon’s “it's a whole new way to fight a war. don't bother writing this up. i'll take care of it. i might actually enjoy it”. he’s like this close to jumping his bones.

lipton being promoted to lieutenant and the smiles between the co’s + george smiling proudly, + nix and welsh bickering in the background, “harry, i didn't expect to see you this soon. ‘figured you'd be nursing that scratch for another month or two” / “did you miss me, lewis?”

“congratulations, major”.paralelisms with that scene between lip and spiers in the earlier episode?? anyone???

i love that we have an entire episode dedicated to how great carwood lipton is.

i can’t believe they got the guy from new kids on the block to narrate this one!

shifty softly saying “no, no, i'm not a good shot. now, dad, he was an excellent shot. excellent, i declare, he'd shoot the wings off a fly” + that smile he sends lip when he thanks him for his help? shut up he’s adorable.

hoobs and the luger. i don’t even want to talk about it. the parallelism with that shot in the first episode? him muttering over and over “stupid”? shut up, i WON’T TALK ABOUT IT. genuinely upsetting, goodbye.

“did you think it was a german leg, hoobs?” roe jesus fucking christ read the room.

lip’s such a nice guy he finds himself covering for DIKE of all fucking people.

“jesus christ, we've gotta do all this with a co who's got his head so far up his ass that lump in his throat is his goddamn nose” bill guarnere, the bard of easy company.

guarnere laughs a lot in this episode and everytime he does i feel the narrative™ lurking in a corner.

“he’s just another one of those arrogant, rich jerks from yale” / “god, not another one of those” 

those shots of the men reacting to peacock trying to use a map… cinema (especially george’s grimance).

“wait, what are you saying he's nuts? 'cause crazy joe mccloskey was fuckin’ nuts, babe. that's why they called him crazy joe”... this line rolls off the tongue better than a fucking sonnet. + bill’s little assuring nod.

penkala’s “‘don't do anything stupid’? who the hell's he talking to? bunch of morons who volunteered to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. can you get any more stupid than that?” + skip’s niagara river story (“well, they had a point. you're an idiot”).

dike walking out of the conversation with lip. i chuckled.

why the hell is dick still shaving. this guy.

peacock is so cute getting all emotional like that + the soft “heep, heep, hurray”’s!

“what the hell you doing back here?” / “to make sure you're on top of things” / “i'm on top of things. tied me own boots once last week. all by meself” (+ toye’s voice again).

skip talking about wounds with the replacement (“how are those nuts, sarge?” / “doing fine, bill. nice of you to ask”). i love this whole scene.felt like crying. awareness is a curse. not fun.

also, could that comment (“really, i thought it was some guy i knew for two years and i forgott his face”) be about webster? much to think about. might be a reach.

bill looks so good with a beard, man. everyone here looks handsome, really.

i think spiers likes to intimidate people so he doesn’t have to share his smokes lol.

lip laughing at the bombshells and remembering 4th of july. what a freak <3.

babe’s “think i overdid it on the cover for my foxhole?”

george’s “what the fuck” at dike’s response after the bombshelling.

i will not talk about toye and guarnere’s scene, ALRIGHT?!?? (“jesus, what's a guy gotta do to get killed around here?”, “told you I'd beat you back to the states” + take all of buck’s suffering and give it to dike or something + i read something about how the actual bill told the actor the exact rhythm of his felsh shaking, which is absolutely fucking chilling).

the look in george’s face when he sees what happened to toye… kill me now, man.

lip reprimanding george but laughing at his imitation of dike and calling him “wiseass”. like, that’s a family. like.

i will also not talk about muck and penkala, OKAY?!?!?! I’M SERIOUS (george screaming, “the shell that hit the foxhole luz and i were in was a dud. the one that hit muck and penkala's foxhole wasn't. that's just the way it was”).

lip smoking for the first time.

malark’s smile when lip gives him hoob’s luger for his kid brother.

lip organizing another mutiny? like, yeah, of course.

dick: you just gotta keep moving, whatever you do just move. dike: okay, so let’s stop for a sec- let’s holdback, even.

a bullet hitting an easy company’s ass? a likely place for it to be.

dick calls on spiers to lead the men (fucking finally), and he appears into battle crossing a pillar of smoke like a fucking badass (+ george’s “thank god, huh?”).

fucking spiers crossing the batterfield to connect with i company? are you kidding me????? in the meantime lip’s hearing “sexyback” by justin timberlake in his head, probably.

shifty being an exellent shot once again !

everyone disappearing… *“army dreamers” by kate bush starts playing*  

everything in the church scene is fantastic, but especially the conversation between lip and ron (the tercius thing, spiers’ little fleeting smiles, “hell, it was you, first sargeant”, “congratulations, lieutenant”)... should they be flirting this much? hey, if not now, then when?