Sunday, Jul. 12

The Best Band of Brothers Episode

Alan Sepinwall on why he loves the Band of Brothers episode “Bastogne” (my favorite of the series):

it remains the episode that does the best job of making me feel like I understood, even on a superficial level, what the men of Easy Company went through.

This is because it is one of the few episodes that took the time to develop a Main Character Throughline. Even better, screenwriter Bruce McKenna gave him a great Impact Character, the nurse Renee, to have a meaningful relationship with (one that forces him to grow).

she allows Roe to open up about his feelings in a way he simply wouldn’t with the other guys in Easy, even the other medic. If she’s a dramatic device, she’s not a bad one.

Totally agree (and she is).

I always return to this episode because it offers up a complete story, not just a re-telling of historic events. Hopefully the next installment of this series, The Pacific will strive to do the same.