Bastogne: General Discussion (original) (raw)

15 comments — :

First thing: SIZZUHS. SHARP SIZZUHS.

Second thing: ASDFGHJKL GENE'S ACCENT IN THIS EPISODE. HOOOOOLY CHRIST IT IS LIKE LIQUID GOLD OR SOMETHING. I COULD LISTEN TO HIM READ THE FUCKING PHONE BOOK.

I could listen to Roe forever. Most of the time I have no idea what he is saying. He could read my anatomy textbook to me any day.

<3

Renee is so pretty. Lovely and pretty with hands that calm people. If nursing was anything like what she was doing, then maybe I'd consider doing general nursing. But general nursing is nothing like that. This episode does make me want to get in contact with something like Doctors Without Borders to see if I could do some work with them. This episode makes my infection control standards that have been drilled into us fly out the window. I can handle seeing lots of blood etc. but for some reason, not wearing gloves, not washing hands between patients and so on makes me squirm. I've been brain-washed by the health system and it's cleaning standards.

But I digress.

I love this episode very much. Mainly because of the whole nursing thing, but also because we see more of our relationships developing and growing. Doc is so sad and battle-fatigued. Babe is so kind to Doc. Spina has an awesome hat. Julian had the worst tracheostomy ever.

Question: does anyone with smartz know how much morphine would be in one syrette? Just out of curiousity, really.

: ) T'anks, clever-clogs. I should Google these things before I ask them.

This episode makes me cry every time, though I love the character of Roe, and I really love Roe and Babe's friendship. That's really all I have to say with no questions, accept I love the accent as well! Makes me melt.

This was the episode that really stood out for me the first time I watched the series. It has such atmosphere, maybe because it is so focussed on one place and over a more limited time span than most other episodes. I am glad there is no narration. I get a feeling from Roe that he struggles to articulate his increasing distress, Spina talks about being sick of being a medic, Renee of being a nurse, but Roe says nothing. So much more powerful for being unsaid either to them or to us in the form of a narration.

Roe seems to me to be comparing himself unfavourably to Renee and his grandmother. He tells Renee that her hands calm people as though he does not believe his do (it's in the voice Gene!) and speaks of his grandmother taking pain away with her hands, whereas he needs to administer morphine to do the same.

I also get a real sense of isolation, of the surrounded troops in general and Roe in particular. It seems everyone (well, not Dike) has their foxhole buddy who is a close colleague and friend, but when Roe and Spina are in the same foxhole, Dike objects. The medics are therefore prevented from supporting each other and do not have such strong bonds with the other men, so are relatively isolated.

Oh God, so much angst in this episode, but so much humour too : "Babe?", the whole Hinkle situation and everything that Smokey does/says except get shot. Perfect. I got so immersed in this episode that when a vintage plane flew over my house during the supply drop on Bastogne I nearly hid under the table. Thank God no one else was at home.

Ahh. The actual episode I enjoy the most varies with every rewatch, but this one I think, objectively, is the best. It's beautiful, and moving, and just a brilliant slice of storytelling.

- The DVD menu screen for this episode's got Doc, and Renee, a medic's armband, bandages, bits of aid kit and, best of all, a pair of those much sought-after scissors.
- Doc carries two canteens. Is one a spare so he can give water to a patient, or does he just like having back-up?
- I heard it mentioned as a detail you can pick out on the Blu-Ray edition, but I managed to pick it up on my ordinary DVDs: blink and you'll miss it, but if you look carefully at the big metal case Skip and Malarkey have by their foxhole, it's got their names scratched into it.
- After recently reading Bill and Babe's book, I find it odd how the series kind of implies Julian is brand new to the company. Babe was with him in training (which is why they were such good friends), and he joined Easy the same time Babe did.
- Right at the back of the church-turned-hospital, they've got a Christmas tree. I like that little touch of home in the middle of all that chaos.
- Spina and Babe both go to wake up Doc when the bombardment starts. Why the hell can't Spina go help Harry by himself?

I noticed the names on the box for once! I thought they were just a legend: something that us people who can't afford this whole Blu-Ray nonsense could never see.

Also, I love the Christmas tree in the background. Christmas is so universal. Couldn't they call a truce for Xmas just like in WWI?

I get the feeling that Spina has sort of given up on himself as a medic. He's more than happy to let Doc do all the harder work - like Harry's leg wound - and just take orders from Doc. As much as I love Spina (and his hat), I'd much prefer Doc as a medic. Despite his breakdowns during this episode, he seems like a more accomplished and more learned medic.

I'd always assumed that it was to show the difference in Roe over the episode - how quick he was to respond when Skinny was wounded, but now he is worn down and responds slower. But you're right, it does seem odd that Spina wakes him rather than go help Harry himself. But then it's odd that Babe is also running around the woods looking for Roe when surely he should be in his foxhole or looking for shelter? (Although some people would point out that Babe looking for Roe is not odd at all, even in the middle of a shelling.)

- I heard it mentioned as a detail you can pick out on the Blu-Ray edition, but I managed to pick it up on my ordinary DVDs: blink and you'll miss it, but if you look carefully at the big metal case Skip and Malarkey have by their foxhole, it's got their names scratched into it.

Awww, that's adorable.

- Spina and Babe both go to wake up Doc when the bombardment starts. Why the hell can't Spina go help Harry by himself?

Maybe Spina thinks Gene can do it better?