Off Track

"Something seems to be missing?" Graham couldn't help but repeat William's words, but he himself started to ponder. Indeed, after watching the first episode of "The Pacific," the familiar formula, the familiar taste, seemed to lack the same passionate excitement as when he finished watching "Band of Brothers." So, what exactly was missing?

William frowned, unable to articulate a reason. "I don't know, but it feels like there's a missing chemical reaction," he said. They weren't professional critics, just passionate viewers.

William and Graham looked at each other, and for a moment they fell silent. The excitement before the broadcast had suddenly stalled, and felt awkward. "I'm not saying I don't like it," William explained, "Honestly, I think the series is still very exciting, I still like it very much. It's truly a masterpiece crafted by Spielberg and Hanks, but..."

It was this "but" that left them perplexed. Suddenly, Graham suggested, "Why don't we check out the reviews on Yahoo Community and IMDb? Maybe our questions can be answered by discussing with others."

"Good idea!" William regained his energy. As a fervent fan of "Band of Brothers," he more than anyone else hoped that "The Pacific" could become another classic.

So William rushed back to his room like a whirlwind, with Graham following closely behind. The Taylor couple in the living room couldn't react in time, only hearing a chaotic sound of footsteps rushing upstairs. "Billy, how's the series? Is it good?" Mrs. Taylor shouted, but received no response, leaving them both smiling helplessly.

Quickly opening Yahoo Community, the top-ranking discussion thread was, unsurprisingly, the one about the first episode of "The Pacific." Less than ten minutes had passed since the broadcast ended, yet the thread already had over five hundred comments. Some fans were probably participating in the discussion while watching the live broadcast.

Opening the thread, as expected, the first few comments were all about the excitement of the series finally airing. It wasn't until after fifty or so comments that people began discussing the series. William and Graham were obviously not the only viewers feeling something was amiss. Many expressed similar doubts, feeling that the series lacked a spark. Among them, a few radical fans cursed vehemently, believing that the quality of "The Pacific" was downright terrible, not on par with "Band of Brothers" at all, calling it rubbish.

It wasn't until the two hundred and thirty-first comment that a long response made William stop scrolling down.

"There's no doubt that because of the existence of 'Band of Brothers' as such a masterpiece, all viewers have had high expectations for 'The Pacific.' However, after actually watching it, there's inevitably a gap. But I hold a different opinion.

Initially, 'Band of Brothers' didn't astound viewers with its first episode either. The brilliance of the series comes from the completeness and elevation of the content over its ten episodes. Upon rewatching the first episode, the impression also changes, thus elevating it. Now, 'The Pacific' has only aired its first episode, judging the entire mini-series based solely on it is clearly biased.

The first episode of 'The Pacific' always feels like it lacks something, simply put, the core idea.

In 'Band of Brothers,' each episode had a core idea, and even each episode had different core characters, making the storyline concise and the narrative rhythm and focus stand out. However, in 'The Pacific,' the first episode lacks this cohesion of core ideas, resulting in the content feeling somewhat scattered and the pacing a bit unbalanced.

The first episode can be divided into three parts: the daily life before departure, the rhythm of adaptation just after landing on Guadalcanal, and the thrilling events after the first encounter battle.

The emphasis of these three parts varies, especially the three main characters in the first part, leaving only one in the latter two parts, which causes confusion for the audience: Is the story not complete? Moreover, the sublimation of the theme concentrated on Robert Leckie also fails to deliver a fatal blow.

It can be seen that 'The Pacific' intends to highlight the psychological contrast, the warmth of family before entering the battlefield and the cruelty and bloodiness after entering the war, ending with that deadly game, not only shocking Robert Leckie but also every viewer in front of the TV, chilling with the distortion of human nature by war.

From this perspective, the series still maintains the quality of its predecessor. Unfortunately, the execution remains superficial, and the first episode's content is already crowded, resulting in insufficiently fleshed-out character images, trying to accomplish too much in the first episode, which is quite challenging.

'Band of Brothers' excelled in showing different aspects of the war in each episode, examining every facet of the battlefield from different perspectives. Every flesh-and-blood character constructed together formed the powerful impact of 'Band of Brothers.' Now it can be speculated that 'The Pacific' intends to focus on these three characters—although this idea remains to be proven in later episodes. The disadvantage lies in weakening the group spirit, while the advantage lies in making each character more full and vivid.

Personally, I am full of expectations for 'The Pacific.' If 'Band of Brothers' depicted the reality and brutality of war, can 'The Pacific' show the impact of war on every individual? Otherwise, the portrayal of family seems redundant. Once successful, 'The Pacific' fully deserves to be on par with 'Band of Brothers'!

Therefore, it's premature to conclude the quality of the series now. The brilliance of 'Band of Brothers' is impressive, but 'The Pacific' deserves more time and opportunities. A ten-episode mini-series is not too difficult, is it?

It is worth mentioning that among the three main characters introduced so far, the most impressive is not Robert Leckie, who supports the main storyline of the first episode, nor the well-known war hero John Basilone, but the rich young man. Is anyone else like me?

The moment he appeared, the sunlight and time seemed unable to resist stopping for him. The regrets, anger, struggles, bitterness, and longing in his bright eyes effortlessly outlined the character! I can't believe I'm already looking forward to what will happen when he steps onto the battlefield! Won't he become cannon fodder? He seems to be one of the three main characters!"

This long response sparked intense subsequent discussions, with some agreeing, some refuting, some scoffing, some cursing, some analyzing rationally, some watching from the sidelines, some suddenly realizing, and the heated arguments were lively.

However, one thing most people agreed on: this is a mini-series that requires watching the subsequent episodes' direction to make a comprehensive judgment.

Only a small number of fervent fans believed that the poor quality of the first episode had already ruined the entire series. This was unforgivable for a companion piece to such a masterpiece as "Band of Brothers." They even passionately called on netizens to give "The Pacific" a low rating on IMDb. But judging by the current IMDb ratings trend, there weren't many viewers willing to respond to this call.

After reading this reply, William suddenly brightened up. "So that's it!" His eyes lit up again. "It seems Spielberg and the others have bigger ambitions this time, wanting to explore deeper themes because they can't just repeat the same formula as 'Band of Brothers,' right? There's no other work that can surpass 'Band of Brothers' in terms of camaraderie on the battlefield. So, the first episode is just the beginning!"

William couldn't help but clench his fists, feeling uplifted again. Due to the excessively high expectations before, he was too eager, almost wanting the first episode to be breathtaking. But in reality, this was impossible because it's a mini-series, not a movie. Even "Band of Brothers," its brilliance and classic status were formed by ten episodes' content.

"No wonder!" Graham also suddenly realized. "I said it while watching, gripping and emotionally complex, incredibly exciting, but after finishing it, it felt like something was missing." Graham nudged William with his shoulder, excitedly saying, "The final scene was really well done, it reminded me of the moment when Winters shot that lone German soldier!"

"What impressed me the most, like that internet user..." William leaned closer to the screen, looking at a username called "MarlboroEnthusiast," probably a fan of Marlon Brando. "It's that rich young man." Then William chuckled, "Because he's the only unlucky guy in the first episode who failed to join the military."

Graham couldn't help but roll his eyes speechlessly. "According to you, my most impressive moment was when Robert Leckie wanted to write to that girl, she was really beautiful."

"You see, I'm not the only one who thinks that way." William scrolled through the thread, pulling Graham along to continue browsing.

"MarlboroEnthusiast, I agree, that rich young man is really outstanding, his performance seems to naturally radiate an aura, making it impossible for people to look away!"

"Isn't that rich young man just too outstanding? Oh my god, the way he rides his bike with the wind, yet his eyes reveal a heartbroken despair, I'm just melting for him!"

"That rich young man is indeed outstanding, Robert Leckie has a lot of inner drama in his performance, but it always feels a bit off, while the young man appeared for less than three minutes, yet effortlessly shaped the character. Honestly, I can't wait to see him step onto the battlefield!"

"What's the name of the actor playing the rich young man?"

...

As they continued discussing, it seemed the conversation had started to veer off-topic.

...

A/N: 

500 power stones = 2 bonus chapters

Ratings = 2 bonus chapters