The Unit is an American action-drama television series that focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled after the real life Delta Force. The program features both the domestic lives of the team members and their missions abroad, in addition to the effect their careers have on their home lives, wives and girlfriends. It premiered in the United States on March 7, 2006 on CBS as a mid-season replacement. The second season debuted on September 19, 2006, and the third season premiered on September 25, 2007.
Based on show producer Eric Haney's book, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit (ISBN 0-440-23733-5), The Unit was created for television by David Mamet and is executive produced by Mamet and Shawn Ryan. The show is produced by The Barn Productions Inc., David Mamet Entertainment, and Fire Ants Films in association with 20th Century Fox Television and CBS Paramount Television.
Internationally, The Unit premiered on 3 October 2006 in the United Kingdom on Bravo, on 11 October 2006 in Australia on the Seven Network, and on FOX8 Cable TV on Foxtel/Austar Cable network, on 11 January in Spain on La Sexta, on 25 January in The Netherlands on RTL 5, on 7 March in Germany on Sat. 1, on September 23 in Bulgaria on bTV and on 9 March 2008 in Russia on DTV.
The show's theme song for the first two seasons is an adaptation of the United States Marine Corps running cadence song "Fired Up... Feels Good" and created by the Los Angeles-based composer Robert Duncan. The new theme song for the third season, also by Duncan, is called "Walk the Fire".[1]
Production of the show was halted during the WGA Writers strike of 2007-2008 and only 11 episodes were filmed and broadcast. The show was picked up for a fourth season by CBS on May 12, 2008.[2] The premiere episode of season four is tentatively scheduled for September 28, 2008.
Summary
The Unit is a U.S. Army organization similar to Delta Force. As with Delta Force, its members come from the United States Army and appear to be primarily tasked with counterterrorism. The unit's official cover is as the "303rd Logistical Studies Group". In the third season's premier, an onscreen read-out specifically identifies the unit as "ALPHA Team 1st Special Actions Group".
The Unit is based at a fictional army post, "Fort Griffith". The location of Fort Griffith is never explicitly stated, but in Episode 303 "Always Kiss Them Goodbye", the storyline suggests that it is northwest of Pine Bluff, Arkansas and west/southwest of St. Louis, Missouri, which would place it in the vicinity of the real-life Fort Leonard Wood. The common sight of the Missouri license plate supports Fort Griffith being placed in Missouri, as well as a flyer in Episode 206 "Old Home Week", handed out at an anti-war rally at the Fort Griffith gates, inviting fellow protesters to a seminar in Greenwood, Missouri.
The unit's immediate chain of command goes to the commanding officer, Colonel Tom Ryan — and, presumably, straight to the President of the United States. It is unknown if this bypasses the Secretary of Defense.
The wives of the unit's personnel are given minimal information. They are fully aware of the fact that "The Unit" is a false front organization, and that their husbands are, in fact, still performing highly dangerous missions, but they are not permitted to know specifics, such as where their husbands are deployed, what their training routines consist of, how long their assignments will last, or even if their husbands are safe.
If a member of the Unit is killed in action, the family is told that they have been killed on a training mission. The wives themselves are encouraged to form a close, cohesive military family based on the mutual knowledge and strife this inevitably leads to.
The Unit has an unconventional structure. With the size of a company, approximately 130 operators, it is commanded by a Colonel (companies are usually commanded by Captains; Colonels usually command elements like regiments). The CO, Colonel Ryan, normally wears a "sanitized" uniform (bearing absolutely no tapes, such as his name, or even U.S. Army, or rank insignia).
Whereas a Special Forces ODA (Operational Detachments Alpha) is generally commanded by a Captain, the Unit sends teams into the field under noncommissioned officers, such as the team normally lead by Sergeant Major Jonas Blane, the Unit's NCOIC of Alpha team. It is probable that their soldiers have the same Special Forces specialties as in Army Special Forces. An Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA, formerly known as an "A-Team") has weapons sergeants, engineering sergeants, medical sergeants, communications sergeants, etcetera.
The wives, if suspected of speaking about the Unit's existence through such endeavors as gossip, can cause their husbands to be expelled, and returned to regular Army service (even if with another Special Forces unit). Colonel Ryan has stated, time and again, that this can ruin a soldier's career, as well as their marriage, and has also stated that he will not hesitate to destroy families, in order to preserve the Unit's security. He has also threatened the wives with closing the Unit down, and restarting it someplace else under another cover, and forcing the uprooting of all families involved.
The Unit deploys throughout the world, and both the Army and United States government have the ability to deny the existence of the Unit and any of its members in order to prevent the onset of international incidents. Their uniforms are commonly not standard Army issue, which makes it easier to deny their connection with the US Army if killed or captured. They also carry weapons that are not always standard-issue, and the Unit's personnel are well-familiarized with weapons from around the world and can make themselves look like military personnel from other organizations.
The Unit's members will frequently use code-names around non-Unit associated people, such as Mr. White, Mr. Black, Mr. Blue or Mr. Green. According to Jonas Blane, the order of precedence for his team after he is disabled, is, from top to bottom: Mack Gerhardt, Charles Grey, Hector Williams†, and Bob Brown.
Episodes
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Ratings
USA TV Ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The Unit on CBS:
DVD releases
| DVD Name |
Region 1 |
Region 2 |
Region 3 |
Region 4 |
| The Complete First Season |
September 19, 2006 |
April 30, 2007
France: July 4, 2007
Belgium: August 8, 2007
|
April 18, 2007 |
April 18, 2007 |
| The Complete Second Season |
September 25, 2007 |
October 22, 2007 |
TBA |
March 4, 2008 |
| The Complete Third Season[6] |
October 14, 2008 |
October 20, 2008 |
TBA |
TBA |
Cast
Main crew
Notes
^* There are continuity errors regarding the rank of Jonas Blane. In "Pandemonium, Part 2", Blane states his rank as Command Sergeant Major, while in "Play 16", his uniform rank is Sergeant Major.
^** Promoted during "Side Angle Slide".
^*** Although this might have just been dirty talk, a similar continuity error exists regarding the rank of Mack Gerhardt. In the season 1 episode "True Believers" his wife says to him "come here Sergeant Major, and give me a report", but his rank is later established as Master Sergeant.
^† Killed in Action in Beirut, Lebanon during "Five Brothers".
References to People, Literary Works and Film
References to other works of David Mamet
- The Unit's official cover name is the 303rd Logistical Studies Group and is a reference to the 303rd, the fictitious infantry unit from Wag the Dog, a film scripted by David Mamet.
- In episode 13 ("The Wall"), Mack offers Bob a cup of coffee, who says, "Coffee's for closers" - a reference to the play Glengarry Glen Ross, written by David Mamet, who also writes The Unit.
References to the life of Eric Haney
- In episode 1 ("First Responders"), Bob Brown is looking at photos on the wall of Ron and Ruthie's cabin — the first photo is of Eric Haney, author of Inside Delta Force and the show's producer and military consultant.
- In episode 2 ("Stress"), the sign outside the 303rd Logistical Studies building lists that unit's Command Sergeant Major as "E.L. Haney", Eric Haney's actual Army rank when he retired. Haney in fact never got the chance to be the Command Sergeant Major of Delta Force, as he was promoted when there was already a CSM of Delta Force.
- In episode 11 ("Exposure"), the engraving on the knife (C 1/75 - BOHICA) found by Jonas and Cheals in the Central American store refers to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. This was the company Eric Haney was assigned to when he was a member of 1st Ranger Battalion. It also refers to the company of Rangers attached to Delta Force during Operation Eagle Claw the attempted rescue of US Hostages in Iran, 1979.
Other References
- The Unit's cover name, Logistical Studies Group, is somewhat similar to 'Combat Applications Group', reportedly one of the designations used by Delta, as well as to that of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group, also a special forces unit that served in Vietnam.
- In episode 10 ("Unannounced"), Sergeant Kayla Medawar (Kavita Patil) mentions "Joint Task Force Rainbow has just landed in Tikrit," a possible reference to Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six.
- In Season 3, Episode 10 ("Gone Missing"), the white-board above the beer fridge shown near the end of the episode has a list of people under the "Alpha Team" and "Bravo Team" headings. These include the real names (some first, some last) of the cast and crew. Alpha Team consists of Haney, Ryan, Clack, Ramirez, Dennis, Zinberg, Hayesbert, Pasquale, Foley, Irby, Max. Bravo Team consists of Johnson, Jordan, Cocoa, Molique, Carson, Zack, Patrick, Eric, Spoons, Glick.
- In Season 3, episode 9 ("Binary Explosion"), Charles Grey makes reference to being a past member of the 'Byz-Lats' Latino streetgang while posing undercover. Though based on a real streetgang, the Byz-Lats are a fictional gang who regularly appear in Unit producer Shawn Ryan's other notable television credit, The Shield.
- The unit patch worn at Ft Griffith is that of the 24th Infantry Division (United States), which is now inactive.
References
External links
Network sites
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