Editor’s Note: A couple of days after writing this article, I found out Eric Haney, the technical advisor and whose book the show is based on, quit. He probably also didn’t like where the show was heading….

The Unit is about a military team consisting of Delta Forces (the best special forces in the U.S. military). The show also gives us an insight to the team’s personal relationship with their families. Created by David Mamet, produced by Shawn Ryan (Shield) and executive produced by a former founding members of the Delta Force, Eric Haney, the show pulled no punches. Unlike most tv shows, plenty of the episodes ended on a sad note. The most memorable episodes consisted of the team failing missions, killing civilians/members and questioning their own beliefs. I also liked the realistic gunfights, the sniper episode is one of the best episodes in tv history.

So season four started started on a new day and time on Sunday at 10 p.m. (instead of Tuesday’s at 9 p.m.). It started on a good note with an attack on the president. From that point on, it goes downhill. The way they are heading with this show reminded of 24: A group is attacking U.S. and the team must figure out who’s behind it and of course, they’ll encounter double crosses. It seems like they want bigger ratings so they decided to dumb it down.

Now the team has a “cool guy” leader in Jonas Blane (Dennis Haysbert, also from 24 fame). All of a sudden, he knows everything there is to know about the mission and pretty much can predict the future. What made him so bad ass in the other seasons was that he wasn’t invincible, he just had to get his missions done but he still had emotions.

Another problem is that we are introduced to the first ever female delta operator. This isn’t believable at all, deltas get recruited by the military, they don’t try out for it. Yet, this chick pretty much just says “I want in” and everybody welcomes her in. This shit is getting ridiculous. Then we have one of the delta’s using a bow and arrow ala Rambo. He was killing armed enemies left and right with it. What the hell is going on here?

We also see stupid moments in the show like one enemy by himself open firing to a house. So he gets flanked easily and we’re supposed to be impressed with it.

It’s obvious the creators are going in a different direction than the previous seasons. Instead of being realistic, now they are going for the CSI route: cheesy lines, explanation for everything, “cool” characters and a feel good ending. If they go this route, I’ll stop watching this show. There’s enough bad shows on tv, the Unit doesn’t need to be added. Come on David Mamet, you’re suppose to be a bad ass writer/creator/director/producer that does whatever you want. I’ve seen your movies like Red Belt and Spartan and you don’t care whether it becomes a hit or not. You make it the way you like it but now you’re catering to mainstream. Save this show from becoming a joke.

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