I usually throw on a couple of episodes of Band of Brothers during Memorial Day weekend; however, this time I went for The Pacific. I had only ever watched it once, and I wondered if I had compared it too critically against Band of Brothers. I recall the hype when it was announced was incredible, and I think there was a part of me that just wanted more Maj. Dick Winters roaming around Europe with Easy Company.

Ended up watching about 4 of them over the course of the long weekend, and I was surprised by how much I was enjoying it compared to my memory of it. It's definitely a harder watch, and the fact that they skipped over boot camp makes it harder to connect with the characters. Even so, I found it to be pretty engrossing.

I also enjoyed the fact that PFC Hoosier went on to play US Marshall Tim Gutterson in Justified.

I actually prefer The Pacific to Band of Brothers. It was a far more difficult story to tell given how disconnected it seems from some overall narrative, which BoB has in spades. Yet they made me care about the guys they were showcasing (Sledge, Leckie, and Basilone). The ending of the series (put in spoilers since you didn't get to it and may not recall with Sledge returning home, suffering from awful nightmares, and then going out to hunt with his father and literally collapsing in the woods - all of that hit me real hard. It's a good look into what many of our soldiers undoubtedly dealt with when they finally came home.

I think the problem many had with the Pacific was that, purposely or not, the viewer held it up to Band of Brothers. That's such a high standard it's nearly impossible to achieve. Personally, I can't really re-watch Band of Brothers, it's just too emotional. The music in the intro alone just kills me. I've had it stuck in my head all weekend because of Memorial Day.

Also, the war in the Pacific was such a different scenario than Europe in so many ways. There is little to no historical of cultural connection with the Pacific islands for most Americans, at least at that time. It was truly a foreign land. No churches. No legendary architecture. No cities such as London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, etc, that filled the landscape with familiarity. It was just brutality. Young Americans dying by the thousands to take and hold islands that held no significance to them at all.

That said, I agree with your perspective. I have found over the years the Pacific to be an incredibly high quality series that just didn't resonate with me that much on the first viewing. But I have really come to love it. I watched the episode yesterday of the Marines taking the airfield on Peleliu. Absolutely riveting. I think the Pacific is one of the most underrated series out there.