Band of Brothers episode 7, "The Breaking Point", continues
the dark tone of episode 6, "Bastogne". The episode opens with Easy Company still in foxholes in the Ardennes Forest. It's still winter and it's still cold. One thing is less grim, though, and it's subtle.
The men have overcoats. That's a result of Gen. Patton's breaking through German lines ending
The Battle of the Bulge in late December 1944. Supplies are now able to get through, so the soldiers now have adequate food, clothes, and ammunition. They're still living in foxholes, though, and the Germans are still shelling them with artillery.
Sgt. Carwood Lipton
As in the previous installment, this episode is structured around one person as the viewpoint character, a person whose actions helped hold the company together. Last time it was combat medic Eugene "Doc" Roe. This time it's First Sergeant Carwood Lipton, played by Donnie Wahlberg. Walhberg would've been a lesser known actor back in 2001 when this series was filmed, so that's probably why he's cast as an otherwise minor character in the whole series. But here he gets to shine for an episode, both as a character and as an actor.
As a character, as a real person, it was Lipton's job as First Sergeant to advise the company leader on tactical matters but also to coordinate across the several platoons. Lipton goes above and beyond by not just relaying orders and dispensing combat guidance but by showing genuine concern for the men of the company as individuals. In one scene, for example, he advises two soldiers that their foxhole isn't deep enough. They object, noting the new company commander told them it's okay. (The new CO is a boob. More on that below.) Lipton fixes them with a Donnie Wahlberg stare— it's both friendly and menacing at the same time— then grabs a shovel and helps them dig.
An Empty Uniform in Charge
Just as the action narrative in this series isn't all rah-rah-we-won, the characterization isn't all heroics. It's a truism of military service that some people aren't up to demands of war. One of them is the new company commander, Lt. Dike. Remember,
Capt. Winters was promoted to battalion XO in Ep. 5. Winters's choice for Easy Company's next leader, Lt. Heyliger, led one mission before being wounded in a friendly fire accident. Winters and his CO had reservations about promoting other lieutenants up from within Easy, so a new company commander was transferred in. And he turned out to be a boob.
"In business I'd call him an empty suit," I thought. "But here they're not wearing suits." Then Sgt. Lipton answered my unasked question when elevating his concern to Capt. Winters— "He's an empty uniform, sir."
The problem with Lt. Dike, as portrayed in Eps. 5-6, was twofold. First, he was mysteriously
not even present much of the time. The episodes show the company not knowing his whereabouts much of the time, including when asked by battalion command, and Dike giving vague answers, like "I was patrolling", upon his periodic return. The soldiers are skeptical because they're hunkered down in foxholes against enemy artillery. There's no other reasonable place he could have been.
Second, even when he was
physically present he wasn't
mentally present. This becomes key in the middle of the episode when 2nd Battalion is given orders to attack the German position in the town of Foy. Winters briefs the companies on how they coordinate on the assault, and Dike yawns. He fucking
yawns. Then when Dike relays the orders to his company, one of the platoon leaders asks him about tactical formations, and Dike gives a buzzword-bingo answer that shows he neither understands nor cares about combat tactics. He's a bullshit artist, not a real field commander. The men are stressed because while a bozo of a leader in peacetime is frustrating, a bozo leader
in combat gets men
killed.
Sgt. Lipton's effective style of leadership is contrasted with Lt. Dike's uselessness. It's not just that he helps fill in some of the gaps on things Dike can't/won't do but that he also gently tells the enlisted men to stop making fun of Dike behind his back. "First, great impression of Dike. Second, don’t do it anymore. [...] It doesn't do anybody any good." So even as he raises his concerns about Lt. Dike to Capt. Winters he knows he still needs to promote unit cohesion.
Buck's Breaking Point
The saying "War is hell" comes up a lot. I've described this episode and the one before as dark because they really illustrate that. Soldiers living in foxholes with only branches to cover them against artillery assault is pretty grim. Soldiers in situations like this die. These episodes show several members of Easy Company dying and/or suffering grievous wounds.
The titled of this episode, "The Breaking Point", applies on several levels. A simple one is what any one person's break point is. By mid episode, Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton reaches his. He sees two of his friends killed or injured during one of the rounds of shelling— I'll spare the gory details shown in the visual narrative except to note they are
gory— and basically taps out. He's shell shocked. In the middle of trying to help his friends he drops his own helmet and can barely gasp, "Medic!"
Buck is given a medical evacuation. Officially it's because he had a bad case of trench foot. But people in the company knew it was because he basically broke. They do respect him— he was a strong leader before he broke. But in a scene at the field hospital he turns away from a subordinate trying to cheer him up because he knows his brokenness has failed the team.
Buck is played by now well known actor Neal McDonough. It's weird to see McDonough, who routinely is cast now as tough guys, play this person who fell apart.
More to come... stay tuned! ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
