When you hear "In 1899, the streets of New York City ECHOED with the voices of newsies" so you know your about to watch two hours and one minute of peak cinema
Young Web running off to the sea and the romance of it being shot down because it's not the 1830s and everything is a damned diesel these days. Packing up those sea shanties and heading back to school.
Young Web running off to the sea and the romance of it being shot down because it's not the 1830s and everything is a damned diesel these days. Packing up those sea shanties and heading back to school.
my most tinhat theory is that web was originally the focus character of why we fight:
web is noticeably more angry and caustic than we've seen him in any previous episode, even before they discover the camp. we see this when he snaps at Joe and yells at the retreating soldiers. he's disillusioned with the war, angry about the time he's lost to it, the death he's seen. his narration in the last patrol sets up these feelings as well:
His family, I'm sure, got a telegram from the War Department, saying he died a hero on an important mission that would help win the war. In fact, Eugene lost his life on a stretcher in a dank basement in Haguenau, crying out in agony, while his friends looked on helplessly. He was just one more casualty in a war that was supposed to be all but over.
They reuse this beat for Nix in the episode when he and Dick have their argument about dying a hero.
Nix: Cause I don’t know how to tell 'em that their kids never even made it out of the goddamn plane.
Winters: You tell em what you always tell em: their sons died as heroes.
Nixon: You really still believe that?
Winters: Yeah. Yeah, I do. Don’t you?
comparatively, nix’s gloom in this episode does not strike me as that much of a departure from usual (we’ve seen him tired/demoralized in bastogne/the last patrol, we’ve seen the alcoholism). his feelings are the result of a natural degradation while web’s shift is more drastic
nix and web’s beats in the episode are really similar (snapping at a friend, screaming meltdowns) and not in a way that adds any interesting dimension to the others’ story. almost like one existed and the other’s was written in later. while perconte has a similar arc, it’s different enough that it adds more interest to the episode. his conflict is with a replacement about their differing views of the war.
a lot of the characters who get bigger moments/are around in the background of shots more in the episode are characters who come up frequently in web’s book: speirs, janovec, luz, lieb, christenson
web’s monologue is the one that asks the central question of the episode: Dragging our asses half-way around the world, interrupting our lives. For what? You ignorant, servile scum! What the fսck are we doing here?
we see web have an angrier reaction than anybody else to the camp during his confrontation with the baker. he gets to ACT on his anger while nix...frowns at the germans? web’s scene is more dramatically satisfying. his question is answered, and he’s furious
he gets the better line at the end of episode: should've killed himself three years ago, saved us a lot of trouble which Nix only agrees with.
you can probably disprove some of these points, and I don't know if a script draft of why we fight exists and debunks all of this. while a Lieb version of why we fight would’ve been the best possible option, in my opinion a web one would’ve worked better than nix. web has more interesting writing in this episode, he's coming off being the narrator of the last, and it makes his betrayal of lieb in the final episode also a betrayal of the audience. it also would've made the webgott mini arc that exists in the back three episodes have a richer and more thematic throughline and this was a clearly a dynamic the writers were interested in. web is also a larger character in band of brothers (the book) and parachute infantry which would justify giving him the two episodes. I’ve seen it around that dick insisted on nix having a bigger role and perhaps this is the consequence
my most tinhat theory is that web was originally the focus character of why we fight:
web is noticeably more angry and caustic than we've seen him in any previous episode, even before they discover the camp. we see this when he snaps at Joe and yells at the retreating soldiers. he's disillusioned with the war, angry about the time he's lost to it, the death he's seen. his narration in the last patrol sets up these feelings as well:
His family, I'm sure, got a telegram from the War Department, saying he died a hero on an important mission that would help win the war. In fact, Eugene lost his life on a stretcher in a dank basement in Haguenau, crying out in agony, while his friends looked on helplessly. He was just one more casualty in a war that was supposed to be all but over.
They reuse this beat for Nix in the episode when he and Dick have their argument about dying a hero.
Nix: Cause I don’t know how to tell 'em that their kids never even made it out of the goddamn plane.
Winters: You tell em what you always tell em: their sons died as heroes.
Nixon: You really still believe that?
Winters: Yeah. Yeah, I do. Don’t you?
comparatively, nix’s gloom in this episode does not strike me as that much of a departure from usual (we’ve seen him tired/demoralized in bastogne/the last patrol, we’ve seen the alcoholism). his feelings are the result of a natural degradation while web’s shift is more drastic
nix and web’s beats in the episode are really similar (snapping at a friend, screaming meltdowns) and not in a way that adds any interesting dimension to the others’ story. almost like one existed and the other’s was written in later. while perconte has a similar arc, it’s different enough that it adds more interest to the episode. his conflict is with a replacement about their differing views of the war.
a lot of the characters who get bigger moments/are around in the background of shots more in the episode are characters who come up frequently in web’s book: speirs, janovec, luz, lieb, christenson
web’s monologue is the one that asks the central question of the episode: Dragging our asses half-way around the world, interrupting our lives. For what? You ignorant, servile scum! What the fսck are we doing here?
we see web have an angrier reaction than anybody else to the camp during his confrontation with the baker. he gets to ACT on his anger while nix...frowns at the germans? web’s scene is more dramatically satisfying. his question is answered, and he’s furious
he gets the better line at the end of episode: should've killed himself three years ago, saved us a lot of trouble which Nix only agrees with.
you can probably disprove some of these points, and I don't know if a script draft of why we fight exists and debunks all of this. while a Lieb version of why we fight would’ve been the best possible option, in my opinion a web one would’ve worked better than nix. web has more interesting writing in this episode, he's coming off being the narrator of the last, and it makes his betrayal of lieb in the final episode also a betrayal of the audience. it also would've made the webgott mini arc that exists in the back three episodes have a richer and more thematic throughline and this was a clearly a dynamic the writers were interested in. web is also a larger character in band of brothers (the book) and parachute infantry which would justify giving him the two episodes. I’ve seen it around that dick insisted on nix having a bigger role and perhaps this is the consequence
✦ EUGENE SLEDGE // “Sign of the Times” ‐ Harry Styles.
“I concluded that it was impossible for me to be killed, because God loved me. Then I told myself that God loved us all and that many would die or be ruined physically or mentally or both by the next morning and in the days following. My heart pounded, and I broke out in a cold sweat.”
eugene b. sledge, “with the old breed” (1981, p. 65).
commentary under the cut:
eugene's pain and suffering: the video!! this is my most ambitious edit yet, almost 6 minutes long, there was so much of eugene's story i wanted to capture and i still think i didn't do it enough justice because there's so many moments i had to leave out. eugene is a very special character to me and so i wanted to highlight his struggles, his relationships, his losses, not to "dwell on it" but to demonstrate just how strong and persevering he is.
the "we've been here before" bits refer to the gnawing sameness of the war just as much as it relates to his continuous miscommunication with sid, who i felt needed to be an important part of the video as he was a terribly important part of eugene's life. this video is about the impact all those deaths and losses had in eugene, the overwhelming sense of doom all that violence provoked, the sense of it never ending, his mixed feelings about it finally ending, his internal fight before, during and after the war, the emotional support he offered and received, his continuous writing and the peace he found in it, etc. as I've said it was an ambitious project and i hope i managed to represent all of the above in a way that is true to eugene's character. happy birthday to my best guy <3
✦ EUGENE SLEDGE // “Sign of the Times” ‐ Harry Styles.
“I concluded that it was impossible for me to be killed, because God loved me. Then I told myself that God loved us all and that many would die or be ruined physically or mentally or both by the next morning and in the days following. My heart pounded, and I broke out in a cold sweat.”
eugene b. sledge, “with the old breed” (1981, p. 65).
commentary under the cut:
eugene's pain and suffering: the video!! this is my most ambitious edit yet, almost 6 minutes long, there was so much of eugene's story i wanted to capture and i still think i didn't do it enough justice because there's so many moments i had to leave out. eugene is a very special character to me and so i wanted to highlight his struggles, his relationships, his losses, not to "dwell on it" but to demonstrate just how strong and persevering he is.
the "we've been here before" bits refer to the gnawing sameness of the war just as much as it relates to his continuous miscommunication with sid, who i felt needed to be an important part of the video as he was a terribly important part of eugene's life. this video is about the impact all those deaths and losses had in eugene, the overwhelming sense of doom all that violence provoked, the sense of it never ending, his mixed feelings about it finally ending, his internal fight before, during and after the war, the emotional support he offered and received, his continuous writing and the peace he found in it, etc. as I've said it was an ambitious project and i hope i managed to represent all of the above in a way that is true to eugene's character. happy birthday to my best guy <3
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