Cinemax's STRIKE BACK SEASON 2 APPRECIATION THREAD...FUCK ME

Welcome ladies and gents to the Season 2 thread of everyone's favorite TV show and the official TV show of the B-Action Movie Thread...STRIKE BACK.  Before we get to the countdown, Lets cover some highlights.

"Make it cold and quick...is there any other way?"

So its business as usual when we catch up with Damien Scott.  Collecting some random Libyan guy who looks like he is up to no good.  We meet Rhona Mitra's Rachel character who quickly establishes a heightened level of sexual tension with Scott.  They pick up the libyan, Rachel downloads some info off of the Libyan's DELL (quality machine) laptop

BTW, this show has some gorgeous cinematography.  It is really really really well shot.

As they are leaving they're rendezvous they fall for the old "Spilled fruit cart in the street" trick!!!  Isn't that in like "special forces 101"?

Anyway, then we go all FULL METAL JACKET and see Stonebridge in his new job.  I enjoyed the parallels between the killhouse training segments and the eventual chase/shoot out through Somalia later in the episode that was really well done.

I didn't really predict Stonebridge having to shoot the recruit with the major malfunction but that was a nice character moment...AND A HEADSHOT!!!  It was also a nice reveal about the miscarriage.  Unfortunately for stonebridge's wife, knowing she wasn't preggo anymore made her EXPENDABLE!

Anyway...onto the countdown!

STRIKE BACK COUNTDOWN (brought to you by Coke Zero)

1. Headshots: wow, headshots galore.  The recruit that stonebridge took down.  The guy who picked up the cellphone.  Several somali thugs.  A few knifes to the neck.  Its almost hard to keep count anymore!  The show definitely did not miss a beat!!!

2. SEX:  Right near the beginning we get a hilarious montage of fucking and driving between Scott and unnamed british consulate agent.  If thats a british Sympathy Fuck, I need to move to England!  On a side note, all the British military chicks are smokin' hot on this show.  They even got techie Richmond into the action and yowza when she took off her wetsuit I was standing at attention!  Another great sex related moment was when Waabri's gf tried to fuck the Muslim outta him and stop him from being so conflicted.

3. Innocent Bystander Death:  I am not sure if they killed any innocents.  Definitely no kids were harmed.  Im sure in the marketplace kidnapping some unnamed african extras got fitted up with some nice squibs.  The old white dude might have counted had he not turned into a mini-Rambo when he got the AK47 in his hands.  His was kind of a poetic death though.  I am curious why the team just let the African Undertaker just take his body away.  Weren't they curious what happened to the guy?

4. Everything Goes to Shit:  This has become a trademark of the show just as much as the sex and violence.  The "exfil" sites kept getting compromised and the situation kept changing on the fly.  It really kept the tension levels high.  Obviously there were heavy shades of BLACK HAWK DOWN in this episode, which I appreciated.  They handled the tension really well throughout the latter half of the episode always keeping the audience on their toes.  

5.  Wildcard of the Episode:  For those uninitiated to my countdowns, I like to highlight a few things about each episode that this show does differently than other action shows on TV or even movies for that matter.  I think this episodes standout was the villain Waabri.  I actually thought they did a great job of defining him from the cavalcade of African villains they had in season 1.  They gave him an internal conflict, an interesting backstory, a cool scar, and a totally hipster hat!  Hey, who cares if we are meeting in a nondescript cement factory at night, a guy's gotta look good right!?  He had some great lines and got me legitimately interested in him as a character rather than just a device to move the plot forward.  I really enjoyed his turn.  I'll remember him as one of the finer one off villains of the series.

Now the biggest addition of course was Rhona Mitra.  I really liked her.  She was tough and sexy, just like she is in all of her movies basically.  A good foil to Scott I think, and maybe an eventual fuck???  Lets save that for the season finale.

They have set up the season quite nicely.  Some new intrigue into each of the leads, Scott's CIA background and Stonebridge's search for his friend/wife killer.  I think the nuclear triggers will be a decent enough plot device to get us into interesting locales and situations.

I finally want to give one more shout out to the military advisors on this show.  I am not a veteran of any actual war, but am a fan of military tactics and this show does it really fucking well.  The language both verbal and body are really really cool and from what I understand very accurate.  The show's fire and movement sequences are a joy to watch and definitely different from anything on TV and most films.

We are off to a great start here guys.  Look forward to sharing it with you...I am real tempted to jump on MAXGO and watch the next episode, but I think I'd rather wait to watch it on my actual TV.  The show is so cinematic that watching it on a computer screen seems like a disservice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSaxon 

Nice write-up!

 

Definitely agreed on this point. I don't have any military experience but even my untrained eye can tell that these guys aren't just pointing and shooting. I love the way the battles unfold in this show with the two guys taking down multiple opponents whilst covering one another.

 

I'm interested to see what's going to happen with the killer of Stonebridge's wife and how they will tie that into the rest of the season.

 

More people should be watching Strike Back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moltisanti 

Awesome job as always, Fazer.

 

I was worried the scenes of Stonebridge as an instructor  would be dull. Little did I know they'd lead to the biggest training mishap since STARSHIP TROOPERS.

Thanks good sirs

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacob Singer 

That guy's brother is gonna be PISSED.

My prediction is that the evil Private Military/ex friend of Stonebridge is going to be involved with Charles Dance's character somehow.  I am sure its not just going to be a "b" storyline.  It will get woven into the main story by mid season is what I imagine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSaxon 

I'm extremely glad that the loss of Frank Spotnitz (who moved on to the promising-looking BBC espionage show Hunted) hasn't seemed to have affected Strike Back. His name was all over the first season and it did give me some cause for concern. Looks like those concerns were unfounded. *Phew*

Agreed.  I was worried about that too.

I have heard mixed things about HUNTED, but given its pedigree I am definitely going to give it a shot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Harford 

So can anyone advise me how to start watching this show? I've searched online and there seem to be multiple seasons listed as "season one".

Its a bit confusing, but the show exists really in two incarnations.

The original STRIKE BACK based on a book by Chris Ryan was a British only show that was never shown on TV in the states.  It did not involve stonebridge or scott at all.

STRIKE BACK (version 2.0) is currently in its second season airing on Cinemax.  This is the show we all know and love with all the tits, blood, gore, and bromancing.

If you are in england, the current 2nd season airing on Cinemax would be I guess "Season 3".

I never saw the original british show, but I hear it was good an entertaining, but tonally very different and much smaller in scope than the show in its current incarnation

We're back with the countdown folks!  But first a few observations and/or highlights...

"A gun and a uniform don't make you a soldier"

Great cold open.  I wasn't totally convinced they could do any legitimate character building in a show like this, but they are establishing some true depth for Stonebridge here.  He has always been the "deeper" guy, but the way he deals with his wife's death will definitely play on the through the season.  I am not sure I am too crazy about this, but I am willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt.

Also, I loved the airdrop into the Sahara.  really beautiful imagery there.  I also really liked the whole chase of Othmani through the hotel.  very tense and well shot.

Anyway, on to the countdown!

STRIKE BACK COUNTDOWN (Brought to you by COKE ZERO)

1. Headshots:  Wow, there were quite a few of these.  Most notably the sexy sniper lady backing up Charles Dance's right hand man.  Really appreciate the great squib work.  I think shooting guys in turbans allows for better and more impactful placement of squibs as well.  I guess thats one benefit of no longer having Russians as our "enemy number one".  I'd like to give a shout out to whoever thought of bringing a suicide bomber to a negotiation.  Al-Soldad's business tactics are unorthodox, but something tells me he'd make a killing on Wall street.

2. Sex:  TONS.  Can we talk about Scott and his CIA lady-friend's hate fuck (stealing that from Matt Turner).  First of all, I doubt the Niger Special forces supplied condoms for that encounter...but that chick was CIA so maybe she always "cums" prepared.  We also saw the Niger transport guru doggystyling what was surely an African whore.  The sexy sniper lady also swam topless, which was much appreciated.  I found the image of a topless women holding a very large sniper rifle reminiscent of the early days of the internet when websites popped up showing nothing but bikini babes shooting automatic weapons.  The sexual tension between Scott and the Tuareg tribal leader was palpable.  She was a hilarious almost cartoony character but a nice foil to Scott.

3.  Innocent Bystander Death:  Pretty much everyone in that bus got pwned.  Sucks for those guys.  There seemed to be several unnamed Tuareg people who also got shitcanned when the negotiations went south.  Even in the uninhabited dessert this show manages to find a way to kill innocents!

4.  Everything goes to shit:  Well the bus infiltration/hijacking really went to shit fast leading to a slightly awkward and explosive cliffhanger.  I think Stonebridge's PTSD maybe the source of several of my "number fours" on future lists.

5.  Wildcard(s) of the Episode:  I think everyone guessed this one already.  WRESTLING IN A RING OF FIRE!!!  That totally came out of left field.  I loved how non-chalant the show was about the whole thing too.  You'd think they'd build it up with some intro, scott prepping up stonebridge for the fight, etc etc but instead it was almost carried out in the background of Scott trying to get in the Tuareg Chieftains sandties (sand panties).  Such wild imagery going on that I don't think I'd ever seen on a TV show before.  One other mention was the highlighting of the Tuareg people in general.  I've never really seen them depicted in movies or TV but after wikipedia-ing them, the show was actually really spot on in their portrayal of them.  You think you are just watching an entertaining action show on TV and you go and actually learn something about the world!  I really started to like the Tuareg chief near the end of the episode.  I hope Scott doesn't doom-fuck her sending her to a quick demise.

Overall, I like where they are going with the plot.  I hope it leads to more fun in the desert, which is a setting that you don't see much of in TV and/or movies anymore.  I think Al-Soldad makes for a fine villain as the previously alluded big bad "Exmali" just had a cool sounding name but was way too religious to be that interesting and/or evil.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrSaxon 

Fazer, don't ever stop those summaries. CHUD should give you a place on the front page each week.

thanks man.  just sharing my love of the show.  glad you enjoy it

Quote:

Originally Posted by levrock 

You know, for all the talk the "Expendables 2" is generating (and I did like it), this show just feels so much more like what the 80's action movies were before they got really goofy. There's a real early John McTiernan/Joel Silver/George Cosmatos feel to the action sequences and the humor /banter is so much more natural and doesn't rely on winking to the audience. The real squibs and rampant nudity just seals the deal. In fact, the creative team on this should be doing "Expendables 3". 

 

Make it happen.

I think it goes without saying that SB harkens back to a time when action was a bit more hardcore and a bit more adult.  As much as I love Sly and EX2, it is definitely a goofy tongue firmly in cheek love letter to the genre.

This show is trying to and succeeding at recapturing the feel of American action, which we all know is a genre that has been in bad shape for a while now.

The countdown continues...as always we will start with some general observations:

"Out here men get very possessive with their goats"

The one thing that has really stuck out this season has been the obvious references/homages.  The first chapter was clearly an ode to BLACK HAWK DOWN.  This second chapter was essentially a Western, scott even mentioned the alamo.  A lot of Western themes permeated throughout this chapter especially in this second episode.  The Taureg people were kinda like Indians.  Clearly Scott and Stonebridge were the cowboys.  they even had a showdown!

Overall, this second half really brought the chapter to a rousing close.  It was a bit uneven in the first half (last week), but in classic STRIKE BACK fashion the payoff was worth it.

I actually really liked El-Soldat.  I was sad to see him go.  But at least he got a good death.  Not only did he get blown up but then got his throat cut for good measure!  His speech/showdown with Stonebridge was pretty awesome.  Cocks in mouth was hilarious.  They are really blowing through bad guys though.  Clearly Charles Dance has something up his sleeve here and it conveniently involves Hanson, the murderer of Mrs. Stonebridge.

My guess is that this Nostromo thing is going to maybe be some sort of private military corp that Dance's character is going to control to do his illegal bidding on the black market.  Maybe a "cobra" if you will to Section 20's "gi joe".

Speaking of Section 20, I like the interplay between Sinclair and Rhona Mitra's character.  I liked when she admitted she considered letting Stonebridge die to get El-Soldat.

Anyway, ON TO THE COUNTDOWN!

STRIKE BACK COUNTDOWN (BROUGHT TO YOU BY COKE ZERO)

1. HEADSHOTS:  you guys may have to help me here.  I know El-Soldat got his throat cut, which we established earlier does count, but I am not sure I recall any obvious head trauma in this episode.  I will say this, I enjoyed the hatchet toss/kill.  That was freaking awesome!  And I will say it again, the tactics on display here are a joy to watch.  I love watching these guys switch to sidearms when their primary weapon is out but they are still in a situation where they need to lay down suppressing fire.  You see them reload.  I liked when Scott yelled at the Taureg queen "its a tactical withdrawal"!!!

2. SEX:  Well they built it up for a full episode but Scott and the Taureg queen finally consumated their battlefield marriage.  We didn't see any ta-tas though.  I think this show leads the market though in "stress sex" scenes.  I can't think of any show ever that has shown sex in more stressful situations than this one.  Scott is having sex anywhere, anytime.  He is like the special forces of sex or Seal Team Sex?

3. INNOCENT BYSTANDER DEATH:  I fully expected the arab doctor to eat it but the guy survived!  I also expected the french monk to meet his maker but he too survived!  I don't think one innocent was killed!  BUT, a redshirt (red turban??) totally jumped on a grenade to save the rest of the squad.  So maybe that counts?

4.  EVERYTHING GOES TO SHIT:  Well the attempt to exfiltrate went to shit thanks to sexy sniper lady and company.  their ride out of the shack got blown up real good.  They lost the triggers only after they came to the pleasant realization that they were with them the entire time!  So I think we are good in category 4.

5.  WILDCARD OF THE EPISODE:  I think The Taureg queen surviving the usual post-coital death sentence of Scott was a big surprise!  She is such a great character so I am not surprised they let her live.  Clearly she was something different than what scott usually bangs and burns.  Like I said last week, she was almost too cartoony a character for the more grounded universe of STRIKE BACK.  But her presence was a welcome change of pace.  A separate note, thanks to Facebook ads (yes I actually clicked on one.  You're welcome for that 10 cents Zuckerberg!) I checked out HBOs STRIKE BACK store.  Much like there GAME OF THRONES merch, they have a limited, but high quality selection of stuff for our favorite show.  I like this shirt the best because you really would have no idea what it was about or from even if you are familiar with the show

Anyway, another great episode and great finish to the second chapter of this season.  We even got a nice "bro-ment" between Scott and Stonebridge re: where his head is at.

I have a feeling that things are only going to get more crazy as the season progresses so gear up everybody!

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