The trials of a U.S. Army platoon serving in the field during the Vietnam War.
The peaks and the valleys. Find the essential episodes — and the ones to skip.
The platoon is assigned to defend Firebase Ladybird under siege by a regiment of North Vietnamese troops. At the same time they come under siege by NVA soldiers, they are assigned a new, ambitious commander who complicates an already dangerous situation.
With Thanksgiving 1968 as a backdrop; Colonel Brewster's decision to go to the press about the Phu An massacre lands him a lot of trouble with the higher echelon, especially when he goes on the record with journalist Sid Boyle. Meanwhile, Percell, after quitting heroin cold turkey, is physically fine, but psychologically still shaken. Also, Lt. Goldman, Sgt. Anderson and the squad are gathering evidence for Colonel Brewster's theory that the NVA must have fuel storage dumps at regular intervals along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
Bravo Company takes Hill 1000 - again - and finds no trace of the enemy. All the men, especially Horn, question why they take a hill suffering casualties and then abandon it, only to be required to take it again. A day or so later, a helicopter spraying Agent Orange is shot down, and Bravo Company again goes up Hill 1000 through the dripping Agent Orange. Horn walked down the hill but decides that his friends are worth fighting for. Horn is wounded throwing explosives into the VC bunker. And then the men are ordered yet again to abandon the hill. Medals are handed out that highlight a number of the episodes.
Carol Anderson informs Zeke that she is marrying a nice guy; he wants her to be happy. Stacy Bridger travels to Saigon to meet her father, Sgt. Jake Bridger. He was killed by VC a week before. Except Bridger is in hiding and getting information about the VC to pass on to Command. McKay sends Goldman on a wild goose chase down the Fu Loc Highway so that he could be alone with Alex; McKay didn't know VC were all over the area. He flew to the rescue. That night, the VC launch a coordinated attack in Saigon, on Tan Son Nhut (the American base), and in cities throughout South Vietnam.
Each point is an episode, plotted in order. Colored bands mark season boundaries. Look for the rise, the plateau, or the decline.
High votes + high rating = beloved classic. High votes + low rating = notorious stinker. Low votes + high rating = hidden gem.
One point per season. Smooths out the episode-to-episode noise to reveal the bigger arc.
Did each season build or fizzle? Green means the finale outscored the premiere. Red means the opposite. Longer arrows, bigger swings.
How steady is each season? Tightly clustered dots mean reliable quality. Scattered dots mean a wild ride.
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