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.
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.
With Goldman recovering from his wounds and transferring to Intelligence, Anderson meets the replacement Lieutenant Miller, who is keen on appearance by the book, which is something the new medic, Francis Hockenbury aka:' Doc Hock', takes lightly. Meanwhile, Alex Devlin gets the rare opportunity to interview NVA General Thoc in the tunnels. After surviving a B-52 strike on the complex, she is happy to be back in Saigon and spend her last night with Myron before leaving Vietnam for good.
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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