As shows go, this one is so far only fair to good. Certainly one thing lacking is credible military language. No one in the Army calls their superior officer "boss". It's either "Sir" or their rank. The script writer botched this.
shareEven in 1962 an explosion at an Army base would have been investigated by Army personnel from Washington and if a soldier had died in the explosion the Pentagon would never have let a local Police officer near the site or participate in the investigation.
shareWhat you guys have to realize is that the base isn't necessarily closed to the public, it's not an inclosed base, it's part of the community, so that's why you have local law enforcement investigating. Since it happened in a military building, however, the Military Police would be leading the investigation, not the civilians.
As for calling your superior officer "boss" this is actually more common than you think, although it's generally not done with lower-enlisted personnel to officers. You routinely see officers today referring to their superior officers (especially those in command positions) as "boss". It's similar to enlisted personnel calling their first sergeant "top".
On a base where they are running classified operations like MKULTRA? I doubt it. That said, MKULTRA wasn't farmed out to small VA hospitals in the middle of nowhere with two scientists and an MD. Throw in a soviet satellite landing in their reservoir and the cops never would have even been let near this. Put plainly, the local cops have no jurisdiction on a federal reservation, like a military base. Now, the whole thing would have been run by Army CID (which didn't exist at the time).
I live near an active duty military post. They don't let the cops on base to do things like this. Since 9/11 it has become very difficult just to get to the VA facilities on post.
I have two friends who are active duty officers in the Army. A captain and a Lt. None of their subordinates would address them as anything oither their rank or 'sir.'
I would have to ask then where would you best hide an operation such as MKUltra?
Funded (allegedly) by the CIA, it was on of the worlds most guarded secrets for 2 decades (started in the 50's) how did they manage that? simple they didnt tell anyone about it, most the personal involved didnt know what they were working on, only a very select few knew of its true purpose. To add to that im sure that half the people involved were stationed all over the world, in truth this is exactly where they would've hidden the experiments, small villages from the west to the east all working on the same project.
I doubt that they would've placed MKUltra next to a military base, the base commander would have to be in on the secret, so it wouldn't be a good place at all for such a clandestine operation.
have a secret to hide?.... hide it under the bed, in the closet oh, lets hide it the the linen box... come on...
best place to hide something is in plain sight for all to see, the reasons for that being the most effective is based on ppl don't look around they simply see what the expect to see.
just my thoughts on things.
I agree...the costuming alone is dreadful. The MP Major looks like he never washes his clothes...hardly the behavior of a field grade officer...and his rank/branch insignia are on BACKWARDS!! (Rank goes on the RIGHT collar). GLARING error!
shareYep. And although the nurses are wearing the insignia of the Army Nurse Corps, they are not wearing rank insignia. They should at least be lieutenants, captains, etc. I also saw a clip from Episode 7 on Youtube wherein Corbin Allred is attired as a lieutenant in dress uniform: his ribbons are out of order, (top row should be on bottom,) and he is wearing Vietnam ribbons which I doubt were issued in 1962. However, since Corbin is not in the credits for Granite Flats, perhaps that scene was cut.
shareDespite his fantastic acting, they have got Scott Christopher's character (Frank)in a quandary with his uniform. First off, if he has the Combat Infantry Badge, he would have to have been in a war. But it has been 11 years since the Korean War. And if he is an expert infantryman, why does he wear the lowest level of Marksmanship Badge? (Barely qualified on rifle.) And if he had been in the Army since the Korean War, why is he still only a lieutenant?
I was proud to see the pistol used in the chop-shop is the same as one I own, though it was not around until the late 1980's. But it is a mere trifle.
Spoiler:
The nurses act like civilians and the VA (The sign in front of the hospital says it's a VA Hospital.) doesn't usually use active duty army nurse corp. There's no chain of command for the nurses, they seem to come and go as they please. They report to civilians and the hospital is run by civilians/CIA reprobates. Beth's husband was (spoiler:is) in the air force, so how could she be in the Army nurse corps?
They certainly don't act like they are active duty military.
What kind of hospital is this? Acute care? Long term care? Psychiatric?
Of course, there is only one patient in the hospital that is ever shown past the first episode.
Noticed that the rank insignia and combat arms insignia switch sides occasionally on the major's uniform. (Are the MPs even part of combat arms–crossed sabers?)
The JAG lawyer showed up with combat arms insignia on his lapel, not JAG insignia. As bad as the purported lawyer was, I am thinking he was supposed to be some kind of bizarre comic relief.
CIBs seem to make it onto every uniform in movies these days. Even for non-infantry MOS's. Occasionally, you see the CIB right above the pocket and the ribbons above that. CIBs used to be awarded to any infantryman who served in a combat unit for 30 days (during Korea), so, maybe some of these guys were sent out to sit in a H&S company of an infantry battalion during Korea to get their CIBs.
They do although they try the rifle they soon in one episode is the Russian SVD expect it took place in 1962 and rifle was accepted by Soviet Army in 1963 and was very secret. I suppose since they are CIA they got they hands on the prototype :) Another character has a Russian pistol as a red herring no reason for a KGB to carry one in US
shareYou have to wonder if all the military mistakes were done on purpose to see if they would be noticed.
3rd generation American from a long line of Gottscheers... it was Drandul, dude!
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The writers of this program have zero understanding of the US military. The roles of enlisted, NCOs and Officers are totally wrong. No major would ever be washing a jeep! Uniforms and insignia also wrong. The deportment of military portrayed here could only come from someone who detests our troops.
shareI just wonder if they did it if people would notice. I don't think it was meant to be 'mean' nor demeaning... maybe to just get a rise out of the audience to see if they are really paying attention. This isn't NCIS...it's just Granite Flats... just to make you point at the screen and go... "Wait wha!?"
3rd generation American from a long line of Gottscheers... it was Drandul, dude!