Sea Patrol Second Season sucks!
Has anyone else watched this Australian TV show? It is about the crew of an Aussie patrol boat, so even though they are navy their mission is very similiar to our Coast Guard. Last year I enjoyed this show immensely, however this year I have felt like I am watching something straight out of Hollywood. The crew seems to do everything possible to not fire their guns, at times I wonder if they even load them!
In the first episode they are sent into the harbor of a pacific island which seems to have a revolution going on in order to pick up a NGO team fleeing the violence. With the NGO land rover in sight they see natives with AK-47s and machetes pull them from their truck and beat them. But because one mortar open fire on the boat they turn and head away! Then when they send landing parties they arrive at the dock armed only with their sidearms to face a larger party of natives with automatic weapons and hostages. Then they lower their sidearms to show they mean the locals no harm!
In the third episode they pickup what seem to be refuges who's ship has sunk. However three of the refuges are mercenaries who take the two female officers hostage along with the other refugees. Ok so far, and when the mercs manage to open the door leading to the engine room the captain has two crewmen blocking their path who get in a gun battle with them. The captain and some crew go down to reinforce the blocking party who are running low on ammo (apparently the mercs packed a whole lot of clips in their pants). But instead of holding the mercs back from entering the engine room the captain and crew retreat! Additionally the navigation room is on the other side of the room with the mercs and they enter it with no contest. Now the three mercs armed only with pistols have control of the ships power and navigation! A crew of 21 simple lets three mercs gain complete control of below decks.
Tonight's episode starts with the crew going after an illegal fishing mother ship (ice ship). But they give up after the fishing crew fends the rubber boats off with poles and flares all the while waving machetes. The Armidale class boats have small arms for the crew as well as a 25mm deck gun and two 12.7mm machine guns.
I am not sure if I can watch any more! I wonder if they are going to paint a peace sign on the boat with a motto of "Make love not war"!
What do y'all think?
posted by JB @ 8:44 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
I've read so many blogs on sea patrol, and so many people are saying that. I quite like season 2, but I hear what you're saying about the "hollywood" vibe.
But I found this really funny spoof vid of Sea Patrol.. You should check it out, it might make you feel better about the whole thing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Mq9Qwmee4
As an American who has gotten hooked on Sea Patrol I have to say I just laugh at how non-American it is.
Of course it is non-American as it is made of, by and for Australians, so I wouldn’t expect or want it to be anything but Australian in mentality. And I do appreciate the realism that they approach how the Australian Navy actually does things.
But what I mean about laughing at how non-American the show is it like you have them go after some ship that they suspect is doing something like I don’t know drug running, running guns, illegal fishing or whatever and they yell out a warning for the ship to stop so it can be boarded. And, then if they are “really” serious they might fire some warning shots 20 meters or so in front of the ship but after that if the ship doesn’t slow down it’s like oh well we have tried, guess that’s all we can do.
Why would the people on the suspected ship be afraid of some warning shots if they know that the ship won’t take it to the next level? They would know it is a big bluff on the part of the Australian Navy
At least during the first season when they do board a ship the boarding party didn’t even carry firearms. I found that hilarious.
Again, I appreciate the realism in how they really respond but if it was the American Navy or Coast Guard we wouldn’t stop at “warning shots”.
I remember the show you mentioned where they retreated from boarding an illegal fishing ship just because the crew was throwing stuff at them and pushing them away with sticks.
Trust me, try that with a US Coast Guard ship and you will get a boatload of bullets.
And it so often seems that to have drama in the show they have the Navy personnel do some of the dumbest of things. For example when they have civilians on board they give them the run of the ship without any supervision or at the very least don’t watch them as closely as they should.
I think I enjoy the show just because of the stupidity shown in it. Again, I am glad they do show how the Australian Navy really works, but their “stop or we will yell stop again” attitude just makes the show so damn funny.
All the complaints you have about the show is probably why I love to watch it so.
After all, I am an American so it is easy for me to laugh at how wimpy the Australian Navy seems to be (at least on this show).
I would of course feel much different if the show was about the American Coast Guard. It would indeed anger me and I would be writing my Congressman asking how true to life the show is.
But since it's the Australian Navy it's a laugh a minute for me.
"Fishing vessel to the port side This is Australian Navy warship HMAS Hammersley please stop so we may board you".
No response Boss.
"Fishing vessel to the port side This is Australian Navy warship HMAS Hammersley please stop so we may board you". Pretty please.
Again, no response Boss.
Oh well, we tried.
"Tonight's episode starts with the crew going after an illegal fishing mother ship (ice ship). But they give up after the fishing crew fends the rubber boats off with poles and flares all the while waving machetes. The Armidale class boats have small arms for the crew as well as a 25mm deck gun and two 12.7mm machine guns."
That was my favorite episode.
My second favorite episode being where the HMAS Hammersley chases after this ship that had been hijacked (by someone they had earlier failed to capture) and the bad guy had the captain held hostage. He was holding a gun to the captain's head but they clearly had the bad guy in their gun sights and could have easily shoot him, but they didn't want to risk the life of the hostage so they let the ship go.
Even in the show the civilians who were able to escape from the hijacked ship and where on board when the HMAS Hammersley was chasing after it were shocked that they were just going to let the ship go.
Later they found out that the people who had hijacked the ship killed the hostage anyway. At least by shooting the guy holding the gun at the hostage the hostage would have had a chance for survival but the way it ended up the captain ended up dead, and the hijackers escaped.
"Then when they send landing parties they arrive at the dock armed only with their sidearms to face a larger party of natives with automatic weapons and hostages. Then they lower their sidearms to show they mean the locals no harm!"
Yeah I loved that episode too.
I also liked the one where the Australian Navy left the command of the ship to a crazy guy while Mike was in the hospital. The funny part being that although the guy was indeed a loon, he was making more sense than the rest of the crew when it came to how to conduct operations. He was more correct than Kate in almost every case.
It is just so funny. Of course I would be so pissed if the show was a show about the US military or law enforcement, but since it isn't I just have to laugh at how cowardly they portray the Australian Navy.
But the one where illegal fishers chase off a Armidale class war ship using just poles and flares and waving machetes just takes the cake.
This is just so not the Paul Hogan image of the Australians we have grown accustomed to with Australians being rough and tough (you call that a knife, now this is a knife).
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