Guns, hostages, terrorists and the good guys always win – but we all know that's not real life, right? Not in this case.
The Unit is based on the true story "Inside Delta Force" by Eric L. Haney, who was one of the founding members of Delta Force back in the 1970's.
Think you've heard it all before? Episode one starts off introducing the audience to Molly Blane (Regina Taylor) chatting on the phone to Marge's gift shop about a mirror – but isn't this is a story about gung-ho super soldiers? Clearly not.
The story continues to unfold, introducing Tiffy Gerhardt (Abby Bramwell) picking up pictures of her husband Mack, who she hasn't seen for a while; he's been deployed.
"Where are they sending him this time?" she is asked.
"Oh, he's working on something down in St Louis," Tiffy replies, as she looks thoughtfully at the photograph.
Cut to: Afghanistan, where Mack sits in a cafe, watching as a group of soldiers pull up in a jeep.
Simultaneously we see a Mercedes winding its way into the hills; the audience finds out it belongs to an arms dealer that the elite delta force unit has been sent in to kill.
Jonas Blane (Dennis Haysbert), team leader, shows the way as it becomes apparent their mission could be jeopardised by the platoon of local militia passing through, shooting a mule to create a distraction.
Meanwhile Mack Gerhardt (Max Martini), his trusty number two, and heavily-bearded Charles Grey (Michael Irby) set up a tripod to laser mark the arms dealer's motorcade.
Just in time, they get a lock, and it's bombs away as a waiting fighter jet drops the mother load, blowing the car and a large complex of buildings sky-high.
Bullets whizz by as the local militiamen realise this small group is responsible, and at any time, one false move means certain death.
But clearly, these men are no ordinary soldiers – these are a highly-trained and organised group of elite soldiers, capable of pinpoint accuracy and taking control of any situation if they have to.
The audience watches as they melt away, disappearing into the crowd.
Cut back to home at Fort Griffith and we meet Kim Brown (Audrey Marie Anderson) meeting the wives of her husband Bob's unit for the first time and discovers – this is no ordinary unit.
To start with, everyone in the unit seems to live on Maple Street, and everyone zealously guards the secret of what their husbands do, watching every comment and keeping the "cover story" up that their husbands work in administration in the 303rd Logistical Studies Unit.
Things quickly go from bad to worse for Kim as she realises she's trapped in Maple street with these women as her newly-adopted family, much to her dismay.
Asking where her newly recruited husband Bob (Scott Foley) is, she learns he is on a "training mission" in Idaho.
Enter Colonel Tom Ryan, the well-known face of terminator 2, and it's great to see actor Robert Patrick back in the saddle after being off-screen since then – to whom she puts her concerns.
But he just brushes her away, making it clear that the wives of his team are expected to be just as tight as the unit itself.
Her ideas of living off-base away from army life fade away as day turns to night, and we're back with the unit, assaulting an airplane that has been hijacked.
Kim sees the event on TV and realises the truth; her husband is in the thick of it.
Three men approach the back of the plane and are gunned down, which causes Kim to faint – the doctor is called and tells her she is pregnant.
It couldn't get any worse.
In the meantime her husband is in his element, sneaking up on the terrorists, taking them out, and saving the day.
The story comes to a close as husbands and wives reunite and the audience is introduced to the human side of the team.
Team leader Jonas is a different man at home, where his wife Molly reminds him to take out the trash.
Molly raises her concern that Colonel Ryan keeps sending Mack out on missions, but Jonas reminds Molly of the realities of this particular unit.
But all is not as it seems, as the last scene focuses in on the Colonel in bed with Tiffy, Mack's wife, and fades to black.
The Unit was nominated for best dramatic pilot in 2006 at the Artios Awards, which are given for casting in film, TV and theatre, and I think that was a deserved honour.
The Unit kept me interested throughout – I enjoyed the interplay between the lives of wives back home and the reality they face as their husbands are deployed, and may not return, as well as the massive action scenes.
There is a very genuine "look and feel" to the whole show – story lines feel realistic and the effects are superb.
I particularly liked the parachute jump from 35,000 feet scene – where the jumpers just got on with it, doing their job.
The camera follows the guys down, in the dark night, and the audience really feels the vast distance between us and the ground below where lights twinkle, and hear the rush of the wind passing by as the soldiers fall.
I recommend you get the series out – it's all good and it works for the guys as well as the gals.
What a great night in, if you're relaxing at home with the missus.
Hoooah!
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