I didn't think this was the best episode by any means, but it was well-structured and had an interesting message about post-war life. We get a chance to see Rick deal with another aspect of his time in 'Nam, when he is reunited with an old pal named Chen. Some startling truths about Chen and the man he has become begin to surface, and it drives a temporary wedge between the Simons when A.J. tries to enlighten Rick about Chen's modern-day dealings and current reputation.
I really liked the way the episode gave us a group of Vietnamese American characters to represent a culture seldom seen on network television at the time this story was produced. And it's to the writers' credit that these people were not stereotyped. Shades of good and evil within the community were depicted as they struggled to realize the American dream.
I did think guest star James Shigeta over-acted in a few scenes, which at times made me want to tune him out. Perhaps a Vietnamese man who had been a hero but was now drastically changed by circumstances meant it was necessary to present him in a highly dramatic fashion. But I still feel his performance could have been reigned in a bit more, so it didn't contrast so much next to McRaney's. I didn't want to keep thinking this was a showy guest actor hamming it up. Instead, I wanted to think this was really someone Rick connected to many years ago and whom he still related to as a brother on some level.
The final moments, involving a shoot-out with a more villainous individual who was determined to take over Chen's territory, was unusually graphic. In fact, a scene where the baddie gets shot by Rick while standing behind a shed door, then collapses and falls into the frame, seemed excessively bloody. I guess we were supposed to understand that Rick and his military buddies had witnessed many deaths in the jungle that were equally horrific.
I really liked the way the episode gave us a group of Vietnamese American characters to represent a culture seldom seen on network television at the time this story was produced. And it's to the writers' credit that these people were not stereotyped. Shades of good and evil within the community were depicted as they struggled to realize the American dream.
I did think guest star James Shigeta over-acted in a few scenes, which at times made me want to tune him out. Perhaps a Vietnamese man who had been a hero but was now drastically changed by circumstances meant it was necessary to present him in a highly dramatic fashion. But I still feel his performance could have been reigned in a bit more, so it didn't contrast so much next to McRaney's. I didn't want to keep thinking this was a showy guest actor hamming it up. Instead, I wanted to think this was really someone Rick connected to many years ago and whom he still related to as a brother on some level.
The final moments, involving a shoot-out with a more villainous individual who was determined to take over Chen's territory, was unusually graphic. In fact, a scene where the baddie gets shot by Rick while standing behind a shed door, then collapses and falls into the frame, seemed excessively bloody. I guess we were supposed to understand that Rick and his military buddies had witnessed many deaths in the jungle that were equally horrific.