Friday, April 3, 2015

TV Series - Manhattan (2014 - present)



Watched the 1st season of Manhattan, which is a series set in the WWII project to create the atomic bomb.  The Manhattan project was based in New Mexico, and was really built on a blank desert slate - everyone was moved in, the townsite was created, security constant.
The history is not represented perfectly, but the feeling of being trapped, some of the main characters (Leslie Groves, Robert Oppenheimer) are around, but I don't think the actual goal is historical realism.

The characters are all pretty well built, and it plays like a modern, non-comedy M*A*S*H - they creators have a degree of control over characters that they don't have in non-military shows - they can make somebody disappear, or bring in virtually any character "new" simply by invoking the draft, or the needs of the military.

The Manhattan scientists are basically split into two camps, one popular and well funded, and the other, smaller and not highly supported by the establishment.  Each are pursuing their own models for the atomic bomb, with the fear that Heisenberg in Germany is a few months ahead - the fear of falling behind on the project, and that being the entire WWII ballgame is well displayed and likely a reflection of how the project felt to the real-world folks.

Glad it was picked up for season 2 - highly recommended.

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