The Unit 4.2: “Sudden Flight”

The best laid plans of The Unit often go awry. In “Sudden Flight,” Jonas, Bob, and Grey are keeping an eye on a nuclear scientist aboard a flight from Argentina to South Africa. Much to their surprise, so are terrorists. Now, with the plane hijacked, Jonas and Co. have to retake the flight and get the scientist to safety. It’s a fantastic premise with a very rewarding execution.

It’s not really made clear if the three Unit members aboard the plane are expecting it to get hijacked, but it doesn’t matter. They’re ready to spring in to action the second trouble arises. Jonas pretends to be a doctor, Bob steals a flight attendant’s ID badge and claims to be an employee of the airline, and Grey provides distractions as a Spanish-speaking asthmatic. The whole storyline aboard the plane quickly turns into an episode of Mission: Impossible as the men have to figure out who the terrorists are and how to land safely.

Sadly, for as interesting as the main plotline is, the female side of things seems to have stalled. Tiffy, Molly, and Kim are settling into their new identities, and each are dealing with their own problems. The rift between Tiffy and Mack (who also is on the premises) is growing larger now that he knows about her affair; however, the requirement that they pretend to be a happily married couple in order to keep up their cover means they’ll be spinning their wheels for a while longer. Then there’s Kim, who is getting exceedingly more annoying as this identity-protection storyline carries on, insists on escaping to be with her kids (and, as usual, she is betrayed by Molly Blane, who then apologizes with her “I’m so sorry” face).

This episode suffered from the same issues that much of the show struggles with: there is a complete imbalance in terms of plot structure. The men get an awesome mission with some snappy dialogue and action, and the women get a dramatically vapid story arc that deals in minor confrontations that usually disappear after the commercial break. Oddly, the episode pays so much attention to the action aboard the plane, that everything is quickly wrapped up in a matter of a few minutes at the end of the hour.

“Sudden Flight” was a fun, if unbalanced, episode.

B.A. Moment of the Week: After taking over the plane, Jonas asks “Who knows how to fly a 747?” No one answers. He then asks “Who would like to fly a 747?” Bob eagerly raises his hand.