polohat Reviews

Sea Patrol (2007–2011)

Still great, 10+ years later

[8/10 · 7 October 2020]

Here I am in the USA in 2020, & despite so many other reviews (& I tend to agree with most -- the good, and the bad) feeling compelled to write my own review. I stumbled across the series on Amazon Prime just a few weeks ago, being somewhat intrigued because I'm interested in military stuff, and as a youth, I lived in Australia for about a year. The first one or two episodes were kind of slow, but I was fascinated by the show obviously having access to a modern Australian Navy Frigate or Patrol Boat, and the Australian accents and various coast/ocean shots made me nostalgic for Australia.

Over the past two months, I've watched all the episodes except the last couple, and absolutely, the plot lines have gotten somewhat stale & some of the tactics shown seem more like they're for the United Nations than the Australian Navy. I don't appreciate some of the political-correctness preaching either (illegal immigrants & fishing), but what's kept me enthralled is the plot lines between the people, and the the appreciation for a a show that can be popular, without having to resort to very graphic violence or sex, like most American shows have resorted to.

Feels weird to be so engrossed in the show & characters, knowing that what I'm watching is from 10+ years ago, and I know I'm going to be going through withdrawals in a few days, when I end up watching the final episode of the series.

Hunting Hitler (2015–2020)

Interesting, but...

[5/10 · 27 April 2018]

A sadly typical show for The History Channel -- the first couple minutes re-hashes what the prior episode "proved," & then the remaining 30 minutes or so seems to use at-least semi-scripted 'reality' with Bob Baer's neato computer chock-full of old intel documents starring the field investigators to various areas, where they talk to locals and discover stuff to lead us to the conclusions we're supposed to accept as proof. Then, Bob Baer & cohorts back at Langley, oops, I mean Los Angeles, reiterate (regurgitate) the conclusions of the field teams as the final psychological reinforcement

Like everyone else, I sure don't want to believe adolf et-al lived happily ever-after in South America. But as a critical thinker, I certainly accept that is possible. However, the History Channel long-ago discarded any sense of ethics & replaced it with sensationalism.

The field investigators certainly visit some fascinating and curious sites, however in some cases, such as the season 3 episode where they 'discover' a sunken German U-Boat & alleged German seaplane nearby, I'm amused that they never show footage of their local experts saying things like "Oh yeah, we've known about that for decades."

Another aspect of that -- they aired what sounded like communication from the divers to the surface support guy, yet the dive gear they showed the divers wearing was NOT capable of such communications! The divers were using normal second-stage SCUBA regulators held in their mouths (preventing speech), not the 'full-face' masks required to communicate verbally with the surface. So that was FAKE.

Finally, it seems to me that many of the local sources they interviewed were just too relaxed when talking about nazis & nazi sympathizers. Sure, some were probably relieved to finally share/confess what they knew, and obviously footage is edited, but some of their mannerisms on-camera, talking about such sensitive matters, seemed staged.

What's next, a show called 'Hunting Hitler's Hunters,' where a new investigative team investigates this show to determine it's credibility?

Hell on the Highway (2012– )

Depressing!

[5/10 · 24 January 2013]

This 'reality' show (with the usual people trying to act-up for the cameras) is a depressing look at both the foolish & innocent motorists stranded due to weather and stupidity, and the tow-truck companies that prey on their predicament with exorbitant rates, yet still operate poorly functioning tow vehicles in many cases.

No doubt, tow truck drivers perform important, dirty and often dangerous work, but none of these businesses or the operators are "unsung heroes."

The show's producers fake such things as passing truck horns (complete with Doppler effect), CHP radio traffic over the scanner, and who knows what else.

I'm hoping the show doesn't last beyond one season.