Part Four (The Pacific)

In December 1943, Sledge is enlisted in the Marines, training at Camp Elliott in San Diego County, California. During this, the 1st Marine Division arrives at Cape Gloucester, where they will attempt to capture the airfields taken by the Japanese.

At night, the Division fends off soldiers from the 17th Division for control of the land. While they win their battle, the relentless rain and jungle environment takes its toll on the Marines, especially Leckie. He starts feeling frustrated with the lack of progress in the operation, as well as the poor conditions of the jungle. He is further disturbed when Gibson coldly strangles a wounded Japanese soldier to death, while a fellow soldier gets naked and commits suicide in the jungle. Leckie is also demoted when he accuses an officer of stealing his items.

In May 1944, the unit arrives at Pavuvu, which will serve as a temporary base. Many soldiers start feeling sick, with Leckie himself diagnosed with nocturnal enuresis. Leckie is instructed to go to a hospital on Banika to seek further treatment. There, he discovers that Gibson has been placed at a ward section. Gibson reveals that he was sent there after trying to steal a plane to return to America, lamenting that his military career is over. Leckie decides to leave the hospital, bribing his doctor with a Japanese pistol he acquired to get released. Before returning with his unit, Leckie visits Gibson to give him cigarettes and consoling him over his fate.

The episode was written by co-producer Robert Schenkkan and co-executive producer Graham Yost, and directed by Yost. This was Schenkkan's first writing credit, Yost's first writing credit, and Yost's first directing credit.{{Cite web|url=https://directories.wga.org/project/978007/the-pacific/|title=The Pacific - WGA Directory|website=Writers Guild of America West|access-date=January 11, 2024}}

In its original American broadcast, "Part Four" was seen by an estimated 2.52 million household viewers with a 0.9 in the 18–49 demographics. This means that 0.9 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.{{Cite web|access-date=January 11, 2024|url=http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/04/06/ratings-for-hbos-the-pacific-down-on-easter-sunday/47557|title=Ratings for HBO's "The Pacific" Down on Easter Sunday|work=TV by the Numbers|date=April 6, 2010|last=Seidman|first=Robert|archive-date=October 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020222607/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2010/04/06/ratings-for-hbos-the-pacific-down-on-easter-sunday/47557/|url-status=dead}} This was a 10% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 2.77 million household viewers with a 1.0 in the 18-49 demographics.{{Cite web|access-date=January 11, 2024|url=http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/03/31/ratings-for-hbos-the-pacific-steady/46877|title=Ratings for HBO's "The Pacific" Steady|work=TV by the Numbers|date=March 31, 2010|last=Seidman|first=Robert|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100403230323/http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/03/31/ratings-for-hbos-the-pacific-steady/46877|archive-date=April 3, 2010}}

"Part Four" received near critical acclaim. Ramsey Isler of IGN gave the episode an "amazing" 9 out of 10 and wrote, "Budge's timid yet disturbing demeanor and dialogue delivery made me wish he had a bigger role in this episode. Still, the end result is a haunting story that leaves an impression and perhaps foreshadows some events to come."{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/04/05/the-pacific-part-four-review|title=The Pacific: "Part Four" Review|last=Isler|first=Ramsey|date=April 5, 2010|access-date=January 11, 2024|work=IGN}}

Emily St. James of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "It's an episode that seeps down and gets under your skin, like that hammering rain, and it provides the best sense yet of just how little these men could be individuals in the face of both war and the very forces of nature itself."{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/the-pacific-part-four-1798164671|title=The Pacific: "Part Four"|last=St. James|first=Emily|date=April 4, 2010|access-date=January 11, 2024|work=The A.V. Club}}

Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger wrote, "Ultimately, Leckie just needs a respite from the front, where Gibson appears irreparably broken, but watching this episode, it's not hard to understand how this could have happened to either of them, or so many other men like them."{{cite web|url=https://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/2010/04/the_pacific_part_four_leckie_c.html|title=The Pacific, 'Part Four': Leckie cracks up|last=Sepinwall|first=Alan|date=April 5, 2010|access-date=January 11, 2024|work=The Star-Ledger}} Tim Basham of Paste wrote, "The vacant stares, the on-the-brink-of-madness smiles. Leckie, with each successive hardship, moves to another level of hardness. And you wonder how he’ll ever survive the rest of the war."{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/the-pacific-review-part-4-104|title=The Pacific: "Part 4" (1.04)|last=Basham|first=Tim|date=April 5, 2010|access-date=January 11, 2024|work=Paste}}

Paul MacInnes of The Guardian wrote, "Whatever the reason, this episode was several degrees more interesting than those that preceded it. I note it was both written and directed by Graham Yost. Quite how much freedom each writer is granted to embellish on the characters is unclear, but Yost certainly appears to have broken from the flat, almost documenty style with which the series began."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/apr/19/the-pacific-episode-four|title=The Pacific: episode four|last=MacInnes|first=Paul|date=April 19, 2010|access-date=January 11, 2024|work=The Guardian}} Den of Geek wrote, "I remain convinced that The Pacific is an important work for today’s television viewer, especially in light of our recent collective experiences with war. Anyone believing that soldiering is or was a noble business should watch this."{{cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-pacific-episode-4-review/|title=The Pacific episode 4 review|date=April 20, 2010|access-date=January 11, 2024|work=Den of Geek}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.hbo.com/the-pacific/season-1/4-the-pacific "Part Four"] at HBO
• {{IMDb episode|1576599|Part Four}}

{{The Pacific (miniseries)}}

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Category:2010 American television episodes

Category:The Pacific (miniseries) episodes

Category:Television episodes written by Graham Yost

Category:Television episodes set in California