The Unit returned by tying off the loose ends from season 2 while setting up some new rivalries that could mean trouble for Command Sergeant Major Jonas Blane (Dennis Haysbert) and the rest of the top-secret military unit in the future.  As the show tramples onto upcoming season 3 episodes, the action and drama build up while deception and conspiracies intensify. Robert Patrick, who portrays Colonel Tom Ryan, tries to give his views on what transpired in the two season 3 openers of the show, in light of the unit's extinction as he tried to help Jonas and his hunted comrades uncover the identities of those behind the team's dismantling.

When asked who is targeting the squad and why, Patrick said, “It's a conspiracy.  The show alludes to six wealthy families who are using our military for their interests and that is the ultimate betrayal. We find out how honest, noble and real our guys are as a result.”

Apart from The Unit, the 48-year-old actor has appeared on other TV shows like The Sopranos, where he portrayed a store owner struggling with gambling debts owed to the DiMeo crime family, The X-Files, and in the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day, in which he starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-1000, a seemingly unstoppable terminator that assumed human form. Nevertheless, he remains to have a soft spot for his role on the CBS series.

“Ryan's my favorite character that I've ever played. He's flawed but I think he's just — a fair, capable leader.  I think he's the way we would want our military leaders to be,” he revealed to TV Guide.

Aside from his character, Patrick also has high praises when it comes to the show.  Unlike other military-themed series, The Unit taps on a cloak-and-dagger storyline while focusing on a military unit modeled after the real life Delta Force.  The program follows the team and their missions abroad, as well as the effect their careers have on their personal lives.

“We're looking at what it means to be a soldier — what it means to be the ultimate warrior.  These are the elite of the elite and they have wives, families and kids,” he said.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TV Guide
(Image courtesy of CBS)