The Pacific: Season 1
2010 · 10 episodes · ★ 7.6
Miniseries
What Season 1 of The Pacific
December 1941. Pearl Harbor has just been attacked, and Robert Leckie, an aspiring young journalist, enlists in the Marine Corps almost on impulse. Meanwhile, Sergeant John Basilone ships out with his comrades to the Pacific, where the Marines fight for tiny islands that almost no one has heard of. Leckie, Basilone, and Eugene Sledge belong to different regiments, but their paths cross in a brutally harsh war, far from home. The series follows the physical and mental toll on these soldiers, the disease, and the daily struggle to stay alive without losing their humanity. Leckie's and Sledge's memoirs form the basis for telling what they lived through on the front lines.
Season 1 Episodes
1x01 Guadalcanal/Leckie
In the immediate aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Marine Sgt. John Basilone prepares to ship out and confront the enemy somewhere in the Pacific, while budding journalist Robert Leckie enlists in the Marine Corps. Eugene Sledge, unable to enlist because of a heart murmur, says farewell to his best friend, Sidney Phillips, who is about to leave for boot camp. Exactly eight months after Pearl Harbor, the 1st Marine Division, including Leckie and Phillips, lands on Guadalcanal in order to secure its strategically vital airfield and prepare for the inevitable counterattack.
Directing: Tim Van Patten · Writing: Bruce C. McKenna · Starring: Chris Milligan, Joshua Bitton
1x02 Basilone
Basilone and the 7th Marines arrive on Guadalcanal to reinforce Leckie and the rest of the 1st Marine Division as they continue to defend the crucial airstrip. Basilone plays a key role in repelling a nighttime Japanese attack, but suffers a frightful personal loss. After four months of continuous action, the exhausted and disease-ridden members of the 1st Marine Division are evacuated off the island.
Directing: David Nutter · Writing: Bruce C. McKenna · Starring: Chris Milligan, Joshua Bitton
1x03 Melbourne
Physically and mentally debilitated after the four-month ordeal on Guadalcanal, Leckie, Basilone and thousands of their comrades land in Melbourne, where they are greeted by adoring crowds and viewed as the saviors of Australia. While his buddies carouse, Leckie becomes deeply attached to an Australian woman and her first-generation Greek family. Meanwhile, Basilone is awarded the Medal of Honor and is asked to return home to help sell U.S. war bonds.
Directing: Jeremy Podeswa · Writing: George Pelecanos, Michelle Ashford · Starring: Joshua Bitton
1x04 Gloucester/Pavuvu/Banika
Finally enlisted as a Marine, Sledge trains for combat at Camp Elliott. The 1st Marine Division lands at Cape Gloucester on the Japanese-held island of New Britain. As Leckie and the other Marines battle the Japanese, they quickly realize that the more ominous enemy is the smothering jungle itself. Having survived Gloucester and stationed on the godforsaken island of Pavuvu, Leckie begins displaying the physical and mental effects of combat and is sent to a naval hospital on nearby Banika for psychiatric observation.
Directing: Graham Yost · Writing: Graham Yost, Robert Schenkkan · Starring: Nate Corddry, Bill Hunter, Michael C. Gwynne, Ian Paul Cassidy
1x05 Peleliu Landing
Basilone’s celebrity grows as he travels across the country on the war bonds tour. On Pavuvu, Sledge, assigned to the 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, is briefly reunited with Phillips and Leckie rejoins his company. Sledge then gets his first taste of combat as he, Leckie, and the rest of the 1st Marine Division meet fierce Japanese resistance while landing on the intricately and heavily defended coral island of Peleliu.
Directing: Carl Franklin · Writing: Laurence Andries, Bruce C. McKenna · Starring: Anna Torv
1x06 Peleliu Airfield
Despite the suffocating 115-degree heat and a lack of clean drinking water, Sledge, Leckie and the other Marines confront the highly-fortified enemy as they attempt to capture the Peleliu airfield. After seeing his comrades badly injured, Leckie himself is wounded and evacuated from the island. Sledge witnesses the shocking truth about what is sometimes required to survive and fight another day.
Directing: Tony To · Writing: Robert Schenkkan, Laurence Andries, Bruce C. McKenna
1x07 Peleliu Hills
The Marines, including the newly christened “Sledgehammer,” continue the battle of Peleliu against an enemy determined to fight to the last man. Devastated by the loss of a revered leader, and witnessing unimaginable barbarity on both sides, Sledge veers to the very edge of moral collapse. Their objective finally secured, the Marines return to Pavuvu fundamentally changed by their experience on Peleliu.
Directing: Tim Van Patten · Writing: Bruce C. McKenna · Starring: Joshua Bitton
1x08 Iwo Jima
Increasingly frustrated by his role campaigning for war bonds, Basilone convinces the Marines to allow him to train troops headed for combat. Transferred to Camp Pendleton, he enjoys a whirlwind romance with an initially reluctant female Marine, Lena Riggi. But the couple know they are living on borrowed time, as Basilone is soon to take part in the Marine landing on Iwo Jima.
Directing: David Nutter, Jeremy Podeswa · Writing: Robert Schenkkan, Michelle Ashford
1x09 Okinawa
After battling across the island of Okinawa for more than a month, Sledge and the rest of the 1st Marine Division are ordered to relieve an Army division that has been in combat against the most strongly defended Japanese position on the island. The primordial conditions and the moral dilemma posed by the presence of civilians put tremendous strain on the physical and psychological endurance of Sledge and the other Marines.
Directing: Tim Van Patten · Writing: Bruce C. McKenna · Starring: Chris Foy
1x10 Home Season Finale
After the Japanese surrender, Leckie, healed from his wounds, leaves the hospital and returns home, while Sledge heads back to Alabama to be reunited with his family and Sid Phillips. Lena visits Basilone’s home and has an emotional meeting with his family. Leckie adjusts to post-war life by resuming his old job and starting a new relationship, but for Sledge, unsure why he survived the war seemingly unscathed, adjustment will require more time.
Directing: Jeremy Podeswa · Writing: Robert Schenkkan, Bruce C. McKenna · Starring: Kate Bell, Cariba Heine, Betty Buckley
Season 1 Cast
James Badge DaleRobert Leckie10 episodes
Jacob PittsPFC Bill 'Hoosier' Smith10 episodes
Jon BernthalSgt. Manuel 'Manny' Rodriguez10 episodes
Brendan FletcherBill Leyden10 episodes
Keith NobbsPFC Wilbur 'Runner' Conley10 episodes
Nicholas CooperArmy Officer10 episodes
Leon Ford1st Lt. Edward 'Hillbilly' Jones10 episodes
Scott GibsonCapt. Andrew 'Ack Ack' Haldane10 episodes
Martin McCannCpl. R.V. Burgin, Sgt. R.V. Burgin10 episodes
Nathin Art ButlerPrivate Young10 episodes
Toby Leonard Moore2nd Lt. Stone, Sgt. Stone10 episodes
Where to Watch Season 1 of The Pacific
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does season 1 of The Pacific have?
Season 1 of The Pacific has 10 episodes.
When did season 1 of The Pacific premiere?
It premiered on March 14, 2010.
Where to watch Season 1 of The Pacific?
Available by subscription on Amazon Prime Video, Movistar Plus+ Ficción Total, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, and HBO Max Amazon Channel (availability may vary by country).
What is the best episode of Season 1?
According to the audience rating on TMDB, episode 1x06, "Peleliu Airfield," has a 8.2.