Season 1 |
Episode Guide
Quiet Professionals
Gray Areas
USA. VS Gallagher
Rules of Engagement
The Line is the latest true crime docu-series on AppleTV+ and it’s one heck of a shocking case. Split across four episodes, this documentary dives into the infamous 2018 incident whereby a U.S. Navy SEAL platoon accused its chief, Eddie Gallagher, of war crimes. With a balanced perspective, plenty of fly-on-the-wall footage from body cams and lots of in-depth interviews, The Line is a really solid watch.
For those unaware of this case, the first episode paints a pretty damning picture. We’re in 2016, during the back-end of the war against ISIS with the Battle of Mosul in full swing. Ed Gallagher leads Seal Team 7 – the decorated Seal team of the year – into the heart of battle.
With Ed boasting that he’s killed “an average of 3 people a day” and presumably hooked up on Tramadol too, Gallagher begins to bend the rules. He shuts off GPS trackers, he almost gets a man killed and begins to grow unhinged, distancing himself from the platoon.
Numerous eye-witness reports claim Ed shot innocent civilians dead, waved away his responsibilities as a leader and, more damning than anything else, stabbed an ISIS prisoner dead. If that wasn’t enough, Ed then took pictures of this boy’s lifeless body and sent it on to his friends. The message “Good story behind this, got him with my hunting knife,” a seemingly damning indication of his guilt.
After the first episode introduces the SEALs, their history and an overview of all the guys in the platoon, the second episode focuses on Ed Gallagher himself, diving into the aforementioned accusations against him.
The third episode then turns the attention to the ensuing media storm that even caught Donald Trump’s attention and got him involved. With media parading Ed Gallagher as a decorated hero and damning the whistleblowers in the platoon, the fourth and final episode tackles the fallout from this case.
In fact, the final 10 minutes of this documentary are probably the most shocking of all, catching up with these different men several years after the incident. It’s also quite telling that several potentially guilty parties declined to be involved in this documentary too. Make of that what you will!
If there’s one thing The Line absolutely nails – alongside its shocking story of course – is the balanced perspective. At all times in this documentary, there’s a consistency to get both sides of the story. For every statement and accusation thrown out from the platoon, Gallagher forms his own version of events. This then expands out during episode 3 as Ed’s lawyers and family get involved. It’s a really welcome inclusion and something that helps give this documentary more credibility.
At only four episodes, The Line certainly doesn’t waste any of its screen-time and each of these segments have been designed specifically to tell this story in the most concise and informative way possible. This is definitely one of Apple’s strongest offerings on the platform and a really engrossing, in-depth documentary. This one’s a must-watch.
The Line releases on AppleTV+ worldwide on 19th November 2021!
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Verdict - 8/10
8/10