QWhat weapons do the team use?
AJonas, Colonel Ryan, Mack and Bridget all use Colt 45 automatic pistols. Hector and Charles Grey both use Sig Sauer 9mm pistols, Bob uses a Heckler and Koch USP and Sam McBride a Glock. For the most part they use Heckler and Koch MP5K machine pistols and MP5D silenced submachineguns although they have also used Baretta and Steyr SMGs. The main rifle is the M4 carbine, the shortened version of the US Army's M16 rifle although they also use AK47s, FN FALs and Heckler and Koch G3s if required. Their sniper rifles are the Remmington M24, M110 semi-automatic, the Blaser 93 Tactical and McMillian Brothers TAC 50. Off duty the team all pack small back-up pistols such as Mack's Colt .32, Colonel Ryan's Walther P38K and Jonas' Smith and Wesson .380 revolver. In the pilot we see Bob given a silenced Ruger .22 automatic by Ron Cheals but we never see him or any other Unit member use this weapon after that. In the same episode Hector and Grey use Benelli M4 combat shotguns. In '5 Brothers' we see Hector use the FN Minimi Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) light machinegun and during 'Into Hell' we see Jonas use an M60E general purpose machinegun.
QWhat would have happened if it had made it to a fifth season?
AAccording to remarks and interviews made by members of the cast and crew and leaks on the internet these are some of the rumoured storyline ideas for the series if it had made it into a fifth season; - Tom Ryan would realise that despite becoming a Brigadier General his new position is essentially a meaningless administrative post, the military hierarchy has actually succeeded in sidelining him through his promotion. The Unit must adapt to his replacement, a female commanding officer who is a political appointee with little or no experience of covert operations.
- Devestated by Molly leaving him Jonas Blane has an affair with Bridget Sullivan. However she breaks it off when she realises that his feelings for her are clouding his tactical judgement. He begs Molly to take him back but she repeats that he must choose between her and the army.
-Tiffy becomes pregnant with her and Mack's third child and he applies to become an officer in order to better provide for his family. However their eldest daughter Lissy runs away from home and when Mack recovers her they discover she is pregnant. The couple must then decide whether or not to allow her to have an abortion. After a car accident Tiffy miscarries whilst Mack is overseas and they decide to allow Lissy to have her child and raise it as their own.
- Bob Brown is badly injured in a training accident and faces the very real possibility that he may never again be a frontline soldier. Kim's career at the radio station takes off and she becomes the main earner for the family creating tension between them.
-Charles Grey's new bride has difficulty adjusting to the secrecy surrounding The Unit and her new role as an army wife.
- Bridget Sullivan discovers that Sam McBride is gay and he agonises over whether or not to come out to his macho colleagues. -The team discover that the CIA has illicitly created it's own special commando force with several ex-Unit members included within it's ranks. When General Ryan tries to get this new organisation shut down his ex-wife reveals to him that a mole deep within The Unit has been leaking classified information to the highest bidder. The Agency has recruited it's own group of elite covert warriors because it can no longer trust The Unit to carry out secret missions on it's behalf. The team's hunt for the traitor within their own personnel would have been the major story arc for the season.
-Subplots would have included the recruitment of more female soldiers into The Unit and a group of journalists/human rights activists attempting to expose the organisation and have them prosecuted under international law for their actions. The Unit would also have crossed swords with the character of 'Super Seal', an egotistical former navy special forces officer who now hires himself out as a celebrity mercenary/bodyguard, motivational speaker and media expert on covert operations.
QWere any episodes based on real events?
AMany elements of the show were based on the true life experiences of writer/producer and ex-Delta Force member Eric Haney. 'Old Home Week' was based on the true story of Kiki Sanchez, a Green Beret who Haney trained with and who was later killed leading communist rebels in Honduras by a force of Honduran soldiers commanded by Haney. Controversy still rages as to whether he really did defect to the communists or was undercover for the CIA. The episodes where a mission to Iran is ruined by dust storms and the team used specially doctored rounds to kill an enemy without harming the crowd around him are also taken directly from Haney's true life experience
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