To start off episode 2, Drill Sergeant Sullivan gets ready for the day, and Cameron talks with Ray while they do some running exercise. Cameron tells Ray he’s concerned that the drill Sergeant knows he’s gay, to which Ray assures him he’s over-reacting. Staff Sergeant McKinnon calls Nash, Slovacek, McAffey (Ray), and Bowman to step forward and line up, to elect them to be the squad leaders.

At the hand-to-hand combat training, Cameron’s conscience talks to him about how they’re training him to murder, before it’s his turn to practice. During the end all fight, brothers John and Cody have to fight each other. Before they do, John asks Cameron to wish him luck, before we get a flashback. In it, John was the protector for Cody, before we get back to the fight. Cameron and Ray fight each other, and Ray tries to do light taps to spare Cameron any injuries. Drill Sergeant Sullivan is having none of it and demands him to kill.

After nearly getting a concussion, Ray apologizes to Cameron, with Cameron questioning what the hell that was. One of the drill instructors lets the recruits know that they have letters from family. When it’s the Bowman’s turn to get their letter, only John receives one. Cody then gets a flashback of their parents arguing, before the father tells Cody to come with him, and belittle his brother. Ray is seen walking out of a room, avoiding contact, before Cameron is called into that room to be given the position of scribe.

When it’s night time, Cameron goes to Ray to tell him about him becoming a scribe, and to ask what Sullivan said. Ray informs Cameron that he was told he couldn’t talk to him anymore. Ray defends Sullivan, saying that it’s not going to be good if he goes easy on him, and that he could be Honor Man. The next day, the obstacle course training begins, and Cameron is severely struggling to get through, while Ray gets chastised for looking at Cameron.

Cody argues with John about why he even joined the marines, and how he used to have to drag him off the couch to exercise before their father got home. We then get another flashback, John and Cody’s father beat Cody, because he couldn’t get John to exercise. That night, Cameron returns a favor by being the fire watch. John asks Cameron to get him a bucket so he can piss, and the two talk about their situations with one another. His conscience tells him to stand up to Slovacek, because he’s just like every bully from home.  After a fight, Sergeant Mckinnon makes everyone kneel in the sand pits.

Finally, it’s time for the obstacle course, where Slovacek goes after Cameron, and the sibling rivalry between John and Cody unfolds. John falls off the rope from a high height. Knowing he’ll be in trouble, Ray tries to slink away but to no avail. Sullivan tells Ray that he failed, and is no longer squad leader. He then appoints Cameron to be his new squad leader, to Ray’s disdain. 

Another good episode, it’s interesting to see some development of the other characters, and the reasons why they are in the Marines, instead of just the main character. Maybe the future episodes will touch more on this, and we’ll learn a bit more about why everyone else joined the Marines.

Rating 7/10