'Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan' is for real

The show's premiere hour does start like a thrill ride, with camera shots flashing fast, adrenaline pumping and incoming wartime fire -- in fact, an immediate casualty.

But then "Bomb Patrol" jumps back five months, sending us off on deployment with the eight men of Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Platoon 342. The pace chills enough to let us get to know the guys -- from a vigilant chief who has survived five combat gigs to a cocky new bomb tech who "thought it'd be fun to play with explosives and blow stuff up."

We're right there with them inside the cramped tank-like JERRV (Joint EOD Rapid Response Vehicle), creeping across narrow Afghan bridges, fording washed-out roads, checking containers for booby traps and generally hoping we don't "go boom."

But very, very real. As our newbie learns, these "games" have serious stakes. And "Bomb Patrol" turns out to be an intensely human documentary. It's economically edited and well explained (Josh Duhamel is the narrator) by producers who know how to grab your guts and not let go.