TV Review: MASTERS OF THE AIR (Ep. 5) on Apple TV+

At this point, halfway through the series, Masters of the Air has established a bit of a formula for its episodes. Roughly a third to a half of the episode focuses on the current bombing mission for the 100th, and the other two-thirds deal with the aftermath as well as the preparation for the next mission. It’s a simple formula, but it’s worked well enough to this point. 

Unfortunately for the unit, this pattern is about to become tougher for them, as they’ve already lost one of their leaders and are about to lose another. With Gale Cleven gone (his plane having been shot down in Part 4), the 100th has to scramble to reorganize itself back into a combat-ready unit. In a bit of good news, Lt. Crosby and his crew, thought to have perished, make their way back to the base, much to the joy of Crosby’s best friend, Lt. “Bubbles” Payne (Louis Greatorex), who’d prepared a letter for Crosby’s wife to inform her of the news.

Bucky, on the other hand, continues to mourn the loss of Buck and resolves to lead the next mission, this time targeting the German city of Munster. Short-handed, the 100th sends only 13 planes out this time (instead of the typical 19-20), their third mission in three days. It’s clear that the unit is struggling to stay united amidst the losses and, in this instance, the target. While they were previously bombing factories and munitions plants for the Nazi war effort, this time their target of Munster is a population center. This doesn’t bother Egan, as he’s anxious to avenge his fallen friend, but clearly some of the others aren’t comfortable with the idea.

There’s a moment about ⅔ of the way through the episode in which Major “Rosie” Rosenthal (Nate Mann) and Lt. “Pappy” Lewis (Josh Bolt) see two B-17s collide in mid-air. As they fly on through the flak and destruction, the remnants of the other bombers gently fall past them, as if the shrapnel and engines are snowflakes. It’s an almost surreal moment, a brief break, before the German fighters re-emerge and the gunners engage them. It’s perhaps the most seminal example of air-to-air combat in the entire series, and it’s both terrifying and awe-inspiring. The after-action interrogation is especially sombering, as the crew struggles to account for the other missing crews.

It’s a bit of an ambivalent process, writing the reviews for these episodes. Obviously, on pure entertainment, seeing the pilots in action is the most exciting part to watch; on the other hand, seeing the after-effects and watching the characters you’ve come to care about can be draining. One of the reasons I can really enjoy action movies is knowing it’s simply entertainment; at the end of the day, the actors collect their paychecks and go home. When a film or series is based on actual people, though, it means just a little more to me. And to know that the people you’re seeing killed on-screen were actually killed in that manner, can be a difficult marriage of fact and entertainment.

Still, as a (very amateur) history buff, it’s always important to tell these stories instead of glorifying war. Part of what made series like Band of Brothers and The Pacific so poignant is seeing the stories of otherwise ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

There is a line from a Robert Penn Warren poem that’s always stuck with me:

“Until you

Remember, suprisingly [sic], that common men have done good deeds.”

These are common men and women (most of the first episodes revolved around the men of the 100th, but subsequent episodes will also feature some women in prominent roles) who wanted nothing more than to return to their homes and lead what they perceived as regular lives. What they managed to do was anything but common, and their stories need to be told. Part 3 was probably the strongest overall episode of the series, but Part 5 isn’t too far behind.

Masters of the Air Part 5 gets an A-