TV Review: MASTERS OF THE AIR (Ep. 7) on Apple TV+

“I’m not dead yet.” – Major Gale Cleven, probably

Quick word of warning, cat/animal lovers may want to skip the first five minutes or so of this episode.

It had to be a tremendous boost of morale to both Cleven and Egan to see each other in Stalag Luft III, along with several other members of the 100th. As the war moves into spring of 1944 and the bombing missions move deeper into Germany, it wasn’t unrealistic for the men to start thinking about what they might do when they returned home. And yet, as the attrition rates rose, it gave men like Rosenthal pause, as he inched ever so near to the 25 mission mark, which would effectively remove him from combat for the rest of the war.

Heavy Week, as the operation came to be known, took a…heav…big toll on the 100th. The first mission, March 6, saw them lose 15 planes in a single day, including another crew that was on its 25th mission. This deeply affected Rosenthal, as his crew was on standby and didn’t participate. On top of this, after he did complete his 25th mission, the unit received word that the 25 mission mark had been increased for everyone else, leaving him in an uncomfortable position.

A good portion of the episode focuses on Cleven and Egan, who were still adjusting to life in the prison camp. After guards discovered their secret radio, Cleven and Egan worked to create a crystal radio, one that wouldn’t require any power.

Their efforts at resistance take a massive blow, however, after the massive operation known as The Great Escape occurred. Although it was intended for 200 prisoners to escape, only 76 made it before the Germans discovered the escape, and in the end, only three men successfully escaped. This caused the Germans to become much stricter, and the camp’s commander was relieved of duty.

There isn’t a whole lot of action apart from a brief few minutes showing part of Rosenthal’s 25th flight, but there’s certainly enough going on on the ground to fill the episode. It’s interesting that they chose not to even mention the efforts of The Great Escape, perhaps because it’s already the subject of a fantastic movie. It’s also reasonable that given Egan’s defiance and desire to plan his own escape, it makes more sense to follow his efforts.

I’m also going to be a bit cryptic, as I don’t want to put a lot of spoilers in here, but it’s also interesting to see how the effects of losing friends and colleagues impact the decision-making of those who survive the missions and how their character drives them afterwards. I won’t be a judge; what they had to endure goes beyond anything I’ll likely ever encounter.

With just two episodes left, I’ll likely do another quick review of 8 and combine my review of 9 with a more complete thought of the entire series. We’ve yet to see any of the Tuskegee Airmen who are shown in the opening credits, so I imagine they’ll make an appearance in 8. I’ll be happy to see them make their debut, as aside from the mediocre Redtails, there hasn’t been a lot of mainstream attention given to the unit. They have stories to be told as well, and I’m sincerely hoping Masters gives them a big enough canvas to tell them.

Masters of the Air Pt. 7 gets a B-