Warning: spoilers ahead for "Masters of the Air" Part 5
The latest chapter in "Masters of the Air" opens with some grim and symbolic imagery. Doleful string music and a persistent buzzing noise bring us into a shot of a Flying Fortress parked on the runway, flies hovering about the cockpit window. Major John "Bucky" Egan (Callum Turner) sits inside, boozing and smoking. The flies make the bomber look like a hulking carcass—the "Bloody Hundredth" Bomber group reeks of the stench of death. Too many planes have gone down. Too few chutes have been spotted. And the deaths will only continue to mount in a devastating Part 5.
The shot reminds us Bucky is near his breaking point if he hasn't already passed it. He is deeply affected by his best friend Major "Gale" Clevens's (Austin Butler) plane going down in Episode 4. Bucky is unsure if his friend is alive or dead, if he's been captured by the Germans, or if he's on his way back to England, though he suspects the worst. He knows only one thing: he desperately wants revenge.
Clevens is a rockstar in the Hundredth and his going down casts a pall over the whole group. "If he couldn't make it, who could?" Lieutenant Harry Crosby (Anthony Boyle) asks. As it turns out, not many of them. Read on for our full recap and analysis of "Masters of the Air" Episode 5.
Black Week
AppleTV+
Over seven days in October of 1943, the US Army Air Force (USAAF) sent some 1,000 bombers to Germany. Later dubbed "Black Week," these would become the darkest days of the USAAF. By the end of the week, 148 bombers and 1,500 men would be lost — some killed, others captured. None suffered more than the boys of the "Bloody Hundredth."
This episode follows the raid on Munster, Germany. Six ran into mechanical issues en route to the target and turned back before reaching land. Of the 13 who made it to Munster, only one plane from the Hundredth would return to England. The 100th Bomb Group Foundation lists the fates of the men who embarked on the costly mission — and reading the score is heartbreaking.
It's also heartbreaking to see the loss of humanity experienced by the men, particularly Bucky. As the group is briefed on the Munster raid, they are informed that the target is a railroad right next to the city center. This causes murmurs among the men — never before have they launched a strike so close to such a large swath of civilians. Noticing the men are upset, the commander assures them that they will be hitting railroad workers. But not all of them are buying it. Others, like Bucky, don't care.
Charles "Crank" Cruikshank (Matt Gavan) says that since they're hitting Munster on a Sunday, there will be lots of people in the cathedral near the target — and not just railroad workers, either. Women and children.
Bucky tells them to suck it up. "This won't end until we hit 'em where it hurts," he says. "Better now before every f**king guy we've ever shared a bunk with is either dead or MIA."
"None of the people we're gonna bomb today shot down Buck," Crank reminds him.
Bucky ends the dispute by pulling rank. Last episode, we saw him wrestle with guilt over the civilian casualties. But that guilt went down with Buck's plane. In honor of his friend, Bucky has taken a ritualistic approach to the mission. He trades his sheepskin coat for a leather one because Buck hated sheepskin. And he writes on a bomb a message from Buck: "Hey Adolf F**k You, Your Friend Buck Cleven."
Bucky's arc shows how war manages to desensitize even the most enduring of spirits. The series doesn't ignore the horrors of bombing a civilian center. Nor does it justify it, as some critics have argued. We're never meant to agree with Bucky's revelation. Rather, we're meant to see how a man could agree to partake in — or even relish — such a bombing mission. The carrion flies buzzing around Bucky in the opening scene symbolize not only the literal death surrounding him but also the death of his old self. The death of his guilt and innocence.
Flying Solo
AppleTV+
At this stage in the war, the USAAF fighter planes that escorted the bombers were only able to fly part-way before running out of fuel. When this happened, the German fighters would close in on the vulnerable bombers.
We're familiar with the terrifying cadence by Episode 5. The escort turns back. The flak begins to burst all around them. Then it stops. And in the eerie silence that follows, all we can do is wait for the howl of the Luftwaffe as it closes in.
Here, they descend upon the Hundredth in a blood-curdling swarm — again, I thought of the flies from that first scene. The Hundredth is torn to shreds. Planes erupt into flames and fall into one another, creating gorgeous, dreadful explosions. Buck goes down, though he parachutes to safety (for now) near a farm. Crosby's best friend Bubbles isn't as lucky — no one sees a chute when his plane is engulfed in fire.
Crosby himself isn't on the mission (and if he were, he might have never written his book A Wing and a Prayer, which informed much of "Masters"). After his rough landing during the last mission, he was relegated to a desk job for Munster. During the ferocious aerial battle, the scene cuts to Crosby buttering toast all by himself in the mess hall — stuck on the sidelines.
Back in the air over Germany, only one plane remains, piloted by Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal. A breathtaking scene shows them flying solo as burning metal rains around them. The severed wings and plane parts don't fall — rather, they flutter downward to dramatic effect (the moment makes me recall Quinn describing the bombers as "tin cans" in Episode 3). Rosenthal's plane is the only one from the Hundredth that comes limping back to base.
The episode ends with the fates of lead characters Buck and Bucky uncertain. Bubbles had written a letter explaining Crosby's death to his wife to be sent if Crosby had died. In a cruel twist of irony, Crosby now reads that letter with tears in his eyes. Roll credits.
The preview of the coming episode depicts a strikingly different look at the war. We see a train car full of people being sent to a concentration camp, a Nazi firing into a crowd of civilians and Bucky hiding in the swamp, pistol drawn, as pursuers close in. We've seen the turmoil of Europe from a bird's eye view and from German-occupied France. But with Bucky downed in Germany, the belly of the beast, we'll see the core of the Nazi regime up close and personal. Will Bucky witness the ghastly effects of his bombing missions and have a change of heart? Or will seeing the crammed train cars and Nazi brutality make his thirst for vengeance stronger yet? Based on the preview, I'm leaning toward the latter.
