Following three protagonists on different odysseys following the tragic bombing raid in the previous episode, the sixth of Masters of the Air’s nine episodes remains grounded. Fearless pilot Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal and his crew are sent to “the flak shak,”
A term for any of several posh R&R facilities that provided traumatized bomber boys with an opportunity to gather themselves in an explosion-free pastoral environment before being sent back into the fray.
Rosenthal’s fort was the only one of the 17 the 100th Bomb Group sent to attack the railroad marshaling yard over Münster to survive. (One of those title cards that is randomly placed tells us that this is Coombe House, and it does look good!)
Recap
It was entertaining to imagine bold escape and evasion ideas for Bucky Egan for a brief moment. Deeply behind enemy lines in Westphalia, Germany, he borrows an old truck or a horse from a farm. Both danger and a chase are present. Perhaps, though, an understanding elderly grandmother shows the way to a deserted airstrip.
After returning to England in a biplane or another vehicle, Bucky lives to see another day, his heroic pilot status reinforced by the influx of new aircrew members. Even if Egan’s story is no less heroic, it more closely resembles the roughened edge that Masters of the Air has formed—a reality in which both experienced and inexperienced bombers get chewed up like the cities of wartime Europe.
“Amerikaner! Amerikaner!” was shouted by a group of farm kids and their goat. To dodge poking shotgun barrels, Egan wades deeper into Westphalia’s swampy reeds. But the dance is soon over. Upon being apprehended, Egan will delve further into the intricate workings of warfare.
Hero material is susceptible to crushing in that place. However, there are some positive aspects. There is occasionally a third thing for all of the pilots and crews in Masters of the Air, in between the dying and the disappearing. You go, Nazis.
Bucky Egan maintained the safety of his arrogance throughout Episode 6 of Masters of the Air, despite being transported from one horrible location to another, barely escaping being buried in an unmarked grave, being questioned by a smug German officer who threatened to throw him into the Gestapo’s jaws.
Witnessing the horrifying reality of Germany sending people to be slaughtered by the boxcar load. Packed into yet another detention cell, he assessed his predicament with a “Well, I’m losing right now” expression. How can I make this better?
Being on another prison train does not mean that the struggle against fascism is over, and what he witnessed as a prisoner simply made him more determined to resist.
