Previously on Apple TV’s Masters of The Air, viewers learned that Gale “Buck” Cleven’s (Austin Butler) and Crosby’s (Anthony Boyle) crew did not make it back to base after their mission from Africa. John “Bucky” Egan (Callum Turner) found out by calling the base after seeing news in the newspapers. He was on break in London at the time, but as soon as he found out, he decided to come back early for the next mission.
In the opening scene of “Part Five,” viewers see John sitting in a plane, grieving alone. He gets called to the office to speak with the Sergeant. He tells his soldier that he will be okay, but he loses his best friend. And from the past episodes, it’s known that John handles loss by drinking until he feels no more pain.
Next, we see Crosby, who turns out to be alive. He’s in a truck with some of his crew members. They make it back to their base. In narration, he mentions that he watched Gale’s plane crash. Everyone is happy that Crosby and two of his guys are still alive. As John walks into the room, everyone goes silent, staring at him as he goes to the bar and orders a drink. They’re all surprised to see him back so early.
The guys learn about their next mission. Crosby gets a new position, which means he’s not going to be on planes anymore, most likely because of what happened. But his position is a promotion, working alongside the planning of the missions. John is going to be the command pilot. Most of the guys are concerned about this mission, as it is a Sunday and they have to throw bombs at a few destinations, including a cathedral.
Then, we see the crews getting ready for their mission. John and his crew get on their plane and fly off. It’s been some time since they’ve been in the sky and so far they’ve lost four planes. An engine on John’s plane gets damaged after one of the members gets shot, immediately killing him. It’s chaos as they are down to one engine on the plane. They have no choice but to bail out of the plane.
There was a total of 17 ships that were on the mission and now there’s only one of them left. Lt. Rosenthal’s (Nate Mann) plane makes it. They’re able to attack two enemy ships in the sky after having a close call.
Later, we see Sgt. Lemmons (Rafferty Law). He’s working on fixing an engine on the base. The camera shows Crosby with his coworkers and hears a plane coming in. They watch Rosenthal’s plane come in and land, learning that they’re the only ones who made it.
It’s quiet during the interrogation. Everyone is at a loss for words and there’s a lot of tension. Crosby hears that his best friend, Lt. Bubbles (Louis Greatorex), and his crew, didn’t make it. Colonel Chick Harding (James Murray) walks out of the meeting, distraught and frustrated.
Once the interrogation is over, Crosby cleans out Bubbles’ bunk. He finds a letter that Bubbles is going to send to his wife. It’s tragic that he thought Crosby was dead, but turns out that shortly after they reunited with each other, Bubbles is the one that ends up gone.
Overall, this was a tragic episode. One tragedy after the other, just like the previous episode. It was emotional to see Crosby’s conflict after the mission and also John’s quietness before the mission. It will be interesting to see what happens in “Part Six.” We can’t help but wonder, when will the tragedy end? What will happen to John and his crew?
Rating: 9.5/10