hunter albert

In the late 1990s, right after starring in Saving Private Ryan, Tom Hanks partnered with Erik Jendresen and Steven Spielberg to create a television series set during World War II. The novel, Band of Brothers, was adapted from Stephen Ambrose’s 1992 novel of the same name. Band of Brothers follows the men of Easy Company, of the 101st Airborne, from the invasion of Normandy during D-Day to the end of war in Europe. The series premiered weeks after the September 11 attacks, and even though it was at a time of heightened patriotism, it would go on to become the gold standard of television miniseries. I would call Band of Brothers a transcendent piece of media that has stood the test of time. You don’t need to be a history buff or even like the war genre to love the series. I’ve rewatched the series countless times and it never fails to leave an impact. Nearly ten years later, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg created the 2010 companion series, The Pacific, based on the experiences of the United States Marine Corp. in the Pacific theater. The Pacific was also released to critical acclaim, though it didn’t quite match the quality of Band of Brothers for myself.

When Apple announced it had secured the rights to a third companion series from Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, I was cautiously excited.

Masters of the Air follows the 100th Bomb Group, known as the Bloody Hundredth, a title earned because of the heavy losses they sustained during the war. The series follows Major Gale “Buck” Cleven (Austin Butler), Major John “Bucky” Egan (Callum Turner), Lt. Harry Crosby (Anthony Boyle), Lt. Curtis Biddick (Barry Keoghan), and Major Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal (Nate Mann) as they forge close bonds while embarking on deadly air raid missions into German-occupied Europe.

As I’ve come to learn, you either love Austin Butler or hate him, and your mileage may vary here. His cool, popped collar persona that seemingly annoys people is on full display again. Shot mere weeks after he wrapped filming Elvis, the ghost of Presley-past lives on. I’m firmly in the camp that the criticism against him is overblown and I hope people would look past that here. But who am I to judge? Acting across the board is excellent, though I’m not sure Barry Keoghan was a good fit here. He seemed horribly miscast to me as the sharpshooting and confident Yankee from California. Butler and Keoghan may be the big names in the billing, but the series shines on the backs of Callum Turner, Nate Mann, and Anthony Boyle (who is having a big year with Masters and Manhunt).

The series doesn’t shy away from the losses that the 100th suffers and brings a level of loss and death that at times is hard to comprehend. At the end of each one of these series, one of the first thing I think to myself is “Man, out of all the theaters of combat in World War II, I’m wouldn’t want to be there” I wouldn’t want to parachute out of a plane on D-Day or freeze during The Battle of the Bulge. I certainly wouldn’t want to endure the onslaught of Japanese soldiers on the insignificant island of Peleliu in the Pacific. But after all three series, I can safely say that I would sure as hell would never want to be in one of the several metal coffins that were shot down over Europe. The claustrophobic, frenetic chaos thousands of feet in the sky almost seems like a death sentence from Satan himself. It was horrifying watching planes go down, especially when some of the soldiers on board had no chance of escaping.

With the rotating doors of soldiers arriving, flying, and dying in quick succession, Masters of the Air doesn’t fall into the pitfall of repetition. Only a few episodes are needed to showcase the horror of war in the sky and just when you think the series is about to get a little stale, we’re taken on a journey of what it’s like to be a prisoner of war behind enemy lines. Some people may not like the later episodes for how much the series jumps around, but the storylines on the ground are just as impactful as the ones up in the sky. How did these soldiers cope when most of their squadron was never seen or heard from again? I found tension of Harry Crosby waiting on the airfield and counting how many planes returned to be heartbreaking.

“One… Two… Three… … Eleven… Twelve…”

“Thirty left, only twelve returned”

Much of the time when the airmen returned, they were treated to “medicine”, also known as a shot of whiskey.

I’m not sure that was enough.

Masters of the Air relies on much more CGI than its companion predecessors. It’s hard to fault, as the planes used back in World War II are no longer available in a mass scale to be filmed in the air—let alone the fact that mass casualties experienced in the air would be physically impossible to film. But when Band of Brothers used practical sets to portray the ground war in Europe, it’s only natural to feel Masters is somewhat artificial. I couldn’t help but feel I was watching a scene from a video game in some of the battles. With the combat also taking place primarily in the air, the Germans feel weirdly absent. Air combat is unorganized chaos, with German planes zipping by in a feverish frenzy, but the lack of being able to put a face behind the pilots almost invokes a feeling of fighting something extra-terrestrial. In Band of Brothers you could often see the enemy soldiers and the battleground felt more alive and real.

Some plot points in Masters of the Air are under developed and some loose ends really nag at you. We’re shown Crosby’s affair with British officer Alessandra, who has a mysterious background that is given no exposition, which feels like a cheap plot point. Did this person even exist in real life? Was she based on anyone? Probably not.

The Airmen of Tuskegee play a vital role… for one episode. And that really stings. I’m not claiming to be an expert historian on their role in World War II, but some quick research shows how instrumental they were. Exceptionally skilled in their air prowess, they had one of the lowest loss records of any the escort fighter groups and played a vital role in the Allied victory in Europe. Facing racial discrimination when black people were subjected to Jim Crow laws back at home, I think there was much more story to be told than the one episode they got and I think they deserved a much bigger role. It’s a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Historians would point out that the Tuskegee Airmen didn’t serve in the 100th, and they would be correct, but I think they could have expanded the scope of the series. It’s called Masters of the Air, not The Bloody Hundredth, and I think their story could have fit.

Imagine parallel storylines throughout the series covering the Tuskegee Airmen and the 100th. Storylines that would then converge in the final two episodes of the series. There would be much more effort to develop each character, and we would see more of the impact they have. Now that would do the Tuskegee Airmen justice.

Masters of the Air may never reach the heights of Band of Brothers, but very few series do. It might seem incredibly unfair for me to throw my hands up and say “your mileage may vary!” If you don’t love Austin Butler, then you may just be annoyed. If you don’t love history, I’m not sure the series will change your mind on the genre. I’m willing to bat for Band of Brothers any day of the week. I’m not willing to do that with Masters of the Air. I am willing to suggest to anyone that the series deserves a chance. I have qualms with some of the story beats and representation. The story hits an uneven spot in the middle before delivering the two best episodes at the end of the series. You may not love every storyline. But the series offers a unique perspective from World War II that has shockingly been underrepresented in media. I genuinely enjoy reading about history, so any series that ventures into that territory is already going to earn some points with me. The series also inspired me to pick up the book that it is based on, a novel that is a whopping 669 pages. That has to count for something.

★★★★