Buck and Bucky, the heart and soul of the Masters Of The Air series, are still stuck at Stalag Luft III. After last week’s episode, it did seem like our favorite majors, along with the Colonel and other POWs, were going to attempt “the great escape,” although the news of British escapees getting executed understandably dampened their spirits. In the penultimate episode of Apple TV’s WWII epic, the Tuskegee men get a fair share of focus, which takes the narrative in an interesting direction. The invasion of Europe finally happens, while Crosby grapples with the possible truth of Sandra not being who she seems to be. Let us take a closer look.
Spoilers Ahead
What Are The Tuskegee Men Up To?
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, known as “The Tuskegee Men,” completes its 500th mission successfully by hitting the Germans from Italy. But the rousing success doesn’t make second lieutenant Alexander Jefferson, aka Alex, happy, as he seeks heavier action and, most importantly, to contribute more to the war his country is fighting. Alex’s wish does get fulfilled in two months when they fly to France to complete a very critical mission that seems like an almost impossible job to pull off, as pointed out by Lieutenant Macon. And sadly, he turns out to be very right when one small mishap costs them the mission and drops them straight into the hands of the Germans. Macon, Alex, and Daniels get captured and taken to a transit camp, where the interrogator tries hard to manipulate them by telling them their country doesn’t treat Black people right—something that’s not exactly wrong, but clearly not enough to make a Tuskegee man shift sides. Alex does smoke a cigarette, which he got from the interrogator, but that’s about it. Inevitably, the three of them are taken into Stalag Luft III.
Is Sandra A Spy?
The moment Sandra Westgate was introduced to the plot and got involved with Crosby, we kept wondering whether she was a spy or not. This episode finally confirms the theory, as we see Sandra confidently walking into the headquarters of whatever organization she’s working for—but it’s definitely anti-Nazi. She’s in Paris — a piece of information that Crosby doesn’t have, which is pretty much running him crazy. Sandra soon leaves for her next mission, where she travels to a railway station in Le Bec-Hellouin. We’re certainly going to know more about the character in the season finale.
What’s Happening At Thorpe Abbott?
With D-Day fast approaching, Crosby puts himself on a three-day without sleep schedule, understandably. And it’s not at all an easy thing to do, no matter how much coffee he consumes. Crosby tries hard while dealing with all the anxieties and fear in his head and the despair regarding Sandra and everything. Through his own narration, we get to know that his mind starts to do its own thing by the time he hits the sixty-hour mark. At the sixty-fourth hour, Crosby tries to do it breath by breath but ultimately collapses on the floor.
The D-Day, i.e., June 6, 1944, finally arrives, and in the absence of Colonel Bennett, thanks to his being re-assigned, Rosie takes up the role of commanding officer. And thanks to Crosby’s impeccable work of mapping a lot of routes in the sky, Rosie’s mission turns out to be a thumping success. When Crosby wakes up, he finds Rosie beside his bed on a Saturday morning. He slept through almost three days—the same time when Rosie owned the sky—and the only person who deserves the credit for that is Crosby. Sadly, Crosby doesn’t feel good about missing out on all the action. He soon gets a whole month of leave for all his good work and to get his mind back on track. He decides to visit Sandra, of course, but all he finds is an apology letter from her in the hotel room. In the same letter, Sandra mentions that this is for the best and that Crosby should be with Jean. Crosby now has no other option but to go back to NYC for four weeks, and he clearly doesn’t seem very excited about that.
What’s Going On In Stalag Luft-III?
Things are not at all looking good for Buck, Bucky, and co. At least they can now listen to the radio, get to know what’s happening in the war, and plan their next move accordingly. At this point, they know for a fact that at some point they’ve got to make an escape attempt, and if they get caught, they’re going to be slaughtered by the Germans. With the arrival of a new SS commandant, Buck asks everyone to get into shape and get ready for possible fights. He even thinks about smart regimes for exercise, which wouldn’t make the Germans suspicious. While Buck tries his best to keep the hope alive, Bucky is not doing well emotionally and gets into an unnecessary physical fight with his best friend, which does break up pretty soon though. In the midst of all this, the Tuskegee men arrive at the POW camp. They are determined to find an escape route and are considering seeking help from the White boys, which does seem like a pretty good idea!
Why Do Buck And Alex Team Up?
The arrival of the Tuskegee men in Stalag Luft III gives Bucky some hope. He asks Buck to start considering them for the escape mission. Buck is initially skeptical, but all his doubt goes away when he has a proper conversation with Alex the next day. The two bond over their common interest, which is being a fighter pilot, which Buck originally aspired to become. Jefferson sneakily hands Buck a hand-drawn map of their possible escape route, and Buck is more than happy to receive that. Jefferson brings up their awkward interaction from Day One, about which both of them now laugh. We clearly have a new pair of best friends, and we can’t wait to see what this team-up ultimately does! Buck, Alex, Daniels, Macon, Colonel, and of course, Bucky are our main players at the Stalag Luft-III now, and it’s great to see them all in full-on preparation mode. The season finale of Masters of the Air is going to be one cracker of an hour, and we can’t wait for it!
