Now That ‘Masters of the Air’ Has Officially Concluded, Let’s Break Down That Finale

The final episode of Masters of the Air, Apple TV’s historical drama about the bomber pilots of the 100th Squadron during World War II, aired on March 15, bringing with it the usual bittersweetness of any story coming to an end. 

This finale was very much in line with the ones from Masters of the Air’s de facto prequels, namely Band of Brothers in 2001 and The Pacific in 2010. The final episodes of all three shows covered the final months of the war—on the European or Pacific fronts—and the eventual return home of the soldiers that had survived the fighting.

So, let’s recap what happened to the 100th Squadron pilots in “Part Nine” of Masters of the Air.

Buck, Bucky, prison camps and escapes

At the start of the episode, the show’s arguable leads, Majors Gale “Buck” Cleven and John “Bucky” Egan (played by Austin Butler and Callum Turner respectively) are made to march out of the prison camp where they’re being held by the German troops along with a good chunk of other characters, like Ncuti Gatwa’s 2nd Lt. Robert Daniels and Branden Cook’s 2nd Lt. Alexander Jefferson. The front is getting closer and the Nazis want to keep the prisoners away from possible liberation at the hands of the Red Army advancing from the East.

After a series of long, difficult marches through the snowy German territory and various prison camps—as well as some very heartfelt moments between our main duo— the prisoners arrive in the town of Berching. There, Buck and Bucky finally decide to make a run for it and try the escape they have been mulling over ever since they found themselves in the same prison camp. While Cleven makes it, though, Egan doesn’t and stays behind. 

Their roads diverge once more, with Cleven managing to reunite with US Army soldiers after surviving an attack in the woods by a group of kids of the Nazi national militia Volkssturm. From Germany, he’s flown back to the United Kingdom and to the base at Thorpe Abbotts. Egan, for his part, arrives at the massive prisoner camp of Stalag VII—and there takes part in the liberation of the camp by the US Army, climbing up the flagpole to tear down the Nazi flag and hoist up the American stars and stripes.

Rosie and terrible discoveries

The episode actually begins with Nate Mann’s Major Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal’s plane getting shot down during a bombing mission over Berlin in the early months of 1945. Rosenthal is rescued by Red Army soldiers, who identify him as American and bring him along with them until they can put him on a plane that is going to take him back to the United Kingdom—albeit via a very long series of stops in between.

While marching with the Red Army through Poland, though, Rosenthal comes face to face with the horrors of the Holocaust as the Army column stops near Fort VII, a concentration camp set up by the Nazis near the Polish city of Poznań.

Mercy missions and the return to civilian life

Both Rosenthal and Cleven make it back to Thorpe Abbotts, where Anthony Boyle’s Lt. Henry Crosby and the rest of the Squadron are gearing up to fly a series of mercy missions over the Netherlands to deliver food to the population, starving in what has come to be known as the Hongerwinter. Sergeant Ken Lemmons, played by Raff Law, joins them, flying for the first time in one of the planes that he has patched up endlessly during the war.

After the first mission, the pilots make it back to base to discover that Egan is also back to base, bringing the “undisputed leaders of the Squadron,” as Cleven and Egan were described in the show’s first episode, back together.

Eventually, May 8, 1945, comes and brings with it the official end of the war. The final scenes of Masters of the Air see military personnel dismantling the base at Thorpe Abbotts, packing gear and documents up to return to the United States.

The pilots do the same, a long line of planes taking off one after the other in a perfect mirror of how they arrived two years before, with the local British civilians waving them goodbye. Buck and Bucky remember their fellow soldiers who didn’t make it home, while most of the Squadron looks forward to a return to civilian life. Lt. Harry Crosby most of all, since he has a newborn son waiting for him at home with his wife Jean.

(featured image: Apple TV)