Masters of the Air (2024 - AppleTV)

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Outside of Buck, Bucky, and Croz, I couldn’t tell you who the other characters are, except for the Colonel and maybe Bubbles. It feels pretty disjointed in terms of character development.

Just watch the intro. There’s an entire corps of black flyers whom we haven’t met.

Spoiler

also many of the “main” characters are dead now

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I actually don’t mind this show. Something about it is pretty good.

I agree. I’ve enjoyed it. I knew the air battles were crazy, but this is the best portrayal of how vulnerable the flying fortresses were.

 

[Mulli]

I agree. I’ve enjoyed it. I knew the air battles were crazy, but this is the best portrayal of how vulnerable the flying fortresses were.

Absolutely!

 

[Devilmaycare]

Just watch the intro. There’s an entire corps of black flyers whom we haven’t met.

Spoiler

also many of the “main” characters are dead now

FYI, the black flyers are the Tuskegee Airmen, the Red Tails. They have a great story and a great record if you're not familiar with them. Going by the time line it'll probably be the last 2, maybe 3 episodes, that they'll be in.

Spoiler: real life history, probably show spoiler

They were fighter pilots and took up the bomber escort roll. Basically the events of the last episode along with some new airplane developments caused a shift in tactics that allowed for better use of escort fighters. They were one of the squadrons brought in for it. It completely changes those bombing runs.

 

[Covert Rain]

That last episode was pretty damn good. The show started out slow but has gotten better as it moved along.

 

[Town Drunk]

That last episode was pretty damn good. The show started out slow but has gotten better as it moved along.

I agree but I wish they would have shown Buck’s plane going down in the last two episodes. I know the history of this group, but given that he was one of the characters they focused on in the early episodes, it feels like a missed opportunity.

 

[Mulli]

I agree but I wish they would have shown Buck’s plane going down in the last two episodes. I know the history of this group, but given that he was one of the characters they focused on in the early episodes, it feels like a missed opportunity.

I wasn't paying enough attention and missed what happened to his plane

 

[Town Drunk]

I wasn't paying enough attention and missed what happened to his plane

They never showed it, they’ve just said it went down during a mission. That was when Bucky was in London on a weekend pass.

 

[Mulli]

They never showed it, they’ve just said it went down during a mission. That was when Bucky was in London on a weekend pass.

Ok good. Sometimes it is just too much of a pain to rewind on AppleTV. Thx

 

[Covert Rain]

I agree but I wish they would have shown Buck’s plane going down in the last two episodes. I know the history of this group, but given that he was one of the characters they focused on in the early episodes, it feels like a missed opportunity.

I kept thinking they were going to go back to that but never did. That was annoying.

 

[Stout]

Spoilers, damn it! I was just thinking everyone was doing a good job with the spoilers as I came to continue to see if I want to give this show a shot lol

 

[Mulli]

Spoilers, damn it! I was just thinking everyone was doing a good job with the spoilers as I came to continue to see if I want to give this show a shot lol

I recommend

 

[Devilmaycare]

Spoilers, damn it! I was just thinking everyone was doing a good job with the spoilers as I came to continue to see if I want to give this show a shot lol

Give it a shot. It's not BoB but it good after a slow start. The main challenge of the show is character building but that's hard to do when each mission has a couple hundred guys to it. It doesn't have the neatly packaged single company like BoB.

And we've been good on the spoilers for the most part. It's tough though. It has the challenge of being a historical drama. A bunch of it I knew going in because I've always loved WW2 documentaries. I always had the History Channel on back when it was the jokingly known as The WW2 Channel. So I've been trying to be careful with both what's aired and history.

 

[Chaplin]

I literally just finished watching Band of Brothers for the first time. I tried years ago, but couldn't get into the first episode. Stuck with it this time, and there are at least 2 episodes that are among the best war films/episodes I've ever seen. My favorite was the one centering on Doc. Just amazing.

I figured I have to wait to watch The Pacific and Masters of Air because I have high expectations based on BoB.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The fact that really big deaths can happen off-screen… and they don’t affect me says so much about this show being a lot of sizzle but not enough steak for me. That said, I’ll believe one of those deaths when I see final credits roll. My guess is there’s a comeback coming.

It’s all technically REALLY impressive, but I just don’t give that much of a crap about the characters… because they aren’t really characters. I only know two characters’ names… and that’s because they have the same names and a big deal is made out of that.

It’s still entertaining, but it ain’t gonna leave a mark for this viewer.

 

[Covert Rain]

I literally just finished watching Band of Brothers for the first time. I tried years ago, but couldn't get into the first episode. Stuck with it this time, and there are at least 2 episodes that are among the best war films/episodes I've ever seen. My favorite was the one centering on Doc. Just amazing.

I figured I have to wait to watch The Pacific and Masters of Air because I have high expectations based on BoB.

I hate to be Debbie downer but nothing matches the brilliance of the original BOB. Pacific has it's moments and so does Masters but BOB is the cream of the crop.

 

[Chaplin]

I hate to be Debbie downer but nothing matches the brilliance of the original BOB. Pacific has it's moments and so does Masters but BOB is the cream of the crop.

Right, which is why I won't see the others anytime soon.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Right, which is why I won't see the others anytime soon.

Yeah… don’t. Especially if you just finished Brothers.

 

[Phrazbit]

The fact that really big deaths can happen off-screen… and they don’t affect me says so much about this show being a lot of sizzle but not enough steak for me. That said, I’ll believe one of those deaths when I see final credits roll. My guess is there’s a comeback coming.

It’s all technically REALLY impressive, but I just don’t give that much of a crap about the characters… because they aren’t really characters. I only know two characters’ names… and that’s because they have the same names and a big deal is made out of that.

It’s still entertaining, but it ain’t gonna leave a mark for this viewer.

I, annoyingly, paid too close of attention to the opening credits in the first week.

There are some MAJOR spoilers. I don't think I've seen a show give away some big plot points like this shows credits did.

I'm still enjoying it though, but yeah, it's no where near Band of Brothers, but that is a really high bar.

The Pacific is really good, but damn... it's last 3 or 4 episodes are so bleak. Great TV but not something I've rewatched like I have BoB.

My grandfather was in the 1st Marine division, wasn't there for Guadalcanal but he was there for Peleliu. Had some gnarly stories... the rest of his war stories painted the picture of a big adventure, but not that one.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I, annoyingly, paid too close of attention to the opening credits in the first week.

There are some MAJOR spoilers. I don't think I've seen a show give away some big plot points like this shows credits did.

I'm still enjoying it though, but yeah, it's no where near Band of Brothers, but that is a really high bar.

The Pacific is really good, but damn... it's last 3 or 4 episodes are so bleak. Great TV but not something I've rewatched like I have BoB.

My grandfather was in the 1st Marine division, wasn't there for Guadalcanal but he was there for Peleliu. Had some gnarly stories... the rest of his war stories painted the picture of a big adventure, but not that one.

Are the opening credits different every week? Because episode 6 almost felt like the credits were trolling me with a big cliffhanger for the cold open… that the credits immediately gave away.

 

[Phrazbit]

Hmm, I think they have been but I have not watched 6 yet, I will let you know.

 

[Covert Rain]

OK. They did circle back on some characters tonight. Next episode looks really good.

 

[Town Drunk]

OK. They did circle back on some characters tonight. Next episode looks really good.

Yeah, still a miss on not showing Buck going down.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Filler episode.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

FYI, the black flyers are the Tuskegee Airmen, the Red Tails. They have a great story and a great record if you're not familiar with them. Going by the time line it'll probably be the last 2, maybe 3 episodes, that they'll be in.

Spoiler: real life history, probably show spoiler

They were fighter pilots and took up the bomber escort roll. Basically the events of the last episode along with some new airplane developments caused a shift in tactics that allowed for better use of escort fighters. They were one of the squadrons brought in for it. It completely changes those bombing runs.

I’m familiar. Couldn’t recall name as i typed