* This Masters of the Air episode 4 recap contains spoilers * ... This week's episode follows Quinn and Bailey as the Belgian resistance try to smuggle them out of Flanders, with the pair learning some harsh lessons on the way. Elsewhere, while Bucky enjoys a weekend pass to London, Buck and the 100th return to Bremen. Yet many of them don't make it home...
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In France, Sgt. William Quinn is reunited with Sgt. Charles K. Bailey (Bailey Brook) and another US airman called "Bob". They're all interrogated by the French resistance, who are determined to root out any potential German spies who might be trying to infiltrate their network. Subjects range from Babe Ruth to the national anthem. "I haven’t been grilled that hard since my social studies final," says Bailey.
Yet it seems "Bob" didn’t pass the test and the French operatives execute him in the woods that afternoon. It’s a shock for Quinn and Bailey — and us as well. But how did they know he was an infiltrator? We’re desperate to know, but that question is never answered.
'Now who's flak happy?'
Back at Thorpe Abbotts, the men of the 100th are waiting for Lt. Glenn W. Dye (George Webster) to get back to base. If he makes it, it will mean he’s completed 25 missions to earn his ticket home and he’s the first man in the 100th to come close to that number.
His Fort lands safely and that evening there’s a party in his honour. He’s one of the original airmen who flew in from Greenland back in Spring 1943 and there aren’t many of them left.
There have been some reinforcements arriving though and one of them is Lt Robert 'Rosie' Rosenthal (Nate Mann) another very good-looking pilot. "You boys come with a hell of a reputation," says Egan when he welcomes them and they assume he's referring to their habit of flying in their underwear. He isn't, which Rosie finds embarrassing. His comrade Lt Herbert Nash (Laurie Davidson) isn't too worried though and he asks Helen, a young woman who works for the American Red Cross.
Later on, Major Harding addresses his men and asks if they’re 'flak happy’ (suffering with PTSD after flying so many missions) to which they reply that they aren’t. It's clear he's had a few too many and he then goes on to daydream about ending the war by bombing Hitler’s compound. “Now who’s flak happy?” says Egan. It’s a direct challenge to his superior officer and causes a tense moment, but after a few seconds, Harding laughs it off. However, Buck says his pal needs a break and recommends he heads to London on a weekend pass.
'Stupid means dead...'
In Belgium, Bailey and Quinn leave the family who’ve been sheltering them, with Quinn getting a particularly emotional farewell from the farmer’s teenage daughter. “Come on Romeo!” says his pal. Their guide will be a young woman who immediately suspects Quinn might have something dangerous in his bag. Sure enough, he has a letter from the farmer’s daughter. “What do you think the Germans will do to her if they find this?” he's aksed. “They will torture her to get the names they need and then shoot her and her family.” Quinn admits it was stupid of him. “Here, stupid means dead!” comes the response.
Bailey and Quinn are aboard a train en route to Spain, when Quinn finally reveals the truth about how he was forced to leave Babyface on their B-17 during the crash. It’s an emotional moment and it’s clearly still weighing on his mind when the ticket inspector arrives, as he tries to flee in panic. Luckily another member of the French resistance, Louise, is on hand to save him before the Nazi soldiers on the platform notice what’s going on. “You do anything like that again and I'll knock you out!” says Bailey.
In London, Major Egan is drinking with a Polish woman named Paulina (Joanna Kulig). She tells him her husband was also a pilot who was shot down at the start of the war. “You want to take me to bed? Take me dancing first,” she says.
Later that night he watches a bombing raid from her bedroom window and ruminates on the ethics of his work. “There’s no balance, just one event after another. The worst come out untouched, the innocent dead,” she tells him.
'He went down swinging...'
Back in East Anglia, Buck prepares for another mission, while Nash says goodbye to Helen, with whom he danced so closely the previous night. The 100th are heading back to Bremen to try and hit those U-Boat pens, yet there’s an issue with a magneto on Buck’s plane that ground crew chief, Sgt Lemmons, believes he can only fix while the plane is taxiing. It’s quite a trick, but not a problem for Jude Law’s son.
Yet it’s the last we see of Buck and his Flying Fortress is one of eight that doesn’t return from the raid on Bremen. Is he dead? Is he a prisoner of war? No one knows. “Damn Bremen,” Major Bowman curses. Meanwhile, it’s left to Rosie to let Helen know that Lt. Nash didn’t make it.
In London, Egan reads about the raid on Bremen and calls base to ask if Bucky made it back. “He went down swinging” says Major Bowman, with Egan telling him he’ll be back for the following day’s mission.
