GamesRadar+ VerdictA muddled lull in the action that feels like a misstep – but with a tense, harrowing plot for Egan
GamesRadar+ Verdict
GamesRadar+ Verdict
A muddled lull in the action that feels like a misstep – but with a tense, harrowing plot for Egan
A muddled lull in the action that feels like a misstep – but with a tense, harrowing plot for Egan
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Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy.
The following contains spoilers for Masters of the Air episode 6.
It’s time for a breather.Last week,Masters of the Airfocused on a large-scale battle that annihilated almost all of the Bloody Hundredth. It makes sense, then, that episode 6 might ease off the gas to give the men – and us – time to process and mourn, just asepisode 4relocated to the ground following a similarly devastating battle. But, Masters of the Air episode 6 stumbles in the execution, offering a muddled lull in the action that doesn’t quite fulfil its potential.
The episode is split between Cros, Rosenthal, and Egan. With Rosenthal and co., we head to a rural retreat in the English countryside so the squad can have a dearly needed reprieve. Though the show makes admirable attempts to engage with the flyer’s clear post-traumatic stress disorder (back then, understood with terms like “combat fatigue”), it unfortunately ends up feeling rather surface level for such a deep issue.
The countryside
(Image credit: Apple)
Over in Oxford, Cros is struggling with survivor’s guilt, but, similarly, it’s apparently resolved after a single – albeit emotional – conversation, which helps him understand he’s not responsible for Bubbles’s death. It’s all a missed opportunity to take the time to really dig into what the men are going through, and, as a consequence, the bulk of this episode ends up feeling like a misplaced, meandering diversion rather than an insightful break from the action (again, like episode 4’s very effective look at war on the ground and the home front). When juxtaposed with Egan’s pulse-pounding experiences in Germany, it’s even stranger.
There is one likeable Oxford character, though, in the form of Subaltern Westgate. Her time with Cros is another acknowledgment of women’s many roles in the war, but, again, it feels like an out of place digression. It’s nice to see Cros get a break, but when that’s really all the storyline accomplishes, it feels aimless.
Enemy territory
(Image credit: Apple)
What happens to Egan and the other captured men is brutal; the shocking violence of the majority of the POWs being executed in a destroyed village and a badly wounded Egan later making his escape – as his own grave is being dug – is stomach-churning.
Egan refuses to spill any secrets to the Nazi officer interrogating him – in a surprisingly, unsettlingly genial fashion – and that gets him transported to a POW camp. It is absolutely, physically harrowing when Egan and the other POWs see a train transporting civilians, each of them wailing for help. What goes unspoken here is powerfully effective.
Masters of the Air continues weekly on Apple TV Plus. Fill out your watchlist with our guide to thebest Apple TV Plus showsstreaming now.
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Masters of the Air episode 9 review: “A satisfying conclusion, but doesn’t surpass Band of Brothers"Masters of the Air true story: here’s what happened to the 100th Bomb Group after the show
Masters of the Air episode 9 review: “A satisfying conclusion, but doesn’t surpass Band of Brothers”
Masters of the Air episode 9 review: “A satisfying conclusion, but doesn’t surpass Band of Brothers”
Masters of the Air true story: here’s what happened to the 100th Bomb Group after the show
Masters of the Air true story: here’s what happened to the 100th Bomb Group after the show
Latest26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time"See more latest►
Latest
26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time”
26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time”
26 years later, Codemasters' Chris Southall talks Colin McRae Rally: “We wanted to do something that was an authentic rally experience for the hardware of the time”
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”