The 100th bombs German U-boat pens in Norway; with the help of Lt. Crosby's navigating, a damaged B-17 struggles to get back to Britain.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Beware the Nice Ones: Buck is ready to come to blows with an RAF pilot who keeps pointing out that the Americans wouldn't take so many casualties if they didn't insist on flying daylight missions. Curtis steps in and offers to fight the Brit instead. As Buck would later remark, he didn't even disagree with the British pilot. He just thought the man was an ass about it.
- Both Sides Have a Point: The American and British Air Forces have different strategies for their bombing missions, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The Americans' daylight bombing missions are more effective in ensuring the bombers hit their targets accurately, but come at the cost of the squadrons being easier to spot by the Luftwaffe and putting the American crewman at greater casualty risk. Conversely, the Brits' nighttime bombing missions are safer for their men because it's harder for the enemy to attack them in the dark, but it also often results in the crews missing their targets and causing unnecessary collateral damage.
- Captain's Log: Crosby sings the praises of the ground personnel who live and work at the base, fixing the airplanes, planning missions, preparing the gear for their missions, and cooking their food, and states that even though they don't go into battle with the bomber crews, are with them in spirit, and wait anxiously until the bombers return.
- Coming in Hot: Curtis's plane loses two engines over the target, then loses a third just short of the coast of Scotland. He barely brings the plane in, losing paint on the edge of the cliff before crashing through a family's farm and narrowly missing their house.
- High-Up Ice-Up: Discussed when Buck visits the two airmen who were injured on his previous mission. Dickey lost much of the skin from his hands from trying to handle his guns bare-handed, and the ball turret gunner who had the plexiglass windshield shot out wasn't kidding about nearly freezing to death: with the air temperature at that altitude being about fifty degrees below freezing, he'd suffered from frostbite over much of his body and was being shipped off to a hospital for treatment.
- Gets played for a Brick Joke when Crosby gets airsick and throws up in his helmet before placing it aside. When he later puts the helmet on again, nothing happens, but during a tense moment later his breakfast begins dripping down over his charts while he's working. As he would later explain to Bubbles, the vomit had frozen solid, and then gradually thawed once exposed to his body heat after he donned the helmet.
- Homoerotic Subtext: A group of RAF pilots note that the Yanks are much more physically affectionate than they are, with a disapproving tone. This just adds to the tension between the two groups before a fight breaks out.
- Hospitality for Heroes: After the rest of the 100th returns to base, they get a phone call from Curtis informing them that his crew is safe in Scotland, and we cut to a shot of his crew crowded around a table being served dinner by a Scottish family who will not give Curtis a straight answer about where exactly they are.
- Mood Whiplash: All over the place. A tense moment for Crosby is interrupted when the vomit he forgot about leaving in his helmet begins to leak out, making him think he's been hit before he realizes he's just covered in his own puke. A scene with some adorable kids suddenly reveals that one of them is missing a hand. The airmen having a drunken bicycle race around the chow hall is interrupted by a German air raid.
- Not So Above It All: Buck doesn't drink, gamble, dance, or play sports other than boxing. He does, however enthusiastically compete in an indoor bicycle race around the chow hall.
- Secret Weapon: The Norden Bombsight
is a closely-guarded secret, and the key to the US Army Air Force's daylight precision bombing campaign. We see that the gunsights are kept secured and only installed on the bomber when they will be needed for a mission. We also see that when in use, the pilot sets the autopilot and passes control to the bombardier. - Soldiers at the Rear: The ground personnel at the base perform all of the vital work necessary for the aircrews to successfully complete their missions. The airmen live and die by the efforts of these troops. And as we see late in the episode, even they aren't spared from the violence of war as they are sent scrambling to air raid shelters when the Luftwaffe attacks a nearby base.
- War Is Hell: Downplayed after the first episode, but we see more of how the war affects the crews even back at their home base. A moment of levity at their base is interrupted when the air raid sirens go off, with the 100th seeing that a nearby unit's base is being bombed by a German night attack. We also see a gaggle of adorable kids helping out the crew chiefs, including one kid who is missing a hand, presumably thanks to German air raids on Britain.
- You Are in Command Now: Lt. Crosby has to take over last-minute as the lead navigator for the group on a mission when Bubbles ends up too sick to fly. Despite suffering from his trademark air sickness, Crosby is able to calculate a new course on the fly when the formation has to slow down to protect a damaged Fortress, having them change course, drop down into the clouds, and fly in over Scotland to give Curtis some place safe to ditch his plane. Crosby earns a promotion for his efforts.
- We ARE Struggling Together: US Army Air Forces doctrine calls for precision daylight bombing, to ensure they hit their targets as accurately as possible. Royal Air Force doctrine calls for nighttime area bombing, which causes much more collateral damage but is safer for the crews. The Brits feel the Yank strategy is going to get American crews needlessly killed, while the Yanks think the Brit strategy is unnecessarily destructive and ineffective. This proves to be a touchy discussion topic when USAAF and RAF bomber crews have drinks together.
