D-Day is imminent. Crosby works himself past the breaking point planning the 100th's missions in support of the Allied landings in Normandy. Meanwhile, the African-American fliers of the 332d Fighter Group attack radar sites to clear the way for further landings in southern France. In Stalag-III, the American leaders in the POW camp begin to plan for different possible outcomes while dealing with two new changes to the camp: African-American POWs being added to the camp population, and the camp being placed under the control of the SS.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Alex Jefferson wishes that he and the other Tuskegee Airmen would be given the chance to participate in heavier action against the Axis rather than their stealth missions. They then get to participate in Operation Dragoon, which results in Alex and several of the others getting shot down and sent to Stalag-III.
- Break Them by Talking: A German interrogator asks one of the Tuskeegee Airmen why he'd fight so hard for a country that treats blacks as poorly as the United States does.Macon: Do you know any country that's better?
- Chekhov's Skill: Alex is frequently showing drawing during down time. When Buck sees a map he drew of the prison area, he appoints him as the map maker for the POWs.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Taking uppers to keep going without sleep. While they help to keep Crosby awake and on his feet, they can't fight the effects of sleep deprivation and he becomes delirious and finally passes out.
- Exhaustion-Induced Idiocy: Sleep deprivation is clearly shown impairing Crosby's ability to function the longer he goes without it. By day two, he's started having hallucinations. By day three, he notes how he barely feels connected to the world around him anymore, and when ordered to take a break by a superior officer, his attempted reassurance that he's alright devolves into incoherent rambling. Moments later, he finally hits his limit (and the floor) while trying to drag himself back to his work station.
- Fighting the Lancer: Buck and Bucky get into a very public argument that degenerates into a fight, with Bucky implied to be breaking under the strain of having to endure prison life. Subverted, as they're both later revealed to be working together on escape and survival contingencies, meaning the fight was likely staged for the benefit of their captors to alleviate any suspicions that the POWs are getting along a little too well.
- Good with Numbers: When discussing the distance they have to travel to hit their targets and return, Macon is able to rattle off distances to the targets down to fractions of a mile, and is able to calculate the range of their fighters while factoring in both the benefit of the increased fuel carried in their droptanks and the additional drag and weight penalties of carrying drop tanks and rockets for the attack, all within a few minutes of learning what their target is going to be.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment: The POWs' reaction when they learn the Allies have finally invaded Western Europe.
- Heroic RRoD: After three days of non-stop work, Crosby passes out and sleeps through the Normandy landings.
- Hero of Another Story: We finally find out what Westgate's role is — she's working with the SOE
, gathering intelligence and serving as a liaison with the Resistance in preparation for the upcoming invasion. - Hypocrite: Tuskegee Airman Macon is interrogated by a German officer, who questions why he is fighting for a country that treats black people poorly. This is coming from someone who serves a nation where racism and especially anti-semitism are central to its ideology, and had been persecuting and committing atrocities across Europe against those they consider “lesser races”, including black people. Naturally, Macon is unimpressed and doesn’t buy the officer’s rhetoric.
- Improvisational Ingenuity: The POWs realize that the Germans are becoming desperate, and begin discretely preparing for the eventuality of having to fight their captors. They begin producing improvised weapons, drawing maps of the surrounding area, and building their strength under the guise of manual labor around the camp.
- I Owe You My Life: While many of the American POWs treat the black Tuskegee Airmen with hostility, others welcome them with open arms since a Red Tail had previously saved them from being shot down by a German fighter and the life debt triumphs any feelings of racism they might have.
- Must Have Caffeine: For the first day and a half, Crosby stays awake by drinking lots of coffee. When that stops working, he convinces the doc to give him some Uppers to help him keep going.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: The Normandy Landings, and the 100th striking multiple targets across western France to prevent a German counter-attack, all without any opposition from the Luftwaffe, which had been swept off the battlefield by Allied airpower. Later, the POWs learn that the Soviets have invaded Germany, bringing the front lines closer to them.
- Crosby lampshades the trope, because after working himself to exhaustion, he literally slept through Operation Overlord.
- Overworked Sleep: After trying to keep himself going for three days straight planning bomber routes for Operation Overlord, Crosby passes out and sleeps for three days straight.
- Prejudice Aesop: Played With. It is implied that Buck might be racist against the black prisoners, with Bucky having to nudge him to bring them in on their escape plan. As Buck later tells Alex, his deciding not to raise a fuss over the black pilots staying in his bunkhouse was less about being welcoming towards them and more being able to safely assume they weren't German spies. Buck sees the map that Alex has drawn of the area and immediately realizes how helpful he can be to their escape effort.
- While some of the prisoners take offense to the black pilots being imprisoned with them, others are vocally welcoming, having witnessed the Red Tails fighting to protect their bombers.
- Skewed Priorities: Some of more bigoted white American POWs are more concerned about having to be imprisoned with black pilots than the fact they're all imprisoned by the enemy.
- Sleep Aesop: As Crosby demonstrates: Sleep Deprivation is really bad for you, and taking drugs to stay awake has diminishing returns. He ends up passing out for three days straight.
- Sleep Deprivation: Crosby works for 72 hours straight planning the 100th's part of the Normandy invasion, first drinking coffee, then popping pills to stay awake, and finally just hitting the wall and passing out for three days.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Macon's non-verbal reaction to the Nazi officer trying to appeal to him by speaking ill of the racism black people like him have to deal with in America.
