The group participates in its largest mission to date - the bombing of vital aircraft manufacturing plants deep within Germany. An ambitious plan for three air divisions to strike two targets in coordination ends in disaster when two of the divisions are delayed by weather, leading to the 100th being forced to endure a gauntlet of German air defenses on their own as they fight to reach their target and then make it to their destination airfield in Algeria.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Ambiguous Situation: When we last see him, Quinn has to decide if he will surrender himself to the Germans to be taken prisoner and live out the rest of the war in a prison camp, or agree to let the Resistance try to sneak him out, at great risk? We don't see his answer until the next episode.
- Abandon Ship: The 100th loses nearly half of their planes during the mission, with pilots ordering the crews to bail out being a motif throughout the episode. Even after they are clear of the German defenses and flying over southern Europe towards Africa, we continue to see parachutes blossoming from bombers as they begin to fall from the sky, and one bomber ditches in the sea just short of landfall.
- We see that even if an airman successfully escapes from his stricken aircraft (not always a sure thing, as we see planes on fire, tumbling out of control, breaking apart, or with crew trapped behind damaged hatches), there is still the danger of all of the other aircraft flying through the air when they bail out, with one unfortunate airman colliding with the wing of Buck's plane.
- Captain's Log: One of Crosby's jobs as the Navigator is to keep a log of events that happen during the mission. After the shooting has stopped, he asks the bombardier if he knows what time a particular plane went down.Crosby: Do you know when we lost Biddick? I uh... I didn't have time to mark it in the log.Doug: ... I know, Croz. I guess they went down, uh... 1100.
- Coming in Hot: Two examples:
- Curtis decides to stay with the plane after the crew bails out, to give the badly wounded copilot a chance at survival, aiming to ditch the plane in a clearing dead ahead of them. They clip the trees just short of the clearing and the plane goes down in flames at the last second.
- Buck's plane has been shot to pieces and is leaking fuel. Even after tossing every piece of gear they can spare, including the guns, ammo, ball turret and even the Norden Bombsight. Even with all of this, they run out of fuel on final approach. Buck manages to bring the plane down safely, but Bucky teases him, pointing out that if he'd kept the plane in the air just a little bit longer, he would have landed on the actual runway. It's right over there!
- Continuity Nod: Crosby seems to be getting his airsickness under control, but we still see him take a break early in the mission to breathe into his airsickness bag, evidently to help settle his nerves and his stomach.
- Curb-Stomp Cushion: Although the 100th gets badly mauled, and the plan to have the three air divisions attack as a team falls through, they do successfully strike their target despite the best efforts of the German defenders. Through the course of the fight, we also see that the German fighters do not get away unscathed either, with several being shot down by the bombers throughout the fight.
- Dead Star Walking: Barry Keoghan is one of the biggest stars in the show's cast, which makes the fate of Curtis all the more shocking.
- Determinator: Buck absolutely refuses to abandon his damaged plane after losing an engine to enemy fire and suffering a fuel leak, over his co-pilot's objections. He also makes the risky decision to keep flying over the Mediterranean instead of ditching over mainland Europe, despite their low fuel and worsening mechanical state.Buck: You son of a bitch! We are going to sit here and take it! You hear me? We're gonna take it!
- The 100th as a whole manages to bulldog their way through fierce German Anti-Air and fighter defenses, with the Germans unable to stop them from striking their target, despite the serious losses they take.
- Dramatic Irony: Colonel Harding boasts that the new strategy of attacking German ball bearing plants is sure to bring the German war machine to a literal halt. In Real Life, the strategy of going after ball bearing production would prove to be a failure, because the Germans had built a stockpile of ball bearings ahead of time, and could also import them from other countries in Europe.
- Foreshadowing: The crew of Alice from Dallas discuss why the pilots don't want to take off in the fog, due to the danger of crashing into some unseen obstacle on the airfield. The fog delaying the launches of the other two air divisions leads to the 100th getting mauled when they are forced to hit the target alone.
- Hospitality for Heroes: Quinn bails out and stumbles across the home of a Belgian family who offer him some food. The father then turns up, having reported his arrival to The Belgian Resistance.
- During the mission brief, Col. Harding mixes this with some Interservice Rivalry, implying that the Twelfth Air Force has much more luxurious living standards that the crews will get to enjoy during their brief stay in Algeria. When they arrive at the base in North Africa, all they see is a scorching-hot dust-swept airfield, and after what they've just been through, they are happy to see it.
- Leave No Man Behind: Sadly played with between two bomber crews;
- Curt stays aboard the crippled Escape Plan after his co-pilot Dickie is badly wounded by machine gun fire, hoping to land the plane after the rest of the crew bails out. He fails and the plane crashes in a fiery explosion, killing both of them (and 2 more crew members in real life.
- Aboard the Alice from Dallas Quinn tries desperately to free Baby Face from the ball turret as the plane goes down. Sadly the hatch is damaged and despite a valiant effort, Quinn is forced to bail out and save himself, leaving Baby Face to die.
- Life/Death Juxtaposition: The episode has several examples of pairs of crews dealing with similar situations but with very different outcomes:
- Curtis and Buck both bringing their damaged planes in for emergency landings: Curtis and Snyder are killed when their plane crashes, while Buck and most of his crew survive after landing intact.
- Quinn and Curtis both staying behind to help a crewman after the rest of the crew bails out: Quinn, after trying to save the ball turret gunner, is forced to save himself, while Curtis dies with Snyder when their plane crashes.
- Not So Stoic: Buck keeps a calm and steady demeanour throughout the mission, but has two moments where his resolve cracks; the first is when he angrily countermands the co-pilot's order to Abandon Ship before they reach their target, then at the end of the episode after finally touching down in Africa, he sports a serious Thousand-Yard Stare and has trouble speaking to Bucky.
- Sinking Ship Scenario: Two of them:
- After he gives the order to bail out, Curtis realizes that Snyder is still alive, and refuses to leave him to die, deciding to bring the plane down safe in a clearing. They very nearly make it, but the plane clips a tree and crashes, killing both pilots.
- When Alice's crew is forced to bail out, Quinn realizes that Baby Face is trapped in his turret, and tries to get him out as the burning plane falls from the sky. In the end, Quinn is forced to abandon Baby Face to his doom to save himself.
- Soldiers at the Rear: Red, the intel officer, trades snark with Curtis during the briefing, and can be seen back at the command post alongside Colonel Harding as they receive a report that the other two air divisions meant to link up with the 100th are five hours late, making the entire mission plan moot, and making it certain that their crews are going into the sawmill alone.
- This Is Gonna Suck:
- The first happens when Bomber Command orders the 100th to take off without the other two air task forces, guaranteeing the Luftwaffe will focus all their interceptors on their attack vector.Col. Harding: We're sending them straight into hell, alone.
- The second happens when an intelligence report comes in mid-mission, warning all German airbases in Belguim are scrambling their planes, while the bombers are still three hours out from their target.
- The first happens when Bomber Command orders the 100th to take off without the other two air task forces, guaranteeing the Luftwaffe will focus all their interceptors on their attack vector.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Buck has a pretty deep one after the finally lands his damaged plane in Algeria.
- War Is Hell: When the plan for three air divisions (with fighter escort) striking three targets in a carefully-coordinated attack goes pear-shaped due to weather, the 100th is subjected to the sole brunt of the German air defense with no hope of relief. By the time they arrive at their destination in Algeria, they've lost 11 of 21 planes.
