Soaring High or Nose Dive? Unpacking 'Masters of Air’
Two episodes in, and I’ll be brutally honest: I'm not a fan. Masters of Air, attempting to follow in the footsteps of the iconic Band of Brothers, is like trying to imitate a masterpiece with a handful of crayons. While Band of Brothers had us emotionally invested in its characters, Masters of Air introduces us to cardboard cutouts straight out of a particularly uninspired children's book. These pilots are so smug that even Maverick and Goose would suggest they take a chill pill. Picture characters more at ease on a runway than in the cockpit, as if they just stepped out of a comic strip written by a sleep-deprived five-year-old. Call it a 'mockumentary' if you will, but even mockumentaries require a touch of verisimilitude. In the Masters of Air universe, verisimilitude seems to be on a permanent vacation.
And then there's the faint whiff of propaganda wafting through the air, as if the creators borrowed a page from the World War II propaganda playbook. It's not so much storytelling as it is an attempt to brand our retinas with a recruitment poster. The characters, draped in patriotism like it's the latest fashion trend, come off less like soldiers and more like human-sized clichés. It's as if they were handed a script that reads, 'Look heroic, recite recruitment slogans, and repeat until nausea sets in.'
Speaking of which, there's this other peculiar quirk: Masters of Air seems to have an unhealthy obsession with aviation-induced nausea. I get it, flying a B-17 during WWII probably wasn't a walk in the park, but do we really need a vomit-o-meter for the first two episodes? It's like they've mistaken the cockpit* for a roller-coaster ride designed by your mischievous younger sibling. (*Or the runway. Or the Colonel's desk. They all get the same innards treatment.) Maybe the writers lost a bet, and 'make everyone barf' was the forfeit. Regardless, it's a questionable choice, turning what should be a gripping war drama into an unintentional audition for the world's weirdest air sickness medication commercial. I'm already eagerly awaiting the spin-off series: 'Tummy Trouble Troupers: The Airborne Sickness Chronicles'.
However, let's not pour all the champagne out just yet. Masters of Air does manage to take flight in certain areas, particularly for those who appreciate period pieces and aviation enthusiasts. The meticulous attention to detail in the outfits and uniforms is a time warp – they've nailed the '40s aesthetic so perfectly that you half-expect Charles Lindbergh to pop out of the mess hall. And the true stars of this airborne drama, the planes, they definitely steal the show capturing the essence of a bygone era. It's like they took a time machine and brought back these majestic warbirds for our viewing pleasure. If only the characters could match the charisma of those vintage planes, we'd be soaring through the skies of cinematic excellence.