Masters of the Air has come to a close on Apple TV+, bringing the stories of Gale ‘Buck’ Cleven (Austin Butler), John ‘Bucky’ Egan (Callum Turner), Harry Crosby (Anthony Boyle) and the rest of the 100th Bomb Group to an end.
Based on the real events the US Army Air Forces faced during World War II, the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks-backed series had plenty of source material to go off.
And during its nine-episode run, the show had been praised for staying relatively true to the real events – although it did come under for its use of CGI to replicate the WWII aircraft.
But as episode nine attempted to wrap things up, some have been feeling rather deflated.
The finale provided several storyline endings, including the discovery of concentration camps, the 100th’s successful food drops across Europe and the defeat of the Stalag Luft VI at the hands of the POWs.
However, some have complained about real-life events being omitted, with question marks surrounding the future of Harry’s anti-war campaigning post-WWII, why Rosie’s 1944 crash wasn’t mentioned, and the fact Bucky was awarded the Legion of Merit.
Masters of the Air has come under fire for the omissions in the series finale
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One person who took aim at the finale stated: “Enjoyed #MastersOfTheAir but am struggling with Buck Cleven’s return to the cockpit after months as a POW.
“No OCU refresh, no phased RTW, he’d was surely out of date for fitness, WHT, DIMP, and D&I & failed to set new OJAR objectives. Great series marred by glaring oversights.”
A second similarly slammed the ending: “In this series, they want to focus on so many things that it doesn’t come together well; In Band of Brothers there is a space for everything and a balance: between the construction of plots, character development and moments of tension before the action. MOA is not a masterpiece.”
A third praised the show but wasn’t impressed with the final episode: “It had its issues but I really liked this show overall. That being said, the pacing of the finale is HORRIBLE.
Austin Butler led the cast of Masters of the Air on Apple TV +
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“They should have had 10 episodes. Buck just..ending up back at base and us not seeing any of how that happened, for example. Like..what???? #MastersoftheAir.”
While a fourth similarly critiqued: “Austin and Calum are great but this series is just not fitting and while I am happy for outcome of some characters just meh and underwhelming overall. #MastersOfTheAir.”
And a fifth was left with unanswered questions: “Anyone else who has watched the #MastersOfTheAir finale care to explain what the man who lost his entire family said when Bucky asked where he plans to go now? Somehow Apple refused to translate that one response.”
The complaints continued on forum site Reddit, with one viewer saying: “Am I the only one that felt extremely underwhelmed by this series? I’m a huge Band of Brothers and Pacific fan and ever since the rumors of this show started swirling not too long after the Pacific finished, I’ve been waiting for this series to drop. I’ve got to say when compared to BoB and The Pacific this doesn’t come close. I feel like they missed opportunities to show.” (sic)
Masters of the Air came to a close after nine episode of Apple TV+
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However, there was still plenty of praise for Hanks and Spielberg’s latest offering, with one viewers simply arguing: “Just finished Masters of the Air. Masterpiece. #MastersOfTheAir.”
“Crying now #MastersOfTheAir what an ending,” added another before a third similarly lauded: “#MastersOfTheAir 10/10 finale, 10/10 series – loved every second!.”
