10 Best Masters Of The Air Quotes (2024)

The epic World War II drama Masters of the Air is full of eye-catching scenes of aerial combat, but there are also plenty of memorable quotes. Apple TV's Masters of the Air follows a group of American pilots who carry out dangerous bombing missions over German territory. It encompasses most of the war, from the arrival of the first American airmen in England to the victory in Europe.

It's natural to compare Masters of the Air to Band of Brothers, since both World War II shows were produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. While Band of Brothers is broadly considered a masterpiece, Masters of the Air manages to hold its own. The enormous budget allowed Masters of the Air to produce several jaw-dropping action scenes, and the cast are uniformly superb. The script may not get as much recognition, but it has several poignant quotes in each episode.

10 "With Hundreds Of Hours Of Flight Training In The States, We Had To Believe We Were Prepared. We Had To, Because Now It Was Real."

Lt. Harry Crosby in Episode One

Crosby narrates Masters of the Air. The real-life Harry Crosby wrote the book that the show is partially based on, and his role as a navigator also makes him the perfect guide throughout the series. He takes on an operational role later in the show, but he starts out as a flight navigator on board one of the bombers. His experiences in these early episodes are more in line with the pilots and the gunners.

There are a few ominous quotes in episode one which set up the terrifying ordeal that the men of the Bloody Hundredth are about to endure. This quote has the benefit of hindsight, because it's spoken in the past tense via narration. Crosby seems to know more than the audience at this point, and he knows more than the characters on screen too. In the end, their training missions were no preparation for facing German flak and fighter jets.

9 "Nothing But Blue Skies, From Now On."

Bucky in Episode Two

The men of the Bloody One Hundredth have to find their own ways of keeping themselves going amid the brutal chaos of their bombing runs. Different characters react to their bleak circ*mstances in different ways, and Bucky manages to stay afloat by swinging wildly between moments of depression and ecstasy. He says to Biddick early on that he doesn't feel anything after one particularly dangerous mission, but he decides not to let himself go numb.

One evening at Thorpe Abbotts, Bucky grabs the microphone and joins in as the big band play a rendition of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies". He asks three different people if he should get up and sing. They all say no. He does so anyway. This is one of Masters of the Air's funniest moments, and it brings levity to the show in the same way that the optimistic tune brings levity to the Americans, who keep seeing their friends going down over German territory. Bucky's singing is his way of practically begging fate to give him a break.

8 "Guess Who Can Hit Their Target At Night."

Lt. Curtis Biddick in Episode Two

One of the most interesting subplots in Masters of the Air is the tension between the American soldiers and their British hosts. Despite ostensibly being on the same side, there are frequent clashes between the two factions. This conflict comes to a head in episode 2, as a verbal sparring match in a small pub escalates into a one-on-one street fight, with Biddick representing his friends, and, by extension, his entire country.

Barry Keoghan's character in Masters of the Air leaves a lasting impression, even though he doesn't get to stick around for as long as some of the others. After sinking his British opponent with a single punch to the jaw, he gloats by referring back to the conversation which first ignited the fight. The British airmen thought the Americans were foolish for running bombing missions during the day, but the Americans disliked the way they talked about the men they had lost.

7 "The Things These People Are Capable Of. No, They Got It Coming. Trust Me. They Got It Coming."

Rosie in Episode Nine

Rosie's long journey back home in episode 9 takes him through Germany and Poland before he even gets on a plane. While traveling with the Soviets, Rosie stumbles upon an abandoned concentration camp, where he sees first-hand the horrors of the holocaust. He is clearly shaken by the burned bodies that he sees, and a Soviet soldier tells him that they found plenty more camps just like it, or even bigger.

Later, when Crosby starts to question the morality of their bombing runs, Rosie is quick to shut him down. He doesn't refer directly to what he saw at the concentration camp, but it's clear that his experience scarred him and reaffirmed his commitment to the cause. It's important to remember that the specifics of the concentration camps was not widespread public knowledge at the time, so nothing could have prepared Rosie for what he saw.

6 "John Egan. Your 2 O'Clock. What took you so long?"

Buck in Episode Six

Bucky always believes that he and his best friend are going to make it out of the war alive, so he spirals when he learns that Buck's plane was shot down over Germany. Their eventual reunion at Stalag Luft III is one of the best scenes in Masters of the Air. It represents a victory amid an onslaught of misery, and this gives Bucky new hope that he may make it out alive after all.

Bucky first sees some other men from Thorpe Abbotts, and he immediately asks if Buck survived. He shows up with a smirk on his face, smiling for himself, but also knowing that he has just given Bucky the surprise of a lifetime. Buck is a man of few words. Although he is a major character in Masters of the Air, he doesn't have many memorable quotes. His greatest moment is typically succinct and humorous.

5 "To Get A Letter, You Need Someone To Get It From. Guess I Never Set That Part Up Right."

Bucky in Episode Seven

When some of the prisoners receive mail at Stalag Luft III, Bucky confides in Buck that he's a little disappointed not to have anyone to write to. While Buck always talks about Marge, Bucky has nobody waiting for him back home. He's something of a playboy, but the war makes him reassess his priorities. He realizes that he wants someone special to spend his life with, and he rues the fact that it took him so long to realize that.

By hinting at his loneliness to Buck, he also communicates how important their friendship is to him. While Buck is driven by his desire to return home to Marge, Bucky is motivated by his relationship with Buck. He repeatedly says that they're in it together and that they're going to see the war out until the end. Fortunately, the epilogue of episode 9 reveals that the real-life John Egan found love when he returned home to America.

4 "I Was Going Home. I Just Wished More Of Us Were."

Harry Crosby in Episode Nine

The ending of Masters of the Air shows the end of the war in Europe, as the Americans celebrate before flying home. Although it's an uplifting finale, Crosby takes a moment to reflect on the war as a whole. He thinks of all the men he fought alongside who won't be making it home. This gives the finale a bittersweet quality. The Allied Forces achieved their goals in Europe, but it came at an enormous cost.

Crosby's reflections also show the feelings of solidarity that the airmen shared. After going through hell together, they formed a connection that doesn't happen in daily life. As they go their separate ways, there's a strange sadness, even though they can be happy that the war is over and they can go home. There's a lingering sense that they will miss the friendships they formed during the war in their civilian lives.

3 "We All Think Something's Gonna Happen. Maybe We Need To Make It Happen."

Bucky in Episode Eight

Bucky and Buck's friendship gets them through a lot of tough times, but their experiences in the German POW camp are enough to turn them against each other. They spend months desperately waiting to hear positive news on the radio, but Bucky isn't the type of person who can wait. He tries to convince the others in the camp that they need to take matters into the own hands, following the lead of the Brits who escaped earlier.

This conflict highlights the different leadership styles of Buck and Bucky. Buck would rather lead his men by keeping them all sane and comfortable, but Bucky thinks that he needs to inspire some kind of uprising. His response is always to wade into the fray, just like how he hurried back for another mission after suspecting that Buck had died. The Stalag Luft III scenes in Masters of the Air show the pilots under a different kind of psychological pressure.

2 "Nothing's The Same, Croz. Nothing. Never Will Be."

Rosie in Episode Eight

When Crosby gets four weeks worth of leave to return home, he worries that things won't be the same with his wife after his experiences of war. Rather than placating him, which is probably what he would have wanted to hear, Rosie concurs that things will not be the same. In a way, this is even more comforting, because Crosby realizes he has someone else who feels the same way as he does.

There aren't many women with important roles in Masters of the Air's cast, because the show focuses on men in combat. One of the few women with a substantial role is the mysterious Sandra Westgate, who has an affair with Crosby. His wife is completely absent, further highlighting how his life in England does not mesh with his life back home. He is not the only American who worries about going home after the war.

1 "There Is No Balance. Just One Event After Another."

Paulina in Episode Four

When Bucky finally gets some much-needed leave, he spends a weekend in London. There, he shares an evening with Paulina, a Polish woman who believes her husband died much earlier in the war. After an evening of drinking and dancing, Paulina and Bucky watch the German bombs falling on London from her apartment. Bucky remarks that he has never been on the receiving end of a bomb run, and it gives him a different perspective.

Paulina's callous response typifies how people began to feel as the war dragged on and one atrocity followed another. Masters of the Air is a work of narrative fiction, so it has to adhere to certain conventions, but it also tries to portray the disorganized chaos and randomness of war. Some characters, like Bubbles and Biddick, meet senseless premature deaths. This wouldn't occur in other shows that follow more rhyme and reason.

Masters of the Air

War

Drama

Where to Watch

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Masters of the Air is an Apple TV+ original war drama starring Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, and Barry Keoghan. The series follows a group of eleven World War II pilots who fight German fighters in a bomber called "The Flying Fortress."The miniseries was based on the book Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller.

Cast

Austin Butler , Callum Turner , Barry Keoghan , Nikolai Kinski , Stephen Campbell Moore , Sawyer Spielberg , Isabel May , Anthony Boyle

Release Date

January 26, 2024

Seasons

1

Directors

Cary Joji f*ckunaga , Dee Rees , Anna Boden , Ryan Fleck , Timothy Van Patten

Where To Watch

Apple TV+