Masters of the Air: Episode Discussion 1 & 2

[muccamukk]

For all your chatting needs, as the show comes out. I'll hopefully post one of these every Thursday.

Rules:

1. Don't be a dick. Specifically (but not limited to):


1. Not liking something is fine, and negative comments are fine. Please do not directly tell other participants why the thing they like is bad or that they are bad for liking it.


2. Kink shaming will be deleted.


3. Racism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, misogyny, etc will be deleted.


2. Discussing material from the books is fine, but if you're going to discuss something that happens in future episodes, or the fate of historical characters, please put it under a cut and title the comment Book spoilers! or something similar.


3. Likewise, wanting to treat the show as a self-contained unit and not engage with the books/history is perfectly valid.

How to do an in-comment spoiler cut:
<details><summary>Describe what you're spoiling here</summary>All the spoilers go in this part.</details>

Comments

[partypaprika]

Here are my stream of conscious thoughts that I wrote down in my phone as I watched. Not much coherency, but I'm still digesting a bit haha:

1. Boy, I am really not feeling the bromance between the two guys. It's a lot of telling me that they're bff but their body language seems weird. Maybe it's me?

2. Oh boy, I need to learn a bunch of new military jargon. I will be googling a lot.

3. Everyone looks vaguely familiar, actor wise. I can't tell if they're actually familiar or if they just look generically actor-ish.

4. Dog is my favorite character. May he be featured often.

5. First fifteen minutes of episode 1, I am not feeling it. Once we got into the mishap over France, I'm more invested.

6. When did antibiotics for tuberculosis come out? (That's how it's treated right? I know nothing)

7. I really am not understanding the combat tactics. Welp.

8. More women! Will there be an episode that passes the bechdel test?

9. Whoever this officer that got stuck with the air exec job is, I like him.

10. The slow emotional moments between the two guys are not doing it for me. Especially while watching the firefight above in the distance. Also, does that count as taking shelter? Seems like being out in the open is the opposite of shelter.

11. People I'm a fan of: that officer promoted to air exec, Crosby, Bubbles, the one named ground crew guy. Maybe the pilot whose name is Brady? The dog.

[muccamukk]

They had basic antibos by then, the stuff Egan is sprinkling on the navigators wounds in the first combat scene is a very basic one (sulfa powder). Penicillin had just been discovered, and they were struggling to mass produce it. By the end of the war, it would be a thing.

This is more or less where I'm at, tho.

[partypaprika]

I did not realize sulfa was an antibiotic! Although that makes sense that's what they would put on wounds haha.

[muccamukk]

It's more like a proto-antibo? A really aggressive antibacterial? You could also get it injected, which didn't sound like fun AT ALL.

[sovay]

I did not realize sulfa was an antibiotic!

Sulfanilamide is an antibacterial because it's chemically synthesized rather than an antibiotic which is organically derived like penicillin; both are antimicrobials, but the sulfonamides were on the scientific market first.

(Crashing into this thread because I have not yet contrived to see any of this show, but I had an allergy to sulfa drugs for most of my life.)

[muccamukk]

I had, at one point, a plot where Dick Winters had a sulfa allergy, which he discovered after the ankle wound at Carentan, but never got around to it.

[sovay]

I had, at one point, a plot where Dick Winters had a sulfa allergy, which he discovered after the ankle wound at Carentan, but never got around to it.

Should you ever get around to it, I support this plot because (a) it's not an uncommon allergy (b) it was a pain in the ass.

[muccamukk]

I had found a manual for field surgeons in that period, and was having fun inflicting things from it on people. Not sure why I never went forward with that. I think I have a draft still.

[sovay]

Not sure why I never went forward with that. I think I have a draft still.

I am looking encouraging but not pushy.

[kore]

//looks at you with big cartoon eyes

Ah Dick, such a woobie.

[muccamukk]

This is true!

[partypaprika]

Fascinating... Are you no longer allergic?

[sovay]

Fascinating... Are you no longer allergic?

I survived a Bactrim challenge with no ill effects in 2017, so officially yes, but I still try to avoid them if possible just in case. They're still a widely used family.

[kore]

And not to get into gruesome details, but Elixir Sulfanilamide is why we have the FDA as a regulatory agency!

[muccamukk]

It turns out that drinking anti-freeze is bad!

[kore]

We see Roe (MEDIC BAMBI ILU) using it in BoB too, right? I had forgotten.

[muccamukk]

Yeah, all the guys use it in BoB, though usually in passing without explaining what it is. Like Lipton puts it on Wynn's butt in Day of Days.

[wearing_tearing]

I think ground crew guy's name is Lemmons! I also really liked him as a character and I hope we see way more of him.

Will there be an episode that passes the bechdel test?
Here's hoping!

And I think the dog, Meatball, is all of our favorites.

[muccamukk]

I hope we get more Lemmons! The narration was like, "Lemmons is really important!" so I was hoping the episode would be about him. But no.

[wearing_tearing]

RIGHT?? I thought the entire focus would be on the ground crew and their work, but I GUESS NOT. I do hope that's coming, though, otherwise... what was the point?

[partypaprika]

That was also a disappointment of mine. I was like...that will be really nice to do an episode focusing on the ground crew work. But no, just the overhead narration.

[muccamukk]

Maybe we'll get one later (though I kinda doubt it).