The series had skipped a few beats with episodes seven and eight, but the coda episode nine wrapped things up in a satisfying manner.
The second half of the series focused heavily on the POW scenes, and frankly were the best vignettes of the last four episodes, and that truth was doubly the case in the series finale, as the liberation scenes are inspirational. Drawn tightly on the actual liberation of the camp, where the POW's are juxtaposed with the extreme emotions of pending liberation, with the very real risk of being shot dead by guards wanting to go down in a blaze of glory, the scenes are mesmerizing.
All that was missing from the true story was the special chow line that was set up shortly after the POW's were safe, that served them steaks and mashed potatoes.
In terms of the bomber missions, which thankfully the series returned to showing, we see where the 100th BG, and the 8th Air Force, did become the true masters of the air. In their final mission on Berlin, the group performed highly successfully, and we see the harrowing details of Rosenthal's final combat mission.
However, the pinnacle of the episode was the highly accurate representation of Operation Chowhound, where the 100th's final mission delivered food to Holland, to relieve mass starvation. Flown under a ceasefire truce with the Germans, the crews in real life had more enthusiasm to fly these missions than any other. The mission had more positive impact on the morale and moral compass of the bomber crews than several weeks of psychological treatment could have achieved.
The final scene is literally soaring, as the crews fly home. One cannot help but to admire their accomplishments, and this series helped to bring the reality of their heroism to light. That's the final lesson of this series, and why it needed to be made. It brought the books much closer to life.
