Masters of Point-Of-View (update for finale) There are few shows (other than its two predecessors) that exhibit such ferocious commitment to maintaining a clear point of view, in this case of the airmen (and occasionally ground crew). Other than a few short establishing shots we are either with the airmen inside the B17s, or following them on the ground and POW camps- there were a lot of aircrew POWs.
We meet them as cocky and confident young bucks (pun intended), not really taking the RAF officers' warnings seriously, not realising that the RAF had already tried daylight bombing and decided it was too dangerous (and didn't have anywhere near accurate enough navigation, until well after this story starts, to bomb with any precision at night).
And by Ep 5 they are all profoundly changed in unimaginable ways, by the end they have earned to right to go home, some still with a contribution to make. Those that remain.
So we catch a glimpse of a young woman's grief as she finds out her beau is not coming back - but only a glimpse, because the point of view remains on the aircrew, and they are already thinking about the next mission.
We see aircraft hit and falling out of formation, but mainly stay with the observers and hear only a parachute count.
And we see German fighters zipping by and closing speeds in the region of 600mph, gone almost as soon as seen, and the gunners trying to track them.
And we catch only the briefest flavour of the two kids not quite grasping that some of their heroes aren't coming back.
If you know your history, you knew what was to come.
Because this is not fiction, but is based on the testimony of real people, who lost real comrades-in-arms, and who wanted them remembered.
When my Dad (RAF Regiment, Burma Star) watched Battle Of Britain he grumbled that a scene near the end, when the Germans didn't turn up, was unrealistic because a real RAF base would have still been a hive of activity. He hadn't quite grasped that the point being made was a storytelling point, rather than a literal representation.
So ignore those wanging on about 'disrespecting the RAF' (it doesn't, and for crying out loud grow up chaps) and it all being 'how America won the war' (it isn't - we are just seeing it through one lens). The small-mindedness beggars belief.
This is storytelling of the highest order, and if you can't choke up about those who died far too young, even after the war, then take a long hard look in the mirror.
Some random notes of interest:
* Every shoot-down you see is historically accurate, with the correct tail number and correct formation position.
* Sam and Billy were real kids with Sam being instrumental in turning Thorpe Abbots into a museum to the 100th.
* "Sandra" was also real, although her real name, role and fate remain unknown to the characters.
* The Dutch really did cut that message into the tulip fields.