Masters Of The Air Review: 4 Ups & 6 Downs
4. Up: Some Of The Cast Shines Through
Though Masters of the Air finds many of its cast members with little to do - or, in the case of Butler, a bit too much - there are some who prove capable of pushing through.
An early standout in the show's first three episodes is the ever-dependable Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan, who plays doomed but infectiously lively pilot Lieutenant Curtis Biddick with enough verve to make his inevitable demise the most tragic of the show's many loses.
Likewise, later additions to the drama Ncuti Gatwa, Josiah Cross and Branden Cook portray a trio of Tuskegee Airmen with such charisma it makes you wish they'd been around longer, yet grateful showrunner John Orloff decided to shine a light on Black servicemen during the war.
There are other stars of note, with Callum Turner's tragic role as a pilot constantly caught in trouble another early standout, and they inject the drama with enough feeling to keep it from becoming too devoid of authenticity. We only wish there'd been more of them.