I read Ambrose's book a long time before I watched the HBO series and also read Beyond Band of Brothers (Dick Winters, 2006). Apart from being one of my favourite series of all time, this series brought to life the story of these men and what they went through during the war.
At the beginning of each episode, we see the surviving members of Easy Company telling us information relevant to each of the ten episodes.
Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
Below I am going to briefly summarise what each episode is about.
Episode One
This episode was the opening to the mini-series. It showed all the training of the Paratroopers and their problems with their CO, Captain Sobel. It also introduces all the characters and helps us as the audience to understand the connection between these men.
Episode Two
This episode is all about the D-Day landings and the men jumping out of the planes and beginning their journey. For this episode, we follow Dick Winters, who is seen as the main character of the mini-series.
Episode Three
In this episode, we mainly follow Pvt. Albert Blithe and his journey during the battle for Carentan. This episode focuses on the fear of war and death as well as bravery.
Episode Four
This episode is the first of the second part of the war of Easy Company. They have returned from France and have been given Replacements for the men they have lost. Many of the original members are nervous about the green recruits and Bull Randleman takes a few under his wing. It is also the Market Garden Episode and shows the defeat of the Allies in Holland here.
Episode Five
This episode was directed by Tom Hanks! This episode follows Dick Winters again, however, this time there was voice overs and it was a retelling of events that made Dick Winters no longer the CO of Easy Company but the leader of Second Battalion. This episode is all about Dick Winters' bravery and exceptional leadership.
Episode Six
This episode follows Eugene "Doc Roe" Roe, one of Easy Company's medics. It is also the beginning of the Belgium part of the battle going through the Ardennes Forest. This episode focuses a lot on the hardship in the Ardennes with the cold, lack of food and clothing and also the building tensions of being away from home. It also shows with a female nurse in Bastogne, the civilian casualties and how the war affected all involved, not just the soldiers.
Episode Seven
Episode seven continues on in the Ardennes. It cleverly follows First Sergeant Carwood Lipton with his voice over. This episode is all about leadership and lack of, the leadership being from Lipton and Spiers and the lack of leadership from their CO. This episode highlights the lack of faith in leadership and the rising tensions in the company. It also happens to be the episode where we lose a lot of the main characters, some to death - Muck and Penkala, some to wounds - Guarnere and Toye and others to mental health - Compton. I think this episode called "The Breaking Point" is probably the best in the series.
Episode Eight
This episode follows Pvt David Webster, a returning soldier who was wounded in Holland. He missed out on Bastogne and the Ardennes and at the start is treating as a replacement rather than an original member of Easy Company. This episode highlights that the war is coming to an end and some soldiers are still trying to make something of themselves, such as newly Lt. Jones (Played by Tom Hanks' son).
Episode Nine
This episode is probably the hardest to watch. It is about the war ending and giving the men some hope about going home soon. however, in the episode, Perconte and some others on a patrol find a concentration camp and discover what the Germans have been doing to the Jews and outcasts of society. This horrifies Liebgott the most as he is a Jew and this affects us as a viewer too.
Episode Ten
This episode is the final one of the mini-series. This episode is voiced by Dick Winters once again and is about the war being over but not over for the men. The men who had enough points were allowed to go home, however, the majority of the company didn't have enough points. A few different men were wounded - Sgt. Grant, or killed - Janovec. It ends with the company playing a game of Baseball and Winters telling us what they all did after the war. It also shows us some of the surviving men telling some stories at the end, saying who's who.
Careers:
The show made a lot of people's careers, including:
- Simon Pegg
- Tom Hardy
- Michael Fassbender
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