Episode 3 - Carentan:
- Ronald Speirs: You know why you hid in that ditch, Blithe?Albert Blithe: I was scared.Ronald Speirs: We were all scared. You hid because you think there's still hope. But, Blithe, the only hope you have is to accept that you're already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll function as you're supposed to. Without mercy. Without compassion. Without remorse. All war depends upon it.
"Carentan" is the third episode of Band of Brothers. Told from the POV of young Private Albert Blithe, we follow Easy Company as they slowly reunite after being separated during the D-Day landings. As they prepare to take the town of Carentan, Blithe experiences the horrors of the war and must learn how to be a soldier with people dying all around him.
"You hid in that ditch because you think there's still tropes":
- A Day in the Limelight: For Private Blithe. It's thought to be A Death in the Limelight too at the time of broadcast. But see Death by Adaptation below.
- Attack Its Weak Point: McGrath and Welsh take out an advancing Stug assault gun by targeting the vehicle's weak undercarriage just as it tries to approach their position.
- Badass Preacher: Father John Maloney, who's shown administering last rights to dying soldiers while bullets are exploding all around him.
- Bathos: Winters gets shot in the leg from a ricochet bullet. They manage to make it somewhat comedic.
- Break the Cutie: Blithe starts the episode already broken. It seems that the final scene does this to Malarkey too.
- Brick Joke: Perconte shows Blithe all the watches he's looted from dead soldiers at the beginning. Later on Perconte is seen taking another watch from a body.
- Call-Back: Winters, Nixon and Blithe find a dead German soldier who had Eidelweiss pinned to his jacket. Nixon remarks that it's a mark of a true soldier – as it means he climbed up the mountain to retrieve it. After Blithe has gotten over his BSOD, he takes Eidelweiss from a dead soldier. Doubles as another Call-Back to when Perconte asked if Blithe had looted anything from the dead soldiers, and Blithe said he hadn't.
- The Cavalry: "Well, hello, Second Armored".
- Cerebus Call-Back: Inverted. The incident between Talbert and Smith is serious when it happens, but the men have made it into a joke by the climax – complete with a poem that's recited in front of both men.
- Continuity Nod: Popeye Wyn is shown in the hospital, lying face down on his bed because he got Shot in the Ass in the previous episode.
- Death by Adaptation: It's said that Blithe never recovers from his wounds and dies in 1948. In reality, he did recover, served in Korea, and stayed in the Army until he died from a perforated ulcer in 1967. He just never showed up to any reunions or had any contact with the others after the war – leading them to mistakenly think he had died.
- Did Not Think This Through: During the night, it's Smith's turn to take watch so Talbert goes to wake him up. However, does this by poking Smith with his pistol and while wearing a German army poncho he looted that covers most of his body. So when Smith wakes up, he understandably freaks out at seeing what looks like a German soldier about to shoot him and responds by stabbing him with his bayonet.
- Double Entendre: Courtesy of George Luz: "Flies spread disease, so remember to keep yours closed". A fly can indeed lead to a different type of disease getting spread if it's not kept closed.
- Elite Mooks: The Fallschirmjager and the Waffen-SS Panzergrenadiers are this compared to the Heer troops that Easy Company fought in the previous episode, being far better trained, equipped, and offering much more fanatical resistance. What's more, they have access to tank support.
- Famed In-Story: Spiers has apparently already achieved this, with several soldiers discussing achievements such as: killing many German POW's after giving them cigarettes (which we saw some of), killing one of his own men (which we've seen none of), and taking an artillery position with a frontal charge (which we've seen all of).
- Friendship Moment: When Babe Heffron is about to leave the company party, he is stopped by Guarnere who asks him if he's from Philadelphia. Babe tells him he is and Guarnere reveals he's from the same neighborhood. Babe happily sits down with him and the two begin chatting about people from the neighborhood.
- Groin Attack: Subverted. Lip gets blasted by artillery and seems to be bleeding from his crotch. A medic rips his pants open and assures him that he's fine.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Used to illustrate Blithe's innocence regarding war. He's notably one of the few blondes among the Easy Company men.
- Heroic BSoD: Blithe begins the episode in this condition. It's later revealed that he feels great shame for hiding in a ditch during the initial jump into Normandy.
- Hollywood Healing: Subverted. Winters gets hit with a stray bullet. Doc Roe says it's Only a Flesh Wound but Winters is still seen limping in other scenes.
- Hope Spot: Blithe gets over his trauma and becomes a confident soldier – only to get wounded and the epilogue to say he died. Subverted with the revelation that he lived for another twenty years.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: Along with Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold.
- Innocently Insensitive: Mrs Lamb when she wonders out loud why so many soldiers haven't collected their laundry.
- It's a Small World, After All: Turns out that Guarnere and newly arrived replacement Babe Heffron grew up mere blocks from each other in South Philly.
- Loophole Abuse: Talbert isn't awarded a Purple Heart because he wasn't wounded by the enemy. In turn, other members of Easy Company take advantage of the fact that one of their number has been awarded multiple Purple Hearts to acquire one for Talbert.
- Mood Whiplash:
- The end of the episode is remarkably uplifting, complete with triumphant scene of More and Malarkey riding around the English countryside on a motorcycle and charming bonding between the soldiers (as well as confirming that Talbert is okay). Then Lipton has to inform the men that they'll be moving out and won't be returning to England at all.
- Earlier during the battle in the town, Luz kicks open the door of a house to find a terrified family huddling inside.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Talbert, Shifty, and Sisk had been fighting with the 502nd regiment before they run into Blithe while trying to find Easy Company.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: After Talbert recovers from his wounds, Easy Company delights in teasing him and Smith about the bayonet incident.
- The Psycho Rangers: The Fallschirmjager, who are Nazi Germany's elite paratroopers, and essentially the Evil Counterpart of American paratroopers like those from the 101st Airborne. note
- Rousing Speech: Blithe gets two, one from Speirs and one from Winters.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When the German armor shows up, Fox and Dog companies retreat. In the book, its noted that Fox company retreated against orders, prompting their CO to be relived on the spot, and Dog was forced to retreat after Fox's doing so left them too exposed.
- Sudden Downer Ending: As noted under Mood Whiplash, the seemingly triumphant final scenes turn very sombre when Malarkey visits the laundry. Mrs Lamb asks him about men who haven't collected theirs, naming a list of soldiers that have died or are wounded.
- Tank Goodness: Both the Germans and the Americans show off some impressive armored units during the German counterattack on Carentan. The former with Stug III Assault Guns and Marder III tank destroyers, while the latter bring in Sherman tanks.
- Tempting Fate: After Winters tells Lt. Strayer it's safe to cross the street, Winters gets hit in the foot by a ricochet bullet.
- Took a Level in Badass: Blithe snaps out of his trauma and is able to shoot a few Germans. He's also notably the only soldier who volunteers to go on patrol, even asking to lead it as well. It's an even straighter example with consideration of the real life events too: he went on to serve in Korea and was awarded the rank of Master Sergeant.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Guarnere in one of the later scenes is shown introducing himself to Babe Heffron, instantly guessing he's from Philadelphia and immediately chatting animatedly about people they both know.
- Unfriendly Fire: Talbert wakes up a sleeping Smith, who assumes he's the enemy and stabs him with his bayonet.
- Urban Warfare: Once Easy Company makes it to Carentan, they're forced to clear the town room by room of defending German paratroopers.
