Episode 4 – Replacements:
- Lewis Nixon: Mr. van Kooijk here is with the Dutch resistance.John Van Kooijk: We've been waiting and hoping for this day for almost five years.
"Replacements" is the fourth episode of Band of Brothers. After their victory in Carentan, Easy Company are dispatched to Holland as part of Operation Market Garden – along the way being accompanied by various replacement soldiers. During a battle, Bull Randleman is separated from the rest of his unit. The men band together to try and find him, all the while experiencing how Holland views the war.
"They speak English, and they like us. What a great country for tropes":
- Bayonet Ya: Bull uses his M1 Garand with a mounted bayonet to silently kill a German soldier who was about to discover him, the Dutch man, and the latter's daughter.
- Bittersweet Ending: Bull makes it back to Easy Company alive and well, but the unit has been badly bloodied by the Germans and Operation Market Garden has stalled.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: Shown in the scene where Bull kills a German soldier in the barn. The Dutch man and his daughter look horrified at it, and it's presented very much as a dark moment for the character.
- The Bus Came Back: Sobel shows up as the new supply officer for a brief scene.
- Call-Back:
- The army motorcycle Malarkey and Moore were joyriding in the last episode has been confiscated by Capt. Sobel, who takes a moment to chew him out for it.
- In the opening scene at the pub, Lt. Compton is seen playing darts with some of the soldiers. The subject of a wager over a bullseye comes up, and Compton — clearly recalling the dressing down he received from Winters in "Curahee" about putting himself in a position where he can take from his soldiers — is noticeably wary and hesitant. He eventually relents when cigarettes are suggested to be the stake, as these are something which are desired and have some value to the men, but which unlike money are unlikely to result in any significant resentment or tension if they're lost.
- It was a minor plot point that several of the men, including Winters, lost their weapons and supplies during the Normandy jump in "Day of Days". In this episode, one of the recommendations that the experienced paratroopers give to the replacements is to keep their weapons at the ready when jumping so that they can keep track of them and be ready to use them immediately when they land.
- Crapsaccharine World: The first Dutch town they arrive in. There's a festival going on and people celebrating and welcoming the allied as liberators, while right next to the celebration women are being humiliated for sleeping with the Germans. There's even the same happy chanting going on while this is happening.
- Damsel out of Distress: Bull rescues himself for the most part.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Bull Randleman.
- Dead Star Walking: A sort-of
Retroactive Recognition example. Pvt. Miller gets a fair amount of screen time before being the first replacement to get killed off. Since his actor (James McAvoy) is a huge star these days, it comes across as this to the modern viewer. - Disney Death: Bull is thought to have died in a battle but managed to survive.
- Distracted by the Sexy: A lot of the soldiers forget that they're supposed to be passing through the town when all the women are kissing them.
- Dumbass Has a Point: The series portrays Lt. Peacock as an incompetent officer overall, but his role as a "Stop Having Fun" Guy in this episode is completely justified. The men are supposed to be advancing so they can drive the Germans out of Holland, not sticking around town to party with the Dutch citizens they just liberated.
- A Father to His Men: Bull is shown to be very protective of the replacements in his squad – Garcia, Hashey, and Miller. When Cobb chews them out for wearing a unit citation despite not jumping into Normandy, Bull quickly reminds Cobb that he didn't jump, either.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Garcia and Hashey are accepted by the vets after they prove their worth in battle and volunteer to rescue Bull.
- Foregone Conclusion: The historically savvy viewer (or Genre Savvy one for that matter) will already be aware that the optimistic estimates for the level of resistance and likelihood of success for Operation Market Garden will not come to pass.
- Fridge Brilliance: A burning Sherman tank almost seems to be following Bull as he tries to crawl awayin a roadside ditch. It's easy to miss, but the tank has a bull sticker on the back.
- Fridge Horror: In-universe. The squad sees a woman on the side of the road with a baby – her head shaved and her clothes torn. They give her some supplies, guessing that she's been forced out of her town. Sadly Truth in Television, as a look at Five Branded Women will tell you: women who slept with the Germans were often ousted from their villages. The baby's father is likely the German she slept with.
- Friend to All Children: Webster shows that he has a bit of a soft spot for children, giving a young Dutch boy a bar of chocolate.
- Hoobler is also shown interacting with one when the citizens of Eindhoven are celebrating the arrival of the company.
- Girlish Pigtails: The blonde Dutch girl who helps Bull.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Roy Cobb gets this treatment. He's given a Bitch Alert moment intimidating the replacements. Webster in his journals described Cobb as "invariably good natured".
- Hope Spot: Nixon's intelligence briefing to the men at the beginning notes that the planners anticipate that the Germans have only inexperienced or infirm soldiers guarding the allied objectives in Holland and that, if the operation is successful, it'll enable them to airdrop directly into Germany and hopefully end the war by Christmas. Things don't turn out that way.
- Hypocrite: Cobb chews out the replacements for wearing a unit citation that was awarded for the jump into Normandy (which they didn't participate in). He didn't participate in the jump, either – but in his case, it was because he was wounded by anti-aircraft fire in the plane and had to be ordered to return to England.
- And at any rate, Cobb’s gripe about the replacements wearing the unit award is entirely baseless: soldiers wear all of a unit’s historical decorations while assigned to that unit, even if the award is for something that occurred prior to that soldier joining the unit, but do not get to continue to wear them after being reassigned. Only if a soldier is part of a unit during the action for which the unit receives an award may they wear the unit decoration permanently. So Cobb’s not only a hypocrite, he’s also wrong.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When Bull points out Cobb didn't participate in the Normandy jump either, Cobb rightfully (if defensively) says that the only reason he didn't was because he was wounded during the plane ride.
- Lawful Stupid: The British tankers have direct orders not to damage Dutch propertynote , so they can't simply level a building to get a clear shot at the German tanks waiting to ambush them in Neunen, even after Sgt. Martin tells the tank commander exactly where they are.
- Mood Whiplash: The happy festival in the Dutch town is immediately turned horrific by what's happening to the local women.
- When watching the episodes back-to-back, the opening scene of the men having fun in the pub is pretty jarring after the Sudden Downer Ending of the last episode.
- Mr. Exposition: Guarnere is this In-Universe and out in the first scene. While telling the replacements the story about Babe's ex-girlfriend they hadn't heard, he mentions General Patton's army overrunning the jump zone, which caused the last jump to be cancelled, explaining to the audience why Easy isn't in combat like they were supposed to be.
- Never Found the Body: The reason why Guarnere doesn't think Bull was killed.
- New Meat: The titular replacements. Babe Heffron is the only one who is accepted initially, because Guarnere found out they're from the same neighborhood and befriended him.
- No One Gets Left Behind: The entire squad wants to rescue Bull after he's left behind.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: Lipton is seen nodding politely to the Dutch woman that kisses him, and trying to move through town. Understandable, since he was married in real life. Winters likewise is clearly enjoying his kiss but doesn't let it distract him from their objective.
- Oh, Crap!: The look on the British tanker's face when he sees a Tiger's main gun pointed right at him in Neunen.
- Only Sane Man: Peacock tries to keep the men moving through the town instead of partying with the Dutch.
- Pet the Dog: After Popeye goes AWOL from the hospital so he can rejoin Easy Company for Market Garden, he gets stopped by Captain Sobel, who just happened to be passing by. Much to Popeye's shock, Sobel doesn't reprimand him and gives him a lift to the base.
- Remember the New Guy?: Done with Lt. Peacock and Private Webster (though Webster was shown in the background in Episode 1). Subverted with replacements Hashey, Garcia, and Miller, as it's established that they're new but have been with Easy for some time at least.
- Replacement Scrappy: In-universe. The replacements are met with some hostility. In the opening interviews, the real veterans state that they didn't wish to try and get close to any replacements. They were often undertrained and likely to die in battle sooner or later.
- La Résistance: Winters and Nixon meet a leader of the Dutch Resistance, who later help them capturing the bridges Easy Company was ordered to secure.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Private Miller, used to show that the replacements aren't safe, either. It's even more pronounced now that his actor (James McAvoy) is an established star these days.
- Scenery Porn: Some lovely shots of the Dutch countryside.
- Shot in the Ass: Buck Compton joins the club.
- Slut-Shaming: See Traumatic Haircut below. It's been theorised that these women were scapegoats, as the people responsible for real atrocities were being punished legally and therefore couldn't be touched by the townspeople.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Muck practically vanishes on the spot when he sees Sobel making a beeline for him and Malarkey.
- Sugary Malice: Sobel's greeting to Malarkey.
- Tanks for Nothing: The XXX Corps Sherman and Cromwell tanks prove useless against the heavier German Tiger I heavy tank and Jagdpanther during the battle in Nuenen - which was very much Truth in Television, as Tiger tanks were vastly more combat effective than the more lightly armed and armored Shermans and Cromwells used in Market Garden (the Tiger's primary weakness being it was MUCH more expensive, difficult to build, and needed very high maintenance).
- Took a Level in Kindness: Carrying on over from the last episode, Guarnere is a little bit nicer to the replacements than he was to Private Hall. It also seems to be the case when Sobel shows up – as Popeye says that he came across him on the side of the road and offered a lift. But it's subverted when Sobel chews Malarkey out. It's still a lot less harsh than Sobel's previous interactions, though.
- Trapped Behind Enemy Lines: This is Bull's fate for the majority of the episode.
- Traumatic Haircut: Done as punishment for women that slept with Germans. Along with being stripped and having swastikas drawn on their foreheads. The soldiers come across one woman who's been kicked out of her town. What makes it especially chilling is that crowds of people are cheering while it's happening.
- Would Hurt a Child: Implied and a proxy case. The mother ousted from her village has her baby with her, implying that they have no problem leaving a newborn child to fend for itself because its father was German.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Martin's reaction when the British tank commander tells him he can't shoot a Dutch house to expose a German tank due to an agreement the Brits made to the Dutch to avoid unnecessary property damage. Goes straight into Too Dumb to Live territory when the tank commander not only refuses to fire, but simply drives straight forward into the Tiger's gun sights.
