Band Of Brothers S 1 E 9 Why We Fight / Recap

Episode 9 - Why We Fight:

Frank Perconte: Major Winters, sir, we found something out on patrol and... We came across this-

Dick Winters: What? What? Frank? Frank, what is it?

Frank Perconte: I don't know, sir. I don't know.

"Why We Fight" is the penultimate episode of Band of Brothers. Easy Company moves into Germany as the war nears its end. However, they discover something shocking in the German town they shack up in: a concentration camp. Told from the POV of Lewis Nixon.

The episode title refers to a series of propaganda films produced by Frank Capra during the Second World War.

The tropes in this episode:

Accidental Hero: Discussed by Winters. He theorises that Nixon may be the only one in the 101st with three combat stars on his jump wings — and Nixon admits that he has never fired a weapon in battle.
Accidental Misnaming: Perconte gets O'Keefe's name wrong numerous times. Though it's hinted that he might be doing this deliberately.
Affectionate Nickname:
- Possibly defied. O'Keefe says his friends call him 'Paddy', but no one ever calls him by that.
- Downplayed but after Liebgott and Webster's Friendship Moment in the last episode, Liebgott is affectionately calling him by his nickname 'Web'.
All Germans Are Nazis:
- Lampshaded when they raid a German home. The family says they're not Nazis and Perconte quips that they haven't met a single Nazi since they arrived in Germany.
- Taken to a darker point after the discovery of the concentration camp, as the local protestations of ignorance of what was transpiring mere miles up the road becomes a lot harder for the men to take seriously, and several of them are clearly itching to take out some anger on the locals.
Artistic License – History: The episode opens on April 11, 1945, then cuts to "one month ago." During those scenes "one month ago," Nixon reveals that the President has just died. However, Franklin Roosevelt died April 12, 1945. Then, at the end of the episode, it's back to April 11, and Nixon reveals that Hitler shot himself in his bunker (which would not happen until April 30). In addition, Easy Company did not liberate Kaufering concentration camp until April 27.
Ascended Extra: Frank Perconte notably gets more lines and scenes in this episode. According to James Madio, the role was originally very small. But the writers were impressed with his performance and gave him more.
Be Careful What You Wish For: O'Keefe wants to see some of the war. He gets his wish at the concentration camp.
Breather Episode: Subverted. The episode is this for around the first half; the men have entered Germany and are largely mopping things up behind the front lines and supervising the civilian clean-up of the ruins, meaning that there's no real danger and the greatest dilemmas the characters face is how they're going to get all the looted material home and Nixon's impending divorce. Then, around about the halfway mark, they arrive in a village in Bavaria, where a patrol is sent through a nearby forest... and discovers a concentration camp.
Bathos: Nixon getting news that his wife is divorcing him is played both for drama and comedy.
Bilingual Dialogue: Between Webster and a German baker over the latter's supposed knowledge of the concentration camp. Webster actually does speak German but Word of God says that the scene wouldn't have the same effect with subtitles.
Body Horror: Some of the things we see in the concentration camp were made in imitation of the malnourishment and awkward positions the real life victims suffered. The ones in real life gave the men of Easy nightmares, which haunted them for decades afterwards.
Book Ends: The episode opens with a group of musicians playing Beethoven. It ends in the same place, when the violinist puts his instrument away.
Butt-Monkey: O'Keefe gets progressively less chipper as the episode goes on, being drawn into situations that make him feel worse and worse about the whole experience.
Break the Cutie: Take a look at how much of a Genki Guy Liebgott is on the ride into Germany. He's most certainly not like that by the end. It's a similar case with O'Keefe, who gets progressively less chipper as the episode goes on.
Call-Back: Nixon loots a German house but leaves after he discovers the widow^note of a German officer inside. Later when the civilians are helping move the bodies in the camp, the same woman can be seen trying to move a body on her own. She looks at Nixon, clearly horrified at what her husband must have taken part in.
Buxom Beauty Standard: Liebgott talks about his desire to marry a Jewish girl with especially large breasts.
Cerebus Retcon: Janovec is reading a newspaper that says the Germans are bad. This is before they find the camp...
Cerebus Syndrome: The episode has a very light-hearted first act — with a comical scene of Perconte and Luz stealing eggs from a farm and Luz getting slapped by a German girl he was trying to seduce, Speirs walking in on Janovec when the latter is bedding another German girl and some playful banter between the men. Then after going into Bavaria they go for a patrol in the woods.
Continuity Nod: At the end of the last episode, Liebgott and Webster shared a Friendship Moment. As the men are riding in the wagon, Liebgott is making friendly conversation with him.
A Day in the Limelight: For Nixon. Liebgott and Perconte get a good amount of focus as well.
"Dear John" Letter: Poor Nixon gets one from his wife. He seems especially outraged that she's taking his dog with her.
Death Glare: Nixon gets one from the widow of a German officer when he tries to loot her house.
- After they round up the town’s civilians to help provide aid at the camp, Nixon comes across the same woman, and gives his own glare right back to her.
Divorce Assets Conflict: Nixon receives notice of one — his ex-wife is taking the house, the kid, and the dog. His rant also provides the page quote.
Dope Slap: Bull to Perconte, as ordered by Luz.
Downer Beginning: The episode opens in the middle of a ruined city, with civilians gathering up broken furniture and a group of musicians playing a melancholy Beethoven piece. Due to How We Got Here, this takes place after they've found the camp.
Drowning My Sorrows: Nixon, to the degree where he tries to loot a store to see if they have his preferred whiskey.
Everyone Has Standards: By this point Easy Company is largely made up of battle-hardened killers. They are to a man, visibly stunned and horrified by the Concentration Camp. Even Speirs is horrified.
Foreshadowing:
- There's some grumbling early on in the episode about how Eisenhower has agreed that the Soviets will capture Berlin, while the Americans will be moved into Bavaria to mop up suspected SS hardliners who are intending to start a guerilla war. Webster notes that Bavaria was the birthplace of Nazism. Bavaria is where they find the concentration camp, the end product of Nazism.
- As the troops are being moved in a convoy, Luz gets some amusement from a newspaper article that Janovec is reading about why they're fighting the Germans, as the article apparently boils it down to "the Germans are bad". A few scenes later, the men are confronted first hand with the real horrors of Nazi Germany.
Friendship Moment: Played with. Liebgott is making friendly conversation with Webster on the wagon ride. Having spent so long getting mocked for his college background, Webster doesn't seem to catch on for a while.
From Bad to Worse: Discussed: after the discovery of the camp, Winters reveals to Nixon that he has learned from Division HQ that the Allies have been stumbling across similar sites all over the place... and that the Soviets have happened upon one in Poland that is somehow even worse.
Nixon: "Worse"?
Winters: Yeah. Apparently. Ten times as big. Execution chambers. Ovens. [Nixon looks confused] For cremating all the bodies.
[Nixon takes a moment to try and process the implications of this]
Nixon: [appalled] Jesus.
The Ghost: General Maxwell Taylor, the commander of the 101st Airborne Division, is mentioned but doesn't appear.
Heroic BSoD: During the camp scene, O'Keefe is seen sitting in shock and unable to move. Liebgott has one at the end of the sequence.
How We Got Here: The episode begins with Nixon joining Easy Company as they oversee the cleanup of a German town before flashing back a few weeks to show what happened when they arrived in Germany. The episode returns to this moment at the very end with Nixon telling the men Hitler committed suicide.
Irony:
- Perconte complains about having to man a machine gun with a replacement like O'Keefe right before having a pleasant chat with Garcia and Hashey, who were replacements themselves.
- The regimental surgeon tells Winters and Nixon they must stop feeding the prisoners immediately because they are starving - eating will kill them. Also they must be locked back in the prison camp again for their safety, so they don't wander off.
I Take Offence to That Last One: Nixon's wife breaks it off with him and she's taking everything — the house, the child, even their dog. It appears that the dog is the thing he's most annoyed about. "It's not even her dog!"
It's the Only Way to Be Sure: When the officers of the camp heard that American army was on their way, they shot as many prisoners as they could and burned many of the camp huts with people still inside.
It's Quiet… Too Quiet: O'Keefe and Perconte notice this while on patrol in the woods... there's no wildlife sounds. Whatsoever. The camera and foley even lingers on the moment to emphasize the sheer, unnatural stillness of it. At first, the squad thinks it might be an ambush... but it's too quiet even for that. All of the wildlife has been driven away. Then they notice the fumes coming from the camp areas burned by the fleeing Nazis.
Laser-Guided Karma: Major Winters has some form of glee when he announces that the civilians will be helping remove the bodies from the concentration camp. Presumably, he views that as punishment for knowing about it but not doing anything.
Manly Tears: After Liebgott has to tell the men in the camp that they're going to have to stay temporarily until they will be relocated somewhere in town, he collapses and bursts into tears. He's not the only one. There's rather a lot of crying in this episode.
My God, What Have I Done?: See "The Reason You Suck" Speech below. After Perconte has said it and O'Keefe turns away, his face shows that he regrets it instantly.
Mood Whiplash: The episode is fairly light-hearted until the patrol finds the camp in the woods.
New Meat: O'Keefe fills this role.
No-Sell: Speirs walks in on Janovec buck naked with a German girl, collects some loot, and leaves without acknowledging it.
Not So Stoic: This is proved of Webster, when he yells insults at the surrendering Krauts and threatens a baker at gunpoint.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Perconte chews O'Keefe out for his naive attitude towards the war:
  Perconte: Do you know why no one remembers your name? It's 'cause no one wants to remember your name! There's too many Smiths, DiMattos, and O'Keefes and O'Briens, who show up here replacing Toccoa men that you replacements got killed in the first place. And they're all like you. They're all piss and vinegar. "Where are the Krauts at?" "Let me at them." "When will I get to jump into Berlin?" Two days later, there they are with their guts hanging out and they're screaming for a medic begging for their goddamn mother. Them dumb fucks don't even know they're dead yet. Hey, are you listening to me? Do you get that this is the best part of fucking war I've seen? I got hot chow, hot showers, warm bed. Germany is almost as good as being home. I even got to wipe my ass with real toilet paper today. So quit asking about when you're gonna see some action, will you?! And stop with the fucking love songs!
- Webster yells at surrendered German soldiers marching past (before the concentration camp reveal:)
  Webster: Hey, you! Hey, You! That's right, you stupid kraut bastards! That's right! Say hello to Ford and General Fucking Motors, you stupid fascist pigs! Look at you. You have horses! What were you thinking? ...Dragging our asses halfway around the world, interrupting our lives, FOR WHAT?! YOU IGNORANT, SERVILE SCUM, WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?!
Remember the New Guy?: Janovec's first episode.
Replaced the Theme Tune: Partially at least; given the nature of the events depicted, the usual triumphal theme music is replaced with a more solemn orchestral version.
Reveal Shot: The camera focuses on the front of the group of Easy men on patrol when they see something and stop. Then when Perconte runs back to town and gets everyone else, he points to what they saw and the camera pans back to reveal a concentration camp.
Rule of Symbolism: The final shot of the episode is of a violin case being closed by one of the four German musicians. The camera angle and the case's texture make it look like a coffin.
Security Cling: An unnamed Jew in the camp flings himself around Janovec and hugs him with relief. Janovec comforts the distressed man.
Slasher Smile: Speirs gives one to Vest after the latter says something about when he gets home.
Source Music: the musicians in the opening scene.
Sure, Let's Go with That: On the way to Bavaria, Liebgott tries to be friendly with Webster and asks what he's studying. Webster says he's a literature student. Liebgott enthusiastically replies that he's a big reader... of comic strips like Dick Tracy and Flash Gordon. This is far from what Webster's talking about, of course, but he equally recognises the well-meaning nature of the point and just goes with it.
This Is Gonna Suck: When Winters asks Liebgott to ask the camp prisoner they're questioning who the inmates of the camp were, he asks Liebgott to clarify whether criminals have been held here. Liebgott, who's been starting to get the gist of the situation from his questioning, mutters in response "I don't think it's that, sir."
Tranquil Fury: Webster's conversation with the German baker has this.
Tsundere: Seems to be the case with Perconte. He clearly feels guilty for yelling at O'Keefe and seems to show affection for the young private more than once afterwards.
War Crime Subverts Heroism:
- As the men of Easy are taken into Bavaria, they witness a trio of French soldiers executing a small group of Nazi soldiers and looting their corpses. While O'Keefe is shocked, the rest just shrug it off.
- The men also loot the German towns they pass through and attempt to manipulate vulnerable women into sex.
- Arguably subverted, however, since the crimes we see committed pale in comparison to the discovery of the concentration camp.
Wham Episode: Along with Episode 7, this qualifies for the trope. It's also one of the biggest Tear Jerkers of the series.
Wham Line: After Liebgott asks the prisoner what Unerwünschte are:
Liebgott: [translating] Doctors, musicians, tailors, clerks, farmers, intellectuals... I mean, just normal people, sir.
Prisoner: Juden. Juden.
Liebgott: [softly, after a pregnant pause] ...They're Jews.
Prisoner: Polen, Zigeuner.
Liebgott: Poles and Gypsies...