As this episode of World on Fire begins, Harry Chase (Jonah Hauer-King) helps transport an injured soldier to the infirmary. Once Harry gives over the German positions, he collapses to the floor. A nasty wound is found on his leg so the others are ordered to get Harry to a hospital in Cairo. In Brandenburg, Germany, Marga (Miriam Schiweck) arrives with other girls. They’re welcomed and told they’ll be referred to as ‘Mutti’ from now on. They have no past and only the future. They’ll be examined by a doctor before they can enter their rooms. Then, they’ll take a partner. They will remain together for three days before changing partners. Stan (Blake Harrison) catches up with Rajib (Ahad Raza Mir) who tells him that the Germans are closing in.

Stan is told to get on the road to Tobruk unless he wants to be there when the Germans arrive. He wants to speak to Captain Briggs before doing anything. Briggs (Jonathan Harden) doesn’t have answers about Chase’s group. He orders Stan to get to Tobruk now. Stan gets stuck so he has to ride with Rajib and the British Indian Army. Jan and Kasia (Zofia Wichlacz) play around while pretending Harry is killing Germans. Once Jan leaves, Robina (Lesley Manville) warns Kasia that young men are bloodthirsty and don’t need any encouragement. She asks Kasia to help with the baby, but Kasia thought they had established that she is not a good example to the young. Robina runs into Joyce (Grace Chilton) and asks her to take care of the baby.

James (Mark Bonnar) comes in just in time to hear them arguing about the baby. He likes that there is always something going on there. James gives Joyce money so she can buy her mother flowers for having such a useful daughter. Moments later, Kasia tells everyone to come because they’re talking about North Africa on the radio. At the ATS Desert Hospital in Cairo, Lois (Julia Brown) learns there are wounded men coming from Libya. Once she fixes the vehicle, she zones out with worry because Harry is in Libya. Then, she begins tending to Private Rogers. Marga goes through the physical examination. The doctor confirms that she is ovulating right now. She may take a partner at once. He explains that she’ll have to give up the child when the time comes.

Marga signs the paperwork. In Kent, David is told to remain hidden by the storm until he is over France. Once he breaks cover, the Germans will open fire and that will allow him to pinpoint their gun positions. David (Gregg Sulkin) breaks cover. In Romainville, Paris, guards order Albert Fallou (Parker Sawyers) to clean up. The guard ends up hitting him. Stan worries they’re going the wrong way since Briggs is taking the Derna Road to Tobruk. Rajib says they have orders to catch up with the supply trucks going to Msus. Stan doesn’t understand why they’d be heading south toward the enemy. They hear explosions and gunfire nearby. Although Rajib runs out of bullets, he insists they’re not going to surrender.

While James is out of his room, Kasia looks through his stuff. She has to hide under his bed when he returns. James notices that the latch on his suitcase is open. David completes his mission and begins returning to base. A German soldier approaches Marga outside and stares at her briefly. She finds a girl crying because she is worried that she won’t be able to conceive. She complains that no one is choosing her now. She doesn’t want to go through it again because it was terrible business. Lotte (Meta Volkers) admits they don’t need names when they can’t have friends. She suspects Marga doesn’t know what she is getting herself into. James and Kasia discuss what is happening in Warsaw.

Kasia gives him the handgun and accuses him of being military intelligence. She shows him the paperwork in which his name is Elias Fischer. Kasia asks him to get her home so she can make a difference there. Albert gives Luc (Arthur Choisnet) a vial that he claims is a way out. It’ll get them to the infirmary. Then, they’ll be able to get out. Luc says there are no blacks left in Paris because the Nazis went after them. Luc doubts he could get past the checkpoint even with papers. Albert says he knows how to make himself invisible after growing up black in France. Guards approach Henriette (Eugenie Derouand) to ask her about the missing morphine. She claims she sent it to the University Hospital because they needed it.

They order her to tell them about future arrangements. Lois looks through the patient paperwork and finds Harry’s file. Rajib and Stan contemplate stealing a jeep so they can escape. Stan doesn’t like that idea because they don’t have any ammo left. Nevertheless, they manage to get away in the jeep. Marga approaches Astrid to say she doesn’t know what to do when it finally happens. She is given a book that girls usually find very informative. Marga is told not to be worried because she doesn’t need to do anything. She just needs to lie there. Robina and James struggle to get the baby to be quiet. Once they do, they begin discussing marriage and love.

Robina says Kasia has made it very clear she doesn’t want to be there. David jokes around with another man before getting back in the plane. Rajib isn’t sure whether they can make it to Tobruk since he doesn’t know where they are. They see a Nazi soldier driving towards them. They make the soldier crash before Stan tackles him. The soldier gets the better of Stan and begins choking him. He only stops when Rajib puts a gun to his head. David finishes his mission, but his plane goes down. Rajib tells Stan that they can’t leave the man out there. They make him take off his clothes before he rides in the back of the jeep.

When David comes through, he hears German voices nearby so he tries to unhook his parachute and escape. Marga learns that Lotte has been taken away so she can be re-educated back to her natural instincts. She lies and pretends she didn’t speak to her even though she knew her name. Luc ends up getting sick and vomiting. Albert chugs his drink and gets sick as well. David tries to evade the soldiers searching for him. Marga is approached by a soldier who asks her about sitting all alone. He thinks they’d be a good match. He is a Sturmbannfuhrer and studied at Bad Tolz. Marga reluctantly accepts him as her partner.

He’ll come to her room later tonight. He comes over and they have sex. Before he leaves, he tells Marga that he’ll come again tomorrow. Albert wakes Luc so they can escape. While they wait, they discuss what they miss the most. Once they receive the signal, they prepare to leave. Luc goes out the window first and urges Albert to follow him, but Albert closes the window behind him. He goes back to his fellow prisoners. The guards begin looking for Henriette. Marga has breakfast with her partner who seems to irritate her. James tells Kasia that he may be able to help her although he won’t help her go back.

He reveals that he lost everyone he cared for in the last war. James says he could recruit her to work for him there. She would help him root out enemy agents. Kasia quickly says she’ll do it. Lois refuses to go out drinking with her roommate. Instead, she checks on Harry. She confesses that she wanted to put things right because she didn’t want to be around anymore. Being there is part of her fighting back. Kasia made her realize that she needed to get away. Harry is sad that she felt that way. He reminds Lois that she is still part of him and he is part of her. A woman is greeted when she gets out of a van.

Rajib and Stan learn that their prisoner has escaped. They argue about whether they should go back for him. Rajib reminds him that he refused his invitation to evacuate once before. He suggests he didn’t want to travel with brown-skinned men. Stan insists he isn’t like that. Rajib goes on about the value of a life. They go back and find the German soldier who pleads for water. Then, their jeep won’t start. They decide to get out and walk. They eventually run into other soldiers and receive water. Stan yells for them to help Rajib because he is a British officer.

 

World On Fire Review

This episode of World On Fire was just okay like the episodes before it. There is something about this show that doesn’t really click emotionally with me. Each episode has been bloated with so many characters and concurrent storylines. It is like the writers are trying everything in their arsenal hoping something will stick, but it only prevents any stories from really building.

As a result, everything World on Fire tries to do just seems to fall flat. It doesn’t help that many of the scenes are so unbelievable. Marga’s story could probably be effective if her partner wasn’t so cartoonishly bad. The writers probably wanted viewers to worry about David’s fate on one hand, but they’ve made him the biggest jerk on the other hand.

I need someone to cheer for and World on Fire isn’t really delivering in that area. The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of World on Fire can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.