Replacements (S01E05)
Airdate: September 30th 2001
Written by: Eric Jendresen
Directed by: Tom Hanks
Running Time: 53 minutes
The inherent risk in chronicling Easy Company’s protracted campaign across Band of Brothers was the potential for episodic monotony, a relentless grind of battles blurring into sameness. Producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg confronted this challenge by demanding distinct directorial and narrative voices for each instalment. Hanks, directing the pivotal fifth episode Crossroads, not only passed this test but delivered a tonal and structural masterclass. By eschewing linear combat sequences for a psychologically driven, fragmented narrative, Hanks transformed administrative drudgery into compelling drama, proving the series could thrive beyond sheer battlefield spectacle .
Scriptwriter Erik Jendresen once again centres Captain Richard Winters (Damian Lewis), framing the episode around 17 October 1944, a month after Operation Market Garden’s failure. Tasked with composing an After Action Report (AAR) on a fierce engagement weeks prior, Winters’ struggle with the typewriter becomes the narrative engine. This device brilliantly justifies extensive flashbacks to the chaotic battle at a Dutch crossroads, whilst simultaneously anchoring Winters’ present: his recent promotion to Battalion Executive Officer (XO). His internal conflict—pride in advancement versus visceral loss of camaraderie with Easy Company—permeates every scene, rendered with stoic nuance by Lewis .
The flashbacked battle sequence, Hanks’ directorial centrepiece, showcases Easy’s tactical brilliance under duress. After a night patrol ambush leaves men wounded, Winters leads a daylight reconnaissance-in-force. They stumble upon a heavily entrenched Waffen-SS force (at least two companies), vastly outnumbering Easy. Recognising hesitation meant annihilation, Winters orders a near-suicidal bayonet charge across open ground. Hanks films Winters’ solitary sprint—breathless, chaotic camerawork emphasising his vulnerability and resolve—before his men follow through billowing red smoke. The brutal close-quarters combat, whilst a triumph (dozens of Germans killed/captured), costs Easy dearly: Corporal Dukeman (Mark Lawrence) dies, and 22 are wounded, including Private Webster. The sequence masterfully contrasts the messy reality of combat with Winters’ sterile, guilt-laden reportage .
Winters’ new Battalion XO role forces bureaucratic detachment. He observes Operation Pegasus—Easy’s successful, almost casualty-free rescue of stranded British 1st Airborne paratroopers—from headquarters, unable to participate. The British cheers to their American rescuers underscore his isolation. This distance amplifies the tragedy of his successor, Lieutenant Frederick "Moose" Heyliger (Stephen McCole). A capable and respected leader, Heyliger is accidentally shot by a jittery American sentry whilst walking with Winters. This senseless friendly-fire incident (a stark example of war’s absurd danger) sidelines Moose, forcing Winters to appoint the ill-suited Lieutenant Norman Dike (Peter O'Meara)—a decision foreshadowing future hardships for Easy. The episode poignantly explores leadership’s burdens: Winters’ administrative frustration, his protective instincts towards Easy stifled, and the haunting cost of command even off the frontline .
A brief interlude in Mourmelon-le-Grand, France, offers false respite. Winters experiences civilian life in Paris—cafés, baths, cinemas—yet finds no peace. Flashbacks of the young German soldier he killed plague him, culminating in a jarring, arguably over-stylised moment on the Metro where a French boy’s face triggers traumatic recall. This attempt to visualise PTSD feels forced amidst the episode’s otherwise grounded realism. Celebration shatters when the 101st is urgently deployed to counter the German Ardennes offensive. Easy, lacking ammunition, winter gear, and adequate rations, is rushed towards Bastogne—a vital Belgian town controlling seven roads. Witnessing demoralised, shattered US troops retreating, the paratroopers grasp their grim reality: imminent encirclement. Winters’ defiant response to Lieutenant Rice (Jimmy Fallon’s cameo)—"We’re paratroopers, lieutenant. We’re supposed to be surrounded"—becomes a defining mantra, steeling them for the frozen hell to come .
The episode’s title resonates powerfully on multiple levels. Literally, it denotes the Dutch battleground and the strategic nexus of Bastogne. Metaphorically, it signifies Winters’ career shift from hands-on commander to staff officer, embodying the tension between frontline valour and necessary bureaucratisation. His agonisingly slow report-writing symbolises this difficult transition. Damian Lewis excels, conveying Winters’ quiet authority in battle, his bureaucratic frustration, his survivor’s guilt, and his profound sense of duty, all with remarkable subtlety .
Crossroads ambitiously tackles the psychological cost of killing. The opening flashback deliberately misleads: Winters shoots a seemingly unarmed, teenage German soldier at close range, appearing cold-blooded. Later flashbacks contextualise this: isolated and facing overwhelming SS forces, his action was instantaneous survival instinct. The episode redeems Winters morally by showing his subsequent protection of German prisoners, disarming the vengeful soldier to prevent murder. However, the Paris Metro flashback, where a French boy’s face superimposes the dead German’s, leans towards heavy-handed symbolism, momentarily disrupting the episode’s otherwise gritty authenticity in its attempt to visualise Winters' trauma .
The finale masterfully sets the stage for the Bastogne episodes. The focus shifts from heroics to dire logistics: the lack of winter coats, insufficient ammunition (highlighted by men desperately scavenging from retreating troops), and inadequate food foreshadow the coming physical ordeal. The sight of broken GIs fleeing the Ardennes contrast sharply with Easy’s weary resolve as they march into the wintry gloom. Jimmy Fallon’s cameo as Lieutenant George Rice, delivering ammunition and exposition, proves divisive. Whilst historically plausible, his recognisable modern persona and slightly anachronistic delivery ("Panzer division’s going to cut the road south") momentarily punctures the carefully built immersion, a rare misstep in casting .
Crossroads stands as a triumph of narrative ingenuity within Band of Brothers. Hanks and Jendresen deftly avoid repetitiveness by turning inwards, using Winters’ report and promotion as a lens to explore leadership’s psychological burdens, the bureaucracy of war, and the haunting legacy of combat decisions. The titular crossroads battle remains a visceral high point, but the episode’s true strength lies in its quieter moments: Winters at his typewriter, the eerie calm before Bastogne, the unsettling glimpse of civilian disconnect. Despite minor flaws—a heavy-handed flashback and a jarring cameo—the episode successfully transitions the series from the open warfare of Holland to the claustrophobic, frozen hell of the Ardennes. It reaffirms Winters as the moral and emotional core of Easy Company whilst proving the series’ power lies as much in the soldiers’ internal struggles as their legendary exploits .
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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