Following the first episode of Catch-22 picks up a lot having introduced the characters and the setup for the season.
At the end of the previous episode Colonel Cathcart (Kyle Chandler) has raised the mission count from 25 to 30, much to John Yossarian’s (Christopher Abbott) dismay. The war progresses in the Allies favour, leading to the airmen having some downtime in Rome. Since being promoted to Mess Officer Milo (Daniel David Stewart) uses his new position as a business opportunity.
Catch-22 was designed to be a show watched in one go because it was made for Hulu. This was clear with the first episode which was basically an introduction to the characters and their goals. But the show is being broadcast as a traditional TV programme outside the US.
As an individual piece, the second episode is a lot better. This was due to the characters having more drive and there is more going on. In the episode, Yossarian is shown to be more of a dick in this episode. He was banging his commanding officer’s wife in the first episode but his commanding officer wasn’t exactly likeable. But the follow-up episode he is shown to be utterly selfish, snapping at patients in the hospital and when he speaks with another airman he reveals his only concern is his own survival. Yossarian doesn’t care about the men on the ground. Yet there are signs that Yossarian is suffering from sort of shell shock when on missions.
When speaking to Clevinger (Pico Alexander), Yossarian states that everything his war buddy suggests does nothing to ensure his own survival. His self-centred philosophy is mirrored by some of the other characters. Marcello (Giancarlo Giannini), the owner of a brothel stated that he survived because he supported whoever is in charge at the time, regardless of ideology. His oddly believes this makes the Italian people more resistant because Italy is a poor country, the people are able to stay when outsiders leave.
Milo uses the American military for his own selfish reasons, to make money. Stewart played the character I have envisioned him to be when I read the novel. He has the gift of the gab, he is able to charm his way out of any situation and turn it to his advantage. Milo showed he had a knack for enterprise, buying products for cheap in one place and sell them somewhere else for a big profit. What Milo is selling is benign but he did act as a prototype for serving soldiers who imported drugs back to their home countries.
The episode has plenty of comedy and satire. It opens with Major Major (Lewis Pullman) getting promoted because it was too much hassle to change the paperwork. Colonel Cathcart taking pride in his bombers causing as much damage as possible and betraying them for leaving one area alone is pretty much how non-American audience thinks the American military really operate. And there was a fun little line about the relationship capitalism and warfare.
The second episode of Catch-22 is a solid offering of television and builds on the good work of the first.
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