'World on Fire's Penultimate Episode Brings Triumph & Tragedy

As the penultimate episode of World on Fire’s first season begins, Robina welcomes home her son Harry, this time from Dunkirk. And once again, her face freezes when she sees he’s not alone; this time, he’s brought home a Senegalese soldier. She chats politely with Demba (Buom Tihngang) in French and then lets rip at Harry for his “obligation … to shower me with human survivors from your travels.” Harry points out that he would never have survived Dunkirk without Demba; she’s relieved their guest is traveling to Scotland the next day to join the Free French. She doesn’t believe Demba when he tells her how brave Harry has been, bringing up the topic of his father once more.

Robina: That must be a relief for you. And your Polish wife.

The Bennett family, meanwhile, receives the devastating news that Tom is missing. Both Lois and Douglas refuse to believe that he’s dead. He’s not: he’s wounded and being cared for by Webster in the American Hospital in Paris, now a POW hospital. He’s desperate to escape, and Webster reveals that he has contacts for an escape route across the Pyrenees to Spain. But Tom has to be declared dead to avoid suspicion and a possible recapture. When German officers arrive to inspect the hospital, to Webster’s alarm, they demand to see the body. Nurse Henriette Guilbert escorts one of the officers to the mortuary and uncovers a severely disfigured corpse that the officer throws up.