Hulu’s Catch-22 mini-series brought Joseph Heller’s classic WWII satire to life. Using vivid imagery and fast-paced banter, we followed John “YoYo” Yossarian and his friends as they slogged their way through a seemingly endless war. To close out the mini-series, we are recapping Catch-22’s major themes.
Escaping Duty
YoYo’s number one concern from the beginning was trying to get out military service. He chose to be a bombardier because of the extended training time. But, he eventually did have to go into active duty in Italy. Stationed on Pianosa, YoYo had a mission quota he had to meet before he could be discharged. But as soon as he got close to that quota, the officers raised it.
Despite whatever deals he made, YoYo couldn’t escape military service. The military didn’t care that he almost lost a testicle. The “Catch-22” rule made it impossible for Doc Daneeka to ground him for insanity. At the end of the series, YoYo refused to wear clothing but still had to fly.
Lost Friends
In the first episode, we met YoYo and his friends: Clevinger, Dunbar, Kid Sampson, McWatt, Nately, Major Major, Aarfy, and Orr. Though we saw them enjoying themselves together early on, eventually, we saw their numbers thin until YoYo was mostly alone.
Clevinger, once YoYo’s partner in crime, was declared missing in action. An explosion launched Dunbar out of his plane and onto Yossarian’s windshield. As a joke, McWatt flew his plane towards Kid Sampson but failed to pull up in time. McWatt crashed his plane into a cliff afterwards. Nately fell out of the tail of the plane after getting hit. While Aarfy and Major Major survived, YoYo lost Major Major to an arbitrary promotion, and Aarfy’s nefarious actions disgusted YoYo. Orr escaped to Sweden.
Corporate Greed
Milo Minderbinder, who called YoYo his best friend by the end of the series, found his place in the war. He bribed and fast-talked his way into forming a powerful and far-reaching syndicate, called M&M Enterprises. He simply bought, sold, and moved goods from one part of Europe and Northern Africa to another. Milo involved Col. Cathcart and worked with the Germans to orchestrate a controlled bombing of their own airfield.
If you’ve missed a recap or want to revisit the entire season of Catch-22, check out our full list of recaps below.
