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FALLING SKIES |
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Tom Mason - Noah Wyle Anne Glass - Moon Bloodgood Hal Mason - Drew Roy Weaver - Will Patton Matt Mason - Maxim Knight Maggie - Sarah Carter 
OTHER FALLING SKIES SEASONS Season 1 OTHER ALIEN INVASION SERIES V (2010) Invasion Dark Skies Threshold UFO 
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Worlds ApartTom returns from the alien ship only to be shot by his son in a firefight. As he fights for his life, he flashes back to what happened to him during his time with the aliens. It was a bit of surprise to us that FALLING SKIES got a second season after the fairly average first one, but now that it is established perhaps it can begin to show on its promise. First, though, there’s the small matter of last season’s cliffhanger to be dealt with. The revelation of the master aliens so early on in the show makes us wonder what the makers have got to follow up with. The aliens clearly have underhand plans for Tom and are playing on his guilt and desire for a resolution to the fighting to get him on their side. One of the aliens has been given more of an identity to ramp up the personal engagement between the enemies. This, though, is all background and unfortunately, background is mostly all that this episode has. The plot starts with an attack that serves only to get Tom back and then needs all the humans to move when that would prove fatal to Tom. As an opening gambit, it is disappointing. We can only hope that things improve. Topshall We Gather At The RiverThe humans are being herded into an area where they can be corralled and wiped out and the only escape route is a bridge that just got bombed. Whilst Tom learns a bit more about what the aliens did to him, his sons go into action against an alien base. There are two stories going on here and neither of them really rate highly. The attack on the alien base is the side issue and proves to be undertaken so easily that it hardly seems to have been worth the effort. If the bad guys’s stuff can be smashed so easily how did they ever take over the planet in the first place. The tension-raiser comes in the shape of the humans having to cross the bridge in plain view of the aliens and the potential for utter destruction. This leads to some action that is better than most of what was in the first season, but still manages to be tired. The second story is based around Tom and his continuing relationship issues with his kids. It isn’t helped by the fact that a reject metal worm from THE MATRIX has to be extracted from his eye (anyone with eye issues won’t want to see that bit!). What this is for remains a mystery that will hopefully be explained rather than just being for the effect. FALLING SKIES is still trying to be gritty and realistic, but is still a long way from the high-water mark of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA because of weak storylines like this. TopCompassA valued member of the team is killed and it seems that Matt's increasingly vengeful hatred of the aliens is at fault. Pope also attempts to remove Tom as a threat to the group and there is word from above that brings hope. This is a brave move, killing off a relatively major character in such a way and so early on in the season. The reactions from the characters don't really hold up in all cases, but there are touching moments to be found. The humans are given a target to aim for and personal relationships take step forward and a step out of the group. TopYoung BloodsWeaver's daughter shows up alive and allied to a bunch of kids who don't want to join the resistance. When they are taken for enslavement, the resistance has to come and save them. Once you get over the huge coincidence of just bumping into Captain Weaver's daughter, the episode settles down to some really rather dull family angst scenes before finally picking itself up for the shootout finale. It's still hard to understand why the aliens don't bother to protect their important facilities with, you know, guards. Sense isn't really running high in the show at the moment. TopLove And Other Acts Of CourageBen's connection to the Skitters brings about some surprising information about a potential alien revolution going on. Meanwhile, Hal and Maggie find themselves under threat in the back seat of a car. Season arc ahoy as the potential truth about the skitter that tortured Tom is revealed and could be a bit of a game changer, even if it is all a bit fifth column from V. It does at least give the show somewhere new to go. Hal and Maggie getting it together is, by comparison, horribly hackneyed and deserving of a much better script. TopHomecomingCaptain Weaver suffers a reaction to the alien bite that requires a drastic medical intervention. Meanwhile, the return of Hal's ex-girlfriend stirs up trouble with the brothers. Weak plotting that requires characters to act in ways that just aren't them are the order of the day in this episode. Hal immediately considers the returned girl to be zero threat despite her being under alien control for so long, Maggie tries a one-to-one confrontation with no back-up, Tom doesn't have Karen properly guarded and Ben goes from hater to lover in a single conversation about shared experiences. The story of Captain Weaver's condition is a sideline that is never going to have any other outcome, so there's not a lot of threat in that. TopMolon LabeThe humans take an alien overlord captive and are besieged by hordes of alien spiders whilst looking for a way to escape. There's one very gruesome moment at the heart of this episode that makes it memorable. For the rest of the time, the plot sticks to a simple siege storyline that gives it focus and tension. It also means that there's not much time for character development, but at least takes the story forward a little. TopDeath MarchThe column goes all out to make Charleston, stopping for nothing. They mourn their losses and learn about each other. PADDING!! There are only ten episodes in this season of FALLING SKIES and yet still the makers have to resort to the most blatant padding in the shape of this 'let's just take some time to talk to each other' tosh that doesn't illuminate the characters and is tedious enough to hack off the audience. Matt befriends an injured girl whose harness had died, and her presence is intriguing until it's obvious that the writers don't know what to do with her. The best advice is to skip this episode altogether. You'll be no worse off for it. TopThe Price Of GreatnessThe 2nd Mass is relieved to be welcomed into Charleston and Tom is surprised to find an old mentor running the place. He is less happy when he finds that they don't see eye to eye as to how to move forward. After last week's total waste of an episode, we get a story that is compressed into one episode's running time that could easily have been spread out a bit more in order to breathe. In less than fifty minutes, Tom goes from arriving in the community to finding a friend in charge to not liking things so much to full-on armed rebellion. That's a lot of movement for one episode. It's nice to see Terry O'Quinn as the leader of the new community, though he's given far too little running time to add any depth to his cowardly despot routine. It's also nice to see Matt Frewer playing something other than a complete nutcase for a change. TopA More Perfect UnionThe rebel skitters have news of where and when the alien overlord is going to visit. Tom decides to take his people to destroy the alien, but others have different ideas. And we're back to the aliens being complete military dumbells once again. They are building a huge weapon that an all-important overlord is coming to visit and security can be circumvented by sneaking in through a tunnel they built over. They also ignore explosions for the longest time in the name of dramatic effect. That said, the story's focused and pacy with some nice changes along the way and a big explosion to round it all off. Except, of course, for that cliffhanger. Top |
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