Genre: Sci-Fi | Action | Drama
Air Date/Time: Sunday, July 22 at 9/8c
Network: TNT
Created by: Robert Rodat
Written by: David Weddle and Bradley Thompson
Directed by: Holly Dale
Summary:
Falling Skies chronicles the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the nine months since the initial invasion, the few remaining survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force, whose nature and purpose remains a mystery.
As the second season of Falling Skies opens, three months have passed since Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) went willingly with the aliens in one of their ships. Nobody has seen or heard from him during this time, and his absence has taken its toll on his sons. Tom hoped that by agreeing to a dialogue with the invaders, he would not only free his son Ben from the invaders’ influence but also get a better picture of the aliens’ overall plan.
Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation) also stars as Anne Glass, a pediatrician who works with the survivors to help them cope with the traumatic upheaval in their lives. Will Patton (Armageddon, TNT’s Into the West) plays Weaver, a fierce military leader of the resistance and Tom’s commanding officer. The series also stars Drew Roy (Secretariat) as Hal, Tom’s oldest son and a growing fighter in the resistance movement; Maxim Knight (Brothers & Sisters) as Matt, Tom’s youngest son; Connor Jessup (The Saddle Club) as Ben, Tom’s son who was captured by aliens and has since returned to the group; and Seychelle Gabriel (Weeds) as Lourdes, an orphaned pre-med student who helps Anne in the group’s makeshift medical clinic. Mpho Koaho (Rookie Blue) and Peter Shinkoda (The L Word) play Anthony and Dai, two resistance fighters in the 2nd Mass.; Colin Cunningham (Living in Your Car) is John Pope, the head of a gang of marauders called the Berserkers; and Sarah Sanguin Carter (Shark) is Maggie, a wary survivor from Pope’s gang.
This might as well be a different show from Season 1, and thank goodness. I’m sure I’ll keep comparing it, right through the end of the season and beyond, but it is absolutely worth nothing that Season 2 has an entirely different vibe from Season 1.
While this seventh episode lacks the magic of 4 and 5, and maybe even some of the writing of the last episode, it makes up for it in increased darkness. Which, as a fan of Fringe and American Horror Story, is clearly an aspect I appreciate. Don’t worry, it’s not an introspective piece. In fact, it has more action than we’ve seen in a couple of epis0des. There are one or two excellent surprises and one thing that isn’t a surprise, other than I would have expected them to make a different and potentially more “acceptable” choice, and hooray, they didn’t.
These are the choices that make this series feel more authentically sci-fi to me, 21st century sci-fi. I am a giant fan of Star Trek the original series, but part of what I love is the times that it embodies. Episodes like this week’s Falling Skies start bringing it slowly into more current, more edgy sci-fi. It still has a ways to go, but this week’s installment gives me a great deal of hope in what’s to come for this show.
Not to mention we get a couple of cool new effects.
Standout performances this week include, as always, Connor Jessup (and just a quick note to the people near me in line at Comic-Con over the weekend – Ben is not a whiny character, not this season. Connor, Angel’s son on Angel, that‘s a whiny character). Moon Bloodgood gets convincingly amped at one point, which is nice to see. Noah Wyle is reliably great this week as has become his standard, both when he is angry and when he is sentimental.
On the minus side, the dialogue is mostly not-great but we’re usually distracted by other things. Imagine how good it would be if we had both again, great dialogue and lots of shiny things to watch! I know they can do it, they’ve done it before. Also, there is one opening of a scene that will have you looking at your TV and anyone you’re with in a certain amount of confusion, because we come to it seemingly in the middle. The reason becomes clear without too long a wait, but it would have been better if someone could have come up with another way to get us into the scene, and spared us looking about in bewilderment. Whether that was writing, editing, or directing is unclear.
Otherwise, an exciting episode with some very tasty dark bits sprinkled in. I would like more of that, please.
I give Falling Skies: Season 2, Episode 7 “Molon Labe” Four Out of Five Stars.
