Should have gotten round to doing this ages ago but I was too busy with Arrow, Flash and Gotham however since they are finished for now I now have the time, plus the last season starts soon. You know since I review individual episodes now I think when I review a series as a whole like this I will just list off the standouts of the season in a best and worst category because it is easier and gets to the point quicker.
Best
The prison arc: While I am disappointed with the destruction of Charleston the three episodes where Tom and a few others of the main cast are trying to breakout of prison are really cool. We got the most action in these scenes, Tom was a vigilante and the breakout was awesome.
Pope gets a love interest: Pope just can't be a detached badass all the time and the next logical step with his character was to give him someone to care about plus I do like Sara because she is way better than the other female characters in this season.
The battle for Chinatown: Both battles where really epic; the first one was all guns and explosions while the second had more of a creepy vibe with those new harnesses that moved through the mist.
Going into space: This was really cool because the attack on the moon base is way bigger than what they have done before.
The talking Espheni: I liked that we got to see them talk to each other with their minds without using harness children and that the got some scenes alone with each other. Instead of them just being the silent leaders we got to know more about their personality.
The Volm: The Volm are always going to be a highlight whenever I talk about Falling Skies!
Super - Skitters: This was a really good concept but not explored as much as I wold have liked. Weaver's daughter Jeanne was mutated into this new type of Skitter but after her we didn't get to see any others. However this gave us a really emotional episode that was one of the best of the season because Weaver is such a great character.
Worst
Lexi: They really messed up this character I can tell you that because her whole cult thing that took up most of the first half was so damn boring! Sure her powers where cool but I hated that she kept constantly changing sides; I wished Tom had let Pope and his gang kill her because she really would have deserved it. Even her cocoon phrase was a real let down because it would have been cool if she looked more Espheni - like after but no, she was just the same!
Anne: They try to toughen her up from just being the doctor for the previous season but she got so annoying throughout this season. Like when she was leading the remains of 2nd Mass at the beginning, beating that Espheni, constantly ignoring everyone and getting angry at anyone who threatens Lexi. She just comes off as a right bitch and I wish that she was killed off this season.
Lourdes: She has never been a character I really cared for and that is still the case when they made her completely insane this season. I know she went through some hard times in Season Two and Three but she just did some really crazy stuff now like attacking Ben and Kadar when they extracted Lexi's blood. Was she honestly that blinded to her powers? Still the good thing is that she was killed off which is good because I don't think she could have redeemed herself.
The re - education camp: What really was the point of this? The Espheni have the means to control children with harnesses so why is there any need to brainwash them? I know they did it so they can put spies into human camps but since humanity has just been reduced to small roaming groups it just seemed pointless in my opinion.
Killing off Tector and Kadar: Two great characters who I think deserved to survive all the way till the end, it really is a shame because I think these two have been developed really well. This also strengthens my argument I have made before that Falling Skies does not kill off any of it's main cast in situations when it should. I know they killed off Lourdes but she went crazy and I don't think was that popular anyway so it doesn't count. For example I always thought one of Tom's kids should have been killed off (Hal would have been a good choice) because I think it would have had an interesting impacting on his character and would have been really dark as well or they could have killed off Anne because I think she has outlived her importance.
Hal jealous with Ben and Maggie: I just really didn't see the point in this because we already had something similar to this in season two with Karen and Hal just came across as an ass. Plus while I like Maggie a little more than some of the other female characters in the show I think her dying would have been better overall (mentioned above about main characters not dying) but no they had to think of a convenient why to save her like with Hal in Season Three and sacrifice side characters in her place.
Destroying Charleston: I really liked Charleston in the previous season because it was cool that the humans had a proper base to fight from and was quite the change from season one and two; they had more hope than they did before. So I was disappointed when it was destroyed in five minutes in the first episode but what disappointed me more was that 2nd Mass didn't go back to a group moving from town to town like in season two. No they just stayed in Chinatown for the whole season and I just didn't like it or see the point of it.
The Skitter rebellion is wiped out off screen: Built up so much in Season Two and they still played a large role in Season Three but they just decided to get rid of it off screen, probably to make more room for Lexi's stupid cult.
Overall I did like some of new stuff in this season but they tired too many others that just did not work; it failed to capture the really dark tone of Season Two (the best season) or the scale of Season Three where the humans have a proper base and stand toe to toe with the Espheni thanks to their Volm allies. I think they wanted it to be more like Season One when it was a small group in a kind of hopeless situation but that, in my opinion, is taking a step backwards and failed to recapture the feeling anyway. It is still a great watch but it is the weakest Season of Falling Skies.
SCORE: 6/10
Showing posts with label ALIENS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ALIENS. Show all posts
Saturday, 6 June 2015
Monday, 11 August 2014
TV Series Review: Falling Skies Season Three
After this one I will be finally up to date on all for reviews for all the TV Series.
Season three takes place seven months after the arrival of a new alien race; The Volm. The Volm have been fighting their own war against the Espheni across the galaxy and have offered their help to the humans in the form of help technology and better defences against the Skitters/Mechs. Tom Mason has been elected the new President in Charleston and has managed to make a thriving community and with the help old and new allies, they are finally holding their own against the Espheni. However there are many who are unsure about the true intentions of the Volm and the Espheni have invented more subtle ways to strike.
This was a great season and I thoroughly enjoyed every episode and the stand out in this season by far is the Volm. Cochise (Doug Stones) has quickly become one of my favourite characters because of his helpful nature for the humans and the already friendly relationship with Tom. Unfortunately we barely see any other Volm apart from him throughout the season but luckily Cochise more than makes up for it and every time he and the other Volm had some screen time I just really wanted to see even more of them. We get a lot of background information and insight as the series progresses in why they help the Espheni, why are they helping the humans and their big overall plan but even I still questioned in whether or not they could really be trusted because even the Espheni try to turn Tom against them.
The old cast is just as good as ever, when I first heard that Tom was President I thought he would take a back seat but no he is still in the thick of it and Pope is still my favourite!! A great addition to the cast is Roger Kadar (Robert Sean Leonard) who is the resident scientist.
Now I want to go over several parts of season three that I think need to be addressed, some good and some bad. SPOILERS.
Episodes "Search and Recovery" and "Strange Brew": Two stand out episodes which are also two of my favourite. The first one mainly focuses on Tom and Pope who are stranded in the woods and need to make it back to Charleston. What I really liked about it was that we get to see a lot of interaction between Pope and Tom which I think they haven't had since season one and I think this was the start of them finally forming some sort of friendship (Which they seem to be now in episode three of season four).
The second episode is where Tom is trapped in an almost Matrix like reality where he is still a history professor before the invasion, his wife is alive and his friends are all teachers at the school he works, however the Espheni are using it to extract info from Tom. I really like episodes like this (like the one with Aaron in Revolution) because they are always a fun watch and we finally have Tom get some closure with the death of his wife since they barely brushed the subject in the previous seasons.
Hal the traitor: As seen at the end of season two Hal has been implanted with an insect that puts him under the control of the Skitters and they fully take over in episode six. Now this was a great episode but I really did not like how they dealt with it in the end. Hal almost commits suicide during it and there was a chance the removal of the insect could have killed him, neither of which happens. This really was a disappointment because I think the death of Hal would have had a major emotional impact on Tom which I think could have been great for creating a more darker tone for the show.
Think of it this way; out of everyone in Falling Skies, Tom's life has been alright in all these seasons. Sure he lost his wife but he still has his sons, he is President, remarried with new kid and he and his family always seem to make it in bad situations. Weaver seems to have had more than his fair share of loss during the invasion and I think Tom's character needed a big tragedy. Matt may have been to young to kill off, Ben is far too interesting but I think Hal has been developed enough that they could have sacrificed him. I do like his character but imagine the impact it could have had on Tom if he made the wrong choice during the operation.
Alexis: If I am honest I really like the Alexis as a little kid in this far more than what she has become in season four. Sure she had powers in this but they didn't go overboard and turn her in to some sort of stupid crazy cult leader yet. Would have been better if in season she stayed young like she is in this season instead of skipping a lot more years and they didn't have that sanctuary in Chinatown.
As for everything else about the show it was one really great season however the Skitters and the Espheni do take more of a back seat in favour of their insects doing to work for them. It is a shame because they introduced a new Mech design that looked really cool however the final two episodes where full of action and very fast paced, probably my favourite finale so far in the show.
Overall season two of Falling Skies is slightly better than season three because of it's more darker tone but it is still a very strong season and. I just think it should have had the guts to kill of Hal and I wish we saw more of the Espheni besides from Karen because like I mentioned before she is just not very good. However the Volm are a welcome addition and the clear stand outs which make up for some of this season's let downs.
SCORE: 8/10
Season three takes place seven months after the arrival of a new alien race; The Volm. The Volm have been fighting their own war against the Espheni across the galaxy and have offered their help to the humans in the form of help technology and better defences against the Skitters/Mechs. Tom Mason has been elected the new President in Charleston and has managed to make a thriving community and with the help old and new allies, they are finally holding their own against the Espheni. However there are many who are unsure about the true intentions of the Volm and the Espheni have invented more subtle ways to strike.
This was a great season and I thoroughly enjoyed every episode and the stand out in this season by far is the Volm. Cochise (Doug Stones) has quickly become one of my favourite characters because of his helpful nature for the humans and the already friendly relationship with Tom. Unfortunately we barely see any other Volm apart from him throughout the season but luckily Cochise more than makes up for it and every time he and the other Volm had some screen time I just really wanted to see even more of them. We get a lot of background information and insight as the series progresses in why they help the Espheni, why are they helping the humans and their big overall plan but even I still questioned in whether or not they could really be trusted because even the Espheni try to turn Tom against them.
The old cast is just as good as ever, when I first heard that Tom was President I thought he would take a back seat but no he is still in the thick of it and Pope is still my favourite!! A great addition to the cast is Roger Kadar (Robert Sean Leonard) who is the resident scientist.
Now I want to go over several parts of season three that I think need to be addressed, some good and some bad. SPOILERS.
Episodes "Search and Recovery" and "Strange Brew": Two stand out episodes which are also two of my favourite. The first one mainly focuses on Tom and Pope who are stranded in the woods and need to make it back to Charleston. What I really liked about it was that we get to see a lot of interaction between Pope and Tom which I think they haven't had since season one and I think this was the start of them finally forming some sort of friendship (Which they seem to be now in episode three of season four).
The second episode is where Tom is trapped in an almost Matrix like reality where he is still a history professor before the invasion, his wife is alive and his friends are all teachers at the school he works, however the Espheni are using it to extract info from Tom. I really like episodes like this (like the one with Aaron in Revolution) because they are always a fun watch and we finally have Tom get some closure with the death of his wife since they barely brushed the subject in the previous seasons.
Hal the traitor: As seen at the end of season two Hal has been implanted with an insect that puts him under the control of the Skitters and they fully take over in episode six. Now this was a great episode but I really did not like how they dealt with it in the end. Hal almost commits suicide during it and there was a chance the removal of the insect could have killed him, neither of which happens. This really was a disappointment because I think the death of Hal would have had a major emotional impact on Tom which I think could have been great for creating a more darker tone for the show.
Think of it this way; out of everyone in Falling Skies, Tom's life has been alright in all these seasons. Sure he lost his wife but he still has his sons, he is President, remarried with new kid and he and his family always seem to make it in bad situations. Weaver seems to have had more than his fair share of loss during the invasion and I think Tom's character needed a big tragedy. Matt may have been to young to kill off, Ben is far too interesting but I think Hal has been developed enough that they could have sacrificed him. I do like his character but imagine the impact it could have had on Tom if he made the wrong choice during the operation.
Alexis: If I am honest I really like the Alexis as a little kid in this far more than what she has become in season four. Sure she had powers in this but they didn't go overboard and turn her in to some sort of stupid crazy cult leader yet. Would have been better if in season she stayed young like she is in this season instead of skipping a lot more years and they didn't have that sanctuary in Chinatown.
As for everything else about the show it was one really great season however the Skitters and the Espheni do take more of a back seat in favour of their insects doing to work for them. It is a shame because they introduced a new Mech design that looked really cool however the final two episodes where full of action and very fast paced, probably my favourite finale so far in the show.
Overall season two of Falling Skies is slightly better than season three because of it's more darker tone but it is still a very strong season and. I just think it should have had the guts to kill of Hal and I wish we saw more of the Espheni besides from Karen because like I mentioned before she is just not very good. However the Volm are a welcome addition and the clear stand outs which make up for some of this season's let downs.
SCORE: 8/10
Sunday, 3 August 2014
TV Series Review: Falling Skies Season Two
Back with the review of Falling Skies Season Two, this review will contain a lot more spoilers than my review of season one.
The story picks up three months after Tom Mason boarded the Overlord ship and things are not looking too good for the Second Massachusetts. They have lost over half of the group, can not get in touch with any of the other Mass's and are constantly on the run from the Skitters. However Tom suddenly appears out of nowhere with barely any memory of what happened aboard the ship. The group continues to move on but hear of a well organized group of humans have set up a base at Charleston and journey there experience many hardships along the way.
Guess I will just come out and say it that this season is definitely better than season one! They have improved on a lot of things this season and I guess what has mostly helped is the darker tone they have this season has. Whether it is mass executions of Humans, character deaths or the constant feeling of desperation the Second Massachusetts has against the Overlords. I guess one thing that I criticize the first season for doing is having the school as a base of operations for the majority of it. While having a base is good for a post - apocalyptic genre I much prefer when the characters are constantly on the move and we get to see the ruined world (like I mentioned in my Revolution reviews)
Now when I said earlier that this season has a more darker tone than the original I definitely meant it because in this one they have the deaths of several characters, the most notable being Dai and Jimmy. While they are not major characters they were never just background characters either and their deaths were done really well. Also a lot more action and violence as been added probably to make up for the lack of much in season one; one of my favourite parts of this season for example was when the group decided to stay at a hospital for a while on the way to Charleston. Some great scenes were the Second Mass are defending themselves against the Skitters, Mechs and a new insect like enemy that attacks the insides of people. Overall the sense of safeness that the Second Mass had in the first season was almost gone in this one. Also as mentioned above the action is just overall bigger now than ever, straight from the first episode to the very end we get some great scenes of explosion and excellent gunfights .
Another one of my fav parts was near the end of the season and the group makes it to Charleston only to discover that it is not the haven they thought it was. Sure it is well organized and secure but one individual and old friend of Tom's, Arthur Manchester (Terry O'Quinn), thinks it is best just to hide from the enemy. In my opinion this replaces the dilemma presented in the first season of Soldiers vs. Civilians and was really interesting in seeing how the characters deal with the conflicting views.
As for the characters and Skitters I like them just as much as I did last season (Pope still being the best!) and I even like Weaver more in this since he works more with Tom than against him and realises that the civilians are not a bother to the Second Mass after all. However I really did not like the character Karen for the voice of the Overlord and I found the episode when she tricked her way in to Second Mass to be pointless and annoying. I also hated in that episode when she tired to pit Hal and Ben against each other because with all that is going on they can both be fooled like that. Also the Skitters got a lot more interesting in season when we find out that many are resisting the harness affects and want to overthrow the Overlords, creates a lot of infighting in the group on whether they could be trusted or not (got me wondering as well).
For stuff I did not like about this season, besides Karen and Maggie (as always!), I did not like the episode were Weaver found his daughter with a group of kids. I just do not like when I group of kids can manage to survive for ages in a post - apocalyptic environment and causes the Second Mass a lot of trouble, which they did at the end of the episode. I am also finding Tom's youngest son Matt to just keep getting more and more annoying because for some reason they are deciding to give him a more prominent role.
Overall this is a definite improvement over the last season in terms of more bigger action, darker tones and more expansive story such as getting to Charleston, dealing with Tom's arrival and destroying the massive Overlord weapon at the end. It is only let down by some annoying characters that luckily don't distract from the majority of the show and the lack of a major character death (will talk more in to this in my review of season three because there is some stuff about Hal I want to talk about, those who have watched it may know what I mean).
It also left the audience on a cliff hanger even more better than the end of season one; just when we think the Overlords are the only thing the Humans have to worry about a new species appears. That ending shot of the alien walking out of the pod in that arm was just so cool!
SCORE: 9/10
The story picks up three months after Tom Mason boarded the Overlord ship and things are not looking too good for the Second Massachusetts. They have lost over half of the group, can not get in touch with any of the other Mass's and are constantly on the run from the Skitters. However Tom suddenly appears out of nowhere with barely any memory of what happened aboard the ship. The group continues to move on but hear of a well organized group of humans have set up a base at Charleston and journey there experience many hardships along the way.
Guess I will just come out and say it that this season is definitely better than season one! They have improved on a lot of things this season and I guess what has mostly helped is the darker tone they have this season has. Whether it is mass executions of Humans, character deaths or the constant feeling of desperation the Second Massachusetts has against the Overlords. I guess one thing that I criticize the first season for doing is having the school as a base of operations for the majority of it. While having a base is good for a post - apocalyptic genre I much prefer when the characters are constantly on the move and we get to see the ruined world (like I mentioned in my Revolution reviews)
Now when I said earlier that this season has a more darker tone than the original I definitely meant it because in this one they have the deaths of several characters, the most notable being Dai and Jimmy. While they are not major characters they were never just background characters either and their deaths were done really well. Also a lot more action and violence as been added probably to make up for the lack of much in season one; one of my favourite parts of this season for example was when the group decided to stay at a hospital for a while on the way to Charleston. Some great scenes were the Second Mass are defending themselves against the Skitters, Mechs and a new insect like enemy that attacks the insides of people. Overall the sense of safeness that the Second Mass had in the first season was almost gone in this one. Also as mentioned above the action is just overall bigger now than ever, straight from the first episode to the very end we get some great scenes of explosion and excellent gunfights .
Another one of my fav parts was near the end of the season and the group makes it to Charleston only to discover that it is not the haven they thought it was. Sure it is well organized and secure but one individual and old friend of Tom's, Arthur Manchester (Terry O'Quinn), thinks it is best just to hide from the enemy. In my opinion this replaces the dilemma presented in the first season of Soldiers vs. Civilians and was really interesting in seeing how the characters deal with the conflicting views.
As for the characters and Skitters I like them just as much as I did last season (Pope still being the best!) and I even like Weaver more in this since he works more with Tom than against him and realises that the civilians are not a bother to the Second Mass after all. However I really did not like the character Karen for the voice of the Overlord and I found the episode when she tricked her way in to Second Mass to be pointless and annoying. I also hated in that episode when she tired to pit Hal and Ben against each other because with all that is going on they can both be fooled like that. Also the Skitters got a lot more interesting in season when we find out that many are resisting the harness affects and want to overthrow the Overlords, creates a lot of infighting in the group on whether they could be trusted or not (got me wondering as well).
For stuff I did not like about this season, besides Karen and Maggie (as always!), I did not like the episode were Weaver found his daughter with a group of kids. I just do not like when I group of kids can manage to survive for ages in a post - apocalyptic environment and causes the Second Mass a lot of trouble, which they did at the end of the episode. I am also finding Tom's youngest son Matt to just keep getting more and more annoying because for some reason they are deciding to give him a more prominent role.
Overall this is a definite improvement over the last season in terms of more bigger action, darker tones and more expansive story such as getting to Charleston, dealing with Tom's arrival and destroying the massive Overlord weapon at the end. It is only let down by some annoying characters that luckily don't distract from the majority of the show and the lack of a major character death (will talk more in to this in my review of season three because there is some stuff about Hal I want to talk about, those who have watched it may know what I mean).
It also left the audience on a cliff hanger even more better than the end of season one; just when we think the Overlords are the only thing the Humans have to worry about a new species appears. That ending shot of the alien walking out of the pod in that arm was just so cool!
SCORE: 9/10
Monday, 14 July 2014
TV Series Review: Falling Skies Season One
Now to review a series I have been promising to for ages; Falling Skies. I have really enjoyed this series and since season 4 is going to air in the UK tomorrow I thought it was about time to get to work on reviewing the previous seasons. These reviews will contain MAJOR spoilers for all three previous seasons, so it is advised bot to read this review until you have at least watched season one.
The story begins six months after the invasion by a mysterious alien race that managed to destroy every major city, wipe out the world's military and kill over 90% of the world's population. They have also been capturing every human between eight and eighteen and attaching a bio - mechanical device called a Harness on to their backs which puts the individual under their control. However groups of survivors consisting of those from all walks of life have banded together to fight back, one of the groups is the Second Massachusetts led by retired US Army Captain Dan Weaver (Will Patton). In the Second Massachusetts is a former Boston History Professor named Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) who has chosen to be a 'Fighter' so he can protect his sons and hopefully destroy the alien menace.
Those who have read my previous blog reviews know that I am a massive fan of the Post - Apocalypse genre (The Walking Dead, Revolution), I think it is one of the best genres for a book, film or TV Series. This is because I enjoy watching characters try and survive in a new dangerous world (The Walking Dead) or build a new society and the hardships they have to go through (Revolution). Falling Skies is more of the former but I also really like it because it brings aliens and huge science fiction elements in to it as well.
I guess I should say first that Falling Skies is a very, very character driven series more than anything else. It is not loaded down with massive amounts of gore or violence however this is not a bad thing, it has done it so well that it is one of the best series out there right now. For example because this is the beginning of the journey of the Second Massachusetts a recurring plot device is civilians vs. military. Second Massachusetts calls its solider personal Fighters, these are the people in the group who risk there lives to fight the aliens, scout out areas and protect everyone else and these Fighters aren't just people who were soldiers or cops, anyone can volunteer. The rest are the civilians who do not actively fight but instead chose to be doctors, cooks and perform other means of labour.
This brings a lot of infighting within the Second Massachusetts in this season on whether which group is more important. Tom for example may be a Fighter now but he sympathizes with the civilian's because he used to be a professor so we get to see both sides from him, meanwhile there is Weaver who used to be an Army Captain so he obviously feels the Fighters are a higher priority. It is just things like this for example that makes Falling Skies a really great watch.
We also have a suburb cast; Noah Wyle is perfect as the main protagonist, I admit I have not seen him in much before this but he is great and it is cool to see him constantly referring to battles with the aliens to wars in the past, thus using his background in history. We also have Will Patton and that guy has been great in everything I have seen him in and we have a great range of secondary characters such as Moon Bloodgood, Peter Shinkoda, Mpho Koaho and Tom Mason's three sons who are each in a different age group which I think was deliberate so we get to see how the youngest to the oldest deal with the aliens. The most interesting in this season out of the three by far is Ben Mason because of the harness attached to his back and the effects it is having on him.
However an honourable mention I have to give is Colin Cunningham as John Pope the former badass leader of a group of rebels who joins the Second Massachusetts. Colin Cunningham has always been one of my favourite actors and he absolutely kills it as Pope because he is so cool in every scene he is in, either when its killing the aliens or arguing with Tom. I can honestly say that John Pope is my favourite TV series character even more than Miles Matheson (Revolution) or Tywin Lannister (Game of Thrones).
Now as for the aliens they have been dubbed the Skitters by the Second Massachusetts because of their multiple legs and how fast they move with them. Their design is really cool, similar to insects, and they prove to be quite the formable foe against the humans. They also have advanced technology such as ships and giant Mechas which is cool to see because I am so used to seeing them in anime and the special effects used for them are awesome. We also get their mysterious Overlords, stick thin leaders who command the Skitters and they have got a pretty creepy design almost like the Slender man. Overall we have a really great adversary for the human race that and as the episode progress we get more and more answers about them.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE FINAL EPISODES BELOW
If I had to find some faults to this season is that even though I mentioned that it is alright that this series is not loaded down with violence I do wish they had a bit more sometimes. For example while we get some great battles there is much build up to a final battle that Weaver is leading to blow up a Skitter base however it happens completely off screen so that was a tad annoying. Also I find Sarah Carter's character Maggie to be completely annoying, everything from what she does to her stupid backstory but still every show has one character that you absolutely can't stand. I also admit that some may find this a little slow sometimes (I didn't but I read that some might) just remember that this is the first season and every first season in almost every show with just ten episodes a season is more to do establishing the world, story and characters.
However while I was annoyed that the massive battle with Weaver this season did end on a high note; it seems more grim for the Second Massachusetts than ever and Tom went on board an Overlord space craft. While major cliff hangers can be so frustrating at times this one was done just right because it made me really look forward to second season.
There you have it a great science fiction drama that I think many people from lots of ages groups can enjoy. This season really did a great job of setting up Falling Skies as something that is going to be big and seeing as we are on season four now that just proves my point.
SCORE: 7/10
I admit it is a bit weird doing a review of season one now that season four is out but I will try to write the review for two and three has quick as I can so that I can at least review season four straight way when it is finished.
The story begins six months after the invasion by a mysterious alien race that managed to destroy every major city, wipe out the world's military and kill over 90% of the world's population. They have also been capturing every human between eight and eighteen and attaching a bio - mechanical device called a Harness on to their backs which puts the individual under their control. However groups of survivors consisting of those from all walks of life have banded together to fight back, one of the groups is the Second Massachusetts led by retired US Army Captain Dan Weaver (Will Patton). In the Second Massachusetts is a former Boston History Professor named Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) who has chosen to be a 'Fighter' so he can protect his sons and hopefully destroy the alien menace.
Those who have read my previous blog reviews know that I am a massive fan of the Post - Apocalypse genre (The Walking Dead, Revolution), I think it is one of the best genres for a book, film or TV Series. This is because I enjoy watching characters try and survive in a new dangerous world (The Walking Dead) or build a new society and the hardships they have to go through (Revolution). Falling Skies is more of the former but I also really like it because it brings aliens and huge science fiction elements in to it as well.
I guess I should say first that Falling Skies is a very, very character driven series more than anything else. It is not loaded down with massive amounts of gore or violence however this is not a bad thing, it has done it so well that it is one of the best series out there right now. For example because this is the beginning of the journey of the Second Massachusetts a recurring plot device is civilians vs. military. Second Massachusetts calls its solider personal Fighters, these are the people in the group who risk there lives to fight the aliens, scout out areas and protect everyone else and these Fighters aren't just people who were soldiers or cops, anyone can volunteer. The rest are the civilians who do not actively fight but instead chose to be doctors, cooks and perform other means of labour.
This brings a lot of infighting within the Second Massachusetts in this season on whether which group is more important. Tom for example may be a Fighter now but he sympathizes with the civilian's because he used to be a professor so we get to see both sides from him, meanwhile there is Weaver who used to be an Army Captain so he obviously feels the Fighters are a higher priority. It is just things like this for example that makes Falling Skies a really great watch.
We also have a suburb cast; Noah Wyle is perfect as the main protagonist, I admit I have not seen him in much before this but he is great and it is cool to see him constantly referring to battles with the aliens to wars in the past, thus using his background in history. We also have Will Patton and that guy has been great in everything I have seen him in and we have a great range of secondary characters such as Moon Bloodgood, Peter Shinkoda, Mpho Koaho and Tom Mason's three sons who are each in a different age group which I think was deliberate so we get to see how the youngest to the oldest deal with the aliens. The most interesting in this season out of the three by far is Ben Mason because of the harness attached to his back and the effects it is having on him.
However an honourable mention I have to give is Colin Cunningham as John Pope the former badass leader of a group of rebels who joins the Second Massachusetts. Colin Cunningham has always been one of my favourite actors and he absolutely kills it as Pope because he is so cool in every scene he is in, either when its killing the aliens or arguing with Tom. I can honestly say that John Pope is my favourite TV series character even more than Miles Matheson (Revolution) or Tywin Lannister (Game of Thrones).
Now as for the aliens they have been dubbed the Skitters by the Second Massachusetts because of their multiple legs and how fast they move with them. Their design is really cool, similar to insects, and they prove to be quite the formable foe against the humans. They also have advanced technology such as ships and giant Mechas which is cool to see because I am so used to seeing them in anime and the special effects used for them are awesome. We also get their mysterious Overlords, stick thin leaders who command the Skitters and they have got a pretty creepy design almost like the Slender man. Overall we have a really great adversary for the human race that and as the episode progress we get more and more answers about them.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE FINAL EPISODES BELOW
If I had to find some faults to this season is that even though I mentioned that it is alright that this series is not loaded down with violence I do wish they had a bit more sometimes. For example while we get some great battles there is much build up to a final battle that Weaver is leading to blow up a Skitter base however it happens completely off screen so that was a tad annoying. Also I find Sarah Carter's character Maggie to be completely annoying, everything from what she does to her stupid backstory but still every show has one character that you absolutely can't stand. I also admit that some may find this a little slow sometimes (I didn't but I read that some might) just remember that this is the first season and every first season in almost every show with just ten episodes a season is more to do establishing the world, story and characters.
However while I was annoyed that the massive battle with Weaver this season did end on a high note; it seems more grim for the Second Massachusetts than ever and Tom went on board an Overlord space craft. While major cliff hangers can be so frustrating at times this one was done just right because it made me really look forward to second season.
There you have it a great science fiction drama that I think many people from lots of ages groups can enjoy. This season really did a great job of setting up Falling Skies as something that is going to be big and seeing as we are on season four now that just proves my point.
SCORE: 7/10
I admit it is a bit weird doing a review of season one now that season four is out but I will try to write the review for two and three has quick as I can so that I can at least review season four straight way when it is finished.
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