If this wasn’t the final season, I wouldn’t even be here.
What They Say:
Find Your Warrior – Tom’s life hangs in the balance as his beamer drifts into space; Tom encounters a surprising guest; Anne reluctantly steps into Tom’s shoes to help lead the 2nd Mass.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While I didn’t go into the first season of Falling Skies with sky-high hopes, I was hopeful that with the production team involved and some of the backing that the show could have been something fun. The summer market has changed a lot in the last couple of years – mostly for the better as we get better programming – but there’s also some room for the schlock shows as well. Falling Skies definitely fits in that category where you watch it and wonder how some of these things made it out of a writer’s room and how some of the director’s didn’t just look at some of what they were given and put a stop to it. Particularly in the fourth season where things took a bigger dive in quality with the bigger episode count. Thankfully, with this being the final season, it’s been brought back to what’s hopefully a more manageable ten episode run to bring us to something resembling a conclusion
Thankfully, the show brings us right back to where we left off rather than advancing the timeline forward far or throwing us into another unfamiliar situation. Having Tom remember the recent key events with his daughter and what happened there with the sacrifice she made, it shifts to him waking in his old room and his wife coming into talk with him. While we know that’s not the truth of the matter, it’s simply the new aliens trying to find a way to connect with him in the only way that they can at first. It’s a good conversation he has with his wife as it recounts the conversation she had about battling the breast cancer she faced as it brings a new perspective to part of his past. But it also starts to turn into something more as she begins to talk more about things related to the war itself, rogue cells and the like, and pushing him to become the warrior he needs to be. It’s a decent setup for him to remember who he truly is at this point and what it is he needs to do.
Events on Earth without Tom have to progress as well and the biggest problem they have, in a sense, is the lack of leadership at the moment. As problematic as Tom is as a leader, he was an inspiring figure for the 2nd Mass in particular and was an irregular constant based on the way past seasons have unfolded. But now it’s something that Anne has to take over for it and lead, to get them rallied and move on from where they are. While it makes sense to hold out hope for a bit, and they do wait a few days, they need to take advantage of the changes going on in the world after what Tom and Lexi were able to accomplish. It’s amusing to see some of those that weren’t always on board with Tom rally to this cause in general, especially tied to seeing Tom coming up from the water as he’s been brought back to Earth, but considering the state of the world there’s little other choice.
Tom’s return to the world is one that has him making a decent trip of it back to where the 2nd Mass is, though he gets attacked along the way and does his best to find his inner warrior that lets him cut loose a bit. It’s unsettling that he’s able to return so quickly to the 2nd Mass considering where he was and the way he does it so calmly. He’s not in shock, but there’s almost an emptiness about him in some ways to, mostly relating to what he has to tell Anne about Lexi. I’m still really conflicted about the entire Lexi storyline in many ways and even more so about the way Anne was so connected to her that it would impact her this much after all is said and done. Tom does start to talk a bit about what he experienced, but he plays it in a kind of disconnected way so as to not upset anyone. Amusingly, everyone comes up with explanations about how Tom made it back just so they can accept it.
What proves to be interesting is the change that Tom takes to leading the group as he goes with the approach of what he got in the memory/dream about becoming more of a warrior. His rally to the 2nd Mass is about finding their inner rage and letting it loose in order to go overkill against the enemy and end this war in a big way. It’s something that you definitely see as being out of character for him and some that know him well are really thrown but it, such as Anne and Dan, but you also get his kids getting caught up in it. Tom’s definitely pushing forward on this and you can see his frustration coming out, but also a sense of optimism about their chances when Cochise reveals that there are 317 other militias out in the world that they can start working with to rally towards the bigger endgame. That helps to ease Dan’s concerns a bit, but it also paints things in a way where it reminds them that they’re not alone in this fight.
After so many seasons of the 2nd Mass barely holding their own and occasionally having some wins, it’s disconcerting to see them making so many strides here. With a few groups spreading out to deal with what’s in the area, gain some supplies and tech and to get a feel for where things stand, we see them able to make some big wins. Skitters without Overlords are basically wild animals, the various mech are running out of power and unable to do more than provide a quick scare and there’s a growing confidence coming from the human side of the equation as they make some really good inroads. It’s not all easy because the Skitters that Tom’s group comes across has numbers to them, but with some smart moves and a growing rage that Tom is cultivating that leads to doing what’s necessary to win, it makes for some surprisingly fun moments.
As the episode works towards its conclusion, there’s some unsettling things for the 2nd Mass leadership to deal with as Tom’s taking clues from the memory he had which is cluing him in to where the Overlord in the area is that they need to take out. That brings them to the ruins of a high school and a pretty solid action sequence with some decent numbers and some good tension to it as they make their way through the building. Whereas before these kinds of missions were panicky and not planned well, this one feels like they’re executing it better and feeling the confidence of the situation. It does turn into a bit of a mess along the way though and the show begins to channel its inner Walking Dead that it needed to much earlier. And that does make it feel like the stakes are greater here, which plays well even if it’s almost in a funhouse kind of way. But Tom’s change is really cemented here and I’m hard pressed to disagree, even though I know they’re going to paint this as the wrong way to go eventually.
In Summary:
I hate to admit it, but Falling Skies has a strong opening here. Well, relative to past seasons, which may not mean much to some. But the show feels like it’s exuding a certain confidence in knowing that they’re playing to their endgame here and have a certain amount of episodes to wrap it all up. Though I expect a return to some of the main problems that have plagued the show as it progresses, it’s definitely a good way to kick off the season by giving us an aggressive Tom, one that can back up what he’s doing with some historical reference if he should choose to do so. The wonky side we get early on will surely come back to bite the cast, almost literally if you want to believe the ending sequence here, but outside of that I’m coming away a bit hopeful that the final season may redeem a bit of itself when all is said and done.
Grade: B+
