The war between Pope and Mason really begins.
What They Say:
Pope Breaks Bad – A mission to procure vehicles and fuel goes awry; Anthony’s mental stability and loyalty are questioned; Pop takes things into his own hands.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Falling Skies kicked off its fifth season pretty well, especially in comparison to the awful fourth season, but it’s faltered along the way as I figured it would. With one episode focused on some food-based shenanigans and then the last time around where it set up a situation that will lead to a lot of strife and anger within the core of the 2nd Mass with a death that pushed Pope over the edge. That was just so blatantly telegraphed that it was eye roll inducing. As was the further material in dealing with the Overlord that was captured and how Anthony is going through some control issues that now have him acting out in irrational ways, at least to everyone else.
While there’s a state of conflict going on as Pope is ready to snap and is lashing out and Anthony is trying to be a part of the next fight coming up but is being denied, there’s a new wrinkle thrown into the mix when Cochise reveals that he’s dying to the others. It turns out that Volm have two vital organs, but he was born with just one and that’s failing. Naturally, there’s a push from Anne and the others to try and do some sort of transplant, which is possible to some degree since his father has come to provide a moment with him as things come to an end. While Cochise basically laughs it off, you know that they’re going to find something to do to try and convince his father to get involved in saving his son, even if his father may consider it all a distraction.
As this gets dealt with, two other aspects come into play. One is that Tom and some of the others head off for a weapons supply run that they’ve discovered is nearby from a police barracks and training facility, which also offers up some vehicles that they may be able to use. As they make some good progress there with supplies there, they also come across a shortwave radio that allows them to reach a woman operating out of Peru, which places her close to what’s going on in Bolivia, one of the big places that the Esphini are jamming as part of their bigger plans to try and push back and still win. It’s not a lot of big progress, but it works well to expand some of their holdings and to touch on some of the broader scope of events. Of course, it has to provide for some of the action here as well as some of the bugs are in one of the buildings and those get loose, killing one of the scouting party and threatening everyone else. It’s brief, but it adds another body to the list for Pope in regards to Tom.
With Pope, he ends up hooking up with Anthony as he’s gone all radical now and has fallen in with the way Pope vilifies the Masons and all the things that have gone on for so long. For Pope, it culminates with what happened with Sara that has him going this route since he had no issue with oh so many other deaths that he’s tied to Mason over the course of the war. The little group of radicals does come together a bit since there’s always an element that has to go against the grain and while Pope’s group has grown and shrunk over the years, there are always those that view him as who they want to follow. And, as it would work out, Pope makes his play at the worst time, coinciding with complications with Cochise’ surgery as he’s about to lose his father and ahead of a move towards Fayetteville. It turns into a big, public spectacle that goes pretty close to the line between the two of them. Something that’s been brewing since the moment they met to be sure.
With Tom telling Pope that he’s out of the gang and with a day to get out of there and anyone else who agrees with him, it’s no surprise that it turns badly after that. While Tom believes that he’s done with Pope at this point, Pope is just beginning when it comes to dealing with Tom. And naturally the way he’s going to do that is by taking away what Pope lost, which means that Anne’s in a whole lot of danger. Particularly since Pope has gone off the deep end, shaving off all his hair – but keeping the beard – and using Anthony to get her into his sphere of influence. Pope’s not here anymore, man. Crazy Pope is here. That wasn’t telegraphed at all. A cleaned up Pope certainly looks a lot more dangerous to be sure since we’ve only seen him bedraggled all these years. Pope’s processing of his loss just isn’t happening in a good way and with all of them suffering some form of PTSD likely by being involved in this war for so many years, it’s a surprise more of them don’t snap more often.
In Summary:
Falling Skies spends a decent chunk of its time working through the fallout from the loss of Sara on Pope and it impacts a few different things. In the end, it leads to Tom going off on his own to deal with Pope because Pope is making it very, very, personal. And that’s no surprise since the two have been at it to varying levels for years now. While that dominates, we do get some decent materials acquisition time which teases the bigger picture a bit more and we also get a rather good subplot with Cochise and his father that leads to a little clarity for not only him but also for Anne. The show may not be firing as strong as it was at the start of the season, but it’s at least dealing with some outstanding issues here and giving Pope a chance to really get his crazy on.
Grade: B-
