A little detour provides a much-needed recharge for Tom (but not the viewer).
What They Say:
Respite – Tom takes refuge with a family that has distanced itself from the fight; Hal and Isabella’s romance grows as they search for Tom.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Falling Skies proved to be a mixed episode the last time around as it played more to traditional form than some of the better material it was working with at the start of the season. The frustrating element was getting yet another Weaver standalone storyline that played out far too predictably. I’ve grown to like Weaver overall since his first season appearance, but he’s been saddled with some bad material this season in general. Where the show worked a bit better was with what Pope’s been up to, even if it feel slike a major distraction from the larger events I wish the show would focus on. Pope’s toying with Hal and how that plays out with the “nurse” is definitely fun to watch, particularly as we get Tom finally making his way there through Pope’s own mistake.
The fallout from the shootout certainly leaves us with a few possibilities with where things going. Having Tom whisked away by one of the oversized mutated hornets certainly could go in a lot of ways, but having him wake up in a pretty normal house where a woman is working through fixing his wounds wasn’t expected (unless you watched the previews). Discovering that there’s a family here that’s managed to hide out in plain sight in a sense really isn’t a surprise as you can imagine many areas being overlooked after the initial waves poured through from the invasion and then little need for going back since folks would live off the grid as much as possible. With the wound Tom has, he’s being forced to be sidelined for a bit while it heals. And that gives him a chance at a mild bit of normality, which means even shaving is hard to handle as it’s surreal. Not that his new facial design is an improvement either.
With Tom in a situation that’s weird in the sense that none of the three kids know of the war itself, there’s a kind of dance that’s being played out here, one that Tom doesn’t agree with considering what he’s experienced so far. They have their reasons, but as he sees with the 15-year-old, Kyle, it’s causing a lot of problems and opening rifts as he knows something is going on out there in the world. As it progresses, Tom naturally does as Tom does and he starts seeding things into folks in an attempt to try and open things up so they can see the reality of the world and it’s about as blunt as you can expect it to be. And when Kyle decides to leave on his own and finds a MegaMech, the reality of the world comes crashing in for all of them. It’s not an arc that really adds much to Tom overall, other than a little PTSD dealings early on, and having Kyle coming back with him to be a part of the 2nd Mass.
With the 2nd Mass, we get the subplot here where Maggie is now more intent on getting her spikes removed since she knows her life isn’t truly her own because of it after all that’s gone on. And she wants to separate from that connection as well. Of course, even with Cochise offering some Volm technology to help, Anne’s not intent on helping at all considering she needs both her and Ben to be the “star soldiers” of the 2nd Mass. This doesn’t go well as time goes on and Cochise offers to help Maggie directly since he’s trying to do right by his friend even if it’s something Anne will be upset about. Maggie’s insistence on getting her life back is what’s driving her to do it and that leads to it being difficult as the last spike refuses to come out and begins to kill her, necessitating Annes’ help.
This part of the show also has Marty doing a lot of work to try and repay his debt to Weaver and that in turn has him discovering the Espheni communications hub that was hidden here. Which is hidden in a damn weird place that really doesn’t seem smart. But what it offers is Weaver a chance to try it out and to realize there’re a lot of overlords out there in communication with each other. A rare reminder of the larger storyline that’s at play in the series!
Hal and Isabella’s journey is mild for the most part with the two of them getting a bit closer together as they get to know each other, having a few similarities. The main focus is on tracking down Hal’s father and that takes them into the muck for the most part, including finding the hornet that grabbed Tom. There’s some nice if unsubtle moments where the two of them do get closer together and it works well enough within the context of this show, so I can’t give it too much grief and I admit I kind of hope that Hal gets something positive out of it. The two do eventually catch up with Tom and in turn that brings them back to the 2nd Mass, though with no new additions as Tom talks Kyle out of joining up in favor of being ready for what comes after the war.
In Summary:
Falling Skies hits a few different things here with what it wants to do and while it’s mostly working through some character material and changes, it’s decent enough in what it accomplishes. Not that it’s stuff that warranted this amount of time when there’re only a few episodes left. Tom’s story serves as a reminder as to why they all fight, but even as far off his rocker as he’s gotten at times I don’t think that was ever in question. Tom and Isabella get closer but that just serves to provide tension when he returns and Maggie is all excited to show that her spikes are gone. The romantic entanglements of Maggie with Ben and Hal has been a weak part of the show though I liked her and Ben together overall. A lot of things have to get resolved going into these final episodes, but they’re going to focus on a lot of fluff in awkward and weak ways, which this episode does in a big way.
Grade: B-
