RETURNING: Falling Skies

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

I thought I was looking forward to this show returning. I'm not sure what happened, but I wasn't thrilled while watching these premiere episodes of the second season. I think that the gore had a lot to do with it, and it probably didn't help that we saw quite a few of the "creatures" up close. Plus, there was some time that had to be made up, and the growing sibling rivalry between Hal and Ben doesn't really thrill me. Others seemed to really enjoy these episodes, though, and I look forward to seeing what else this season has in store.

Falling Skies "Worlds Apart" (S02E01): Tom boards the spacecraft with the aliens. Three months later, we see a battle, where Ben can't let it go and takes great risks to make sure all of the aliens are dead. Ben and Hal do find Tom, who has been wounded... by Ben's shot. [dang. figures. but you know he'll live.] We see a flashback to the ship, where Tom was mistreated before being brought to a leader of sorts, who speaks through Karen, explaining that humans could be given an area where they could live in peace amidst the new civilization. [like a concentration camp?] Tom points out that there should have been a discussion before the attacks, but the alien says he shouldn't expect so much from them. He's commanded to lead the people to a "neutral zone," and he says that he won't, even trying to fight a bit before being knocked unconscious. Tom is released and finds out that there were others from various militia who were getting the same spiel. [this could get interesting!] They all run but everyone gets shot except Tom, whom they give up on for no apparent reason. [heh. very odd.] Tom's in Michigan, alone, and follows the railroad, checking abandoned cars for supplies... even burning money to stay warm. [yikes.] He busts up a fight and saves a girl, inviting her to Boston with him to try and gain use of her motorcycle. [a bit violent for me.] She loans it to him and they bury her mother, whom the man bullying her had shot. They get to Massachusetts and Tom isn't sure where the 2nd Mass would be now, so he's not sure of his next move. When they come upon other voices, however, the girl takes off for the mountains while Tom runs toward the voices, recognizing Weaver, and while fighting an alien, gets shot, bringing us to the present. [interesting but predictable way to catch us up on what Tom went through... now, what happened with the 2nd Mass?]

Matt wants to join the soldiers, but he's still a bit young. Ben supports Matt fighting, but that won't do much good as Ben has a difficult time following order. [you know, because if he listened, Tom wouldn't have been injured.] The cooties target a truck, and our freedom fighters realize that they need to mask the heat of the vehicles, so they wrap the engines in fiberglass. [ingenuity at its finest.] Just as the aliens begin to approach, Tom begins to bleed again, and Dr. Glass must operate by flashlight while the convoy leaves without the medical van and four soldiers (including Hal and Ben). They relocate, Tom wakes up, and all is well. [uh huh, sure.]

Falling Skies "Shall We Gather at the River" (S02E02): Tom has nightmares of the critters coming after him, though Dr. Glass says he's fine. She's been putting up photos of the deceased/missing, as they're getting harder to remember. [interesting.] Elsewhere, on a scouting mission, Jimmy tries to console Ben about accidentally shooting his father, but they're interrupted by a Skitter attack, destroying part of the bridge that they had just discovered. [awww. that sucks.] Tom goes with Weaver, Pope, and some of the others to take a look at the bridge - they have no choice but to try repairing it - the Skitters may be on them in two days. Ben is the best swimmer, so he volunteers to go scout out the other side that night, with Jimmy to cover him. Tom tells Hal that he's afraid something's been done to his mind - and asks Hal to stop him "by any means necessary" if he begins to endanger anyone. [oooh.. this could get intense.] Hal isn't sure, and as Tom's demands become more serious, he becomes ill, and a worm of some sort is found in his eye. Tom flails about as it's removed, but the thing balls itself up in the specimen jar. [that was a rough surgery for me!] They worry that it's a tracking or a mind-control device, and Tom thinks that they should restrain him, at least until they've crossed the river.

James Dittiger

That night, Ben looks around on the other side of the river but begins to have a bad headache because of some Skitter signals. When Ben reports about his reconnaissance, he leaves out the headaches, saying he heard nothing. Pope tells Weaver that they can't let Tom cross the river, but he's outnumbered. [as always.] Ben goes to talk to Tom, saying that he used to have nightmares, too. Ben tells him that the secret is to hate the Skitters, so he shows his dad his back, and how deformed it is now. [awkward. but whatever.] As everyone begins to cross the bridge, the parasite bores a hole through the jar, gets out, and flies away, unnoticed. [oh boy!] But, the bus gets stuck, and Tom asks Matt to cut him loose, but Matt hesitates, knowing that Tom had earlier asked that he not be freed under any circumstances. [hmmm...] Tom jumps off the bus and rushes some people across the bridge, then takes over a weapon and fights, as does Matt. [and now the entire family is soldiers.] Some push the bus to get it moving, and Tom rushes to beat the demolition of the bridge. He falls into the water and the group continues, with Weaver telling Hal that they'll go back to look for Tom as soon as they've set up the next camp, at an airport about five miles away. [eep! those fresh stitches probably won't fare too well against infection in that water...]

On the other side, a group takes down the structure/antenna. In crossing, they lost 3 vehicles, 6 fighters, and the food truck, but they made it. Hal and Pope get into it, but that ends as Tom comes walking up. They realize that the parasite has gone missing, and we see that it flies into a Skitter's eye. [blech!]