Falling Skies: Stayling Alive

Weaver standing by Matt as he tried to find his father amongst the rubble was pretty heartwarming. I imagine that Dingaan's memories were also supposed to tug at one's heartstrings, but the montage did not connect with me in the way it was likely designed to. Instead, I found the Tom-Dingaan plot to be a bit stale and a waste of a set, something that seems to plague the budget of this epic series this season. What was gained from having the pair underground (which not only took money to build, but likely extra instruments to light and more time to block) for the episode? it seems that every time I think about the forthcoming fifth season, I fear just how over-the-top it may be.

JAMES DITTIGER

Falling Skies "A Thing With Feathers" (S04E08): Ben and Lexi see Espheni mutating humans into the multi-legged creature Jeanne was. [meh. too bad they made such a big thing out of that cocoon for Lexi to now be gone to the dark side for good!]

When the folks underground are certain it's safe, they go search for survivors. [and kill aliens still around.] Hal finds Maggie alive, but unable to move her legs. Anne suspects a spinal cord injury and internal bleeding, which may leave her quadriplegic. Hal wants Anne to use anything possible, even when Maggie says she doesn't want to possibly injure a formerly harnessed kid to heal. [grrr, Hal!] Hal proceeds to make it happen, but it doesn't work. However, Ben soon returns from trying to save Lexi, and asks Anne to transplant his spikes to Maggie, even if it kills him. [stupid Hal for not thinking his brother had ulterior motives!] Cochise gives Anne advice in the procedure, and both young adults recover.

Tom crawls around under rubble and finds a trapped Dingaan. After helping him, the two search for an escape, and wind up surfacing inside the downed spaceship. Moments later, Tom is infected by something that Dingaan must rip from his veins, only to trigger a giant grenade. [are we collectively rolling our eyes yet?] When it blows up, Weaver and Matt find the survivors, sheltered from the blast.