Comic-Con 2015: Farewell, Falling Skies!

At my first Comic-Con back in 2011, Falling Skies was a new show, and they wanted fans badly... they gave out zippered hoodies for attending the panel, which was in 6BCF back in those days. Now, with the show on its way out, there isn't much left with which to tease an audience, but the panel wormed its way into Ballroom 20 just the same! Unfortunately, listening to the dull roar of applause compared to years past, the timing of the panel (it had always been in the afternoon previously) meant that many people in the room were actually there for something later in the day.

Present on the panel moderated by Darren Franich were Moon Bloodgood, Noah Wyle, Drew Roy, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Doug Jones, Connor Jessup, Colin Cunningham, and Sarah Carter. Five winters in Vancouver are behind them now, and Jones will no longer have to endure four hours of makeup just to say a few lines. 

The panel description boasted of discussions of favorite moments, the most gruesome deaths, and the most memorable alien battles, and we definitely got some of that. Jessup shared that his character wasn't even in the original pilot, so he thought that he wouldn't last long. The most disturbing scene for Roy will pop up in episode five, where there's blood and cold humanity at its worst. Roy's most memorable moment is shooting the pilot, as the set was about a quarter-mile of running around, and there was a big explosion that almost went awry due to a domino-like fall. Amusingly, Wyle also talks about that scene being his least-favorite, as the footage was lost and they had to do the entire thing again the following night, despite the fact that Wyle was already sore from the first round of antics.

The folks asking questions seemed a bit planted, as both Wyle's son and Bloodgood's best friend's niece made it to the microphone. The best question asked, however, was what everyone's first impression was of the person to their right. We got some fun stories, and learned that Wyle and Bloodgood met in a Santa Monica coffeeshop, Bloodgood and Roy met on a plane to Vancouver to shoot the pilot, and Cunningham met Jessup as they were reading for fun (Cunningham flipping through MAD Magazine and Jessup studying Tolstoy).

One thing that Falling Skies has not done great in the past is exclusive looks ahead, as they often only show you a clip of something that will air a couple of days later, and that's what Comic-Con attendees got yet again. Also, no swag this year... it's not like promotion matters at this point, but still, it's a bit of a bummer not to leave with a parting gift of sorts!

Watch Falling Skies wrap up Sunday nights on TNT at 10pm (ET/PT).