Falling Skies Season 1 Finale Review

Episode Title: Mutiny/Eight Hours
Overall Season Rating: B
Episode Rating: B+

First, I am aware of how late this review is. I wasn't able to watch it until yesterday, and while that is not very good from a review stand point I hope everyone understands that real life can make it difficult to sit down and watch a two hour show and take notes. Also, for a couple reasons this review will be somewhat brief. It's helpful that the story of the two episodes is pretty simple, and I'll be discussing them as if they were one episode even though they are two separate ones.

On to the review!

While I enjoyed this season finale, and was impressed by some of the things they did I didn't think the cliffhanger was as amazing as advertised. I know I can't blame them for that, but nothing that happened in those last few minutes was all that shocking. Unexpected maybe, but not shocking. I'll get to that a little later, but when it comes to season finales the ending really is important with a show like this, and I'm not sure they delivered. I also think the main story of the 1st half with Weaver being a little nuts was overblown. He went from a decent commander to an obsessive maniac in about a day and a half, and in actuality he wasn't being an obsessive manic. Tom was correct about the 4th and 5th Mass, but no matter how many people you sent on this mission, it was most likely going to be a suicide mission.

As it would turn out, it was indeed a suicide mission since every single person appears to have died except Weaver and Pope. Falling Skies is taking a cue from other science fiction shows, and making it clear that if you are a main cast member you will survive battles, and if you are a no name extra you will die off screen. I have no problem with that, and I suppose some of them might be alive, but no one really talked about the fact that 40 odd people just bit the big one.

With that said, I did like both the encounters with the Skitters. At the school, I did have a "holy sh*t" moment when we saw an army of Mechs come walking down the road. I was confused though about the Skitters, and their need to find this school. They know that this group is somewhere in the area because they keep doing missions. Why wouldn't the Skitters simply fly over and look for them, and if they saw anything report back? Personally, I thought the reason this didn't happen was they really didn't care and didn't see them as a threat, but this episode shows that they do indeed see them as a threat and would be willing to throw a huge army at this small band of humans. Just fly over in a ship and bomb them. I guess they don't want to harm Rick and Ben, but honestly, even Humans understand that some friendly fire will occur in times of war.

The attack plan on the structure was sound, and I'm guessing enough people were killed in the initial attack that it's now impossible to bomb it. I wonder though, once Tom realized the power of the radio signal, why didn't he send a runner to tell Weaver? I probably would not have changed anything, but maybe he would have waited a couple hours until after the signal was boosted and the Skitters began to retreat. Clearly, Tom didn't know it would work that well, but it still would be a nice bit of information for Weaver.

The end of the episode was both interesting, and a little bit of a let down. As Tom and Weaver make their way home they are stopped by a Harnessed Karen. She says they want to talk, and a huge frakking ship appears. I did love the look on their faces when the ship landed. It was that perfect, "Um, we're screwed" look. Turns out though, that the radio signal issue is a huge deal and the more human look Skitters are giving Tom an Ultimatum. While they are intrigued by the level of resistance, they inform him that kids like Ben are not free from the Harness, and they still can control them. Unless Tom goes with them, right then and there they will bring the formerly Harnessed kids back in the fold, and I'm also assuming they will cause more damage to the people Tom cares about.

The reason I was not so impressed with this that none of it was all that surprising. We knew from Rick that they were not free from the Harness, and it did appear that Rick was more controlled by the Skitters than Ben was so clearly there are levels of control that can exist beyond the Harness. It's also safe to assume that if the Skitters simply view us a primitive species, that they would be quite impressed that we can disrupt their signal, and they would want to do something about it. Asking Tom to come with them is not shocking either because if you are impressed with the resistance, and afraid of what they've discovered about you the logical next step is talk to their leader. While Weaver is the military leader, it's clear that Tom is the leader of the human race that we know, and failing that they have leverage against him. Finally, of course he's going to go with them. Tom has shown again and again that he will do whatever it takes to keep his family safe.

With that said, I don't know what they plan to do with Tom, and really hope it's more than a simple discussion with some big wig Skitter. After the events of this finale, a lot is going to change I think. Porter is dead, communication with the other units is gone, and the 2nd Mass is really the only one in the area left. The offensive thoughts from the humans will start to die out I think. On the Skitter side, they are clearly afraid and with the radio problem they won't be attacking the Humans as much anymore. There will be action I hope since people are not tuning in to this show to watch Skitters and Humans have discussions about morality, and the future of their race.

We have to wait until Summer of 2012 to find out, and I think I will be tuning in. Season one was good, and managed to stay away from a lot of silliness and cliches that easily could have infested this survival story. I'm looking forward to season two.