Falling Skies - Season 1: Review

After ten episodes the first season of the Sci-Fi series Falling Skies concluded last Sunday. On the 7th of July the show was officially renewed by TNT for a second season. The ten new episodes are scheduled to air in the summer of 2012.

Falling skies follows the members of the second Massachusetts (2nd Mass) and in particular Tom Mason (Noah Wyle). The 2nd Mass is a group of people who survived the attacks of aliens. These aliens are trying to take over the Earth and with that kill every human being. The group consists of civilians and fighters and tries to fight of the aliens.

After watching two or three episodes I wasn’t sure whether I would continue watching the show. I decided to try a few more episodes and I was glad I did. In the first four episodes not many notable things happened. But after that the episodes gain a higher pace. More things get revealed and this answers questions, but also raises new ones. People who like Sci-Fi will love this show and even if you’re not a big fan of aliens you might like this show. I really like the creativity of the producers, it’s hard to predict what’s coming next. I recommend this show to everyone who likes Sci-Fi and drama, you’ll have to push through the first few episodes but it is worth it!

Spoiler alert!!

Spoilers up ahead!

Aliens

In the first episode two types of aliens are introduced. The first type is the skitter, this is a creature that is very agile and hard to kill. Than you have mechs, these robots are believed to be built by the skitters. Not until episode eight it’s discovered that there is a third type. Fans called them ‘slenders’, but in the series these creatures were not given a name. These slenders seem to be the commanders and they control the skitters and mechs. The aliens have weapons that are far superior to human weapons, this makes it hard to kill them.
The aliens capture children and give them a harness through which they can control them. If this harness stays on long enough the children will slowly transform and become skitters themselves, even after the harness is removed. Two kids, Ben (Tom’s son) and Rick were harnessed, and after the removal they kept changing.
The aliens have big ships in several big cities, these ships are their home base. From here it is believed they control everything. The last thing worth knowing about the aliens is that they communicate via radio waves. The 2nd Mass uses this feature to disturb their communication and to irritate them.

2nd Mass
Captain Dan Weaver is the leader of the 2nd Mass and Tom Mason is the second-in-command. Tom has three sons, Hal, Matt and Ben. Ben was enslaved by skitters but saved and relieved from his harness. In the last few episodes the 2nd Mass fighters try to take down the ship that stands over Boston. Many of them don’t make it, but Weaver and Tom survive. When they drive back to their camp they come across Karen, the girlfriend of Hal. Karen was captured by the skitters a few weeks ago and is now harnessed. With Karen is a slender that gives Tom an ultimatum. Tom can come with the aliens or they will take his son Ben back. Tom decides to go with the slender and leaves Weaver flabbergasted behind. This is how the season finale ends. What the slender’s intentions are with Tom is not known.

After this season the question still remains why the aliens decided to come to our planet. Maybe this will be revealed when Tom gets a chance to talk to the aliens. Next season certainly has a lot of potential. Not only a lot of questions remain about the slenders, also a whole new dynamic is introduced because Tom is now with the aliens.

See you next summer!