Forestmoonstudio
Sr Member
lol:lolI am enjoying the show so far. Heard that it has been picked up for a second season.
Falling Skies : Spielberg's New TV Series
- Thread starter TymerDC
- Start date
lol:lolI am enjoying the show so far. Heard that it has been picked up for a second season.
Another episode with one Skitter and one mech. Lame. Show us why the aliens are scary and a threat! So far I would hope the invading aliens will be like that. A third world army could knock these guys over. This show has the same problem Stargate Universe had in that it doesn't go anywhere for a long time. The plot is sitting on a treadmill and not advancing at all. I'll give it another show or two, but it's not looking to great.
C5FILMCOLLECTOR
New Member
I was really looking forward to watching this and after the first episode I just turned it off. Thought it was really boring and nothing new. A real disappointment.
Noeland
Master Member
I'm going to support it for now, even though it's a little dry and not the most original concept ever. I don't think the show is pretending to be original. The characters even discuss that to a degree, and I appreciate that they are slightly incredulous about their situation.
I like Will Patton, I think he's as underrated an actor as they come and I'm hoping the show centers on his character more as things unfold. Moon Bloodgood is awesome and I'll watch her in anything. She was excellent in Journeyman. I even liked her in T4.
I would not have considered Noah Wyle as some kind of gun toting post apocalyptic badass, and my initial hesitation about the show was him in the lead. But they make it work. He has an interesting dynamic with Patton, and with Dale Dye when he's on screen.
I like Will Patton, I think he's as underrated an actor as they come and I'm hoping the show centers on his character more as things unfold. Moon Bloodgood is awesome and I'll watch her in anything. She was excellent in Journeyman. I even liked her in T4.
I would not have considered Noah Wyle as some kind of gun toting post apocalyptic badass, and my initial hesitation about the show was him in the lead. But they make it work. He has an interesting dynamic with Patton, and with Dale Dye when he's on screen.
BoozeBeGood
Sr Member
WOW....I saw the season finale and I LOVED it! Left me wanting more. But now we have to wait til summer 2012 to see more??? Gah!!!
Noeland
Master Member
I liked the finale too. It was a little heavy on important plot points happening off screen, but obviously they are working on a slim budget and just trying to spend their money in certain ways. The mysteries they have presented about the aliens are not as compelling, for me, as the dynamics of the characters.
It IS a long wait until we see more!
It IS a long wait until we see more!
firesprite
Master Member
The write up on the finale from io9 kind of sums up my feelings on it. Overall, I kind of liked the show... the writing was a bit uneven and the characters did some REALLY stupid things, but I liked them, more or less. Unfortunately, they didn't set up a lot of these revelations soon enough (in my opinion) and it felt very rushed.
Falling Skies' Big Cliffhanger: the Ultimate WTF
Falling Skies‘ Big Cliffhanger: the Ultimate WTF
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2011/08/explore_io9_videos_1522.jpg
We pretty much knew that Falling Skies was going to end with some kind of game-changing cliffhanger — it's in the nature of this kind of show, plus the final episodes were clearly leading up to it.
But we definitely did not expect that. And we're really not sure what to make of it. Spoilers ahead...
Falling Skies' Big Cliffhanger: the Ultimate WTF
Falling Skies‘ Big Cliffhanger: the Ultimate WTF
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2011/08/explore_io9_videos_1522.jpg
We pretty much knew that Falling Skies was going to end with some kind of game-changing cliffhanger — it's in the nature of this kind of show, plus the final episodes were clearly leading up to it.
But we definitely did not expect that. And we're really not sure what to make of it. Spoilers ahead...
So they went for the full Close Encounters of the Third Kind ending, huh? It's sort of a bold choice, but it feels a little too much as though it came out of nowhere. Both the idea that the aliens are so impressed by Tom dealing them a crucial blow that they want to invite him aboard their mothership to go hang out, and the notion that Tom would go for it.
The aliens' offer comes on the heels of a somewhat implausible — but undoubtedly satisfying — episode in which we get some payback. First Tom and his pals see off a entire squadron of Mechs using their fancy bullets and their jamming device, and then Tom manages to take out an alien ship and damage their megastructure, using a single rocket-launcher.
You had to swallow a bit of disbelief that the aliens had never encountered radio interference before, and that they would be so flummoxed by having one of their platoons set back that they would start pulling back all their forces. But we've accepted more ludicrous ideas than that before.
The first of the two hours which aired last night sort of brought to a close the conflict between Tom and Captain Weaver, in which they agreed to just have a snuggly bromance forever instead. We see Captain Weaver start going off the deep end, with the pills and the determination to carry out the Big Mission in spite of Col. Porter's orders, but then Tom helps pull him back. All of those themes about civilians versus military that the show tried to introduce in its first few episodes were brought back one more time, as Weaver finally acknowledges that the soldiers have to keep the civilians safe, because the civvies are the future.
But the main strand of the show — the relationship between the humans and the aliens, and the way in which the aliens are transforming us into something new — didn't get culminated until this WTF ending came along. We did get some kind of resolution of the stories of Rick and Ben, the two razorback kids. It turns out that that one loudmouth guy was right not to trust these kids, since Rick sells us out — but he was also wrong, because Ben's electroclash radio migraine provides Scott with the frequency to jam the aliens' communication and **** up their walkers.
So what did we learn about the harnessed kids, and the aliens' plans for us? First of all, that creepy girl who goes to see Rick has been
transformed into something a bit more Skitter-like, with the weird green scaly skin all around her face. And the aliens can still talk to Rick and Ben through their harnesses, but they don't actually want Rick back now that he's been cut off from the main harness — in fact, they yank Rick's chain and then send him away. And it turns out that Rick isn't quite as much of a part of the alien hive mind as he was pretending — once he realizes the aliens don't really love him, then he can suddenly grieve for his father.
So now that Tom and friends have proved that they are capable of mounting real resistance to the aliens, all of a sudden the aliens are "curious" about Tom and want to geek out about history with him. Or study him. Or maybe all of Falling Skies season two will be Tom wandering around the alien spaceship in a bathrobe, like Gaius Baltar in BSG season three. For some reason, this development felt totally unbelievable to me.
The aliens have only taken over the brains of millions of children — what can they learn from Tom that they can't learn from one of their mutant babies? Why, after picking the brains of all their harnessed kids, are they still unclear on the concept that humans are, like, fighters and stuff?
And the idea that the aliens can get Tom to do whatever they want by playing the "Ben" card is also kind of ludicrous. This whole season has been about the uncertainty of whether Ben was still "on our side" now that he's been harnessed, and we've seen pretty conclusively that he is. And we've also seen that the Skitters didn't even want Rick back, now that he's been de-harnessed. And if Tom's main goal is to keep the aliens from taking Ben, the best way to do that is to stay by Ben's side and kill anyone who comes near him. How does Tom know the aliens won't grab Ben anyway, five minutes after he walks onto their mothership? And finally, is Ben worth more to Tom than his other two kids — and the whole freaking human race, for that matter?
It felt like one of those season-ending twists that literally comes out of nowhere, because the writers want to set up a crazy new status quo for the next season. And maybe it'll be cool — maybe we'll get to spend some time inside the alien ship and learn more about the aliens first hand instead of just seeing them from a distance. Maybe Tom can have some long talks with the alien leaders about the ethics of colonialism. (But who wants to bet that the next time we see Tom, he's dropped on the side of another road by the aliens, and he only has the dimmest recollection of what happened?)
For a show whose whole first season was based around the implacable aliens who only wanted our children, and wanted nothing to do with the rest of us, it's kind of a weird turnabout. I guess we'll have to wait until next summer to see if Falling Skies can actually make it pay off.
The aliens' offer comes on the heels of a somewhat implausible — but undoubtedly satisfying — episode in which we get some payback. First Tom and his pals see off a entire squadron of Mechs using their fancy bullets and their jamming device, and then Tom manages to take out an alien ship and damage their megastructure, using a single rocket-launcher.
You had to swallow a bit of disbelief that the aliens had never encountered radio interference before, and that they would be so flummoxed by having one of their platoons set back that they would start pulling back all their forces. But we've accepted more ludicrous ideas than that before.
The first of the two hours which aired last night sort of brought to a close the conflict between Tom and Captain Weaver, in which they agreed to just have a snuggly bromance forever instead. We see Captain Weaver start going off the deep end, with the pills and the determination to carry out the Big Mission in spite of Col. Porter's orders, but then Tom helps pull him back. All of those themes about civilians versus military that the show tried to introduce in its first few episodes were brought back one more time, as Weaver finally acknowledges that the soldiers have to keep the civilians safe, because the civvies are the future.
But the main strand of the show — the relationship between the humans and the aliens, and the way in which the aliens are transforming us into something new — didn't get culminated until this WTF ending came along. We did get some kind of resolution of the stories of Rick and Ben, the two razorback kids. It turns out that that one loudmouth guy was right not to trust these kids, since Rick sells us out — but he was also wrong, because Ben's electroclash radio migraine provides Scott with the frequency to jam the aliens' communication and **** up their walkers.
So what did we learn about the harnessed kids, and the aliens' plans for us? First of all, that creepy girl who goes to see Rick has been
transformed into something a bit more Skitter-like, with the weird green scaly skin all around her face. And the aliens can still talk to Rick and Ben through their harnesses, but they don't actually want Rick back now that he's been cut off from the main harness — in fact, they yank Rick's chain and then send him away. And it turns out that Rick isn't quite as much of a part of the alien hive mind as he was pretending — once he realizes the aliens don't really love him, then he can suddenly grieve for his father.
So now that Tom and friends have proved that they are capable of mounting real resistance to the aliens, all of a sudden the aliens are "curious" about Tom and want to geek out about history with him. Or study him. Or maybe all of Falling Skies season two will be Tom wandering around the alien spaceship in a bathrobe, like Gaius Baltar in BSG season three. For some reason, this development felt totally unbelievable to me.
The aliens have only taken over the brains of millions of children — what can they learn from Tom that they can't learn from one of their mutant babies? Why, after picking the brains of all their harnessed kids, are they still unclear on the concept that humans are, like, fighters and stuff?
And the idea that the aliens can get Tom to do whatever they want by playing the "Ben" card is also kind of ludicrous. This whole season has been about the uncertainty of whether Ben was still "on our side" now that he's been harnessed, and we've seen pretty conclusively that he is. And we've also seen that the Skitters didn't even want Rick back, now that he's been de-harnessed. And if Tom's main goal is to keep the aliens from taking Ben, the best way to do that is to stay by Ben's side and kill anyone who comes near him. How does Tom know the aliens won't grab Ben anyway, five minutes after he walks onto their mothership? And finally, is Ben worth more to Tom than his other two kids — and the whole freaking human race, for that matter?
It felt like one of those season-ending twists that literally comes out of nowhere, because the writers want to set up a crazy new status quo for the next season. And maybe it'll be cool — maybe we'll get to spend some time inside the alien ship and learn more about the aliens first hand instead of just seeing them from a distance. Maybe Tom can have some long talks with the alien leaders about the ethics of colonialism. (But who wants to bet that the next time we see Tom, he's dropped on the side of another road by the aliens, and he only has the dimmest recollection of what happened?)
For a show whose whole first season was based around the implacable aliens who only wanted our children, and wanted nothing to do with the rest of us, it's kind of a weird turnabout. I guess we'll have to wait until next summer to see if Falling Skies can actually make it pay off.
I'm also hoping that they only gave the first season a small budget and they were working within that. It sure seemed like they were really cheap with the effects which is why you usually saw one mech and one skitter per episode. The pilot was really the only time where you saw the flying ships and lots of alien activity.
The summer 2012 thing sucks. I blame The Sopranos for the year between seasons crap. I never saw a show that went that long between seasons until they started it.
I almost forgot that I wish TV and movie people would Google "unguided rocket" because I'm tired of seeing people fire rocket launchers like a RPG or LAW and then have it guide into a flying target.
The summer 2012 thing sucks. I blame The Sopranos for the year between seasons crap. I never saw a show that went that long between seasons until they started it.
I almost forgot that I wish TV and movie people would Google "unguided rocket" because I'm tired of seeing people fire rocket launchers like a RPG or LAW and then have it guide into a flying target.
Kerr Avon
Master Member
I liked it, and I'll keep an eye out for it when it comes back. The only thing I really didn't like was the use of the Russian RPG at the end. When Tom fired it at the alien ship, it seemed to curve and then hit the alien ship. I'm pretty sure those are line of sight fired, they have no seeking capacity. If they wanted to fire off a guided missile, in the very first minute of the episode there was an American shoulder mounted rocket launcher sitting on a box outside. Stinger missile maybe? Certainly either wire guided or some kind of guidance system.
BoozeBeGood
Sr Member
I agree with you guys/gals about the budget. I guess that's what I keep in the back of my mind too in terms of what I saw. I feel there is a lot of potential with the story and I really hope they deliver on it. 2012 seems so far away though..
the RPG-7 is a line of sight rock, it in real life it flys like a bottle rocket. in moves and tv shows they on a fishing line so they allways fly in a line but in real life they are all over the place. also you cant shoot one up like that because the the back blast will burn your feet. you have to stand on a car or something. and one more thing, where the hell did they find a Russian made RPG in the U.S.? they should have used a singer missile, would have been a lot more believable.
JediG60racer
Sr Member
not to mention how the frak would they perfectly mold and balance the warhead on an already unstable RPG when adding mech metal to it? Shenanigans! Shenanigans all over the place on this episode!!
Jannix Quinn
Sr Member
I KIND OF liked it. It was decent tv but got a little too sappy at times for me to really get into.
Riceball
Master Member
I think it is possible to fire an RPG straight up like that, they did that in Somalia and they do that in Iraq and Afghanistan all the time to shoot at our choppers. I admit that every time they do they do it they could be standing on some sort of platform or have a hole in the ground behind them but I'm pretty sure that's not always the case.
As far as where they got the RPG, it's possible that they got if from one of the armories that they raided. I'm sure that the US has a few RPGs here and there for training and familiarization, esp. for Spec Ops troops who might encounter them and/or even use them themselves.
One stretch/mistake with the RPG was that by simply covering the warhead in a Mech-metal shell it is now somehow effective against the ships when nothing else was before. Given that an RPG works on the shaped charge principle it doesn't really matter all that much what the outer shell of the warhead is made of, it ain't going to add anything to the RPG's punch. The only way that I can see the Mech-metal shell making any difference is if Pope somehow rigged the RPG with a delayed fuse warhead and the Mech-metal gave the RPG enough strength to punch thorough the hull of the ship before detonating instead of against the hull like it would normally do.
I don't know how many armories would have been accessible. They said in the episode where they figure out the mech metal that the aliens had siezed most, if not all, of the U.S. military assets and converted the material to work with their weapons. That would also explain why the one .50 cal they have is so valuable. Otherwise they'd have no problem getting as many as they needed.
Another mistake with the mech metal is that they don't explain why none of the U.S. military's depleted uranium rounds would work. Is the mech stuff 100 times denser than that or something? Otherwise it just sounds like a magic metal. Like I said, these aliens haven't been presented as a real threat that supposedly wiped out the best militaries on the planet. They should have started showing the invasion with M1A1 Abrams tanks firing and the shells just bouncing off. Something to establish that the aliens are superior.
Another mistake with the mech metal is that they don't explain why none of the U.S. military's depleted uranium rounds would work. Is the mech stuff 100 times denser than that or something? Otherwise it just sounds like a magic metal. Like I said, these aliens haven't been presented as a real threat that supposedly wiped out the best militaries on the planet. They should have started showing the invasion with M1A1 Abrams tanks firing and the shells just bouncing off. Something to establish that the aliens are superior.
Similar threads
