Falling Skies: Season Finale

There was no warning, no caveat to prepare the human race for the onslaught of an alien presence on Earth. Tom Mason, his sons, and a rag tag group of survivors comprised of both civilians and military have been fighting for their lives all season long. The last few episodes have revealed some huge secrets which only half of which were summed up during the season finale. But, before I get into the nitty gritty of the season finale, I have a few observations that I think need to be stated about the show. For most people, the show will masquerade to be about the human struggle and how human ingenuity is so powerful but what is under the mask is a story about how humans are actually powerless. It truly is about how one man cannot make a difference, but if able, he can change the people around him to try and bring them together for a greater cause.

The two hour season finale put together a wonderful close to a rather lopsided season. It opened up a lot of new questions that could be answered in the next season but also awkwardly and haphazardly brought to a close some plot points that I thought merited more exploration (ie. Ben, Tom’s son, is slowly transforming into the alien race which has begun enslaving the youth of the human race;  The attack that was supposed to happen on Boston was revamped after other regiments were killed off). The massive action scenes that the audience all assumed were coming became non-existent and instead were replaced with aftermath scenes. The only replacement action that came into play was after the fighters had been killed off and Tom and Cpt. Weaver stood facing the towering alien ship (or base, depending on how you look at it). Tom leveled an RPG and stated, “We should at least let them know we were here.” He fires the shot and it connects with one of the retreating ships, the ship crashes into the bay of the structures and explodes causing several others to explode and makes quite the little mess. The two men escape and start heading back to their school base only to be confronted by a harnessed child and their alien overlords. “They are intrigued by you.” And thus Tom is given an option. He is asked to go with them and the process which is changing Ben will stop. The season ends as Tom steps onto the alien ship, hand in hand with the harnessed child.

First off, I just need to get this off my chest. Spielberg, you are a bastard for cutting the season off at such a cliffhanger moment. Immediately following the credits, an ad comes on the screen and lets the viewing public know that Falling Skies will return the Summer of 2012. It feels like it will be such a long wait which has led me to my conclusion.

The show has done what it should to continue. I want more and that is the duty of any good show on television, that WANT is what keeps studios in business and people watching. Even with all of its problems, it kept me interested, kept me DVRing, and kept me staying up late to catch the season finale. That’s how season finales should be. So, I guess I will just have to wait to see what happens next.

Overall, the show is worth keeping up with. So, keep up with it! You’ll be happy you did.

I guess until next Summer… I’ll just have to STAY TUNED.