Rac80
The Belle of the Ball
Here's my review:
Premise:
Falling Skies is a post apocalyptic alien invasion series. The aliens have come, destroyed 80% of humanity, their cities, etc… They are enslaving the children with biological “harnesses”. There are two types of aliens…a lizard like creature the humans call “Skitters” and a robotic machine they call “Mechs”. It has been six months since the invasion and the humans are forming themselves into militias protecting civilians as they try to survive. There is scavenging for weapons and food; assumed scavenging for clothing, automobiles/parts, medical equipment, and other necessities. The soldiers, AKA “fighters”, are busy trying to stay one step ahead of the aliens and figure out how to defeat them. The civilians, AKA “eaters”, are watching the children, cooking, repairing clothing and equipment, and simply trying to stay alive.
This series concerns itself mostly with Tom Mason, a BU history professor, and his sons- two of which are with him and one that has been taken by the aliens. The locale is Eastern Massachusetts as the group known as the 2nd Mass tries to keep 200 civilians alive. Tom is definitely the “fish out of water” character- a history professor from Boston University, he uses his knowledge of history as second in command of the 2nd Mass to inspire the younger soldiers to believe they can win. His eldest son, Hal, is a teenage boy with a girlfriend and a motorcycle. He appears to be one of the scouts for the group. The youngest boy, Matt, is eight and trying to cope with having lost everything. At his age, the inability to understand why it can’t go back the way it was is to be expected and is very well-done. The middle son, Ben, is briefly seen by Hal wearing a harness and marching with the other kids that have been captured by the aliens.
The other main characters are Anne Glass- the resident doctor who used to be a pediatrician; Capt. Weaver – the commander of the 2nd Mass; Margaret- former gang member who is ruthless; John Pope- ex convict and former gang leader taken prisoner by the 2nd Mass. There are other characters flitting in and out – only time will tell if they turn out to be “redshirts” or just good second string characters. I enjoyed Anne’s “Uncle Scott” who has taken upon himself the education of the children in the group and fixes automobiles. Also I enjoyed the character of Lourdes who has a crush on Hal but is also a former medical student (not sure if she wanted to be a doctor or a nurse) and assists Ann.
Review:
My husband and I watched the pilot episode last evening (love TV on Demand! ) and found ourselves drawn into the story. The characters from Tom to Ann to Capt. Weaver and Tom’s sons are compelling and well written. They are LIKEABLE and you want to see them win. Tom is a believable history nerd turned soldier. There was a scene my hubby and I both related to with Tom walking up to stacks of discarded books and choosing just one to take with him. Tom decided what to take based on size, but you could tell the bookish professor wanted to take more books with him. His kids were portrayed as typical of their ages- the 8 year old was a bit whiney and the teen was reckless. Very likeable kids definitely. I have zero whine tolerance and neither child came close to irritating me. Anne is a pediatrician turned trauma surgeon. This was believable to me because in the USA a medical school graduate has experience in all areas of medicine only getting specialized training during their internship and residency. She would have spent time in an emergency room tending trauma patients. Capt. Weaver is portrayed as a tough as nails soldier type. Brusque, impatient, but definitely knows what he is doing. Weaver is a person whose leadership ability is obvious and is very trustworthy. Margaret seems to be the “wounded woman” character, but she does not elicit sympathy. When she gets the chance, she ruthlessly kills those who raped her and then joins the 2nd Mass. John Pope is the only character who is a “bad guy”, but then he’s supposed to be a villain. He was an ex-con who took advantage of the invasion to build up a militia of bikers and other criminal types. He condoned the rape of the women in the group and seemed to enjoy his role as leader. When his attempted ambush of the 2nd Mass camp was foiled, only he and Margaret were left from their group, she had already switched sides and Pope was taken prisoner by the soldiers.
The drama is well paced. TNT definitely knows how to do drama without turning it into a melodramatic soap. Yes, there is a teen romance but it didn’t appear soapy at all. I didn’t find any of the drama to be forced. Having small scenes like Matt riding a skateboard and people watching it seemed a natural resilience of the human spirit. The special effects are very good and there was only very minimal shaky cam. There were NO music montages either. Something that only matters to hubby and I, is the accuracy of the geographical references- it’s supposed to be in the Boston area and the parts of Toronto they used passed very well for Boston. I liked the fact it was portrayed as autumn with leaves everywhere. When the regiments were getting sent in directions the information was very accurate…Revere is up route 3 from Cambridge, Marblehead is along the coast, and Acton is definitely west of Boston. There is also an Acton Armory. Yeah it’s a little thing but when you are a native from the area the show purports to take place in – it can affect your enjoyment of the show.
The aliens were very alien (no rubber-faced English speaking aliens here), these guys also seemed substantial, (unlike the Blaliens of sgu.) and were definitely something we were interested in learning more about. The harness concept is fascinating to me. To remove the harness kills the child it was attached to, so I am sure we are going to see some experimentation on that front. Pope had a lot of experience in killing Skitters and there was talk of a group of scientists traveling with Col. Porter’s group to try to find a way to free earth.
We enjoyed the pilot and felt the preview of the next episode kept our interest alive. This show seems to be a good combination of drama and scifi for us. We did not find it soapy at all. We also enjoyed the fact the characters mostly were functional adults.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars…a B+ grade.
Falling Skies
Premise:
Falling Skies is a post apocalyptic alien invasion series. The aliens have come, destroyed 80% of humanity, their cities, etc… They are enslaving the children with biological “harnesses”. There are two types of aliens…a lizard like creature the humans call “Skitters” and a robotic machine they call “Mechs”. It has been six months since the invasion and the humans are forming themselves into militias protecting civilians as they try to survive. There is scavenging for weapons and food; assumed scavenging for clothing, automobiles/parts, medical equipment, and other necessities. The soldiers, AKA “fighters”, are busy trying to stay one step ahead of the aliens and figure out how to defeat them. The civilians, AKA “eaters”, are watching the children, cooking, repairing clothing and equipment, and simply trying to stay alive.
This series concerns itself mostly with Tom Mason, a BU history professor, and his sons- two of which are with him and one that has been taken by the aliens. The locale is Eastern Massachusetts as the group known as the 2nd Mass tries to keep 200 civilians alive. Tom is definitely the “fish out of water” character- a history professor from Boston University, he uses his knowledge of history as second in command of the 2nd Mass to inspire the younger soldiers to believe they can win. His eldest son, Hal, is a teenage boy with a girlfriend and a motorcycle. He appears to be one of the scouts for the group. The youngest boy, Matt, is eight and trying to cope with having lost everything. At his age, the inability to understand why it can’t go back the way it was is to be expected and is very well-done. The middle son, Ben, is briefly seen by Hal wearing a harness and marching with the other kids that have been captured by the aliens.
The other main characters are Anne Glass- the resident doctor who used to be a pediatrician; Capt. Weaver – the commander of the 2nd Mass; Margaret- former gang member who is ruthless; John Pope- ex convict and former gang leader taken prisoner by the 2nd Mass. There are other characters flitting in and out – only time will tell if they turn out to be “redshirts” or just good second string characters. I enjoyed Anne’s “Uncle Scott” who has taken upon himself the education of the children in the group and fixes automobiles. Also I enjoyed the character of Lourdes who has a crush on Hal but is also a former medical student (not sure if she wanted to be a doctor or a nurse) and assists Ann.
Review:
My husband and I watched the pilot episode last evening (love TV on Demand! ) and found ourselves drawn into the story. The characters from Tom to Ann to Capt. Weaver and Tom’s sons are compelling and well written. They are LIKEABLE and you want to see them win. Tom is a believable history nerd turned soldier. There was a scene my hubby and I both related to with Tom walking up to stacks of discarded books and choosing just one to take with him. Tom decided what to take based on size, but you could tell the bookish professor wanted to take more books with him. His kids were portrayed as typical of their ages- the 8 year old was a bit whiney and the teen was reckless. Very likeable kids definitely. I have zero whine tolerance and neither child came close to irritating me. Anne is a pediatrician turned trauma surgeon. This was believable to me because in the USA a medical school graduate has experience in all areas of medicine only getting specialized training during their internship and residency. She would have spent time in an emergency room tending trauma patients. Capt. Weaver is portrayed as a tough as nails soldier type. Brusque, impatient, but definitely knows what he is doing. Weaver is a person whose leadership ability is obvious and is very trustworthy. Margaret seems to be the “wounded woman” character, but she does not elicit sympathy. When she gets the chance, she ruthlessly kills those who raped her and then joins the 2nd Mass. John Pope is the only character who is a “bad guy”, but then he’s supposed to be a villain. He was an ex-con who took advantage of the invasion to build up a militia of bikers and other criminal types. He condoned the rape of the women in the group and seemed to enjoy his role as leader. When his attempted ambush of the 2nd Mass camp was foiled, only he and Margaret were left from their group, she had already switched sides and Pope was taken prisoner by the soldiers.
The drama is well paced. TNT definitely knows how to do drama without turning it into a melodramatic soap. Yes, there is a teen romance but it didn’t appear soapy at all. I didn’t find any of the drama to be forced. Having small scenes like Matt riding a skateboard and people watching it seemed a natural resilience of the human spirit. The special effects are very good and there was only very minimal shaky cam. There were NO music montages either. Something that only matters to hubby and I, is the accuracy of the geographical references- it’s supposed to be in the Boston area and the parts of Toronto they used passed very well for Boston. I liked the fact it was portrayed as autumn with leaves everywhere. When the regiments were getting sent in directions the information was very accurate…Revere is up route 3 from Cambridge, Marblehead is along the coast, and Acton is definitely west of Boston. There is also an Acton Armory. Yeah it’s a little thing but when you are a native from the area the show purports to take place in – it can affect your enjoyment of the show.
The aliens were very alien (no rubber-faced English speaking aliens here), these guys also seemed substantial, (unlike the Blaliens of sgu.) and were definitely something we were interested in learning more about. The harness concept is fascinating to me. To remove the harness kills the child it was attached to, so I am sure we are going to see some experimentation on that front. Pope had a lot of experience in killing Skitters and there was talk of a group of scientists traveling with Col. Porter’s group to try to find a way to free earth.
We enjoyed the pilot and felt the preview of the next episode kept our interest alive. This show seems to be a good combination of drama and scifi for us. We did not find it soapy at all. We also enjoyed the fact the characters mostly were functional adults.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars…a B+ grade.
