History Headscratchers / FallingSkies

** Uh, crippling manpower shortages? More likely the soldiers found Hal and crew and brought them to Porter, who realized that the 2nd Mass was out there and decided to take out a group to meet them.

* why was a full bird Colonel out on a patrol?

** Agreed, the Skitters seem like they're... individuals, perhaps is the best term, not a species of insects willing to ZergRush. Still, it would rather suck for humans if the Skitters were like [[Warhammer40K Orks,]] where fighting is literally all they live for.

** Load carrying and terrain are two possible reasons.

* Jimmy's character (He's the thirteen year old fighter) is beginning to bug me. One of the first (if not the first) things we see of him is when he screws up a seemingly basic recon mission by trying to save a dog from a Mech. In the same episode, Weaver says he's a good fighter. In Sanctuary, Jimmy is on watch with another character, and their post gets hit by a Mech. Jimmy does nothing; he doesn't return fire, he doesn't make any real effort to help his comrade, he retreats into the school on the verge of tears, where he is attacked by a skitter. Despite having multiple chances to attack and fight back, he doesn't (he does fire into the air when he is grabbed by it and the skitter lets go. But since the skitter probably doesn't want to kill him, it letting go probably had less to do with him getting hit or being afraid and more to do with just trying to get a better angle on him so he can capture him.) He then shows an ineptness in the field of firearms when his gun stops firing bullets and he seems to think its jammed, despite the fact that its very obviously just ran out of ammo, and reloading and firing could've killed the Skitter. In the finale, he helps free Tom by distracting the guard long enough for Tom to get his hands on him. while Tom and the guard are fighting he...stands there watching, instead of using his gun to pacify the guard, either by threatening him with it or hitting him with the butt of the gun. Instead, he chooses to leave for a few seconds to get Hal, putting Tom (and untrained, albeit combat hardened history professor) against the Lieutenant who was guarding him (an Army ranger, if I remember correctly.) This is despite the fact that earlier in the episode, Jimmy was apparently so integral to the inner workings of the second mass that he was with Weaver and the Lieutenant in what seemed to be a private strategy meeting. I guess what I'm saying is that, despite the show telling us otherwise, Jimmy has shown to be an inept and undisciplined soldier. Its really disappointing to me because I was really excited for Jimmy's character (Children and growing up is a main theme of the show, so if he was an alien killing badass it would've really added some depth to some subplots).

** OP here. I used that answer to justify his existence at first too, but then i remembered that there are 100 fighters and 300 non-combatants, some of which are able bodied adults. So...what? there are adults there who just don't want to fight and they'll let some little kid take their place? it seems like Weaver or Tom might take offense to this. Also, i don't think they train anybody (after all, they probably can't spare much ammunition for firing practice and hand to hand combat doesn't benefit anybody when the enemy is...well, an alien) so it isn't like if they replaced Jimmy with an able bodied adult that they lose someone with training. Also, who decided that it was okay for him to be a fighter? He's an orphan (not sure if they ever said it or not, but i think its obvious) so it isn't like his parents said it was okay. and i have to question the leadership of the 2nd Mass if Weaver passed up drafting adults so he can have a kid as a fighter. Hell, i'm not even sure if he can use a rifle properly; his arms might not be long enough for him to put the butt to his shoulder, he probably has to tuck it between his arms. What i'm trying to say is that him being a fighter only makes sense if he's competent at it. There seem to be people who could replace him, and they probably should, because the only thing he's ever done (on screen) is put people in danger. it may be really emotional to see a kid with a gun, fighting for his life and planet, but in the context we've been given it just brings up a lot of questions.

** I think it was said that he was a reservist, meaning he was technically in the military when it happened, but he stayed at his own home and reported for duty like a normal job.

** Working electronics is hard to come by even considering that some of them may have been shielded at the time of the attack.

** Tom can travel over 600 miles from (the very closest part of) Michigan to Boston, with nary a Skitter to bother him. Why not lead the 2nd Mass back to that wide open area with no Skitters?

* Where do you find a DShK in New England?

*** It appears that a DShK can pierce mech armor, unless it was in fact loaded with those rounds. Earlier in the premier the characters mention using a Barret .50 to set up an ambush and imply that a .50 can penetrate the armor.

** I had assumed that thge: en-US,*
Host: heartbeat.dm.origin.com

.
* Where do e real reason for the invasion was to remove a potential rival or threat AKA [[HumansAreWarriors those nasty apes]] that occasionally like to kill each other and everything else that looks at them funny. Lets face it invading a planet full of violent and sentient creatures for resources you can find anywhere else is just plain stupid. This is a problem I had with Battle:LA. "Oh noes they is here for our water!!!!" What have they never heard of comets?

*** Not if most of their resources are tied up with the Earth campaigns. The Second Mass can't be an isolated incident, and resistance groups have been confirmed elsewhere in America, so surely there must be worldwide resistance, requiring more resources than the aliens can spare right now.

** I had assumed that the real reason for the invasion was to remove a potential rival or threat AKA [[HumansAreWarriors those nasty apes]] that occasionally like to kill each other and everything else that looks at them funny. Lets face it invading a planet full of violent and sentient creatures for resources you can find anywhere else is just plain stupid. This is a problem I had with Battle:LA. "Oh noes they is here for our water!!!!" What have they never heard of comets?

* Small problem I had with the American Revolution anology: Tom repeatedly talks about making a big enough problem for the invaders was what will drive them away, same as the American Revolution. Except one teeny, tiny, problem with that: [[CriticalResearchFailure That isn't how the war ended,]] the British left because while they were establishing their empire, they pissed off the French, Spanish, and a good few other equally powerful empires, who promptly pushed them into Canada. So is that Tom's plan? Wait until ''other'' equally powerful and possibly also evil Alien empires decides to get revenge on the Skitters for some wrong they did to them? Because otherwise, as sad as it is, Pope would be right, being a pain in their invaders ass will just repeat the Indian wars: Thousands of more Sitters will come and KillThemAll.

[[folder:Season One]]

*** A bicycle, however, has a much more limited range. I scout would have to spend all day on a bike to see and report what he can on a motorcycle. He'll also be tired after a long day's ride, which is detrimental to his ability as a scout. And the mechs haven't been actively hunting the humans; they only set up ambushes in places like grocery stores and armories so as to catch the humans who try to raid those places. Otherwise, the aliens only ever bothered to go after the humans when they know where they are.

*** A bicycle, however, has a much more limited range. I scout would have to spend all day on a bike to see and report what he can on a motorcycle. He'll also be tired after a long day's ride, which is detrimental to his ability as a scout. And the mechs haven't been actively hunting the humans; they only set up ambushes in places like grocery stores and armories so as to catch the humans who try to raid those places. Otherwise, the aliens only ever bothered to go after the humans when they now where they are.