Falling Skies

Been here before, or they just did the research. All they seem to know about humans comes from history, but they aren't really up to date about Earth's level of technology. Otherwise, they would have figured out much sooner that engines generate heat and how to track vehicles. If they were on Earth before, it was probably a damn long time ago.

I also don't think the skitters were humanoid. Maybe they were just a convenient species to build a workforce for the real target (other bipedal species) and it was easier to harness a planet full of dumb insectoids than building mechanical workers. The slender aliens don't seem very concerned about skitters dying or getting left behind/captured. That suggests they are just cannon fodder/cheap labor, and the human kids are of way more value. Whatever the skitters were before, I think they were just on the wrong planet, at the wrong time.

I'm slowly getting a bit tired of all the coupling going on this season. Feels like they thought "ohwait, we didn't do any romance stuff in season 1, let's pair up everyone and their mother now to catch up". In season 1, we had what, one kiss between Tom and Anne... now we have half an episode dedicated to 'Will they or won't they' with Hal and Margret; switched out Scott for an outta-nowhere boyfriend for Lourdes, still Tom and Anne, and as of last episode, there seems to be a Berzerkers couple, too. What's next, Anthony and Pope come back and announce they got married? I found it refreshing to have a show that doesn't throw in so much romance and focusses more on the family and friendship relationships.

Also, it's getting harder and harder to think of Hal as a teenager. He's supposed to be 16 or 17, but it sure feels late 20ies. Especially after the "love at first sight with a jazz singer" story... not very teenage at all.

edited 9th Jul '12 1:49:46 AM by KidCarnival

don'tknow, I would totally watch Pope as a Badass Gay. And it would explain why he let his brother rape Maggie but apparently didn't do so himself.

I frankly don't care much about Pope's or Anthony's orientation or whatever, I just wish the show would stay focussed on the story. I mean, yesterday they dropped a pretty big info bomb about a skitter resistance, yet half the episode was dedicated to Hal and Maggie and if they will or won't. Weaver didn't say a single word about his daughter either - I'd expect he'd at least worry a bit about her, even if he's okay with her leaving the 2nd Mass. Instead: more Hal and Maggie. What about Charleston? No idea, but hey: more Hal and Maggie. (Who don't address the obvious; that Hal wouldn't be quite legal if there was still a society.)

It's a show about an alien invasion last time I checked, not a dating show. Season 1 barely had any romance, now it's like they try to make up for it (see Lourdes and outta-nowhere boyfriend) full force and sacrifice more relevant things for it.

You know, I really don't mind the Hal and Maggie relationship sub-plot. Surprisingly, I kinda enjoy it and really, what can you expect from two young people? They're human. Gotta make more soldiers ^.^.

Do I think think that moment where they had to be pressed up against each other to be a little contrived? Sure. Do I hate the 'will they or won't they shit'? Yes and this is a big complaint of mine. (Of course, there's Maggie's past to take into consider as well that maybe playing apart in her hesitation).Did I want more time on the action and the skitters' rebellion. Hells yeah. But even I had to admit...it was a sweet moment.

Plus Maggie got more screen time.

Anywho...who thinks the scarred skitter is going to betray Tom if he does somehow manage to get the others to support the 'rebellion'? I know there's been an attempt to show the skitters to be somewhat sympathetic but there's always the chance....

edited 11th Jul '12 6:44:08 PM by hybridelement

I'd rather see Maggie grow out of the "love interest" role and become a character on her own. The way it is, we have only Dr. Glass and Lourdes, both as sweet and friendly as they come. So I was more hoping Maggie would become a Badass Action Girl, not an angsty girl who needs to be saved by Hal. Her backstory would work fine for a "trust no-one, kick some ass" development. She could still be with Hal, sure, but I'd strongly prefer more ass kicking as battle couple, and less teenage giggling on the backseat.

edited 12th Jul '12 3:49:42 AM by KidCarnival

Yeah, I'd rather the relationship be more Battle Couple and I'm not too fond of the whole cancer thing and Maggie needing to be 'saved' but I do enjoy the pairing and that one moment in the car. Hopefully, Maggie will get more action stuff to do to balance things out (and maybe a bit more non-angsty development).

edited 12th Jul '12 8:15:35 AM by hybridelement

I'd be ok with the cancer backstory if they hadn't also given her rape. Now she just needs dead parents for the triple crown. Plus, I have a hard time to accept that she's more traumatized from the cancer, which is years ago, than from recently being raped by (at least) two guys. She still can't go in a hospital, but get all flirty after that?

At first, it looked like a battle couple, which was cool, and she seemed more like a big sister to Hal. I liked that a lot better. It's not a soap, so how many couples does the show need? Would have mixed things a bit up to have 2 romantic couples and 1 sibling-like.

In this universe dead parents are pretty much a given if they aren't on screen.

edited 12th Jul '12 4:13:04 PM by tricksterson

Weaver's daughter didn't know her father is alive. Can go the other way if the parents were some place else.

I certainly agree with this. Something that bothered me was how she acted after he rescued her. I was like, "You just said you two were partners!!!"

edited 12th Jul '12 5:50:32 PM by hybridelement

Yeah, the reaction is a bit weird. She strikes me more as the "stupid brat, I can watch out for myself"-type. The damsel moments don't suit her. And if they wanted her as a love interest, they should have left it at cancer and not added the rape. I generally have a hard time to believe a rape victim would so easily throw herself at a guy she just met.

Just because something happened "years ago" doesn't mean it becomes easier to deal with. Also, not every rape victim is traumatized in the same way. If you think about what she's said about the cancer, it's quite obvious that it was a part of her life for a long time. It seems to me that at least part of the reason the cancer traumatized her so much is because it completely consumed every part of her life for years. Maggie might view the cancer as worse because it became a huge part of her life, whereas the rape was (from her point of view) different because it was a traumatic event rather than a traumatic period of time.

Also, maybe the reason she doesn't want a relationship with Hal has something to do with how she was affected by the rape. Maybe she's flirting as a sort of defense mechanism. And she isn't exactly "throwing herself at a guy she's just met." At this point, several months have passed since she joined the Second Mass.

In all honesty, thought, I suspect the real reason the rape hasn't been focused on is that the writers don't want to go there. It's (naturally) a very touchy and emotional subject, and maybe they reasoned that cancer was a safer way to create a traumatic back-story - or at least, safer to focus on.

Having said that, it still makes sense to me that she could find her memories of the cancer worse (in some respects) than the rape. I'm certainly not trying to downplay the effects of rape, I'm simply pointing out that almost dying from cancer is also a very, very horrific and traumatic experience.

edited 4th Aug '12 12:37:24 PM by resetlocksley

So much for not wanting a relationship. She's developing into one big sobby story. Now it's cancer, drug addiction, crime, jail, pregnancy, having baby taken away and rape, all in the span of 4 years at best. (Her age seems to be confirmed as 21, and I don't think she got over the cancer/age 16 in less than a year or two). Her entire writing looks like a reluctant fanfic writer tried to give her a "dark past" and didn't dare to go all the way. So it went "add bad bad thing" - "balance it out with sobby reason" - rinse, repeat. It's just making no sense at all.

I hope Lourdes picks up some guns, sews a trenchcoat from overlord skin and steps up to fill the action girl role.

So, she's been turned into a Funky Winkerbean character, then?

I don't think the writers have any idea what they are trying to turn her into, so yeah, let's just go with that label.

edited 9th Aug '12 9:48:38 AM by KidCarnival

So, what did everyone think of the finale and the newbies?

If you consider the last 2 episodes as "finale", I was glad to see some of the Not-Masons to get screentime and lines (Crazy Lee, mostly) and that they seem to have found a way to make Hal interesting. New aliens... frankly not thrilled.

Mid season break then.

RISE FROM THINE GRAVE, THREAD. RISE FOR MEEEE

The third season premiere was pretty damn amazing. More focus on the war and tactics (and even espionage), the Volm are a pretty interesting new race and all.

VERY disappointed they killed Crazy Lee. She was hands down my favorite female character and really refreshing; the other women are all very emo - that's fine for a doctor and her assistant, but Maggie could take a level in badass. I liked having at least one woman who wasn't a bleeding heart and got angsty over her relationship. At least Lee got a worthier death than many others, though I found it strange that she acted like Pope was her boyfriend. She was with Tector last season, who was around and alive, but got no emotional goodbye. Or any goodbye, for that matter.

Also somewhat disappointed the fast forward was done so poorly; I would have liked to see at least a few flashbacks how the first contact went and the alliance was formed. Same for Tom being elected as president, and at least a BIT information about Ben's new sidekick (beyond a name). However, it wasn't all bad. A 7 months skip also spared us from further pregnancy drama and just got straight to the point/birth. Not sure what to think about the whole superbaby story yet, it feels a bit cliché.

What I was very happy to see was Anthony finally being treated as a main character in the season premiere - with lines and things beyond "standing around with gun" to do. I've been raging about that last year on forums and blogs; that I want to see *something* done with his character, and my wish was granted. I hope it keeps up and they build on his background as former cop, and go in a different direction than Walking Dead with that.

Anybody think that the latest episode was anti-climatic Karen's dead, the Inshari are booted to the north of Canada (fate worse than death, that), and we are practically back to season one in terms of plot?

It's spelled "Espheni". It was kind of anti-cliamtic, yes, but to me the episode was worth it because of Cochise and Commander Waschack (or whatever was his name), the Volm in general had a very cool thing going for them in this episode. And quite frankly, I'm glad Karen died. She wasn't nearly as good as a villain as the original unnamed Overlord and his delightful Faux Affably Evil

Agreed, I was getting really annoyed with Karen. It didn't make much sense that everyone was forgiven whatever they did when infected with Espheni bugs, but Karen was - at NO point - seen as a victim. She started as just another harnessed kid, there were no attempts to save her and not a single person considered there may be the "real Karen" inside and could be deharnessed. Not even when they got the magic Volm machine that could have taken the spikes out of Ben's spine. Everyone blaming everything on Karen, personally, made the 2nd Mass look like jerks - and Karen almost cartoony evil, trying to prove that yes, she REALLY is the Big Bad and not the harnessed kid that could be saved (and many viewers still saw that in her).

edited 11th Aug '13 12:12:37 PM by KidCarnival

Although the show justifies this actually: In the second season she is de-harnessed and stays with the group for a while, but she stays fiercely loyal to the overlord and goes Mata Hari on everyone even without the Harness, so thinking she's naturally evil is justified.