Monday, July 18, 2011

Now Watching Falling Skies




Have you heard about TNT's new SciFi drama, Falling Skies.  I had heard about it vaguely, and had been meaning to watch it, but totally forgot about it.  I just don't watch a lot of TNT and Sunday night seems to be HBO night.  This weekend, I caught all of the current episodes on demand.  I don't know what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised by the TNT SciFi outing.  It is immediately clear that this is better than anything currently running on SyFy.
Why do the mechs only have two legs? asked in episode.
Plot- Aliens have invaded the Earth.  They set off some kind of super EMP that has fried all the electronics all over the world.  They capture kids and put a mind control devise on their backs.  Adults they just kill.  The aliens are called Skitters, because they all skitter around on 6 legs.  there are also mechs.  The mechs are hard to take down, but seem slow and combersome.  The story follows a military outfit (the 2nd Mass) and the civilians that they are protecting.  At this point, they are in retreat and defend mode and humanity has not developed a strategy for taking back anything that they have given up.  The Skitters have us on the run and it all looks pretty bleak. 
Hot, even after an Alien invasion!
Acting-  The acting is pretty good.  They have the delectible Moon Bloodgood and dependable Noah Wyles in the cast.  While Bloodgood can act, her track record with success seams to leave a lot to be desired, but this could be the role that gets her over that hump. 

Production-  there are aliens and mechs so they have to do special effects.  The effects are better than a made for Syfy movie, but are well below movie quality.  I imagine that they are spending a huge portion of their budget on FX, and if the show isn't getting enough viewers then TNT will likely pull the plug for a lower costing alternative.  It is TNT though and they tend to look at awards as well.  They are really pushing themselves as a cable network with a full lineup of original dramas and not just showing NCIS in syndication five nights a week.  This gives me hope. 

This is a skitter
Overall-It is a fun serial drama that has already introduced some mysteries that have me thinking.  The show pulls you in and takes you along for the ride.  Political commentary and metaphor have not really shown up as yet, which I think is good.  While it worked in BSG to some degree, BSG often came off as preachy.  The show has tackled religion though.  Odd considering the show takes place in Boston with the main character being from Cambridge.  It handles it in a respectable manner and even puts it in a positive light.  It comes off as part of one of the character's life that she is unashamed of.  Bravo for getting this right. 

I would highly recommend this show.  It might be a little to scary, bloody, thematic for most younger children but kids around 10 and up should enjoy it.  It comes on Sundays at 10/9 central on TNT (they know drama). 

9 comments:

The Angry Lurker said...

On the 3rd episode tomorrow. it;s keeping my interest so far.

DEZMOND said...

I'm planning on watching this one! And the second season has already been officially announced ;)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Still not sure on this one. Needs to do something unique soon to keep my interest.

Nick P said...

It's decent and one of the few shows I intentionally watch these days. There are problems of course...

Personally, I didn't see any reason to let Pope live. He is a clever sociopath and in the desperate times of this show you cannot allow someone this completely antisocial to live. He is sabotage incarnate no matter how much he hates skitters. 2 to the head as soon as he was captured was the only rational.

Leaving him alive was the most irritating plot device. Pope exists to cause trouble and eventually be redeemed if they wish to follow the cliches, which I expect them to.

I'm an old softie, a lefty agnostic humanist and I believe a Popish figure could be rehabilitated with years of psychological TX in our present world.

There are no resources and essentially no possibility Pope would get necessary treatment within the Falling Skies setting. In my mind this guarantees he would realistically remain a sociopath and a tremendous liability. 2 to the head.

If they want to surprise me, a main character wil realize this truth. If they want to annoy me they will follow the trouble and then redeem malarkey.

Sorry for the rant.

MRanthrope said...

I'm interested only because it's on basic cable and that means i might be able to watch it. All the True Blood, Weeds, stuff is beyond my means.

Pat Tillett said...

Moon Bloodgood is hot hot hot!
In terms of quality, it's not the greatest, but it is filling a HUGE void right now. I think it has the same feel as "The Walking Dead." A lot of character interaction and not quite enough action. I still like them both. I can't wait for "TWD" to start season two...
Good post Budd!

Max Silver said...

That looks really good! I'm going to have to check it out :D

Daniel said...

it's not that bad, hopefully we see more alien action

Budd said...

Nick, I almost see him in a Gaius Baltar type role or what was the guy on the prison ship. I hope they don't rehab him. Keep him that character on the edge that you never know when he is going to stab you in the back.

Everyone else- It is slow moving, but I don't mind that so much. I wonder if it would have bothered me more had I not watched the first 6 episodes in one weekend (I just realized, I have no life and watch too much tv).