Falling Skies

Even though Falling Skies was originally on from 2011-2015 I just recently got around to watching it. I have to say that I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I actually binged all 5 seasons pretty quick. It has a solid cast that includes Noah Wyle, Will Patton, Moon Bloodgood, Sarah Carter, and a handful of other solid actors. There are plenty of alien invasion shows out there to choose from but if you're a fan of the genre then I recommend you give this a chance. There is plenty of action and drama to keep you entertained and the production value is good for a cable tv show without a big budget.

Some movies and shows are a mystery to me. Why are they appreciated and loved and high rated by a community which claims to have high standards and no easy 'suspension of disbelief' ? OK, maybe I have too high expectations from that community, namely the SF-lovers. I am at least one, but luckily no part of a community.

I had no high expectations from 'Falling Skies', when it started, but they were lowered in an instant after watching the first episode, as I had to realize, that this show is not about Aliens, Science Fiction, or war, or even surviving the ultimate invasion, but about the American Dream, which is a dream since it isn't allowed any longer to be lived out: Adults and teens (male only in the past, but now also female) running around in then open, wavering and shooting all kinds of guns in a so-called situation of self-defense.

That means complete freedom, no more fences, no more tax payments, no more traffic rules. A world full of rednecks, even some with academic degrees (at least those who can yield a gun fast enough), more or less united against the common enemy, some more or less willfully collaborating.

And so it stayed, for the full first season, the full second season, the full third season, and the full fourth season. That is continuity, I said to me, at least.

Maybe some people who get permanently bashed at work can come home, watch this show and go to sleep thinking about their lead role against foreign invaders like...everyone, in case of an invasion, of course.

It doesn't do the show any good that Steven Spielberg is involved. On the contrary, it seems that a work of Spielberg today does mostly look for satisfying the smallest common denominator of the biggest number of viewers. There he failed with 'Terranova', which was one step above 'Falling Skies', but at least delivered some good CGI, some interesting theories and strange characters.

Which 'Falling Skies' doesn't. It is a straight-to-beer-can delivery and grabs random pieces from the third-class storytelling wasteland of pulp magazine, that should never see the light of the telly in order to store the cockroaches where they belong.

After unbelievable four seasons, that 80ies-like torture of an SF show will hopefully come to an end with the final 5th season. Oh, it's a shame, many will cry, there would be so much more to tell....

The only satisfaction that came to me is the idea that the story of the show has some parallelism with the US Iraq adventure. There, they devastated the country, too, tried to install a submissive government, which failed, too. Conversion of the society to western standards failed also. Because at gunpoint, such things usually do not work out very well. Which Israel could have told them long ago (if she would have had realized that, eventually).

However, the season 4 finale was actually so massively ridiculous, predictable and stupid, I thought I would have maybe completely missed the subtle humor (or horror) of all four seasons. Am I a damn idiot, I asked myself ? Yes, I answered, it was idiotic alone to watch this show, hoping it would improve a bit in time.

First couple seasons were awesome would have rated them as a 9. But then drama and other weird plot developments started to take over. Later seasons are more like a 4.

I'm not sure why people are complaining for the wrong reasons. Some seem to think Science-Fiction means "Babylon 5" - Aliens, Space...lots of costumes. So you can't really say "this is Sci-Fi" from ten years ago. No, this is Sci-Fi today.

And yes, there is a lot of dramatization and overacting, but overall a pretty decent plot is strung around it. There are some parallels to the "Walking Dead" and other series. I'm still struggling to call "Falling Skies" original. It's a lot of things at this time and we have to see how it works out. It certainly has the Walking Dead feel, where characters are replaced along the journey to keep the human tragedy fresh. Always new despair to be recalled and told about - some of which may be pretty interesting to see.

I'm not sure - I'd say a decent 7 points for this one, depending on how it develops. Pacing is really a problem in the series. You never feel like a huge amount of people is on the move or anyhow involved in this. It feels like some people sitting in a school and crying a lot (which is what it is).

If this is another show trying to make the viewer cry and emphasize with the protagonists - don't! Writer's don't do it, please! We are not interested in sad stories per se, we want to see a world that is bigger than a schoolyard, one that has deeper stories to tell. I'm giving this 8 show points in hope of a deep plot and fewer emotional problems. We know they are there, but unless these problems are plot-defining, they are really, really boring; so cut it short.No more filling up minutes with pathos.

Falling Skies is a show that takes places in the wake of an alien attack the has changed the world. It follows groups of survivors as they fight back against these aliens. They're led by former Boston history professor Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) and his three sons. They join another group that called themselves the 2nd Massachusetts and their led by commander Weaver (Will Patton). Those two then lead a the resistance against the aliens as they plan a series of attacks on them. If you like sci-fi shows about aliens invading earth that has plenty of action, drama, mystery and intensity then Falling Skies is for you. Is it the best sci-fi show ever? No, but it's still pretty good and keeps you engaged throughout its entire series run.