Falling Skies

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.

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.

I do not understand why so many people are being so harsh regarding this show. Yeah, its basically "The Walking Dead", except with aliens...but I think this is a good thing. Unlike "V", this is a show that focuses on the survivors. Many reviewers have said that the characters are clichés. However, I would simply call them archetypes and I thoroughly enjoy watching most of the characters when they are on screen. It seems that many reviewers have based their opinions on the first 2 episodes. However, with so many characters, it takes time to get to know them. The show definitely starts off at a slow-burn. I think many people are having the same problem with this show as they did with "48 Days Later". Many people wanted to see a zombie horror movie. However, once they realized that the movie was a human drama and the zombies where more of a situation that humanity had to deal with, the reviewers whined that the movie sucked. "Falling Skies" is the same way. The show is not about aliens. The alien invasion is just the situation. The show is about the human drama that is the result of the situation. Watch more than just 2 episodes before you form an opinion. I think that you will enjoy it.

So I'm not familiar with the source material this is based on. Never read any of that and I'm making this known from the get go. So I can't really give you an insight about any differences about any comparisons there. Having said that, the general theme and the idea behind the show is quite nice.

Human survival and struggle is something we can identify with. Aliens on the other hand may be a stretch for some - though let's keep it real, with such a big universe out there ... who is to say if there isn't any other lifeform out there. But if there is, would that be how things played out? Probably not. From a very engaging and quite draining (in a good sense) beginning ... well this takes some directions that I would not always agree with.

Too many coincindences, too convenient at times and quite a lot of cliches storylines combined. But it is still possible to get you, to make you care to quite an interesting degree. You get accustomed to the characters after a while and even the wildest ups and downs - you just get with them. Having a very bad apple becoming a part of the group, as backup to stir things up every now and again ... it's either clever or cheap writing.

Science Fiction - you may like the soap opera elements or not. But you can have fun (to a degree) with this

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.