Season 5 – Falling Skies

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Valerie B May 14 Loved every episode binge watching. Worth every minute and the ending was very good to a long running series See more 02/24/2017 Over the course of the previous four seasons, "Falling Skies" was a show that largely succeeded because of its storytelling balance. You had action, science fiction, and plenty of bravado...but also many reflective, character-driven moments. Sadly, I felt that the show messed up that equilibrium in this final campaign, instead choosing to keep "push, push, pushing" forward with a lack of characteristic reflection. This final season isn't terrible. For those who are in it primarily for the alien apocalypse angle, it might be one of the strongest seasons in the show's run. From the first episode of this Fifth Season, when Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) gives a revenge-laden diatribe whilst holding the severed head of the enemy, one could understand that this season would be different. It is more about setting up the final battle and less about the struggles of humanity. Your enjoyment of this final effort will really come down to why you began watching the show in the first place. If you like to see people blowing up aliens, there is plenty of that (always has been). However, if you (like me) are into the show for other, more subtle, character-driven reasons, then you might be a bit disappointed in how things all play out. Despite friends and family telling me that I "had to watch" this show for a number of years, I ignored those exhortations because I saw it as "just another alien apocalypse show". When I finally relented, however, I realized that it was about so much more. It was a show about what it means to be human. There were many times when I was moved to tears, while other moments were so inspirational ("we choose to go to the moon!") that they left me speechless after viewing. I counted Captain Weaver (Will Patton) to be one of my favorite television characters of all-time. I remember one particular episode where the Second Mass. was literally travelling in a caravan from one destination to another, just talking with each other. It was one of the best episodes I can recall watching, proving that the science fiction and action (while exciting) was not what defined "Falling Skies". As I've mentioned, however, this final season goes away from that and focuses on the battle. It also (disappointingly) covers ground that has seemingly already been tread: Masons vs. Pope, "can we trust the Volm?", Mason and his family "on trial" for questionable wartime decisions. Stop me if you remember this stuff from previous seasons. Basically, instead of being inspired by the ending of the show, the thought I had more often than not during this season was: "they had the freedom of mapping out the show's ending and THIS was the best they could do?". I hate to rag on this final season so much, because the show truly is one of my favorites. I'll conclude with an example of why Season Five failed to live up to my expectations: After five episodes of tireless battle, the sixth episode finds the Masons stumbling across a family of "conscientious objectors" to the battle against the Espheni. At first, Tom is flabbergasted that they can live in such denial of the world around them, but after some time with them he realizes exactly what he is fighting this war for in the first place. Reflective, contemplative moments like this are what made "Falling Skies" stand out from the crowd. Without them, it would have been a run-of-the-mill post-apocalyptic blow-up fest. For four seasons, the show managed to maintain that perfect balance. Surprisingly (as this was a show that rarely let me down), it couldn't do it for a fifth. See more 08/18/2016 A very kick ass season. It's the final season and it shows as it goes all out. The writing is good, the acting is spot on, the episodes get to the point and get things done and the conclusion is satisfying. Downside with this season is, like season 4 in terms of Lexi transitioning from bad to good almost instantly, Pope transitions to the dark side almost instantly. Also the alien back story for wanting to take over earth is as ridiculous as Ewoks defeating the Galactic Empire. Still this season does pay off and is a good ending to a good series. See more 03/19/2016 This final season was incredible. It had to end, and I am glad that they did it properly. The story worked and wrapped up nicely. I only wish it could have gone for another 10 seasons. See more 02/09/2016 With the astronomical increase in distribution methods the long-held traditional paradigm for television series has been broken. The networks no longer expect a popular series to continue on ad nauseam. It is now not only acceptable but fully expected by the fans that the words ‘final season’ will eventually be associated to show that still is capable of providing quality entertainment. A new way of thinking has taken hold both the network executives and the fans; it’s better to conclude a story and go out on top then jump the proverbial shark. Latest series to embrace this way of thinking is ‘Falling Skies’. It was one of the most realistic alien invasion stories to come around in a long while. It is taking the basic premise of ‘V’ and infused it with guerrilla warfare and political intrigue. Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers there is a man in charge who is one of the best storytellers of his generation and a man who has grown up loving the genre and has built his career by making movies and television shows specifically targeted to entertaining like-minded fans. Under the old paradigm a series based upon the premise of the ragtag group of survivors desperately trying to retake their world from invading aliens, would eventually have to run out of steam and become exceptionally tedious. After all there are only so many ways you can show skirmishes and climactic battles before even the most easily a feasible member of the audience is going to balk at the repetition. Rather than allow that to happen to the series the producers and writers decided on concluding the story in the way that would satisfy the audience’s needs to pull together the strengths and surpassed the requisite anticipation for an exceptionally exciting conclusion. As much as I hate to see you show this merit gone from programming lineup is far better than washing it to send into the quagmire of mediocrity. At the end of the last season we retreated to one of the most thrilling cliffhangers television has seen in many years. The true heart and mind of the human resistance and former history professor, Tom Mason (Noah Wiley) has taken an alien spaceship, a beamer to the moon with his daughter Lexi (Scarlett Byrne). Although born of human parents she was genetically altered to include alien DNA in her genome. This is provided the young woman with a powerful array of extraordinary abilities. With her father they are on a mission to destroy the primary power source of the invading race, the Espheni, which would result in a ripple effect disabling most of their Earth-based defenses. At the last minute when it appeared that the mission was to be a failure Lexi convinced her father to take another beamer while she uses her ship on a suicide mission to ram the learner based power source. At the loss of her life a mission was successful as a father ship drifts off. Just as things seemed hopeless Tom is visited by an apparition in the form of his late wife, Rebecca Mason (Jennifer Ferrin). Urging him to tap into the strength of his inner warrior she manages to get Tom focused on returning back to earth. As it turns out the apparition was one of the last members of an ancient race, the Dornia, or as the Espheni referred to them, ‘The Great Enemy’. Although in possession of advanced biological technology the Dornia one of the first races enslaved by the Espheni and used as the basis for this slave soldiers commonly referred to as Skitter. After witnessing Tom’s devastating blow against the Espheni the Dornia humanity defeat their common foe. Now influence to show actually no mercy to the enemy, immediately leads the 2nd Mass forces against critical Espheni strongholds in an effort to completely disrupt their ability to fight. The most successful elements of the series have always been how seamlessly they were able to interweave the fundamental aspects of the soap opera into an action driven story of guerrilla warfare. Despite fighting an enemy with superior weapons and bioengineered slave races, this seems to be always time for little assignation with some actually turning into romantic relationships. One of these relationships are between John Pope (Colin Cunningham), a self-serving opportunist but also a seasons warrior and a woman he found trying to survive on your own, Sara (Mira Sorvino). The bond they formed between each other does evolve into something quite strong and especially genuine. When Sara is immobilized and slowly being devoured by insects mutated by the Espheni called Waspers. Help us intervene and save the woman he loves Pope directs his anger at Tom who would not give them the back of they requested because he was allocating forces to destroy a key enemy location. Paul has always been an outsider and troublemaker Tom is once again contacted Dornia who provide him with a biological weapon designed to completely destroy the Espheni. At this point in the war it looks as though the climactic battle was going to be held in Washington DC for most of the resistance fighters, including the 2nd Mass begin to convene upon that location. The Espheni have two genders, the males called Overlords and a dominant female referred to as the Queen. The one that moved over the current invasion forces would have to be destroyed in order to completely end the war. The existence of such a Queen was generally dismissed as myth and rumor by humanities alien allies, the Volm. During the season some surprising twists are revealed including the reason why the current Queen as a vendetta against mankind that originated the prior invasion thousands of years ago. Final season certainly did not disappoint. He represented some of the best names ever found in science fiction including the indomitable spirit of humanity as a species and the unstoppable strength of will that can be mustered by individuals such as Tom. There’s a danger in a story such as this the main protagonist become too powerful into idealized resulting in the complete undermining of credibility. This was never permitted to happen throughout the entire five season run of the series. Tom began as a history professor who leveraged his understanding of colonial guerrilla tactics to mount the first successful forays against a far superior, extraterrestrial enemy. He was always reluctant to be the leader willing to accept such a burden for the good of others. This characteristic did more than just remain consistent as a personality trait throughout the series it becomes a powerful focal point during the last episode. Tom also made mistakes about the tactical and strategic levels and had a few bad judgment calls particularly when it came to interpersonal relationships of his family. The series highlighted the fact that it’s difficult enough for a man to watch his sons grow up becoming their own man natural and necessary transformation happens during such unusual circumstances as this war provided the series did a remarkable job of showing how ultimately resilient Tom could be even when he disagreed with his sons he never stopped for a single instance loving them. The tendency to keep the younger numbers of the cast almost the same age never interfered with the story told here. They grew up under the most harsh conditions imaginable and although this made them into exceptionally hard and men and never lost sight that they had inherited the kindness of their father’s heart. One is said that the series is over the feeling you’re left with is the same as finishing a sizable novel, well-crafted with every page bringing you closer to the most satisfying conclusion possible. See more 12/30/2015 Enoyed the whole story except this last seasons ending. Ripping off the script from Starship Troopers 2 and 3 was not a good idea and should have been better. What a shame See more Read all reviews

Falling Skies — Season 5

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