I started off with the moon last week, so this week I guess I can start with the thing that’s been bugging me throughout the last several weeks: the amping up of the love triangle between Ben, Hal, and Maggie. It is silly and only gets sillier, with Drew Roy forced to deliver silly dialogue and act unreasonable, given the circumstances, only to find the episode ending with closure that amounted to hugging it out. This subplot is a little more colorful due to it being largely set aboard an alien spaceship that humans are planning to fly to the moon, in an effort to destroy the power source for the alien race that invaded earth; but sometimes that classic scenario is just not enough. At least the Lexi storyline is improving.
With the characters all within the same vicinity of each other and no outside excursions this week, it does make “Drawing Straws” an easier Falling Skies episode to recap. Not a ton really happened this week, save for the Lexi developments, but the main focus was centered on the kind of man that Tom Mason wants to be. I have continued to say that Noah Wyle really knows how to sell his role. He is not a wiseguy, but he is also not perfect. Wyle plays Tom as a smart, but average guy, with a family, some remorse, and a never-ending fighting spirit. He has been pushed to certain limits, but has also accomplished a lot for a man who has gone from history professor to one of the humans who has put up the biggest fights to help save the planet. It is commendable, but there is some legitimacy in calling him a glory hog.
Next week we are presumably going to see Tom fly to the moon, and there is little doubt that he will at least survive the trip. With that being said, while his reasons for being the one to go are sound, both from a network perspective and from a character standpoint, it stands to reason that Tom will likely get a kick out of being the one that takes on this mission. Ultimately, this should not matter though, because after all, Tom is human. Risking one’s life is one thing, and while he does so with the understanding that he could die, leaving his kids and Anne behind in the process, there is no reason why he should be able to acknowledge how amazing it is that he gets to participate in something like this.
Falling Skies continues to get a lot of mileage out of this storyline, let alone continue to keep the series enjoyable, because the characters are allowed to smile. When I go back to writing about The Walking Dead, I know what I am getting into, and that show has merits that make it as good, if not better, but it never has the sort of optimism that makes Falling Skies the show that it is, as far as apocalyptic sci-fi dramas go. That said, both series may have great special effects and makeup budgets, but they are about the human characters we are following (and Cochise). Wyle in the lead role as a man who has suffered about as much as Rick Grimes, but still has his sense of humor, is a great big positive for this series, which is why a goofy plot involving travel to the moon does not seem nearly as silly as it could in a show that takes itself too seriously or simply doesn’t have enough faith in its characters. So in essence, I enjoyed seeing Tom’s character given a proper challenge, before the inevitable takes place.
Other stuff that happened: Pope decides not to be as big an A-hole as it is generally assumed that he is. We get a wonderful scene that tricks us all into thinking the obvious thing, but is reversed, as Pope opens up to Weaver. This episode gets its title from the concept of drawing straws to see who flies to the moon. Pope is caught doing something to the drawing pool, which we would assume is rigging it so he doesn’t have to go to the moon. In fact, Pope reveals that he was taking out Weaver and Tom’s names to better his own odds, as he explains that the people need those two, while no one would really care if Pope didn’t come back. While Pope is not always the most consistent character, Colin Cunningham plays the scoundrel well, which is nicely emphasized in this whole scene that really backs him into a corner, before revealing this to Weaver.
Getting back to the love triangle, I am not sure what else there is to say. Ben has been crushing on Maggie. Maggie now has spikes that make it obviously impossible for her to risk and very easy to explain that to Hal. Hal is given the intellect of a caveman or some kind of lunk-headed jock, as he refuses to listen, despite some missteps by Ben along the way. But they hugged it out at the end, so I guess everything’s good.
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Moving on to Lexi, the girl has finally wised up. All it took was a bad dream and spying on the overlords’ secret dirt-crushing meeting, but after harnessing her powers, she kills the overlord who was planning to kill her and splits. By the end of the episode, after Tom finally gets everything in order, a possible attack is on its way, but Lexi knocks down multiple spaceships in the sky, revealing that she is back and ready to play for Team Human. Will she go into space with Tom and Ben? Does she have her own plans? Does she have clothes that are not so ostentatious? We will find out next week.
While this episode of Falling Skies was still setting up the pieces for the last two episodes, which are sure to be pretty crazy, it did have strong character moments from the adults that were nice to see. It is too bad the love triangle stuff is hampering the story for me, but it is not enough to ignore what is working really well here. This is a fun show to watch, and this season has really gone to a number of different places and storylines to keep things interesting. Now we just have to fly Tom to the moon.
Other Thoughts From The Desk Of Tom Mason:
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- Plenty of Matt angst this week, because teenage romance wasn’t enough…
- I did enjoy Lexi’s red costume set amidst the grey ruins of Chinatown.
- Stop making out on spaceships! Just stop it.
- “Pope, shut up.” – Anne rules this week for being the most levelheaded person on the show, following her rage mode exploits from the beginning of this season.
- “Next couple years Matt will probably end up marrying her anyway.” – Hal makes things worse by explaining that the writers know how contrived this all is through audience winks.
- Next week, ground control, we have a real “Space Oddity” up here. #TNT BOOM!
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