The biggest happening in this week’s penultimate episode of ‘Falling Skies: What Hides Beneath’ is the introductoin of an all new never before seen breed of Skitter. These shiny bi-ped humanoid spacemen resemble Gort from ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ more than the spider-like skitters we are used to seeing. Oh, and it looks like they may or may not have been to Wonder Woman’s home island of Themiscara to jack some invisible planes.
Speaking of the spider-like Skitters, after last week’s episode, I’ve had this feeling; a feeling the Skitters are kind of like the Borg for Star Trek. No, not the human/cyborg mashup. They are similar to the Borg because they don’t (or can’t) reproduce, so they have to assimilate other species. I am really hoping the change over from human to Skitter is especially gruesome. Speaking of harnessed kids… we finally get an update on Karen! It’s good to know she is still alive, even if she is captured. I am a little worried about her chaperone. A new edition bi-ped Skitter.
Dr. Anne and Lourdes’ autopsy of the dead captured Skitter, taught us something new about the invaders. They are full of muscles and connective tissue like use, but once they dug deeper they found what Dr. Anne suspected all along. The harnesses are not just to control the kids, they are there to create new Skitters. It is like the harnessed individual is serving as an incubator. While this isn’t a new theme to the Sci-Fi genre, it is one I typically enjoy. I really hope Ben doesn’t go through “the change”, I don’t think Tom Mason could stand losing him again.
Captain Weaver is the most underutilized character in ‘Falling Skies’. I want to feel for him one way or the other, I don’t hate him, but at the sametime I’m not crazy about him either. I’m more apathetic towards him than anything, and it makes me kind of sad because Will Patton is one heck of an actor, and he is doing an excellent job with what he has been given. That is why it makes it hard to care as deeply as we should for his story, heartbreaking as it may be. I’m happy to see he didn’t quit the 2nd Mass and found some bit of closure.
Speaking of characters we care about… what about Pope this week? He really stepped up his game. He went from guest of the 2nd Mass, to bomb maker to munitions expert all in one episode. If Captain Weaver is someone viewers find it hard to connect with (maybe after this week it is easier to connect with him, I don’t know?), Pope is certainly a character that is polarizing ‘Falling Skies’ fans all over the Interwebs.
‘What Hides Beneath’ was the perfect episode to lead into the season one finale; it showed us something new in the all new species of Skitters, the 2nd Mass learned a valuable lesson on how to take down the Mechs and Dr. Anne found out the de-harnessed Ben may not be out of the woods.
I’m very excited to see the 2nd Mass morale at an all-time high heading into the final episode of the season. Make sure to tune in next week of the 2 hour Falling Skies Season Finale starting at 9:00 PM EST on TNT. If you missed last week’s episode be sure to read ‘Falling Skies: Sanctuary Part 2’ to catch up on what happened.
