Hey soldier! Leave those kids alone!…
One of my favorite things about ‘Falling Skies’ is that no matter how dire things are with the Skitter occupation… a**holes are a**holes. Even the kids aren’t immune to the pratfalls of humanity, not to mention the traitorous humans trading kids to the Skitters.
Take young Jimmy Boland (played by the uber-annoying Dylan Authors), just last week he froze in the face of a Skitter attack after posing as a wannabe soldier; this week he is giving Ben Mason the stink-eye and discriminating against the “Razorbacks”. Way to go Jimmy, you’re a world class a-hole buddy!
The folks at the Sanctuary are keeping the kids fed, happy and completely unaware of the fate about to befall them. Of course Hal doesn’t have any trouble making friends, especially with the ladies. It’s too bad the Sanctuary isn’t a real place – it would be the perfect plot device to drop some dead character weight for sure.
Pope is pretty good at being a prisoner… he is even better at being a survivor. He escapes from the Sanctuary and then returns to turn the tables when all hope seems lost. He even takes a bullet for the children of the 2nd Mass. What a guy! Now he’s back where he started, and will hopefully get some more screen time.
Once the word is out on the Sanctuary, Mike and Hal have to do whatever it takes to make sure Ben, Matt, Rick (even Jimmy Bolan) and the rest of the kids of the 2nd Mass aren’t handed over to the Skitters. Mike even pays the ultimate price to insure the rest of the group is able to escape.
There is a lot that happens in this episode, more than my words can do justice. Of the first handful of episodes, ‘Sanctuary Part 2’ has to be my favorite of the bunch. It is full of tension, and for the first time in the series I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen with the kids. I also really like the development of Hal Mason, to my surprise he has turned out to be one of the most pivotal characters of the story.
Ok, without spoiling too much I will leave you with this… Dear ‘Falling Skies’ team, more of episodes like this please. I am far more interested in how the Human race is surviving post alien invasion, than how they plan to fight back. Fighting back is inevitable; surviving is where the story and drama is when it comes to the tale. For the first time in the series, it felt like Executive Producer Graham Yost’s (Justified) fingerprints were all over the story and development, making every last detail feel complete and part of a lager world.
Make sure to come back to TNT next Sunday night at 10:00 pm. There are only 2 episodes left in this first season of ‘Falling Skies.’ I can’t wait to see more… the conversation between the de-harnessed Rick and Ben at the end of this episodes was bone chilling and a preview of what’s to come.
“We would never kill one of our own, you should understand that.” – Rick. Simply, chilling.
