Falling Skies - Season 2- discussion/Spoilers

[stj]

Who knew our part of the Milky Way was so crowded? It seemed so peaceful for thousands of years.

The stuff about the overlords' Omega-3 brains is a little funny. But It still doesn't work to suddenly chop them down to manageable size, unless you also combine it with minuscule numbers and limited resources. All of that still contradicts the ability to mount a freaking interstellar invasion, which is still a fundamental show premise.

Buckaroo banzais also don't help. If the overlords wanted something from humans/Earth to help them fight, nearly exterminating them and trashing the planet is a lousy way to go about it. Six billion slaves, or better yet, puppet governments could have built those pointless structures faster.

Giving the orifice bugs the power to instantly mind control an adult really does undo every single plot point related to harnessing children.

In addition to the continuing storyline unraveling, the writers are losing their grip on characterization. Mattie has nearly disappeared as a character, he's hero baggage. The young man playing Ben isn't doing a better job acting, they're writing him as Hal's age so the fellow's not stretching so much. Weaver is now a funnily dressed civilian second in command to Tom. Possibly the weirdest thing they've done is turn a pregnant Dr. Glass into an adrenaline junkie.

The record of serialized shows suggests that it can only get much worse.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

What i got from the final episode is that there is no weird subtext shit going on.

This is the fishheads trying as hard as they can to kill man.

Which means that they suck.

My take on it is, Earth is a small fish in a very big war. The fish heads are focused on fighting the new guys, the lizards. They're using whatever tactics they can, to prosecute this war, including enslaving less advanced species for their troops and turning their planets into garrisons.

It could be that the fishheads didnt start the war, they were the victims of the evil imperialist lizards, but if theyre fighting desperately, they might be more likely to use evil tactics.

Or, its the kind of war that's gone on so long, neither side can remember what started it. Its a way of life now. No way to tell who's the good guy and the bad guy or if there's a good guy at all.

let assume the fish heads and the new guys are enemies. What happens to humans then ? We can take parallels from history

Or, the humans are the native Americans, the Fish Heads are the British and the Lizards are the settled British colonists.

Didn't work out very well for the native Americans did it?

I was thinking that we're still doing the Revolutionary War, and the lizards are France! Helping out the natives for their own agenda - to stick it to the fishheads.

Anyway, casting news and intriguing details about new charatcers.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Maybe this is Home Alone?

They have spent the last year turning earth into a huge series of warner brothers looney toons traps.

 

[arch101]

Judging from the casting news, I think we're in for a little time jump next year.
I think the Fishheads grabbed Earth for location, location, location. That big space gun may have needed to be set up exactly here to thwart the lizard guys. They would have needed to clear out all the people to do that. It would also explain why they dropped in as soon as it was out of the way. I'm beginning to think this show has legs as long as the writers don't lay down on us next yr.
I wonder when someone will start writing novels to fill in the spaces?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

You know another few years and that damned fish heads song might have purged from my brain cells but then this show had to come along...

 

[Gepard]

It could be that the fishheads didnt start the war, they were the victims of the evil imperialist lizards, but if theyre fighting desperately, they might be more likely to use evil tactics.

There was an earlier version of the lizard alien which made it as far as near-final composite that had a red flowing heroic Superman-style cape attached to the costume, rather than that big, weird collar it ended up with. Given that the producers are not exactly subtle nor do they play against expectations, I seriously doubt these aliens are anything but good guys.

 

[propita]

Anyway, casting news and intriguing details about new charatcers.

Without going to spoilers, an "aide," huh? Hmmm.... Maybe a time jump is right.

 

[Sindatur]

Anyway, casting news and intriguing details about new charatcers.

Without going to spoilers, an "aide," huh? Hmmm.... Maybe a time jump is right.

Well, aired sorytime, doesn't seem to have taken up more than about 6 months? Next episode is almost a year away, and Matt's actor is going to age another year before it, so, yea, unless they ignore his age, we gotta time jump some time, or we'll have a "6 ft tall Walt at Age 13" all over again

 

[Matt4511]

Judging from the casting news, I think we're in for a little time jump next year.
I think the Fishheads grabbed Earth for location, location, location. That big space gun may have needed to be set up exactly here to thwart the lizard guys. They would have needed to clear out all the people to do that. It would also explain why they dropped in as soon as it was out of the way.

For what it's worth, I was pleased to see the lizard guys. I told my wife a few weeks ago that I believed there was a third party involved.

Look at what we know about the overlords. They are technologically superior to man, but not massively so. Their weapons are familiar to us. They are using human labour to construct something, and that includes harvesting natural resources from Earth (commented upon in the first season, when harnessed kids are collecting scrap). Now we see they have an enemy from beyond.

My guess is that the overlords are on the run. They're having their asses kicked in a galactic war, and needed a place to regroup for a bit. Earth, to them, was a good bet. They found a source of slave labour, raw materials and a base of operations. They can even use their harnesses to get some new recruits for their skitter armies.

But first, they had to use their technological superiority to wipe out most of the Earthlings. Given how well rag-tag militias are doing against them, in a straight up fight, I don't think they could have won without their EMPs and neutron bombs wiping out most of humanity first.

In other words, Earth has been conquered by an alien race in exile, one that's losing a war and had to pull off an invasion on the cheap. And now the real winners of that war, or at least the guys with the upper hand, have caught up with their enemy.

 

[Immolatus]

Judging from the casting news, I think we're in for a little time jump next year.
I think the Fishheads grabbed Earth for location, location, location. That big space gun may have needed to be set up exactly here to thwart the lizard guys. They would have needed to clear out all the people to do that. It would also explain why they dropped in as soon as it was out of the way.

For what it's worth, I was pleased to see the lizard guys. I told my wife a few weeks ago that I believed there was a third party involved.

Look at what we know about the overlords. They are technologically superior to man, but not massively so. Their weapons are familiar to us. They are using human labour to construct something, and that includes harvesting natural resources from Earth (commented upon in the first season, when harnessed kids are collecting scrap). Now we see they have an enemy from beyond.

My guess is that the overlords are on the run. They're having their asses kicked in a galactic war, and needed a place to regroup for a bit. Earth, to them, was a good bet. They found a source of slave labour, raw materials and a base of operations. They can even use their harnesses to get some new recruits for their skitter armies.

But first, they had to use their technological superiority to wipe out most of the Earthlings. Given how well rag-tag militias are doing against them, in a straight up fight, I don't think they could have won without their EMPs and neutron bombs wiping out most of humanity first.

In other words, Earth has been conquered by an alien race in exile, one that's losing a war and had to pull off an invasion on the cheap. And now the real winners of that war, or at least the guys with the upper hand, have caught up with their enemy.

wouldn't the skitters have told them that

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Finally got caught up and cleared this show off my DVR. It's a total yawner. It's still in my series recording list, but I really don't care what happens next.

I had hopes for Frewer, but sadly the writing of his character is all over the place, as it is for the whole Charleston situation. Is there a deep dark secret going on in Charleston (re the observation that something was off) or not? To tell the truth, at this point I really don't care.

The developments in this show are about as exciting as watching grass grow.

 

[sojourner]

Is there a deep dark secret going on in Charleston (re the observation that something was off) or not? To tell the truth, at this point I really don't care.

That was answered already. The "off" bit was how people were being treated and lack of military action while the leader tried to recreate america in microcosm.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Charleston was definitely "off" and not all of it was intentional, in writing or acting. Manchester seemed to be covering up some sort of evil secret, but turned out to be just an academic in over his head.

Frewer's character seemed to be overly bound by respect for the past, even though you'd think an alien invasion and the near destruction of humanity would be enough of an incentive to bend the rules. The way he blindly followed Manchester and then switched sides the minute he could do so with some kind of cover provided by Tom just made Frewer look like a coward, not principled. If he was willing to stage a coup, why wait for the 2nd Mass to show up?

If Manchester was such a machiavelian menace, why was he so politically inept that he didn't see a rebellion brewing right under his nose and take more effective steps to squelch it?

If instead he was not evil but simply terrified of the aliens and flaling around, which did seem ti be the case, O'Quinn should have been directed to play the character as just a little bit more wound up and on edge. His overly serene performance gave a more sinister impression than was warranted. And Frewer just came of as snaky. Not sure if he was even the right guy for the role.

Maybe its not the writing per se, but the writing and the acting doesn't seem to be in synch, which is probably down to lack of good direction of the actors or even casting.

But ultimately, no, there was no big evil secret in Charleston.

It could be that the fishheads didnt start the war, they were the victims of the evil imperialist lizards, but if theyre fighting desperately, they might be more likely to use evil tactics.

There was an earlier version of the lizard alien which made it as far as near-final composite that had a red flowing heroic Superman-style cape attached to the costume, rather than that big, weird collar it ended up with. Given that the producers are not exactly subtle nor do they play against expectations, I seriously doubt these aliens are anything but good guys.

Yeah, that was just wishful thinking on my part, I wish this show were less staightforward than it is. Glad to hear they ditched the cape! Yeesh.

 

[137th Gebirg]

And Frewer just came of as snaky. Not sure if he was even the right guy for the role.

I've always loved Frewer since the old Headroom days, but yes, I too feel he was horribly miscast in this role.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

That was answered already. The "off" bit was how people were being treated and lack of military action while the leader tried to recreate america in microcosm.

Writing failure!

Charleston was definitely "off" and not all of it was intentional, in writing or acting. Manchester seemed to be covering up some sort of evil secret, but turned out to be just an academic in over his head.

[...]
Maybe its not the writing per se, but the writing and the acting doesn't seem to be in synch, which is probably down to lack of good direction of the actors or even casting.

Honestly, I suspect that creation of the backstory is a work in progress. The whole scenario makes sense only if one assumes that none of the main characters are in any peril from extraterrestrials whatsoever.

 

[Shawnster]

The format also limits story telling. I found the whole Charleston sequence to be (painfully) obvious. They wrote the story with very broad strokes with quick set up and resolution. This arc would have benefitted greatly had it atleast a half season to develop. With only 10 episode seasons, nothing has the luxury of slow development. On the one hand, I find the short season a blessing in that there isn't need for filler and every episode can carry the story line. On the other hand, the rapid pace means underdevelopment or dropped storylines.

I am still chafing over the dropping or forgetting about all those harnessed kids they saved. We spend an entire arc saving those kids and the only ones we see after the liberation are Ben and Ricky.

I am also not seeing the parallel between the American Revolution and this Alien Invasion. Earth wasn't a breakaway colony or anything.

Regardless, it is gonna be a long off season until Season 3. Maybe I will have to rewatch the series in the off season.

 

[Cap.T]

Executive Producer and Director Greg Beeman is doing another round of answering fan questions on his blog. If you have any, you can post them in the comments section of his blog.

http://gregbeeman.blogspot.com/

 

[BigFoot]

1) Why does the writing on the show suck?
2) Could Sarah Carter be any hotter?