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Falling Skies on TNT

post #1 of 141
Thread Starter 

The new Alien Invasion show starring Noah Wyle premiers this sunday on TNT at 9pm.  Here's the synopsis:

 

Quote:
FALLING SKIES opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.

At the center of the series is Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), a Boston history professor whose family has been torn apart. His wife was killed in the initial attack, and one of his three sons has been captured. Determined to get his son back and to ensure the safety of his other two sons, Tom must put his extensive knowledge of military history to the test as one of the leaders of the resistance movement known as the 2nd Mass, because of their location in Boston, Mass. They are constantly trying to gain intelligence about the aliens in order to one day outsmart and overtake them and hopefully rebuild their lives.

Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation) co-stars as Anne Glass, a pediatrician who works with the surviving children to help them cope with the traumatic upheaval in their lives. Will Patton (Armageddon, TNT's Into the West) plays a fierce leader of the resistance, Weaver. The series also stars Drew Roy (Secretariat) as Hal, Tom's oldest son and a growing fighter in the resistance movement; Maxim Knight (Brothers & Sisters) as Matt, Tom's youngest son; Connor Jessup (The Saddle Club) as Ben, Tom's son who was captured by aliens; and Seychelle Gabriel (Weeds) as Lourdes, an orphaned teenager who helps Anne in the group's makeshift medical clinic. Colin Cunningham (Living in Your Car) is John Pope, the leader of an outlaw motorcycle gang and Sarah Carter (Shark) is Margaret, a wary survivor of Pope's gang.

FALLING SKIES focuses on the resilience of the survivors and their determination to maintain their humanity when all else has been destroyed. It is a tale of endurance, commitment and courage in which everyday people are called upon to become heroes. They may be outmatched, outnumbered and outgunned, but nothing can beat the human spirit. Most of all, the series is about the ties that bind people together in the most difficult of circumstances.

The aliens in the series are mighty, mysterious and merciless. They are highly intelligent and use military-like tactics, which makes them an overwhelming force against the 2nd Mass. There are two types of aliens that the human survivors have named Skitters and Mechs. Combining live action and special visual effects, the Skitters have spider-like bodies and incredible strength and agility. The deadly, robotic Mechs stand upright and can shoot bullets from their arms. The aliens control captured children, like Tom's son Ben, through bio-mechanical harnesses but have yet to reveal their ultimate plan for them.

FALLING SKIES is executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, along with DreamWorks Television heads Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank, Graham Yost (Justified, The Pacific) and screenwriter Robert Rodat. Rodat, who earned an Oscar® nomination for his screenplay for Saving Private Ryan, wrote the pilot from an idea he co-conceived with Spielberg. Mark Verheiden (Heroes, Battlestar Galactica) and Greg Beeman (Heroes, Smallville) are co-executive producers. The pilot was directed by Carl Franklin (One False Move, Out of Time).

 

Looking forward to this.  The trailers and commercials look pretty bad ass.  It kinda reminds me of "Jericho with Aliens."  lol.

post #2 of 141

I'll definitely check it out and give it a chance. It does looks good for sure.

post #3 of 141

UK Chewers may like to know the series will premiere on FX on 5th July.

post #4 of 141

I've seen ads for this show, the post-apoc Terminator future war type scenes are vaguely appealing. Might have to watch. Dale Dye!

post #5 of 141

I'll be sure to set my DVR to this. I hope it's pretty good.

post #6 of 141
Thread Starter 

Yeah.  Its gonna be a two hour premier.  The special effects look pretty bad ass, with the exception of a few hinky shots of the aliens, but it might be a great summer show for TNT.

post #7 of 141

Very excited about this, looking forward to it.

post #8 of 141
The DVR is set for this. Wyle is somewhat underrated, and I'm a fan of the postapocalyptic genre (which this kinda fits). I may write about this for Guy.com in a week or two.
post #9 of 141

I was sent the first 5-6 episodes. Not a fan of the pilot.

post #10 of 141
Apparently, Graham Yost (of Band of Brothers and Justified fame) wrote the second ep. I'll be watching at least until then.
post #11 of 141
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Nunziata View Post

I was sent the first 5-6 episodes. Not a fan of the pilot.



Care to elaborate why you're not a fan of the pilot?  And how did you get the first 5-6 episodes?

post #12 of 141
Alan Sepinall over at Hitfix loved it.
post #13 of 141

this was actually pretty darn good. I'll definitely watch the upcoming episodes. Loved the end line of "I'm tired of playing leader of a post-apocalyptic gang..."  funny stuff.

 

+ I'll watch anything Moon Bloodgood is in.

post #14 of 141

Better have a flashback episode in S1.  Was ok.  Will give it a shot but not that long.  The Killing made me want to pull the trigger quicker.

post #15 of 141

The Pope character was great. Good to see Major Davis from Stargate get a leading role.

 

Good fun this.

post #16 of 141
Thread Starter 

Yeah, I was pleasently surprised at how good it was.  No overtly annoying characters, good ensemble, the aliens seem like a real threat, the special fx are pretty good, and there seem like enough mysteries concerning the aliens to keep us occupied for a while.

 

And yeah, Colin Cunningham stole the show.  It seems like he'll be a good addition to the cast.  Overall I thought the second hour was stronger than the first, though that might be a combination of Cunningham's character and Grahm Yost's writing.

 

On a side note, if I were a member of the survivor group, I'd be like "How do I get on the team with the two smoking hot blondes in it?" lol.

post #17 of 141

I kinda got bored in the first hour. But the second episode was pretty good.

post #18 of 141

Good enough show. I'll keep watching.

 

That said, in case anyone is listening: Dear genre fiction, especially Falling Skies writers. Could we please give the "humans are bastards" trope a rest, please? Just for a bit? Second episode in and we're already into gangs of raping murderering racists? I'm more cynical than most but I'm also pretty fucking tired of the same old shit.

post #19 of 141

I watched this completely by accident and thought it was really very good. Having grown up in the Boston area, I hope they at some point camp out in my hometown of Winchester. They were pretty close.

post #20 of 141

This gets a season pass from me so far. I thought the pilot did a fairly decent job of setting up the world and characters, but I expected a bit more to happen plot wise. I thought the second episode improved things by a wide margin. I was a tad surprised that they went to the "humans against humans" angle already, but it worked. The show is certainly a bit darker a violent than I expected with it being on TNT and all.

 

 

post #21 of 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by stelios View Post

Dear genre fiction, especially Falling Skies writers. Could we please give the "humans are bastards" trope a rest, please? Just for a bit? Second episode in and we're already into gangs of raping murdering racists? I'm more cynical than most but I'm also pretty fucking tired of the same old shit.

Thank you. Although to be fair it looks like we are getting the lead outlaw as a permanent cast member out of the whole thing. In the promo for the coming weeks it looks like he is making them new weapons and fighting alongside them.

 

And yeah it wasn't bad. 

post #22 of 141

Why the hell aren't they re-running this during the week, or at least putting it up on their OnDemand section? Are reruns of Bones and Law and Order that much more lucrative?

post #23 of 141

It was re-run on Midnight on Monday (or Tuesday at Midnight 01, whichever way you wanna look at it) but that's it until Saturday night I think. The second episode was best of the two by a bunch. I'm not liking the Alien robots that much, the clanking they do while walking started to get on my tits. Hopefully that'll be solved by only having to listen for an hour a time. Nit picky!

post #24 of 141

An hour in and unless I'm mistaken the kids are being used for the Mechs.  I hope this will get better as it goes on.

post #25 of 141

i agree with drunkdrgonzo, the kids are definitely being used as the mechs. The pilot was disappointing though, the acting was meh and the special effects were a ball hair better than a scy-fy original movie. Forget the alien invasion angle, the most unbelievable part was the father and son bonding session over a lacrosse ball toss. Who plays lacrosse? Plus, how did the aliens not notice group of a few hundred people wandering out in the open? Best thing  for episode 3 would be to have the aliens actually watch the pilot then fuck off home for how badly they were treated by a shabby show. We aint worth the trouble. Oh and over here in scotland a skitter aint an alien, its a watery shite. Spielberg, my oh my.

post #26 of 141
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABt View Post

i agree with drunkdrgonzo, the kids are definitely being used as the mechs. The pilot was disappointing though, the acting was meh and the special effects were a ball hair better than a scy-fy original movie. Forget the alien invasion angle, the most unbelievable part was the father and son bonding session over a lacrosse ball toss. Who plays lacrosse? Plus, how did the aliens not notice group of a few hundred people wandering out in the open? Best thing  for episode 3 would be to have the aliens actually watch the pilot then fuck off home for how badly they were treated by a shabby show. We aint worth the trouble. Oh and over here in scotland a skitter aint an alien, its a watery shite. Spielberg, my oh my.



I think they explained that the aliens aren't prevelant far away from the major population centers, which is why the survivors are splitting up and moving away from the cities.  In the pilot, they make it clear that the aliens are ignoring groups of under 500 people, seeing them as too insignificant and not worth their time.  However, they are setting traps at major supply areas, such as grocery stores and things like that.  In the second episode, they also said that the fighter jets seem to be attracted to large heat signatures, which is why multiple flares attract them.  So even if the aliens did notice the survivors, unless the aliens are in the area, it doesn't seem like they're interested in them.

 

And for TV, the special effects actually seem pretty decent.  It's hard to do post-apocalyptic sci-fi on a budget, and I think they're doing it pretty well so far.  And I really liked Graham Yost's writing in the second hour.  It was definitely much punchier than the first hour.  Like when the big black soldier let's Noah Wiley's son go, the kid's like "Should I hit you in the face?" "No, why would you do that?" "You know, to make it look like I overpowered you."  "No, you don't get to punch me.  Just get the hell out of here!"  lol.  I thought that was a pretty funny exchange.

 

I was willing to give The Killing 13 horrible hours to prove it was worth watching, I think I'll give this show the same courtesy, though I can tell you right now, I'm enjoying it so far.

 

post #27 of 141

i see what your saying simon west, i laughed at the exchange between the son and the black soldier too. I also think the leader of the post apocalyptic gang was a good character, i was hoping he wouldnt get killed when the alien ship attacked, it will be good to see how his character progresses.

i think my expectations were a bit high with spielbergs name attached to it and all but im a whore for the sci-fi and will def be giving the show a chance. It can only get better. 

post #28 of 141

i also need to put the whisky away, stop being a cynical drunk and go to my bed.

post #29 of 141

THis show has some seriously bad acting/writing.  Yelling out for you son and running to him-great plan.  Noah Wylie's boys are horrible.  Wish he had daughters.

 

And can they please tell the extras not to constantly look around at the sky. 

 

Steven Spielbergs track record has been shitty lately.

 

 

post #30 of 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anyawatchin Angel View Post

THis show has some seriously bad acting/writing.  Yelling out for you son and running to him-great plan.  Noah Wylie's boys are horrible.  Wish he had daughters.

 

And can they please tell the extras not to constantly look around at the sky. 

 

Steven Spielbergs track record has been shitty lately.

 

 


That wasn't the plan. The one dude saw his son who has been missing for who knows how long and that he didn't know was there when they went to get Tom's kid. He had a brain freeze and said as much when Tom woke up and asked him what he was thinking.

 

The issue I had was having the gang leader become the chef. You know he's gonna be poisoning the people before too long.

 

That aside, I liked the episode although not as much as the 2nd episode.
 

 

post #31 of 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul755 View Post


That wasn't the plan. The one dude saw his son who has been missing for who knows how long and that he didn't know was there when they went to get Tom's kid. He had a brain freeze and said as much when Tom woke up and asked him what he was thinking.

 



I know that wasn't the plan.  But yelling and running into hostile forces is just fucking stupid.  His yelling alerted the 5 aliens he was there.  How is getting shot a good plan?  It's not like Tom would have left the guys kid there no matter what his orders.  Plus they know the kids are zombie like and he acted as if the kid would respond.  Just a lazy way not to get Tom's son yet.

 

 

post #32 of 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anyawatchin Angel View Post

Noah Wylie's boys are horrible.  Wish he had daughters.

 


Creepy!

 

post #33 of 141

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacob Singer View Post

Why the hell aren't they re-running this during the week, or at least putting it up on their OnDemand section? Are reruns of Bones and Law and Order that much more lucrative?


I found it On Demand (Comcast), but just this past Saturday.  Not sure how recently they put it up.  

 

Only watched the 2 hour pilot and I'm kind of intrigued.  I'm an easy mark for these post-apocalypse type shows, so I'll probably give this one a chance, but so far the best thing I can say is that the production value looks to be fairly high.

 

Noah Wyle's character annoyed the shit out of me.  The show really wants to rub our faces in the fact that hes a history teacher.  I cringed every time he would take a knee and gather everyone around and start citing examples of failed occupations (I swear this happened like 3 times).  

 

post #34 of 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anyawatchin Angel View Post



I know that wasn't the plan.  But yelling and running into hostile forces is just fucking stupid.  His yelling alerted the 5 aliens he was there.  How is getting shot a good plan?  It's not like Tom would have left the guys kid there no matter what his orders.  Plus they know the kids are zombie like and he acted as if the kid would respond.  Just a lazy way not to get Tom's son yet.

 

 


This is an odd nit to pick. The guy had no plan. He had an emotional reaction as a parent he wasn't thinking rationally he just wanted to get his kid. Doesn't seem lazy at all to me.
 

 

post #35 of 141
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anyawatchin Angel View Post





I know that wasn't the plan.  But yelling and running into hostile forces is just fucking stupid.  His yelling alerted the 5 aliens he was there.  How is getting shot a good plan?  It's not like Tom would have left the guys kid there no matter what his orders.  Plus they know the kids are zombie like and he acted as if the kid would respond.  Just a lazy way not to get Tom's son yet.

 

 



I tend to agree with you on this one.  It was kind-of a bad plot point.  I mean, if he had pointed out that was his kid to Tom, Tom would have grabbed him as well as his son.  It's up there with the kid in episode 2 who started calling after the dog.  These guys are supposed to be resistence fighters, how can they be that fuckin' stupid, you know?  I really wanted Tom to chew that guy out, because his recklessness not only kept Tom from getting his son, but lost his other son and their scout.  And to top it off, the aliens killed like 6 other kids because of it.  Talk about a fuck-up.

 

I also had a bit of a problem with them making the prisoner the cook.  Out of 200 civilians, there's not a single person who knows how to cook shit?  C'mon.  If I were the leader of that group, I'd be worried he'd try and poison people and escape.  But who knows, maybe they're going somewhere with this.

 

I found it odd that they kidnapped the scout as well.  She seems a bit old to have one of those alien harnesses put on her.

 

But for all the episode's faults, I thought it was still entertaining.  Next episode looks pretty intense.

 

post #36 of 141

The show is cheesy fun disguised as quality drama, and I'm enjoying it. With stories like this, even when they're bad they're still pretty good.

 

It doesn't look cheap, which was my main concern going in. The effects are generally decent, and the alien attack scenes and jump scares have been handled well. It's more violent than I expected too, although that schmaltzy birthday skateboard scene (from the director of One False Move!) tells me this show will probably never go really dark and ruthless. I like Outlaw/Chef Pauly Shore quite a bit, Dale Dye is also great and needs to be in more scenes. I hope they give him some action bits later.

 

If Noah Wyle can dial the geeky history teacher thing back a wee bit and start channeling more of that inner Marc Singer, I can see Falling Skies growing into a fun human resistance vs alien invaders Sunday night ritual (definitely take this over that moribund V remake on ABC).

 

post #37 of 141

this episode has some good things to outweigh the Ex-gang leader turned cook silliness. (Are they trying to make him like Sawyer from Lost? cuz its not working yet)

 

anyway #1 The alien appearing when the flashlight came on scared the shit out of me

 

#2 Taking the alien hostage was pretty awesome too

 

#3 killing the kids was pretty brutal even if it was off-screen.

 

#4 Noah W. was a lot less Historian in this episode and I'm warming up to him a lot.

post #38 of 141

watched the pilot and hot fuck was that cheesy.  I'll stick with it though, as I kept saying to myself through the program 'BSG pilot had high levels of cheese, BSG pilot had high levels of cheese'

 

But god DAMN there's some dumb shit in there.  Aliens laying traps but then not monitoring them (you know, after the big fucking C4 exposion and gunfire at the S-Mart), not noticing HUNDREDS of humans marching about in broad daylight.  Being able to detect 'heat from the skies' yet every fucker had burning fires at night, the slooooooow turning robot that allowed them to run away and escape (honestly, they're as dumb as the guards in Metal Gear Solid - 'hunh... oh nothing'), the 'seasoned veteran' teenager calling for his dog (so this is the first time they've used a dog as a test??)

 

It can only get better though but it gets a BIG pass from me because I like the premise. It had better sort it's dumb shit out soon though

post #39 of 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon West will kill Again View Post


 

 

I also had a bit of a problem with them making the prisoner the cook.  Out of 200 civilians, there's not a single person who knows how to cook shit?  C'mon.  If I were the leader of that group, I'd be worried he'd try and poison people and escape.  But who knows, maybe they're going somewhere with this.

 

 



They are going with the cool bad guy joins the good guys angle ala Spike in Buffy or a dozen other shows.  I'm sure he'll save the froup in a few episodes.

 

post #40 of 141
Thread Starter 


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Bain View Post

watched the pilot and hot fuck was that cheesy.  I'll stick with it though, as I kept saying to myself through the program 'BSG pilot had high levels of cheese, BSG pilot had high levels of cheese'

 

But god DAMN there's some dumb shit in there.  Aliens laying traps but then not monitoring them (you know, after the big fucking C4 exposion and gunfire at the S-Mart), not noticing HUNDREDS of humans marching about in broad daylight.  Being able to detect 'heat from the skies' yet every fucker had burning fires at night, the slooooooow turning robot that allowed them to run away and escape (honestly, they're as dumb as the guards in Metal Gear Solid - 'hunh... oh nothing'), the 'seasoned veteran' teenager calling for his dog (so this is the first time they've used a dog as a test??)

 

It can only get better though but it gets a BIG pass from me because I like the premise. It had better sort it's dumb shit out soon though

I think the show explained pretty well that the further they get from the cities, the less alien activity there is.  So even if they set traps, they're not heavily monitored because they're on the fringe of alien controlled areas.  Also, the aliens don't seem to bother with groups of humans that number less than 500, which is why they all broke into groups of 300 and migrated away from the cities.

 

I do agree the thing with the dog - and even worse, in episode three where the guy just runs for his kid - is pretty fuckin' stupid.  These people are supposed to be not only survivors, but skilled rangers and scouts.  They should really know better than to do shit like that when their lives and the lives of others are at stake.  They did point out that there was a "discipline breakdown" after the kid compromised their position and had him sidelined, but I always like it when the characters of the show I'm watching are at least as smart as I am when it comes to shit like that.  So I totally agree with your criticism there.

 

There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding the aliens, so their behavior and actions may be a result of something we don't know about yet.  I mean, it seems to me invading a planet to capture children as a slave labor force is kinda a dumb plan.  If they wanted slaves, why not get adults who are stronger and can work longer, you know?  Or better yet, build robots or something to do what needs to be done.  *shrug*  I'm just hoping that there are some good explanations to this stuff.
 

 

post #41 of 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon West will kill Again View Post


 

I think the show explained pretty well that the further they get from the cities, the less alien activity there is.  So even if they set traps, they're not heavily monitored because they're on the fringe of alien controlled areas.  Also, the aliens don't seem to bother with groups of humans that number less than 500, which is why they all broke into groups of 300 and migrated away from the cities.

 

 

 


It did indeed, but it also made a point of how they had to go back into the city (since all the outlying had been scavenged) to get the food and hence it was 'dangerous'.  Just seemed lazy to me.

 

Also I'm hoping that they 'expose' the Group Leader as just being a fucking coward because he constantly hides behind 'if we didn't have civilians blahblah blah' rather than going in and shooting some shit up (which he says he wants to do but 'we have civvies etc etc etc')).

 

I actually feel bad for criticising this show as I want to like it so much.


 

 

post #42 of 141

So I really love this show. I do have a feeling (unfortunately) that it will end up being one of those great shows that nobody watches, thus causing it to be cancelled far too soon.

post #43 of 141
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Bain View Post


 

Also I'm hoping that they 'expose' the Group Leader as just being a fucking coward because he constantly hides behind 'if we didn't have civilians blahblah blah' rather than going in and shooting some shit up (which he says he wants to do but 'we have civvies etc etc etc')).

 

 


Ha ha.  I'm just waiting for him to make a powerplay so he can resurrect his iron-fisted rule from The Postman.  :-D

 

post #44 of 141

watched episode 3. Dumb shit from the worst resistance movement in the history of the world ever.

 

But..

 

got interesting at the end.

 

I'm hoping they come up with a reason why shooting two limbs off is enough to incapacitate a six limbed creature though.

post #45 of 141

Still on board but more underwhelmed with each episode. The character work just isn't good enough to overpower my flood of geeky nitpicks.

 

But the one thing I hate the most is what they're doing with Racist Rape Murder Squad leader. "Hey, the murderous psychopath sure can cook a good chicken! Let's risk my entire command by having him feed us!" 

post #46 of 141

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by stelios View Post

Racist Rape Murder Squad leader

 

Personally I think "Chef Pauly Shore" has a better ring to it

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Bain View Post
I'm hoping they come up with a reason why shooting two limbs off is enough to incapacitate a six limbed creature though.


I don't need the limbs thing explained, but if they don't show Noah Wyle putting on some heavy boots to finish off a skitter with a nice head stomp, I'll be pissed.

 


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anyawatchin Angel View Post


They are going with the cool bad guy joins the good guys angle ala Spike in Buffy or a dozen other shows.  I'm sure he'll save the froup in a few episodes.

 

They established that he's a rapist and a racist though, and that's just not cool. But yeah, he's the token charismatic rogue, so for sure they will give him some big "redemptive" moment. Seems like a decent actor at least.

 

post #47 of 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disciple_72 View Post

 

They established that he's a rapist and a racist though, and that's just not cool. But yeah, he's the token charismatic rogue, so for sure they will give him some big "redemptive" moment. Seems like a decent actor at least.

 



Did they est. him as a rapist?  Wasn't it just the 2 guys she killed that raped her?  And as for racist I don't think they established that either.  He made some off color remarks, but I think that was just for "the boys" and to see what the hostages would do.

 

post #48 of 141

Distancing him from all the stuff his gang did will be quite a bullshit move. 

post #49 of 141
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Bain View Post

watched episode 3. Dumb shit from the worst resistance movement in the history of the world ever.

 

But..

 

got interesting at the end.

 

I'm hoping they come up with a reason why shooting two limbs off is enough to incapacitate a six limbed creature though.

They actually explained this in Episode 2.  You have to shoot the legs to slow them down so you can get close enough to shoot them in the head, otherwise they're too fast for a kill shot.  The rogue/cook gang leader explained this.  Shooting off the legs let Noah get close enough to beat the alien into submission.
 

 

post #50 of 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anyawatchin Angel View Post





Did they est. him as a rapist?  Wasn't it just the 2 guys she killed that raped her?  And as for racist I don't think they established that either.  He made some off color remarks, but I think that was just for "the boys" and to see what the hostages would do.

 

 

It's possible he was only a fakeracist, but as for the rape thing, I'm sure I saw a look between them that said she would have shot him too if he hadn't been captured by the resistance.
 

 

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