Falling Skies 1.1 "Pilot" Discussion/Review/Comment **SPOILERS**

[Temis the Vorta]

I think the Skitters are the bad guys and whoever is in the Mech suits are the foes of the Skitters and therefore the good guys. Earth has become just a backwater battleground in a much larger interstellar war.

The guerilla story is good for now, but inherently limited. I'm gonna want it to evolve into space opera sooner or later.

Ratings are good. Better audience #s than The Walking Dead but the demo isn't as strong. Apparently the fogies like aliens better than zombies. But that's a good showing considering the time of year - fall shows get more attention - I wouldn't be surprised to see audience #s go up with word of mouth.

It didn't break any ratings records, but the Steven Spielberg-produced alien TNT drama series Falling Skies had a solid debut last night. The series starring Noah Wyle drew 5.9 million viewers for its 9-11 PM opener to become the most-watched cable premiere since TNT's Rizzoli & Isles (7.6 million) last summer, outpacing the October debut of AMC's The Walking Dead (5.3 million). Among adults 18-49, Falling Skies averaged 2.64 million, which fell between the premieres of Walking Dead (3.6 million) and Rizzoli & Isles (2.1 million).

The second season is already being planned. TNT didn't even wait for the numbers to come in.

 

[Brikar99]

None of the people in this show sound like they're from Boston or just outside Boston. I think I heard a token 'wicked' from one of the gang members, but that was about it as to localize it.

Guess that's pretty par for the course with TV in order to try and maximize eyeballs don't want to turn off someone who doesn't like hearing a regional type accent.

Being a New Englander and a Sox fan that occurred to me early on... it sure as hell didn't SOUND like Massachusetts!

Ay, it's prolly betta den if they gawt a buncha fahkin actas soundin like they'ah from Reveah ...

But yeah, I think people should do better research into how people speak in certain areas, even if they're not going to load the cast with accents. I watched a movie the other day called "Knight and Day" with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz and someone mentioned "the 93". Made me chuckle.

 

[AviTrek]

And that brings up the possibility that the story could move into space, if the Mech aliens have their own fleet and space faring civiliation. That would be incredible! And if the show goes on for years, they'll need to expand the story beyond grubby guerilla fighting eventually. There's really no reasonable expectation that non-space-faring humanity can win this fight, but if we get some ET allies, that's a game changer.

I doubt it. It would be too much of a tone change mid-show. If the show lasts long enough to plan its ending, I would expect the show to be all gorilla warfare and end with the Aliens leaving earth.

Shows that are shot places other than where they're taking place kinda irk me, too, especially when (as is the case here) they are using the location as part of the story.

Shows that take place other than where they're shot irk me except when the location is part of the story. I can accept that the producers here wanted the story set outside of Boston for the revolutionary parallels but couldn't afford a Boston shoot.

The first season of Fringe bothered me when they would jump back and forth between New York and Boston because they were filming in New York but chose to base the characters out of Boston. If you're going to film in New York just base Walter at Columbia instead of Harvard and you have no need to pretend that Boston and New York are in commuting distance.

 

[Brikar99]

The first season of Fringe bothered me when they would jump back and forth between New York and Boston because they were filming in New York but chose to base the characters out of Boston. If you're going to film in New York just base Walter at Columbia instead of Harvard and you have no need to pretend that Boston and New York are in commuting distance.

My roommate claims to have made it in just over two and a half hours...

 

[JD]

I think the Skitters are the bad guys and whoever is in the Mech suits are the foes of the Skitters and therefore the good guys. Earth has become just a backwater battleground in a much larger interstellar war.

I don't know, pretty much everything we've seen so far makes it look to me like they're working together. Didn't they even show them using the harnessed kids together in the season preview at the end?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The harnesses might control their behavior. No way to know if they're willing "allies" of the Skitters.

 

[Cap.T]

Co-Executive Producer und Director Greg Beeman posted his first blog about the production of the show:

http://gregbeeman.blogspot.com/

 

[FluffyUnbound]

I gave it a shot but the first twenty minutes really put me off.

Problems:

1. Outdoor environments felt like really cheap sets. If The Walking Dead can shoot outdoors and make it look decent, so can these guys. "Boston" in the opening scenes looked like an old Star Trek TOS set.

2. Cliched characters and dialogue and dramatic situations.

3. Kids and harnesses. Groan. That's pretty manipulative. The destruction of the world isn't dramatic enough, we have to have the protagonist's kid "harnessed"?

I will try again, sometime when my own un-harnessed kid doesn't have me worn the eff out and I can give it a fair shake.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I can't believe people are being so tough on this. Am I just getting desperate after suffering through true mediocrity like The Event, V, FlashForward, SGU, etc? Everything on skiffy is such junk. It seems like eons since there's been a "real" sci fi show I genuinely felt enthusiastic about! (Zombies are sci fi, but I mean stuff with aliens.)

 

[RJDiogenes]

This wasn't bad. It was all very familiar, having been done a zillion times before, but it was well written (except for the incompetence of the aliens, as noted earlier-- there should be some explanation of how a bunch of random stragglers can survive a force that can wipe out most of the world). Noah Wylie and Moon Bloodgood were good, as was the half-assed military commander and the anti-social misfit. Everybody else was kind of generic. Hopefully, these mysteries will play out in an interesting way; I just wish they had dealt with them a bit more in the premiere. In any case, it bears watching a little longer.

If you're going to film in New York just base Walter at Columbia instead of Harvard and you have no need to pretend that Boston and New York are in commuting distance.

My roommate claims to have made it in just over two and a half hours...

I did that fairly often when I was a kid.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

It was all very familiar, having been done a zillion times before

In movies - the novelty here is that this is basically a movie plot, visuals, action and characters but told in a much longer format, which can develop far beyond what's possible in movies.

Anyway, I find that very appealing.

except for the incompetence of the aliens, as noted earlier-- there should be some explanation of how a bunch of random stragglers can survive a force that can wipe out most of the world

Maybe they figure the surviving humans can't do much to harm them, so they're not worth the effort of wiping out. Or even that they need a few humans surviving "in the wild" to keep breeding more kids the aliens can abduct.

 

[RJDiogenes]

It was all very familiar, having been done a zillion times before

In movies - the novelty here is that this is basically a movie plot, visuals, action and characters but told in a much longer format, which can develop far beyond what's possible in movies.

Anyway, I find that very appealing.

War Of The Worlds and V both did it, so it's not exactly a novelty. But it's a difficult premise to sustain and definitely one that does not lend itself to episodic storytelling; so the question is whether these guys can pull it off.

except for the incompetence of the aliens, as noted earlier-- there should be some explanation of how a bunch of random stragglers can survive a force that can wipe out most of the world

Maybe they figure the surviving humans can't do much to harm them, so they're not worth the effort of wiping out. Or even that they need a few humans surviving "in the wild" to keep breeding more kids the aliens can abduct.

It would be nice if it were addressed in story. If they need breeders, you'd think they would capture them and keep them on a farm with those things on their backs.

 

[Noname Given]

It was all very familiar, having been done a zillion times before

In movies - the novelty here is that this is basically a movie plot, visuals, action and characters but told in a much longer format, which can develop far beyond what's possible in movies.

Anyway, I find that very appealing.

except for the incompetence of the aliens, as noted earlier-- there should be some explanation of how a bunch of random stragglers can survive a force that can wipe out most of the world

Maybe they figure the surviving humans can't do much to harm them, so they're not worth the effort of wiping out. Or even that they need a few humans surviving "in the wild" to keep breeding more kids the aliens can abduct.

It's been stated in the episode that below a certain number, the aliens don't seem to care. There was a line about the aliens homing in on groups larger than 300; and that's why the group they had was being split into 3 sections. I think they will follow up on this, but lets be honest here - If the aliens had the ability/interest in destrying every single human gathering; there wouldn't be much of a story. Maybe it ties in with the aliens wanting to 'harness' human children.

I'm willing to give it a chance to pan and see if they do provide an explaination at some point for this aspect of the alien's reasoning or lact of tech to single out non-aggresive humans.

 

[1001001]

Meh.

That is all I have to say about that.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

War Of The Worlds and V both did it, so it's not exactly a novelty

V did it very badly and I'm glad it got cancelled. If you mean older shows, well, they're older shows and I'm not likely to Netflix them anytime soon. The antiquated production values give me hives and the less said about the hairstyles, the better.

But it's a difficult premise to sustain

That's why I'm already thinking ahead to what they can do when the guerrilla warfare starts to wear out its welcome. Hopefully, the battle over Earth is just a small part of a much larger picture.

and definitely one that does not lend itself to episodic storytelling

This show seems to be serialized.

If they need breeders, you'd think they would capture them and keep them on a farm with those things on their backs.

They'd have to feed em. This is like farmers letting their pigs run loose to forage and then rounding them up later for slaughter. Also, the harnesses are probably only for teenagers who will be trained do so something via the harnesses (my quatloos are on them being future Mech pilots). Maybe they're expensive. Why waste them on the old folks?

I'm squarely in the wait-and-see camp. Cliched characters can be developed, and plot holes can be filled in. Ain't much else to watch on TV nowadays, except Futurama soon.

 

[Checkmate]

With no hint that the show will be anything other than what we've been presented with (ie, Walking Dead with aliens instead of zombies and a much much boring cast and writing), I seriously doubt I'll bother with this show. I'll probably give it one more shot, but if it's anything like these two were, fuck it.

 

[arch101]

Also, the harnesses are probably only for teenagers who will be trained do so something via the harnesses (my quatloos are on them being future Mech pilots). Maybe they're expensive. Why waste them on the old folks?

Hmm. You could be on to something. The Mechs might be bipeds because of their slave-labor operators?

I like that there's no obvious reason (so far) WHY the Earth was conquered. The main force has moved on to other things leaving a mopping up crew. So, what was the point? I assume we'll find out.

The real test of Bostonian accent will come when someone mentions Peabody.

I did appreciate the writers being spot-on with descriptions of locations and places. (as I look across the river to the commuter rail line the refugees follow to Acton, which is where you really would go if you followed it) I sure hope they spring for at least a couple of establishing shots on location here. If they hit Lansdowne Street a few hours after a Sox game, it looks pretty apocalyptic without any set dressing.

Overall, pretty good start. I'll keep watching for awhile.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

The Mechs might be bipeds because of their slave-labor operators?

Yeah, here's my theory: the Skitters are at war with a bipedal species, who they have learned to harness to operate their Mechs. (This may be the reason for the war - that's not a very neighborly thing to do.) Or perhaps the bipeds are a slave race that revolted.

Either way, the Skitters are now scrambling for more Mech operators since the ones they've been using are fighting them. They searched around for a planet with a suitable bipedal species that could be adapted to the harness. Unfortunately, Earth happened to fit the bill.

I like the notion of Earth being invaded because of a cosmic accident that has nothing directly to do with us. The Skitters are being cavalier about Earth because it's not really the focus of their attention. They have a huge slave revolt and/or interstellar war to worry about.

 

[Snick27]

Was kind of boring, makes me miss SGU. Thinking this would of been a great set up to a new Stargate Tv show.


I check it out again next week though, as i really like those two hot blondes. Just hope the show is more than just this as it would get boring quickly.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The harness used as an interface for the mechs is a good thought.

Very Babylon 5.

When the kid woke up in that skateboard room I thought that the harnesses created a matrix like drug controlled fantasy world for the kids to be happy inside, wrong kid however.

If the skitters are the dominant species, why then are they so easy to kill?

They're cannon fodder.

No ruling class gentry would sign up for that.

The mechs have to be higher up the food chain and as suggested, they're probably human children (A little Torchwood using preteens as crack, and a little Doctor who season 3 with floating armoured childrens heads.), and if you're lower in the pecking order than Drugged children used as dogs, your species is not in charge of the invasion.

I assumed the mechs were in charge while watching the show and that the skitters were just the last species which they'd enslaved and harnessed, and now they were just slaves forced to "help" conquer the Earth because their will had been broken.

But if it's just class A slaves and class B slaves?

I really don't think we've seen the big bad yet, gods, I don't think the pilots are the bid guys, class A + slaves, and once you really get down to it, there's probably only one caretaker representative of the species actually responsible for this woohaw per one of those bases.