My Thoughts On Falling Skies "Pilot"

"Retreat, Regroup, Return, Revenge"

Alien invasion has always beena topic of interest to me.  Be it in movies or in TV shows, it is just a topic that in theory is very interesting.  I say in theory because the last few attempts at alien invasion TV shows have failed spectacularly.  I’m looking at you “V” and “The Event”.  So when TNT announced they were going to make an attempt in the alien invasion drama, I was more than a bit skeptical.  Even with the “produced by Steven Speilberg” tag to back it up, I was not expecting much.  After all, the great film director has had more than a couple failed forays into the TV world.  Well call me pleasantly surprised because after viewing the pilot, I am completely sucked in to Falling Skies.

The show does something smart right from the beginning.  It bypasses they actual initial invasion and throws us into it after a few months.  We've seen too many of them - usually in movies with much higher budgets than even a Spielberg-backed cable drama has - for it to be of any interest. Instead, we see the invasion as depicted in a series of kids' crayon drawings, and the basic premise - that the aliens came, wiped out our cities and military, and started abducting teenagers to use as brainwashed slave labor, so that "Now moms and dads have to fight" - described by those kids. It's much more effective, and chilling, and nicely sets up the family dynamic that's at the heart of the show (just as it's often at the heart of Spielberg's sci-fi epics)

And this might be why Falling Skies seems so much better than the shows that have come before it.  The character development is at the heart of the show.  In just 2 hours, basically every character is more developed then any character was on “V” or “The Event”.  That’s not to mistake this as a sci-fi version of Mad Men, it still is a genre based show with action, but having your characters not be cardboard cut outs really helps the audience relate to a situation that they otherwise could not relate to.

Summer TV was for a long time known as a place for reruns and crappy reality TV shows.  Now however, cable networks have used it as a time to debut new ambitious shows and Falling Skies succeeds in providing a unique form of entertainment.  With its emphasis on relationships and story development over sci-fi aspects and special effects, it is definitely worth your time.

Rating:  8 out of 10