5.02: Falling Skies - Hunger Pains

[Dave]

A surprise skitter attack leaves the 2nd Mass without food; while Tom and Anne make a discovery.

A darker Tom Mason is ready to embrace his anger, but the 2nd Mass leader may get in over his head. The new Tom Mason who was willing to send Matt into the field and emptied an entire clip into an already dead Espheni last week, is far from the book-toting, idealistic father we met in season 1.

"There is a darker turn to the character for sure this year, but it was inevitable," Wyle explained to Yahoo! TV. "Now that humans have the tactical advantage for the first time, he's going to have to help people tap into their more aggressive, more base selves. Instead of being the kind of quarterback who lifts his team to a victory, he's going to kick his team down the field to victory."

 

[REBerg]

The new, dark Tom Mason, was never more evident than when he watched his men torturing a Skitter and failed to lift a finger to stop it. At least Weaver had the decency to put the Skitter out of its misery.

Tom's all-consuming anger has caused him to forget that Skitters were once other beings, including humans, unwillingly harnessed and transformed by the Espheni. Maybe he'll be reminded of that fact by the boy turned Skitter brought back to camp with the food. Weaver will never forget that his daughter was one of their victims.

The fly that bit Mason, with its blue human eyes, is the freakiest thing I've seen on the series. The Espheni mutation machinery must be running amok, producing creatures that randomly combine the genes of humans and aliens. The mutant fly was presumably gathering intelligence while playing possum.

As for following the fly out of camp to the Valley of the Skitters, really? I don't care if a damn bug is the size of a Chihuahua, I wouldn't be able to track one beyond my next-door neighbor's yard, much less chase it through a forest to its destination.

I'm guessing that the cessation of the random, disorganized Skitter attacks and the massing of their forces in the valley mean that another Overlord has arrived.

 

[Dave]

I think your right about a new Overlord, or maybe something else - whatever has the Australian militia on the run. There were a few things that I couldn't suspend my disbelief over - keeping that fly in a locked jar and being very careful with it, only to open the jar and let it go because they thought it was dead - they really ought to have determined whether it was dead or alive first. The other was that they kept all their food supplies in a single stockpile - very bad planning and a poor decision. The special effects seem to have been stepped up this Season. I hope that means a bigger budget and that it will continue right through the Season. Those masses of Skitters storming the barricades was quite something.

And I made this new forum because there seemed to be quite a few people following this series. Where are they all? It's a little quiet here. Did they stop watching? My son stopped watching during Season 3 as he thought it had got repetitive, and then there was all the nonsense with Lexi as a baby and child. Anyone who did bail out really ought to give the series another try.

 

[REBerg]

I am also surprised surprised at the lack of posts here. Looks like last season got the biggest numbers, although it was not my favorite.

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post was the result of the experimental Skitter barbecue. I doubt that Pope's suggestion to try it on a cat first would have succeeded, as the cat probably would have been smarter than the guy who ate it and turned its nose up at it. Looks like the 2nd Mass won't be starting a Kentucky Fried Skitter franchise chain anytime soon.

 

[Dave]

Yes, but that immediate vomiting blood didn't seem feasible, unless they have very strong acidic flesh. Considering how much they emphasise the point the that some Skitters were once Human, and that they are of compatible DNA, then it doesn't sound likely that the meat would be so corrosive. I could accept that it might be poisonous and make you sick. Also surprised that they hadn't tried to eat it before. Not sure I could live on Pineapple chunks.

 

[REBerg]

Pineapple chunks might have the same effect on me as Skitter meat. I suppose starvation provides strong motivation for expanding diet choices.

As masters of DNA manipulation, the Espheni could be capable of programming their minions to immediately become super toxic upon death. Then, maybe the hungry humans just picked the wrong Skitter, one which had been transformed from a Xenomorph.

 

[Judderman]

The death by eating skitter was a little over the top but it served the "We are desperately hungry" storyline very well. Though as with episode 1 things went well as they got replacement food without taking a casualty. If it had just made them sick several hours later that would have been something as the 2nd Mass could have been laid low by stomach problems. Though at the end of episode 2 we finally see the challenge to come this series. Somehow they will have to destroy the source of the skitters and other creations.

 

[clovis-man]

I'm afraid the series has devolved into predictable tropes. First the rage syndrome and now fighting over scarce food resources. The skitter attacks looked like outtakes from Starship Troopers. Hope something has been put together by the writers to make it more interesting. Tom's dead wife may be more of a catalyst as we move along. Maybe.

 

[Warren_Paul]

This episode even bothered me, and I'm usually pretty forgiving with Falling Skies. The food stores being blown up, and a single girl being able to surprise and trap four armed, well experienced members of the 2nd mass, not to mention 2 super humans. I wasn't able to suspend my disbelief. Being able to see out in the open a bug that previously required a microscope to study, let alone follow it all the way back to the horde and not be spotted by a single one of them.

This was pretty bad even by Falling Skies standards.