Falling Skies S02E07

What?
That was my short review. Here’s the long version: What the hell?

Excuse me if I can’t find much logic in what’s going on. How did they find Ben and Karen that fast? These kids have supersenses and stuff and just ran into a dark forest, with a pretty good head start. From the roof where Hal was found, they could have gone in any direction and the 2nd Mass just happens to make a lucky guess and immediately find them? Also, what happened to the mindgames between Ben and Karen? Ben just tells her “oh yeah, by the way, there’s a skitter rebellion”, after not trusting her one bit a few hours ago? I get that she played him, but that wasn’t a 180 degree turn, that’s Ben spinning in circles. At first, I thought Ben maybe left someone – Tom, maybe – a message about his plan to lead Karen away and that’s why the 2nd Mass found them so quickly, just in time to capture the fish head alien. But no, later in the episode, Ben clearly tells Tom that he made a bad mistake and has to leave the group for their safety.

Pope is excused because it’s obvious his concussion was worse than it looked. It’s so bad that it spreads to everyone around him. It’s the only logical conclusion for Pope going from “trying to kill Tom” to “Sir, yes, Sir” and not even commenting on Ben being around. Ben, who just lead a bunch of mechs to the hospital; basically doing what Pope suspected would happen all along. Ben did turn out as a risk and Pope says nothing? Not even a little “I told you so”?

Speaking of “I told you so”. What Maggie told Ben in the last episode isn’t worth shit because she just changed her mind. I hereby revoke her First Up. Just liberated from the chains of being “Hal’s Love Interest” and nothing beyond, she decides she is the “right person” for him after all. Making out while the hospital is surrounded by mechs ensues, as well as eye rolling and headdesking.

Also, didn’t Ben tell Tom he could barely keep the fish head alien out of his thoughts and didn’t know how much longer he can resist it? I’m pretty sure he did. Doesn’t keep Tom from taking him into the room with the chained, yet very concious fish head. And actually being surprised the alien tries to get in Ben’s head again, almost killing him in the process. Yeah, Mr. Mason, big surprise, who could have seen that coming? And not enough with that, no. Tom also brings Karen – a harnessed Karen at that – back to the direct proximity of Ben. Y’know, Karen, who brainwashed Ben without her harness a few days back, causing this entire mess to happen in the first place.

Probably a good thing that Weaver is back from the near-dead, since everyone else seems to feel the effects of Pope’s concussion. I was hoping for and expecting Pope to call Tom out on the bullshit of bringing a freaking overlord to the hospital and make the 2nd Mass even more a target than they were before instead of moving on to Charleston. But it was Weaver who did all the “what the hell, hero?” shouting that Tom deserved. Well, not all, but it’s excused. Weaver is still recovering from his infection, I couldn’t expect to scream at Tom that much and get a sore throat.

Also, my bet paid out; Jamil is dead and the bonding between Lourdes and Anne can move on to the next stage. (I can already see a certain political activist freak all over the IMDB boards that another black character died.) Actually, up until he bit it, it was quite exciting to see how everyone on the redshirt list was put in danger. Tector on the front line, Lourdes and Matt in the basement that was crawling with mini mech skitter whatevers and… No, wait, Dai still didn’t get any significant scenes or lines. Anyway, it looks like Lourdes might have snatched Maggie’s First Up, since she’s the one getting the character depth upgrade now. It sounded much like she lost her faith when she told Anne that it’s just a matter of time until bad stuff happens to all of them. And that’s a good thing to give the character a makeover. With Maggie being back to “Hal’s Love Interest” status, maybe Lourdes can pick up some guns and develop into a “nothing to lose” action girl.

Ben left the 2nd Mass before they move out to Charleston, on a tight budget. Makes sense, as one of the few things in this episode. He wants to find other resistance groups and other kids who overcame the harness effects. Sounds good to me, maybe he’ll run into a group that still has some sense left. Because really, what Tom pulled off was beyond stupid.