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Previously on Falling Skies: The whole gang reunited in the master of all coincidences, Pope has found a new possible love interest, and the Masons are very divided on the appropriate response to the youngest Mason's transformation.
This episode featured an unusually high number of deaths so the majority of my review is going to focus on these character's deaths.
Lourdes:
Last season, if someone had told me that I would be celebrating the death of an innocent character like Lourdes I would have called them nuts. While my favorite part of a lot of TV shows tends to be the action, each show must have their innocent characters in order to remain relatable for the audience. This season, Falling Skies decided to abandon this idea to some extent. When Lourdes was first reintroduced this season, it was very clear that her character was a radically different character than she had been in previous season. At Comic Con, Moon Bloodgood told SpoilerTV that she believed that Lourdes had changed the most of any character on the show and that has been clearly evident over the course of the season. I hoped that something would knock some sense into Lourdes, but she just seemed to keep sipping on the Kool-Aid. Instead of returning to her old self, Lourdes spent this entire season rambling about Lexi's holiness and her special abilities to bring peace to the entire universe. With that in mind, I can tell you watching Lourdes die by Lexi's hand was not only enjoyable, but relieving. With Lourdes out of the way Lexi can move on to be the major villain, the Karen replacement, or whatever the writers decide to do with her.
Dr. Kadar:
When Robert Sean Leonard joined the cast of Falling Skies last season, I was ecstatic. Not only was one of my favorite actors getting a prominent role in TV, but he was getting a prominent role in one of my favorite TV shows. Unfortunately, Robert Sean Leonard has been the single most underused actor on Falling Skies. I found his death to be completely random and worthless in every single way possible. Additionally, I am disappointed that the writers were unable to find anything for him to do this entire season. The only positive thing that comes from Dr. Kadar's death is the fact that Robert Sean Leonard is now free to join another series where perhaps his talents will be put to better use.
Tector:
Tector has been one of my favorite characters in Falling Skies the last few years and I was truly sad to see him go. While never at the forefront of the show, Tector managed to stay alive and stay smart. He was the voice of reason on multiple occasions and was always willing to lend a helpful hand. I saw Tector as the perfect balance between Tom Mason and Pope. Not a complete stick in the mud, but also not a wild man. While I was sad to see Tector go, I have to say that he went out in an extremely awesome way. He not only managed to take out a few skitters, but more importantly, he managed to fake Tom Mason's death. Not only does this allow Tom to make a surprise return and kick some alien ass, but it allows for the entire 2nd Massachusetts to rise from the ashes and collectively kick some alien ass!
Everything Else:
What was advertised as the biggest and baddest battle of Falling Skies history actually ended up being more of an underwhelming episode. A sudden gas leak kills most of the 2nd Massachusetts off screen and most are unimportant to viewers. It seems to me that the writers needed a reason for our central characters to be beyond desperate seeking help towards the end of the season. If you've read my reviews before, you know that I love to speculate and in this week's edition of Brandon's Meaningless Yet Hopefully Enjoyable Speculation I am going to guess that next week's episode will see someone desperate enough to ask the enemy for help. It could be for Maggie, Lexi, Ben or any of the characters that were left in a particularly precarious situation at the end of this episode. I just pray that it's not Pope and his new boring love interest. That would just be disappointing.
Overall, I would rate this episode an 8.1/10. As far as middle of the season episodes go, it's decent, but it's definitely not anything special. This episode was advertised as the "Blackwater" (Game of Thrones) of Falling Skies and it simply did not deliver the amazing fight that I was expecting. With only 5 episodes left, I'm excited to see what the writers decide to do towards the end of this season. They have ended every season with a cliffhanger so it's sure to be a riveting finale. It will be interesting to see how they decide to set up the opening to their final season as it will greatly affect where the final season can go.
