Falling Skies - A Thing With Feathers - Review

After last week's so-so "Saturday Night Massacre" that saw the end of Lourdes, Kadar, and Tector, "A Thing With Feathers" picks up not long after the end of the last episode with the Second Massachusetts in shambles.

While Tom crawls around completely helpless with Dingaan in rubble, the Second Massachusetts fears Tom dead. Outside of Matt and Weaver there aren't a whole lot of people concerned about their former President. They don't have much time to worry about Tom though because it doesn't take very long for Hal to find Maggie. In one of the most ridiculous stories on the show, Cochise and Anne suggest that they simply extract serum from spikes to heal her (Reminds me of McCoy in Star Trek into Darkness - "Kahn's super blood = Kirk alive."). The absurdity of this suggestion was only topped by Ben's incredulous transplant idea. On top of the leaps of logic, I would like to point out that they just had their entire regiment massacred!! Surely there is someone else that would like some super blood to heal them, but of course Maggie takes priority. All this being said, I enjoyed the conflict between Maggie and Hal. Maggie doesn't want to take the risk, but Hal refuses to allow Maggie to make her own decision simply because he disagrees with her. Not exactly exciting, but it's compellingly great drama!

Still stuck crawling around in rubble, Tom and Dingaan (not Locke and Jack) find a hatch in the crashed alien ship and it doesn't take long for Tom to decide to put his arm into the weird tentacle sticking out of it and BOOM- they are inside. I suppose you have to suspend disbelief a small amount for this logic to be believable at all, but then again, this is a show about aliens so I'm willing to see past it. Inside, Tom is immediately infected with something that looks like a worm from "The Strain". That scene was disgustingly fun, but almost too brief because they are still stuck in the middle of all the rubble. Dingaan's talk with Tom was very well acted, written, and placed. I normally don't like when writers take a tense scene like that and go down memory lane, but it was done in a good fashion so I'll accept it.

Meanwhile, Ben joins Lexi in Espheni-ville and is treated to a vision of the future that is bright for the Espheni, but is quite bleak for humanity (isn't that some sort of a conflict of interest for Lexi?). Lexi's story is definitely one of the stranger stories that Falling Skies has dealt with, but since she left the tiring religious commune managed by Lourdes, I'm hoping that her character can find new life in independence. We all know she has some badass superpowers that have not been taken advantage of yet, but will surely come in handy whenever the writers decide it's necessary (Deus Ex Lexi?). While I'm sarcastically complaining about the predictability and convenience of this plot, I'm honestly hoping that the writers take advantage of her character towards the end of this season and add some much needed excitement to this show.

Pope, the most complex character on Falling Skies, had the simplest and most boring parts of this episode. Beyond burying one of the many Second Massachusetts nobodies, a fight with Matt, and a little romance, Pope was almost entirely MIA in this episode. Would the writers please give him something to do that's actually interesting?

Rating: 7.9/10 - Illogical leaps of logic (How's that for a tongue twister?) and an inactive Pope plagued this episode more than anything. The drama was great, but the action was lacking and the plot moved forward only inches. By the time the episode came to a close it just seemed to be finding its footing (Maggie pun intended) so I'm hopeful that next week will be better. Tom Mason would probably say "Never lose hope" or something of the sort. I honestly can't figure out how I've gone from giving the premiere a perfect score to a C rating! Luckily, the next episode looks really good!

About the Author - Brandon Rowe

Brandon is a freshman in college and enjoys watching a lot of TV. Brandon likes to write articles about his favorite shows which include Falling Skies, The Bridge, 24, Suits, and more than can be written on this page. Brandon also managed the "In the Hot Seat" competition here on SpoilerTV in 2012 and would like to do it again in 2015 if possible. Feel free to use the Facebook, Twitter, or G+ links below to contact him.

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