Falling Skies

If you’ve been following my coverage of Falling Skies season 3 you know that so far, I’ve been bored with the series from the get go and this new season hasn’t exactly converted me into the show #1 fan. Slow pacing, an off kilter and jumpy story arc, and a tendency to go overboard with the drama. Fortunately this upcoming episode finally manages to offer up an episode that makes the series work.

At All Costs finds the Charleston community under attack by the Espheni in what appears to be a last ditch effort to regain a foothold in their overthrow. With the help of the rebel Skitters and the Volm, the new alien race to come to the planet, Tom and the Charleston community have not only put the hurt on the Espheni, they’ve turned the tides completely.

In the previous episode Tom and his crew came under fire from an unseen enemy, one that is extremely shocking when they discover who and what it is. The single surviving enemy combatant reveals the existence of an important human, one that Tom must visit in this episode, a feat easy enough when they discover Poe has a secret form of transportation he’s kept under wraps. Poe gives permission as long as he’s in on the road trip.

What made this episode great was that it hits on almost all of the story arcs that have been hanging around without much progress and makes progress in big ways. Considering the show begins 7 months after the events of season 2, this, and some elements of the previous episodes combined into one, would have been a great first episode.

You’ve got drama, action, science fiction that isn’t watered down by the excessive need the show has in over blowing the dramatic, and it doesn’t start something important and leave it unfinished. You get problems with points a through b and a cliff hanger that makes you need to see what happens next. Nothing like the past few opening episodes.

Could this be a stand alone episode that newcomers could jump to if they want to avoid the long drama? Yes. Of course I shouldn’t suggest you jump into season three by skipping episodes, even though it already feels like you have, but if you’re going out on a limb with this show, start here.