Falling Skies: Chicken Little Ain't Got Nothin' on the Overlords!

I'm sure I'm dating myself here a bit. But, one of the things I love about Falling Skies are the special effects. Y'see, I grew up in the days when black and white television went color. I grew up suspending my disbelief at poorly depicted aliens and their turfs in The Outer Limits, Star Trek: The Original Series, The Twilight Zone (original) and Lost in Space. The stories in those series had me compelled to watch and I forgave the somewhat ludicrous and fake-looking monsters and aliens akin to the way I forgave them in early Japanese Godzilla movies. At least I wasn't dealing with subtitles!

Fast forward to today's summer TV fare from TNT -- Falling Skies. It's Steven Spielbrg, for goodness' sakes. It's Robert Rodan, the writer of Saving Private Ryan. It's computer effects so realistic that one might think skitters, mechs and overlords really could exist somewhere in our nightmares of an apocalyptic world.

Tonight, the third season of the show kicks off with the high action, the superb effects and a decent, albeit perhaps a bit derivative, tale to tell. A few new characters are introduced; we bid adieu to a few other folks we've gotten to know over the past season or two. After all, unless your name is Mason on the show, you're probably expendable. Heck, I'd say even a Mason might not protect them from the latest onslaught.

My own personal favorite character on the show is Ben Mason. If this were real life (what? it's not?), he'd be the guy I want in my corner -- harnessed by the aliens, saved by the humans kind of sort of only to become a liaison between rebel skitters and the humans while, in actuality, he has traits of both species. Not only that, but he's easy on the eyes to watch, especially if I were decades younger!

Thanks to the kind folks at TNT, some weeks back I received the first five episodes of the new season. They don't tell me I have to like them. They don't even tell me I have to post about the show. If I do post, I can be as critical as I want with no repercussions from the network. They pay me nothing to promote the series.

But, this is one summer series I don't want to miss.

I'm posting this before tonight's series premiere airs, so I won't give you any real spoilers, per se. I will go as far as to say there's a new overlord on the scene and it's a bit of a shocker. And, then there's a Chuckie kind of thing going on. That's all.

Will you be watching? Or, if you're reading this after the show ... what did you think? Favorite characters? Comments on the special effects? Talk to me, 2nd Mass followers! 

Falling Skies: Mechs, Skitters and Overlords, oh my!

Yes, the second season of Falling Skies is almost here! The new season kicks off with two hours of action on Sunday, June 17 starting at 9pm ET/PT. Thanks to the good folks at TNT, I received not just the first two episodes that will air for the season premiere, but the first four episodes. Now, I don't have to say anything good about the show just because they sent me the eps. I'm under no obligation to TNT at all.

That said, thank you TNT! 

My one real obligation with the screeners is that I don't divulge spoilers. So, instead of giving you any kind of play-by-play, I'm just going to throw out lots of random thoughts on the show and this upcoming season. Make of it what you will, but I'd like you to join the Resistance with me.

While the premise of the series is certainly nothing that we haven't seen before -- the world as we know it is destroyed, mass lives are lost, small groups of folks try to survive -- it's a fairly tried and true kind of storyline. My favorite Stephen King novel is The Stand. Albeit by different means, society as we know it is tossed to the gutter.

A few of the aspects which truly make this show a fantastic TV series are the involvement of Steven Spielberg (executive producer) and the incredibly fine effects. I'm a person who grew up in the days of Star Trek: The Original Series and Lost in Space. Now 40-something years later, their special effects are laughable. Perhaps they were a bit laughable at the time, but I didn't care.

Well, I care these days. Between actual costumed skitters (the bug-like aliens) and CG skitters, it all comes across as so realistic that it's definitely movie quality action we're seeing. The stomping of the mechs echo in my mind long after they leave the area.

With Spielberg's work we've always had great characterization. He continues the trend here. When Noah Wyle's character Tom Mason stepped into that spaceship during last season's finale, my heart skipped a beat. Dang it, I've gone and gotten attached to the dude! (No, not like a harness attached to my spine ...!) All of the main characters in the show are fleshing out ... and I think we see a bit of them in folks we know. 

So, onto the action. I thought the first hour started a bit slow, but as I continued watching the action picked up. By the time I finished the fourth episode I was wanting more. The only real shame of getting a sneak peek at the first four episodes is that now I've watched a good chunk of the season ahead. Drat it all!

 

If you haven't been watching this series and you like science fiction type of action, definitely check it out. It's not a show for the squeamish, for sure. And, I don't recommend it for the hobbits and wizards crowds, per se. But if you want to watch a well-done series which will keep you on the edge of your seat and perhaps dip into your nightmares, here ya go.

You can find out more about the upcoming season and the show itself at the official TNT Falling Skies website.