Falling Skies on TNT

[Nuka Cola Kidd]

I enjoyed the finale. Especially the end.

 

[darthviper107]

You just said the whole reason for the character.

That's why stories have supporting characters, to move the plot forward. They don't have to be important or serve a significant purpose. They don't even need names most of the time.

But they could have used random guy #123 rather than creating a whole new character, then saying the guy was a really skilled fighter, then wasting him on guard duty, then just killing him off.

They don't. But they have no choice but to use him given their predicament. That's the thing. Under normal circumstances no one would let that little assclown have a gun. But since they're in a situation where they need as many soldiers and fighters as possible, people like that and even people like the main dude (who was a teacher) and his son (highschool student) get guns and fight.

Yes they have a choice--they have never been in a situation where they had to have every able person with a gun. And throughout the show he hasn't proved he is even useful, in fact, he's proved the opposite. And still, why was he there planning with the main guys planning the attack? Of course that was so he would see them lock up Tom so he could tell everyone, but there's no actual reason for him to be there.

As unlikely as an Alien invasion?

Actually, yeah. We know enough about our own technology, I'd say an alien invasion is more likely than that.

If they're reacting as badly as Ben (when he hears the radio frequency) why shoot in that situation!? The humans aren't aggressive. The Mechs retreated and got away without incident.

Ben was able to take the radio out to the flagpole with it going on, and it didn't seem to be all that bad for him anyways, he was good enough that he wanted to stay, standing right in front of the radio. And still, if they were able to retreat, then they should have been able to shoot. (and why didn't they shoot him in the first place when he went out in the open to attach it to the flagpole?) The humans aren't aggressive? That wasn't the reason they were shooting them, they were killing humans because it was an alien invasion not because the humans were aggressive.

Morale. The humans are losing hope. And hearing that the general dude plus the two other factions were probably all dead didn't help. The last thing the fleeing civilians heard was that the soldiers were going to attack the Alien HQ. When Weaver sends the one kid back to the School he tells him to tell all the survivors that they succeeded in attacking the Aliens. That knowledge alone (even if it were untrue) would boost morale and at least give the survivors hope.

Gee, I wonder what their morale is like now--the mission failed and now almost all of the fighters that were defending them are dead in a suicide mission. Not to mention that one of their main leaders is with the aliens, and the leader they have left was the one who made the stupid decision that got them into that situation (and he's probably on drugs).

In any military situation they wouldn't go forward if it was that clear they would fail.

As far as the ending, the only thing I disliked about it was it felt a lot like the ending for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But the ending DID make sense i.e. the humans have caused the Aliens such a headache (even though they were outnumbered and facing superior technology) that now the Aliens wanna make a deal.

They didn't actually do all that much to be a headache, until the signal disruption. It's a wonder any of them were still alive--if it weren't a TV show then they would have died long ago just from walking out in the open and making so much noise. And of course they actually found out where they were at the end and could have taken them out easily as stated before (if it weren't for being a TV show).

And it didn't look like they wanted to make a deal, more like studying them. (they said they could force him to come with them if they wanted, which doesn't sound like they want to make a deal).

 

[Devil_666]

But they could have used random guy #123 rather than creating a whole new character, then saying the guy was a really skilled fighter, then wasting him on guard duty, then just killing him off.

He IS random guy #123. What's his first name? Is he single? Married? Where is he from? Nothing is known about him at the moment. The reason they needed a soldier is because the plot point needed someone who would follow orders without question/wasn't a friend of Noah Wyle. That's it.

Yes they have a choice--they have never been in a situation where they had to have every able person with a gun.

That's the whole point of the show. They have a very small number of trained soldiers, so any civilians who can aim a gun and shoot it are part of the team. That's why a teacher and a highschool student for example are also part of the team.

Actually, yeah. We know enough about our own technology, I'd say an alien invasion is more likely than that.

So an Alien invasion is more likely than simply being able to disrupt and jam a radio frequency? Interesting, considering radio jamming was/is routinely used during wars yet I don't remember a whole lot of Alien invasions.

Ben was able to take the radio out to the flagpole with it going on, and it didn't seem to be all that bad for him anyways, he was good enough that he wanted to stay, standing right in front of the radio.

He's not 100% Alien. Yet.

And still, if they were able to retreat, then they should have been able to shoot.

If you retreat, and the enemy does NOT shoot at you while you're retreating, why the hell would you shoot at them!?

Gee, I wonder what their morale is like now--the mission failed

According to who? No one expected them to kill all the Aliens and win the war. Weaver even told people at the meeting when he asked for volunteers that it was essentially a suicide mission. The whole point was to take the fight to the Aliens. They did that. Mission accomplished. Morale is up.

In any military situation they wouldn't go forward if it was that clear they would fail.

Name one military situation that involved Aliens from another planet. Exactly.

They didn't actually do all that much to be a headache, until the signal disruption. It's a wonder any of them were still alive--if it weren't a TV show then they would have died long ago just from walking out in the open and making so much noise. And of course they actually found out where they were at the end and could have taken them out easily as stated before (if it weren't for being a TV show).

You keep saying "If it weren't a TV show". FYI: if it weren't a TV show everything you're criticizing wouldn't be happening.

And it didn't look like they wanted to make a deal, more like studying them.

They wanted to deal. And the reason they wanted to deal was because (apparently) this is the first planet that the Aliens have encountered resistance.

 

[Batty]

So, no Will Smith next season?

 

[Devil_666]

So, no Will Smith next season?

 

[darthviper107]

He IS random guy #123. What's his first name? Is he single? Married? Where is he from? Nothing is known about him at the moment. The reason they needed a soldier is because the plot point needed someone who would follow orders without question/wasn't a friend of Noah Wyle. That's it.

They created more of a backstory than they needed to. You'd only care about a person's backstory if you're trying to get people to care about the character or that it would be important to the story. Creating a someone unique new character for that purpose is a waste of time, since he just died. And then creating a backstory that conflicts with what the character does (having one of the top fighters as a guard) makes no sense.

That's the whole point of the show. They have a very small number of trained soldiers, so any civilians who can aim a gun and shoot it are part of the team. That's why a teacher and a highschool student for example are also part of the team.

They've never been in a situation where they were in that much need of a fighter where they'd give a gun to an unskilled kid. Throughout the entire show they've had more skilled fighters for what they needed, up until the end of course when almost all of them died for no reason.

So an Alien invasion is more likely than simply being able to disrupt and jam a radio frequency? Interesting, considering radio jamming was/is routinely used during wars yet I don't remember a whole lot of Alien invasions.

Considering they said they could change the frequency, then that in itself is enough to show the jamming wouldn't have worked. In fact, they could have easily created a system where the jamming would never work.

He's not 100% Alien. Yet.

Neither are the mechs, hence the word Mech

If you retreat, and the enemy does NOT shoot at you while you're retreating, why the hell would you shoot at them!?

What is that a thing? You don't shoot at the enemy if they're running away? But my point was that if they were functional enough to be able to retreat, they should have been functional enough to aim and shoot.

According to who? No one expected them to kill all the Aliens and win the war. Weaver even told people at the meeting when he asked for volunteers that it was essentially a suicide mission. The whole point was to take the fight to the Aliens. They did that. Mission accomplished. Morale is up.

They expected to destroy the alien structure, they failed, almost all of their fighters are dead, and all they accomplished was shooting down one aircraft and having it crash and do some damage. And so now the aliens know where they are, and they don't have any defense. Morale should be at an all-time low

Name one military situation that involved Aliens from another planet. Exactly.



You keep saying "If it weren't a TV show". FYI: if it weren't a TV show everything you're criticizing wouldn't be happening.

My basis of discussion is on excepting that an advanced alien force has invaded, of course it's a setup for TV, but good TV doesn't have to be so transparent in its plot like that.

They wanted to deal. And the reason they wanted to deal was because (apparently) this is the first planet that the Aliens have encountered resistance.

Why would they want to deal? Again, they said they could force him. A deal would imply that the humans have some kind of bargaining that they could do. Which they don't. They're just curious about them and want to learn.

 

[Medusas Gaze]

I thought the show was interesting enough. Not as good as I hoped for, but good enough to keep me watching should the 2nd season be picked up. It got better as it went along, which is always nice.

 

[darthviper107]

I thought the show was interesting enough. Not as good as I hoped for, but good enough to keep me watching should the 2nd season be picked up. It got better as it went along, which is always nice.

Second season was already picked up after the first premiere

 

[Medusas Gaze]

Second season was already picked up after the first premiere

Oh..... well that's cool! Glad to hear it. Looking forward to seeing what ideas they come up with next year.

 

[SixMillionDollarMan Guy]

So did anyone watch the season premiere? I enjoyed last season and I liked the start to this one too. Your impressions?

 

[NAZGUL-KING]

So did anyone watch the season premiere? I enjoyed last season and I liked the start to this one too. Your impressions?

I started to get bored last season, but I'm enjoying this season so far. I've given up trying to be too critical and just sit back and enjoy it.
I like how Falling Skies has their own version of "Talking Dead" now. We DVR'ed the episodes Sunday and didn't watch them until last night so we didn't know about 2nd Watch. I'll have to catch it next week.
It cracks me up that it's hosted by Will Wheaton - every time I see that guy it reminds me of his feud with Sheldon on Big Bang Theory.

 

[316what]

I thought the season premiere was pretty good. I'm sure that one part isn't good for the squeamish folks, lol.

Spoiler:

I'm curious to find out what the "eye-bug" actually did to him. Especially after it escaped and then went into a skidder's eye.

 

[NAZGUL-KING]

I thought the season premiere was pretty good. I'm sure that one part isn't good for the squeamish folks, lol.

Spoiler:

I'm curious to find out what the "eye-bug" actually did to him. Especially after it escaped and then went into a skidder's eye.

Spoiler:

I thought the "bug" was in Tom's eye in order to record everything he saw and heard so it could then report back

 

[a-dev]

Found this show pretty underwhelming in season one. Perhaps 10 or 15 years ago it would have been special but now seen it all before really.

 

[SixMillionDollarMan Guy]

I thought the season premiere was pretty good. I'm sure that one part isn't good for the squeamish folks, lol.

Spoiler:

I'm curious to find out what the "eye-bug" actually did to him. Especially after it escaped and then went into a skidder's eye.

Count me in as one of the squeamish folks.

Spoiler:

The pliers next to the eye was cringe worthy...lol

Spoiler:

I thought the "bug" was in Tom's eye in order to record everything he saw and heard so it could then report back

That's a good theory.

 

[The Ween]

I just can't stand Tom's kids. Especially the youngest.

I wish they'd do more with John Pope. He's the most interesting character on the show.

 

[The Ween]

Just realized this was on. I'll have to catch it online tomorrow.

 

[Darth Snoopy]

Last night's episode was really good, IMO.

Spoiler:

It was great to see more of Pope and when Tom fought him it was really good! It was sad to see Jimmy die and the funeral was even sadder.

 

[Matt S]

Yeah, digging this season quite a bit more. Glad Pope is no longer the lovable, affable chef from season 1!

 

[The Josh]

Season 1 was pretty good but this is looking to be even better for sure.