The Sword and Laser discussion

Falling Skies is on TNT starting tonight as in right now.

What did you think? For someone who claims to love post-apocalyptic stories, I really hate the ones that focus on military strategy. I might try another night though.

I have it recorded. I watched the beginning a little but didn't see any aliens. I'll try it later.

I'll be watching later, some time in coming weeks. I hope it'll be good, but my taste is geared to a gritty story with a long story arc, something that sees me usually get disappointed by new TV series. Regardless, I'm hoping it'll at least be interesting.

After watching the two hour series premier I was left with the distinct impression that this was just a rehash of last years 'Walking Dead'. Which was on the same channel. The cause of the apocalypse is different, but most of rest seemed much the same.

Hey, it has aliens and zombies (harnessed kids)! What more does a show need?

Speaking of post-apocalyptic vampires, have any of you read The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro? Pretty good story, and the follow up book, The Fall, was good too.

Falling Skies didn't really get a glowing review on the Talking TV with Ryan and Ryan Podcast.
Feedback on twitter wasn't positive either, but it's sci-fi, so I will check it out anyway.

The Futon Critic had a rather good review for Falling Skies here: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/reviews...

Basically they say that the first episode falls short, but you should hang in there.

So to address everyones comment one by one
Jenny: I agree Noah Wylies war/history exposition talks need a new dynamic, but its a show bout fighting an invading alien army, a certain amount of strategy has to be expected. Hopefully it will get more insightful, vis a vis the bad guys comparison of the survivors to Native Americans.
Tamahome, you get aliens by at least 5 min in
Andrew, Walking Dead is on AMC home of Breaking Bad, this is TNT so expect much less graphic blood and action and more pc content
Alden and Vlad: sparkly aliens anyone?
Michael: I liked Del Toros vamp books as well, nicely gruesome vamps, probably not even the loneliest t(w)een could fall for these guys.

Broadly speaking i think the show has promise if it can keep the slo-mo piano pop touching moments to a minimum. The conflict tween army and civvies seems rather stupid, when the population is that hammered there are no civvies left, an unarmed 6 year old is as much a target as anyone else so i think you would militarize the entire population. I like that the aliens look nicely alien as well.

Just watched the first show and I think it has some promise. I like the outlaw guy and the mystery that is the aliens and why they are "harnessing" kids. Hope the writing is up to a weekly series as far as drama and action goes.

I watched it and liked the first 2 episodes. I will keep it on the DVR. After all there is nothing else on right now. Sanctuary just ended and the other shows have not started.

It will be interesting the way they go. There is so much potential going forward. They can always introduce new people, kill people off, introduce new aliens, and new technologies.

Pilot looked pretty good to me. I'll watch a few ep. and see how it goes.
I like the post apocalyptic scenario, the aliens look pretty good and the people seem set up for compelling character arcs. So unless the plot turns completely absurd, I think it's a pretty safe bet for entertaining summer tv.

I enjoyed it. I think the show as a good deal of promise

Can anyone say 'V'? LOL. That's pretty much my take on the Falling Skies, only the 'vistors' are different. There are other differences too, but over all you have that same basic story line. I really hope the show does well. Nothing new last long enough to enough and/or to understand (fully). I expected more out of the premiere. I hope later episodes fill the things I was looking forward to seeing.

Folks geek out in the oddest places: http://thestir.cafemom.com/baby/12208...

Episode 2 worked ok I still think Noah Wylie's character is alittle to tortured but I like the plot and how they are keeping the action to make things along. Liked the addition of the Dr with the character issues too good dynamic between him and Noah ...

Al wrote: "Folks geek out in the oddest places: http://thestir.cafemom.com/baby/12208..."

Three episodes in, the show still hasn't managed to fascinate me.
In my book it doesn't compare favorably to similarly themed shows:
Battlestar Galactica (2004) >> The Walking Dead > Falling Skies > V (2009)
A lot of things feel sub-standard, particularly script and acting. In this regard, it reminds me of the stinker Camelot.
It's a family friendly version of The Walking Dead with aliens and without the graphic violence, taking away the only appeal of The Walking Dead.

At least V managed to build tension with sympathetic characters. At least in season 1.

According to IO9.com the show gets "way better". Apparently this is one of those shows that doesn't hit it's stride till maybe episode 5, but then it becomes pretty good.

Spoiler free review: http://io9.com/5798573/life-under-ali...

Phillip wrote: "According to IO9.com the show gets "way better". Apparently this is one of those shows that doesn't hit it's stride till maybe episode 5, but then it becomes pretty good.

Spoiler free review:..."

Watching episode three tonight it does seem like it is building slowly and adding more plot elements to make it a better show. I am still intrigue and going to keep watching.

I flipped episode three off last night. I'm done with this series. The characters continually do the most illogical things, and I really have no patience for a story that generates conflict through stupidity.

(view spoiler)[The doctor deciding to cut open the alien, even though attempting to communicate would serve a much more important, obviously useful purpose in the war.
Putting the alien in the same room as the sick kid.
It's obvious to me what's going on with the kid and the harness and the alien and the radio. Why can't any of these numbskulls get a clue?
Standing in the doorway of the bike shop while harnessed kids slooooowly approach, with weapons. Then getting shot. Surprise! This is when I turned it off. (hide spoiler)]

The characters are just idiots, and even though the lore is getting more interesting, it just frustrates me. Maybe watching Transformers 3 over the weekend just killed my patience with this stuff :P

Sodon wrote: "I flipped episode three off last night. I'm done with this series. The characters continually do the most illogical things, and I really have no patience for a story that generates conflict through..."

(view spoiler)[
* If I remember correctly, they said that the alien they were cutting open was the one that was already dead.

* It obvious to you because you see the alien freaking out and the very next shot is the radio giving off static. But these things happened in different rooms.
(hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[The male doctor said he wanted to cut into the live alien.

I don't mean the radio bit specifically, but why reveal the secret to the audience first? It destroys tension and makes it frustrating. (hide spoiler)]

and really they were just more examples in a continuous stream of examples since the show started.

Watched episdode 4 last night and it was ho hum but seemed to be one of those shows used to aset up future story arcs and to get some character development done and introduce a new character etc. The best part was the preview for next week which looks to be kicking off a good story arc. Show is still uneven but I see the actors slowly becoming comfortable with their characters and the story line. Hopefully that continues as the show goes on. Reminds me of SNG first season, which was horrible.

For me, it's just an ok show but if this was on the big networks (bigger than TNT) I don't think it would last. I don't feel it's even up to the level of V which wasn't so great.
I'm hoping that things will pick up soon. I wasn't too impressed with BSG the first half of the season and I'm glad I stuck it out.

its less awful than V so far but not by alot, still i have hope cause its not on syfyllus

I think that so far the show has been mostly world building so I'm willing to forgive the plot to a point. It is narrative-heavy but that narrative is not spectacular, I'll agree. I rarely see the point of suffering through hours of mediocrity for a show to hit its stride, but up to this point the wold is just interesting enough to keep me watching. What I really want is more about the aliens and the invasion itself.

It amazes me how stupid the aliens are in this show. They can travel between the stars but don't seem to have any aerial reconnaissance. If they need to scout out an area they send in one, apparently unarmed, alien with one mech on foot!
The mechs annoy me too. The aliens have 6 or 8 legs, are very stable, can run up walls and hang on ceilings. So they make mechs that walk on 2 legs and have none of these advantages. To me that makes no sense at all.

Andrew wrote: "It amazes me how stupid the aliens are in this show. They can travel between the stars but don't seem to have any aerial reconnaissance. If they need to scout out an area they send in one, apparent..."

Can't fault the air recon logic but I think the mech's are just robots or suppose to be and may even be from another planet they attacked is my guess...

Maybe the mechs are the real villains, and the skitters are their slaves!

why does Speilberg do this crap? all his alien movies are full of PC non-realistic BS, heck i'm surprised he even lets guns into his shows, look at ET with the 20th anniversary version they took all the guns out and put in walkie talkies

Hollywood needs some actors, screenwriters and directors that will do a realistic sci-fi, alien movie

Peter wrote: "Hollywood needs some actors, screenwriters and directors that will do a realistic sci-fi, alien movie"

Ha haha

This was a joke right?

It made me laugh anyway. :)

Paul wrote: "Peter wrote: "Hollywood needs some actors, screenwriters and directors that will do a realistic sci-fi, alien movie"

Ha haha

This was a joke right?

It made me laugh anyway. :)"

well yeah, cuz it's not going to happen.

By realistic I mean as far as the human response, not the alien part

Sorry I was just being a prat - it still made me laugh as a comment and me being me couldn't resist. Sorry :)

Paul wrote: "Sorry I was just being a prat - it still made me laugh as a comment and me being me couldn't resist. Sorry :)"

LOL, it's no big deal :D I would have laughed too

Uggg... just gave up on the show. Watched the last recorded episode 5. Giving up now on the series. Sorry Mr. Speilberg.

Welcome back to quality viewing, Hack.

Only the season finale left and at last something interesting is happening! In regards to one of my previous criticisms, perhaps there is some logic to the mechs having 2 legs after all. But now we have super hard impervious mech metal that can easily be melted down and made into bullets using a school chemistry lab.. ummmmmm

Anything sci-fi gets a try by me. This has a lot of good elements, but for some reason they aren't gelling. The individual moments and certain characters are nice, but there's something I can't quite put my finger on that keeps me from loving it.

Bring on Terra Nova.

I hope they change directors for next years show the acting or lack there of is getting in the way of a decently plotted show...I am hoping that this is like year one of TNG and it will smooth out. Still want to love this show but poorly shot scences and stiff actors is wearing.

I have to admit that I had a poor outlook of Falling Skies & I was wrong. I actually enjoy the show. Finding out that the kids are harnessed & watch the resistance try to get the kids humanity back was interesting & fun. I can't wait for the 2 hour finale.

Spoiler Alert..for those who haven't watched the latest




Finding out that the skidders were also being harnessed & the introduction of another being made it more enjoyable in the 7th episode.

Watched the season finale last night and I was under whelmed. I really am wanting more action and pace and they seem to be tending more towards drama between the characters. As long as it stays a summer series I will probably watch because there is nothing competing for my attention but if something else pops up it will probably lose me unless it steps up next season. They need to read some William C Dietz...

Under whelmed here too. The whole ending made no sense at all. The aliens want to talk because they are experiencing more resistance than they bargained for? In the whole series there was not much successful resistance. How many aliens and mechs did the humans kill during the first season.. half a dozen maybe. That doesn't seem like much resistance to me.

If they keep the same 10-11pm Sunday night time slot then I will not be bothering with season 2.

I played City of Heroes instead. Falling Skies is officially off my radar.

Yeah, the ending was kind of odd. But on the whole, I enjoyed the first season.

I had hopes that this show would be more enjoyable than it is. I think the first warning sign was their own promos hyping the show saying "television will never be the same." I really wanted to like it. It takes place pretty much in my back yard which makes it more fun but the plotting is too plodding. It has some great elements (view spoiler)[the skitters being harnessed, the reveal of the taller aliens (hide spoiler)] but they are wrapped in such saccharine storytelling it sucks the life out of it. I found the end rather implausible, out of character, and made no sense. (view spoiler)[ Now they want to talk? What about all that resistance the military put up when they "threw everything they had at them"? (hide spoiler)] Not sure if I'll be back next season.

I'm also having a hard time enjoying the show. Not sure why - maybe the characters are too "ho-hum". Some of the things they threw out in the last 4 episodes seemed to break my plausibility meter. (view spoiler)[I didn't have a big problem with the idea of mech bullets; just that they threw them in 2 days before the attack and we're just supposed to believe that this tough mech-armor can be melted down with a high-school furnace run by a portable generator. If they had just introduced them in the middle of the season and dropped a line here or there about scavanging equipment, it would have helped. (hide spoiler)]