FALLING SKIES Ramps Up
FALLING SKIES
Season 1, episode 7: “What Hides Beneath”
The title says it all – and it covers every plot thread we have going in this episode.
What hides beneath Weaver is a desperate hope that some of his family is still alive, despite the evidence to the contrary. When Rick draws a picture of Weaver’s neighborhood, he makes a wildly unplanned and reckless jaunt to see what’s what, finding his wife’s reading glasses – which weren’t in the house before. This is what finally lifts him out of his pill-popping doldrums and brings him back to being the Weaver we saw in the beginning. No nonsense, take no prisoners, “my way or the highway” – but with a little more compassion and understanding for the civilians he protects.
What hides beneath Ben is the possibility that he could lose his humanity, even though his harness has been removed. The difference between him and Rick is so pronounced, enough for me to wonder just why they’re so diametrically opposed in their post-harness conditions. Rick’s attitude just gives us more fuel to the speculation that something deeper is going on with both of them, but what could it be? How is it that Ben seems to have come out of this experience relatively unscathed?
What hides beneath Maggie is a heart. If she were a hooker, her heart would be gold, and we’d be falling over from the cliche, but she’s really just a decent sort who looks out for those who are weaker. It gives her character depth, especially knowing now that she was once weak herself, having been a victim of cancer. Even though she’s spouting opportunistic reasons like being able to get seconds because she’s with the pregnant lady, we’ve seen she has the ability to connect with people. Witness her taking Hal’s hand at Mike’s funeral in the last episode.
When Weaver, Tom and Hal go into town to scout the Skitter base, they encounter something unexpected: a survivor (Blair Brown, who isn’t on TV enough) who lives alone and craves the company of others. Only something’s not quite right. Tom figures out that she’s been let go for a reason, to glean information from others who happen to stop by her humble abode. Which is not as secret as she might have you think… and the payoff to this story thread is a fun little mind-trip, finally answering a question we’ve been asking for a few weeks now (roll over for a spoilerish reveal: What happened to Karen?)
What hides beneath the Skitters… well, that’s two-fold, really. The big reveal at the base is just one of the surprises for this week, answering an even older question about the alien invaders (why are the robots bipedal when the Skitters have six legs?) This is a pretty big twist in the story, even though some claim to have seen it coming. It’s a good monkey wrench in the assumptions everyone’s made of the Skitters up until now.
And for Dr. Glass to figure out that the Skitters themselves are harnessed… well, that just wraps the mystery inside the riddle, doesn’t it? And raises the stakes for Ben and Rick. What’s going to happen to them? Given that Glass has been examining the boys on a regular basis, it’s no surprise she’d notice a difference in their physical condition, leading her to the suspicion that something else is afoot. When she tears into the Skitter carcass to find a harness, it raises the question of whether or not the Skitters are our kids or some other poor saps who got conquered. Are they acting on their own or just following orders?
So, Anne has a new conundrum – what to do about the post-harnessed kids. Are they just ticking time bombs?
Speaking of bombs, Pope finally gets his chance to make things go boom when he volunteers to help make the explosives for the impending attack. And “out of the mouths of babes”, indeed. Little Matt pulls a Wesley Crusher, but doesn’t actually come up with the final solution all on his own. The writers still leave that to the grown ups as Pope figures that he can use the Mech armor to make new ammunition that will actually do some damage.
Which brings us to an interesting parallel: the Skitters are scavenging scrap metal for their constructs, and now the humans will be scavenging Mech armor for their ammunition. Coincidence? Or just handy convenience? We’ve known from the beginning that the aliens were scrounging for scrap metal. Only we haven’t known why. The reveal that they’re using it to build their bases only raises more questions. Why come all this way to Earth? Why use Earth-bound building materials when they have the technology to travel through space? What do they want with the kids?
Next week, it’s a two-part season finale. I’m sure it will answer some of those questions. And since the show’s already been picked up for a second season, I’m sure there will be brand new questions for us to ponder until the next set of episodes begin.
