Swapping Stories with Robert Rodat's "Falling Skies:" A Television Review ("Death March")

Creator: Robert Rodat.

Director: Seith Mann.

Writer: Heather V. Regnier.

Cast: Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, Drew Roy, Maxim Knight, Connor Jessup, Colin Cunningham, and Sarah Carter.

This reviewer really only covered two shows from 2011: "The Walking Dead" and "Falling Skies." This year, this reviewer missed the start time of Seas. 2 of "Falling Skies" despite knowing that it would begin again this summer. This sci-fi television fan is now caught up with this show despite there only being three episodes left to view.

In Epis. 8 of "Falling Skies," titled "Death March," the 2nd Massachusetts is continuing to travel to Charleston in search of other survivors. In case you missed it, "Falling Skies" involves an alien invasion, which is likely worldwide. This episode showed very little in the way of an alien presence. Instead, there was a lot of character development with the story moving along at a snail's pace.

This episode, which aired August 5th, really had few plot developments. The only story points that can be mentioned came in the last few scenes. Charleston has been wiped from the map from an alien assault. Then, Dale Dye (Platoon) introduces himself the the Massachusetts' militia as a commander of the Continental Congress. All other progression in the show was held to character development.

Disappointment at Charleston

There were some interesting reveals from the characters: Maggie (Sarah Carter), Tector (Ryan Robbins) and Jim (Dye). Maggie has a shady past. She lived on the streets while supporting an expensive drug habit. She also gave birth to a boy in prison. This is a dark past that can be added to her already told stories of rape at the hands of Pope (Colin Cunningham) and his men. These struggles may or may not put Hal (Drew Roy) off of further romancing. Meanwhile, the easy-go-lucky Tector is forced to talk of himself in the presence of his Captain, Weaver (Will Patton). Tector was previously a Gunnery Seargeant who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He seems hounded by feelings of guilt after losing part of his patrol to the enemy. Finally, Jim is the latest character to enter the show and he seems well connected to the new resistance and reformed American government. All of these characters had something to share, but all of these characterizations did little for this episode's pacing.

"Death March" seems more of an interlude especially when compared to the previous episode, "Molon Bay." There was a great deal of conflict in "Molon Bay" between the militia and alien fighters. Here, there is little interaction as "Falling Skies" slows down in preparation for the season finale. There should be more excitement coming from episodes 19 and 20 titled "The Price of Greatness" and "A More Perfect Union." However, this episode can almost be forgotten from the greater scheme of things.

This overly sad episode could be easily be skipped. Sci-fi fans will want to watch the final two episodes with the 2nd Mass' likely to face a larger battle there than in previous episodes. There seems to be an already wider arc created by Robert Rodat and his writing team. And, "Death March" is only a very small stepping stone in a larger story plan.

Overall: 6.5 out of 10 (slow paced, very little plot developments, melodrama, creating more character backstories).

The show's homepage is here:

Falling Skies Official Website

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