Falling Skies: Mutiny and Eight Hours “We Have Only Begun The Fight”

Welcome back Falling Skies fans!

What a way to end the season Mr. Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks Television!

Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) and the Second Mass kicked some serious skitter butt! The two hour season finale “Mutiny” and “Eight Hours” was amazing to say the least.

It was finally time for the survivors of the Second Mass to show the aliens that humans would NOT just lay down and die.

The first season of Falling Skies the survivors of the Second Mass found their children and learned how to remove the harnesses that the aliens attached to the childrens backs. The harnesses basically made them worker drones. We saw how they pulled together in a time of crisis and fought against the enemies together. Even in the end John Pope (Colin Cunningham)  decided to help out the Second Mass. Not really sure Captain Weaver (Will Patton) gave him much of a choice.

The two hour finale started off with Dr. Ann Glass (Moon Bloodgood) and Tom Mason examining the skitter that had been brought back to the school. Ann found out during the autopsy that the skitter had itself been harnessed.

What did that mean for Ben Mason (Connor Jessup)? Tom was already worried about the patch of skin on Ben’s back and his behavior. Could he be turning into a skitter? Let us hope not!

Connor Jessup did an outstanding job playing the character of Ben Mason. A young boy trying to figure out after being kidnapped, harnessed and then having to blend back in amongst humans.

Even though Ben was back with his family somehow the skitters still had a hold on him and his thoughts. Some of the survivors were afraid of Ben because of the way Rick (Daniyah Ysrayl) was acting.

The first hour “Mutiny” dealt with Captain Weaver and his problems. It seemed ever since Boston where he was drinking and as Tom called it “borderline suicide” he had not been the same.

Weaver distanced himself from Mason and brought up in the ranks Lieutenant Danner. Where did Danner come from? Only thing about this episode that truly bothered me. His character was a very gruff military man that seemed to have it out for Tom. Why?

Margaret (Sarah Carter) and Hal Mason (Drew Roy) had formed some type of relationship over the season. It was nice to see these two characters come together whether it be friend or love interest. Hal was still hurting over the loss of his girlfriend Karen (Jessy Schram) to the aliens. Hopefully in season 2 Karen will be reunited with the Second Mass. The aliens were only using Karen to communicate with humans.

In the last episode “What Hides Beneath” Tom realized that Captain Weaver may not be as stable as he thought a leader should be. In “Mutiny” Tom spent half the episode trying to convince Weaver to not go through with the attacks because there was no confirmation that Porter and the Fourth Mass were still in position.

The only way for Weaver to shut Tom up was to actually lock him up. Tom was kept down in the basement and Lt. Danner was his watch dog.

Seriously! Where did this guy come from? What the heck is going on?

More importantly, where did he go in part 2 of the season finale? These are the questions that will surely be addressed in season two!

Thank goodness Jimmy Boland (Dylan Authors) had enough sense to go warn Dr. Glass and Hal about what Captain Weaver had done with Tom.

Freeing him while under the watch of his guard dog would not be an easy feat to accomplish under any circumstances.

However, Jimmy and Hal pulled it off beautifully. A great ending to that was watching Tom hog-tie Lt. Danner and leaving him there.

Pope shined through with his arrogance in the finale. It was very good

to watch a couple of them put him in his place. Margaret being one of them. After what Pope and his gang did to her, I do not blame her. It was not just Margaret though, Matt Mason and Jimmy Boland all stood up to him. Even Anthony (Mpho Koaho) called him a convict.

For those of you who do not know who Mpho Koaho is, he is a very talented actor out of South Africa.  Just keep watching Falling Skies ladies and you will fall in love with him!  I am very interested to see what season 2 holds for John Pope. Will he ever “completely” join the Second Mass?

Dai (Peter Shinkoda) was critically wounded by the skitters and brought back to the school unconscious. There was no way to tell if Pope was still alive until Dai woke up.

After he woke up he told Tom that Porter was more than likely killed by a mech attack and that there was no way to tell if the Fourth and Fifth Mass were even in position.

Dai told Tom that he had told Weaver the same thing. All the more reason for Tom to find Captain Weaver before he takes everyone out to do this battle with the aliens.

Tom and Dr. Glass ambushed Weaver in the medical clinic. Of course Pope shows up to turn his back on Mason. I was not surprised. After a brief History lesson from Mason, and Weaver being able to get things off his chests, the show could finally go into the second hour with everyone on the same page.

The second half of the finale “Eight Hours” dealt with Tom and keeping the civilians safe from the mechs. They had exactly eight hours until Weaver was supposed to attack the aliens. Tom struggled with Hal’s decision to join Weaver and go to Boston to carry out the original mission. Even without the Fourth and the Fifth Mass, Weaver was going to see it through. He had several volunteers offer to go with him.

After Ben talked with Uncle Scott (Bruce Gray) he ran into Rick and he had told Ben that he considered the skitters his family. Even after the harness was removed he still could feel them.

He wished they would come back for him and Ben. However, Ben did not feel the same way and encouraged Rick to feel differently. This would prove to be a problem that Ben would be unable to address as we will learn in season two.

It did not help that Rick saw the device that Uncle Scott was making to jam the signals that the skitters and mechs were sending to each other. After everyone left, Uncle Scott looked up to find Rick crawling on the ceiling. He attacked Scott and took the power fuse from the radio.

Hal gave Weaver a History lesson when Weaver asked him why he took the mission even though he knew what Weaver had been doing. Ok, I admit, I learned a little bit more about Pearl Harbor than I did know. Weaver said “like father like son, always with the History lesson.” Captain Weaver sent Hal back to the school to alert Tom that the Fourth and the Fifth were gone.

Rick ran away from the school when Ben found him and Ben chased after him. Some of the survivors that were scared aimed a gun at the kids trying to stop them from leaving. They were afraid that Rick and Ben would let the skitters know where they were at. Margaret stopped one man from shooting Ben and Tom warned him to never point a gun at his son again.

After catching up with Rick, Tom found him alone and upset. The aliens got the information they wanted out of Rick about the school and just left him there.

Deservedly feeling betrayed, Rick told Tom that he had told the aliens everything about the school, Weaver and even Tom.

This is a pivotal moment in the series that sets the stage for what is to come in season two!.

The next hour was going much better than the first hour for me. I would rather see them band together and fight for freedom than to sit back and point fingers at each other. Weaver clearly has issues but I do not think they are so bad that he cannot lead people into battle. What could be up with Weaver’s hand shaking? Post traumatic stress or drug withdrawal?

Weaver gave everyone a pre-war speech and told them that he would let them make their own decisions on whether or not they wanted to stay and fight. It was good seeing him lead again instead of being stark raving mad!

Tom gathered his team and told them all that the skitters knew where they were and would soon be coming. He wanted to evacuate the civilians and hold off the mechs with a small team for as long as they could. I love having Tom in charge. His leadership is based more on humanity and Captain Weaver’s is based on military.

Tom knew that they were scared but he reminded them that the battle of Concord and Lexington were fought there. It took just a small group of men to fight off the British army. His pre-war speech was a little different than Weaver’s but he got the morale of everyone up. Everyone except his son.

Matt did not understand why his father would not let him stay at the school and help fight. After some dad-encouraging words Matt agreed to go with Lourdes (Seychelle Gabriel).

 

It was a touching scene watching Ann say goodbye to the group that were being evacuated. Lourdes very seldom gets recognition but Ann definitely give it to her when she told her goodbye. Such a young girl to take on such big responsibilities.

With the group ready to fight the mechs and Ben trying to help Scott jam the frequencies on them the adrenaline was pumping. Ben noticed that the mech was still coming and they realized it must have switched frequencies.

Tom ordered open fire and they killed the mech. Just when everyone took a breath and a sigh of relief the loud thumping and the ground moving got everyone’s attention to the corner where more mechs were on their way.

 

Ben and Scott jump into gear to get the right frequencies the mechs are using as all of them come towards the school. The tension was high at that moment and Scott figured out that they could use the flag pole outside to make a bigger antenna. Ben rushed outside with the jumper cables and Tom caught him.

Tom took them from him and attached them to the pole. Just when you thought that the survivors were going to be killed the flag pole idea Ben had actually worked. The mechs confused by the signal retreated. Everyone celebrated!

Tom was glad to see Hal back safe and sound. Hal told him that the Fourth and the Fifth never made it to the rendezvous point and Weaver was still going to carry out the plan. Tom realized that it was a suicide mission. He also knew if Hal did not see any mechs or skitters on the way from Boston that they must have withdrew their troops and were trying to figure out what just hit them.

My favorite part of the whole finale was when Tom said goodbye to Ann. It was such a touching moment. Ann really was not expecting Tom to go to Boston. However, he told her he had done his job of keeping the civilians safe and now it was time for him to go help the men in the field.

Before Ann could really say any thing Tom grabbed her and kissed her. He held her hands and kissed them. Then he left. I really hope next season the writers follow up the relationship that these two characters are forming.

Scott loaded the car with the radio and a huge antenna so Tom could make it to Boston. He said his goodbyes to his boys and told them he loved them. They have made Tom this very loving and caring father. His character is very protective of his children.

Tom made his way into Boston and found Pope and Anthony slumped down beside a car. Anthony was wounded very bad. Tom told Pope to take him back to the hospital. Pope left Tom with the rpg. He looked around the burnt vehicles and found Captain Weaver.

Mason realized that the ships were being called home probably because they had jammed their frequencies. What better time to use the rpg launcher to take out a leg of the ship when all of the other ships were docking. Weaver asked Tom what he was thinking and he said “I’m thinking I’m close enough to take a shot”.

Tom fired a shot at one of the ships docking and hit it. It landed on fire and caused an explosion that took out half the ship. Yes! The whole second half of the finale was the Second Mass kicking skitter ass!

Tom and Weaver were stopped on the way back to the school by Karen standing in the road. Karen told them that the aliens had brought her there because they did not understand. As soon as she said that a huge ship landed behind her. A very tall and thin alien stepped off the ship.

Karen told them that they did not expect resistance on this level and that they found it interesting. Tom then yelled at the alien and Weaver threatened to blow its head off. Karen told them “don’t”. She said it was because of Ben.

The harness was a process and they would call Ben back unless Tom went with them. Tom did not have to even think twice. Karen held out her hand and Tom entered the space ship with her.

I was shocked that it ended with Tom going with the aliens. I am so eager to see where they go with this next season. Will Karen ever be free of that harness and go home to Hal? Will Ben continue to change and become one of them? Where are they taking Tom? So many questions to be answered next season.  As always I want to give thanks to those that helped me with my analysis.  My daughter Jacquelyn helped me with the pictures and Kenn helped me with tags and categories. Thank you so much!

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In any event we will look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side“! Thank you.

Best Regards,

Dragonbayne (Angela)