In general, the two-hour series opener for Falling Skies on TNT felt, well, like a mix between the movie Terminator Salvation and the CBS show Jericho, especially with Moon Bloodgood as one of the few stars in a cast that also includes Noah Wyle, Will Patton and 'Mr. Military' Dale Dye.
The show basically begins some months after an alien invasion has wiped out, apparently, 90 percent of the human population and focuses on a portion of the rebellion forces. The military combat nature of the series with the rebels in small groups trying to avoid the aliens and use gorilla tactics feels and looks very much like TS. The fact they are grouped up with hiding civilians that are scrounging for resources and have no real leadership is very much reminiscent of Jericho.
Dye serves as the commanding officer with Patton in charge of the group Wyle is second in command of. They inevitably disagree and bicker a lot. Bloodgood is a medic, a shame considering it’s a reversal of the tough girl persona she had in TS as well as the USA show Burn Notice and the fact they have pretty girls, that are new faces, in the fighting forces.
The only original part seemed to be the introduction of what they term harnesses. Largely unexplained, for some reason the aliens place them on and imprison the human children while killing the adults. The rebels apparently have attempted to remove them, but the kids die in the process. This could have been a differentiator from all the other sci-fi shows and movies out there, but instead of leading with and presenting it in some creative way, it is a side story to the establishment of the cliché relationships between characters.
Among the clichés was the introduction of a band of outlaws, led by actor Colin Cunningham, who are out for themselves and not the human race, wanting nothing to do with the rebels and resulting in conflict.
Wyle again is playing the smart character (ER, The Librarian) that knows more than anyone else, which is, I guess, fitting in an alien war movie where he does not exude bad ass machismo. The one interesting thing is that he’s not science or tech smart which tends to be the case in sci-fi situations. Instead, he is Tom Mason, a professor of American history with a breadth of knowledge in world military history who shows his knowledge of military tactics throughout. Enjoying history, I like this. But more importantly, I like that he is not some super savvy smart MacGyver type genius.
The background leads to an interesting chat with the outlaw leader about Wyle’s analogy of this war being like American Revolution with Cunningham’s John Pope character countering with saying it feels more like colonization of America when Europeans came in and wiped out the Native Americans. It was by far the most intellectual and unique two-person exchange of dialogue in the first two hours. Unfortunately, it was brief.
The big problem with his character is that he is the father of three boys, including two late-teen sons, which does not seem right and the interaction between them does not come across as genuine. His family is, so far, the central storyline as one son is with him in his rebel squad while the other, who was originally missing, is later discover to be in alien custody, harnessed.
As for the aliens, they are fairly interesting and done well, which is not surprising in a Steven Spielberg production. The Skitters, as they are termed, have a kind of unique spider-like set of legs, but there are military ones in mechanized suits, Mechs, that are pretty cool with some interesting weapons systems. Not much is known about the aliens yet, but as is the case with the harnesses, that promises to be among the evolving storyline and revelations.
I think I will keep watching to see how this show unfolds a bit more, but if it doesn’t shake its cliché mold, it won’t last long.
Franklin & Bash provides fresh legal show
Another new show on TNT, the first few episodes of Franklin & Bash with Breckin Meyer, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Malcolm McDowell, Reed Diamond and Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon has been entertaining. The show is not all that groundbreaking as the duo go from being outrageous independent lawyers to part of McDowell’s firm to bring life into it. It is a little like the CBS show The Defenders where the cases are kind of quirky and handled differently by the attorneys, but unlike the quality but kind of tired personas of Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell, the F&B duo bring a fun, young and energetic zip to the stage.
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