by Merrill Barr:

Falling Skies Recap: “Molon Labe”

Original Air Date (TNT): July 22, 2012

Season 2 Episode 7

There seems to be a new trend on television these days. It’s something I’ve seen on shows like Teen Wolf, Burn Notice, Sons of Anarchy, Nikita and a host of others including Falling Skies. The trend involves multi-episode arcs not being used as filler anymore. Just a few years ago an arc like Karen and Ben running away would have wasted three to four episodes going no where while the Second Mass tried to find them. And Karen’s intentions would not be revealed until the end of those four episodes. But in line with the new mode of thinking on shows like this, all of that is covered in the first sixty seconds of Molon Labe. And that was just the beginning of what has become the best episode of Falling Skies to date.

One of the most important plot points covered is that the Overlords are not invincible. They can be wounded by a single 9mm bullet like the Skitters and they are not as confident as they appear to be. We have spent this entire season under the assumption that the Overlords have a master plan and are always five steps ahead of everyone else (something implied by Karen which may or may not be the plot of the Kiefer Sutherland show Touch). But now we know the Overlords are in a state of “winging it” for lack of a better term, now that the Skitters have begun to revolt.

Which brings us to the other point about the Overlords. It appears they are more than just an alien race on earth for resources. As implied by the lead Overlord, they appear to be some kind of higher beings tasked (in their minds anyway) with the job of keeping the universe in line. Are there more of them? How many species have they done this to? There are many questions left to be answered on that front.

This episode also served as another reminder of how risky it is to be a character in the Falling Skies universe. We lost not one but two prominent side characters. Both in ways that are less than appealing. I want to start with Boon. Boon’s death hurts the audience because despite not being featured often, it sucks to see anyone be sent on the walk to nowhere and gunned down in the back. It reminds me of 24 season 3 when Jack is forced to kill CTU Director Ryan Chappelle in cold blood. Despite Chappelle being a minorish character, his death is one of the most memorable of the entire series. It’s because of the way he died and how unjust it was. The same case can be made for Boon.

And that brings us to the death of Jamil aka the WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT moment of the season. Jamil died three times in that scene at least. First from the explosion, then from the internal bleeding and just to cap it off, giant fucking alien spiders ate him from the inside out. That’s some high level creepiness right there. It’s truly something I didn’t think Falling Skies had in it.

This episode was full of amazing action beats like Tom vs the Mech in the back end of the hospital, Dr. Glass and the flame thrower, and of course Tom gunning down the Overlord. It was all immesly entertaining and the type of episode the show’s been setting up all season.

The final moment between Tom and Ben was a perfect send-off for this rather self-contained episode. It started with Ben running off and it ends with Ben running off. The status quo is changed but also remains the same. Now THAT is good story telling my friends.

~Merrill Barr, DarkMedia Resistance Group 49 – out~

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DarkMedia contributor Merrill Barr can also be found on his podcast, The Idiot Boxers and on Twitter @sonic43.