# Falling Skies: New TNT Series Starts Sunday **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955 "2011-06-18T18:35:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/162 "2011-07-12T19:05:04Z")
In other news: [Falling Skies renewed for a second season](http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/07/07/tnt-renews-falling-skies-for-a-second-season/97472/) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/163 "2011-07-12T23:07:47Z")
Been watching, haven’t caught last week’s yet. I’m enjoying it, mostly. > [@Tangent](#): > > Also, when the resistance commander captured the villainous leader from the other group near the end, he should have immediately put a bullet through his skull. Yes, absolutely. He was a friggin’ murderous criminal before the incident, and his behavior with his group shows he is just a liability. I’m sure they’re going for the “but maybe he knows things they need, like how to kill Skitters” and “maybe his personality is a survival function for humans” or whatever. Blah, he is not an asset to them at that time, and they don’t need a drain on their resources. Wax him fast, take the weapons and any supplies the girl shows them, and move on. Use what info he dumped to Professor Soldier and move on. > [@Folacin](#): > > As the Falling Skies character, in his attempts to tie the Revolutionary War to this conflict - who is going to play the role of France? Maybe the Arisians or the Asgaardians can swing by with some munitions (although Arisia tends to be more hands off). It’s not meant to be a direct analogue. More of a motivational/inspirational comparison. > [@Merijeek](#): > > Why do the aliens only go after groups under X size? Why are they shifting those numbers downward? I took it as a simple matter of starting big and working down the chain. First wipe out the capitols and largest population centers - no need for everyone since they only want kids anyway. The military was eliminated in one fell swoop, too - too much hassle to deal with, make it go away. Now start in the big cities and do your round up/weed out/snatch kids routine. Kill off adults and infants, keep workable kids in harness. Start with groups of a million, work down from there. When run out of groups of a million, move down to groups of 100,000. Then groups of 10,000. Rinse, repeat. It’s simple numbers. They got down to groups of 1000, so make smaller groups. Once they seek out and sort groups of 1000, then they’ll aim at groups of 500, or 300, or whatever. It’s simply logistics - focus on the most productive size you have to work with, and only go after the smaller groups later. > [@](#): > > What makes a half-dozen guys think they can raid an enemy mothership to grab their missing relative and get away alive? This! Well, it’s not the mothership, but still, what makes them think they can raid an enemy compound to make off with a kid? What makes them think that making off with a harnessed kid is _smart_. Sure, you get your kid back, now what do you do with him? Is he still under the influence of the harness? Can they track him? Continue to control him? Get info on you from him? Okay, I understand they tried at first and then found out it kills the kids. Why are they so caught up with “rescuing” their specific children, when right now the rescue doesn’t consist of helping unharness the kids, only either killing them or putting yourself and the rest of your group in danger? > [@ExTank](#): > > There is something to be said for striking _now_, while there are weapons and bodies enough to make a difference, not next year when lack of food, medicine, and shelter has killed off 2-out-of-3 humans that the aliens haven’t. But that’s the point, they don’t have enough bodies to make a difference now. They only succeed on the small scale actions because the Skitters aren’t really concerned with the small scale actions. If the attacks become to severe, they wipe everyone out, no fuss just muss. The humans are scattering and running now because they can’t effectively fight, only get slaughtered. Right now it’s about survival. They hope to learn enough to be able to develop effective means of larger scale resistance, but the primary goal now is to stay small enough not to be sought out by the Skitters, and avoid drawing attention they otherwise wouldn’t get. The Skitters are working on a two prong algorithm. 1. Deal with population by size, largest groups first, unless 2. If a population group attacks/resists/makes a mess, deal with them, then proceed to 1. > [@xoferew](#): > > They should raid a Toys R Us or something and equip ALL the kids with skateboards, bikes, and scooters. Yes, that’s a brilliant idea. Right now they seem to have settled in the school area, but presumably they may need to run in the future again. Why not stock up now? > [@aldiboronti](#): > > In the military, you need that chain of command. You need it so officers can tell you that going after a species that has WIPED OUT YOUR ARMED FORCES with your plucky group of 6 commandos just because you are a dedicated parent is a bad idea. Bingo. > [@xoferew](#): > > It would be kind of cool if the mousy praying girl became a loony cult leader and half the military defects to join up with her. I would think the destruction of most of humanity would make some people very susceptible to any kind of religious answers. Yes, I’m so annoyed by the whole “let’s pray together” thing. Surely _somebody_ is out there, “I didn’t believe in God before this mess happened, why would I start now?” > [@spooje](#): > > On a related note, how is only hot chicks survived? Did they use the less attractive as cover? Interesting visual… “Quick, hide behind the fat girl!” I think this is just standard Hollywood filter on humanity. If it helps, you can imagine one of the hot girls used to be fat, but doesn’t have as much to eat now. And imagine a giant mole on another one. 😃 > [@Tangent](#): > > I still like the show, but the biggest :rolleyes: moment for me was when they have sneaked stealthily up on the harnessed kids, and the black guy spots his own lost son and goes TOTALLY FUCKING INSANE and yells “RICKEEEEEY!!!” at the top of his lungs and goes charging in there on his own like a complete idiot. I was hoping he’d get stomped by an alien mech. Yeah, that was telegraphed and painful. I was hoping they’d make the point how dumb it was to lose your cool, but I guess the kid with the dog was making that point, so this point had to be “we can’t resolve the main character’s biggest hurdle right away”. > [@elfkin477](#): > > Why do aliens so rarely resemble mammals? And by mammals, I don’t mean bipedal ones that look like they’d be comfortable in a furry convention… Why should they resemble mammals? I suppose if we’re going to independently evolve sentient life, it is plausible somewhere out there another group also evolved hair/fur, and the survival benefits that construes. But from a writer’s perspective, there’s something about making the aliens more _alien_ and less pleasant if you go with bugs as your inspiration. It triggers the innate creepy meter. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/164 "2011-07-13T02:20:13Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > In other news: > [Falling Skies renewed for a second season](http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/07/07/tnt-renews-falling-skies-for-a-second-season/97472/) Throwing more money down the hole in my opinion. I think I’m done with this one, nothing about it is holding my interest. It’s just bad.maybe things will change and I’ll be forced to catch up but until then I can watch plenty of failed sci-fy movies with better plots actors and special effects. ---
**Author:** ![Kylede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kylede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kylede)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/165 "2011-07-18T03:07:42Z")
Here is the fact you are all not getting It isn’t about the tech or the military “realness” or sci-fi It is a drama about an occupied people!!! It is a drama about a resistance movement! The aliens and the invasion are the Mcguffin to do a show about an occupation and resistance movement … Much like the original “V” (not the wacky weird new thing) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/166 "2011-07-18T22:54:22Z")
I usually don’t nitpick these shows, but I’m really wondering about this - in this week’s episode (7/17 - “Sanctuary”), the returning resistance fighter says there is an impending skitter attack on the camp, and tells Weaver their orders are to send the children ahead to safety (a cabin “Sanctuary”) and wait for the Mass 3[sup]rd[/sup] to meet them at their camp, after which both Weaver’s group and the Mass 3[sup]rd[/sup] will head to the same Sanctuary. But - why does this sound like a good idea to anybody? “Hey, send your kids to safety, but you guys stay here and wait for the skitters and their mechs to decimate you. Then the survivors can join up with the 3[sup]rd[/sup] and go to their children!” What? Why? If there’s a skitter attack coming, why am I _waiting here for it_? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/167 "2011-07-18T23:20:24Z")
I wish we were live posting as we did on 24, Are we hiding spoilers in this thread? 'cause I didn’t like this guy’s plan right from the start, and figured he wanted the kids. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/168 "2011-07-18T23:50:01Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I wish we were live posting as we did on 24, > > Are we hiding spoilers in this thread? > > 'cause I didn’t like this guy’s plan right from the start, and figured he wanted the kids. No spoilers warning in the title so I assume we are. I couldn’t get over how dumb that was. “Hey, our kids are our most precious commodity, let’s send them all off with this guy who wandered in and said he wanted to go on ahead with them!”. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/169 "2011-07-19T06:08:36Z")
Not a good episode. I keep giving this show one more chance and keep getting disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/170 "2011-07-19T12:31:35Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I wish we were live posting as we did on 24, > > Are we hiding spoilers in this thread? > > 'cause I didn’t like this guy’s plan right from the start, and figured he wanted the kids. Spoilers for July 17th episode: [spoiler]Is there ANYBODY that didn’t see that coming? I didn’t trust the dude from the get-go. ONE guy comes in and says he wants all the kids? Yeah. . .no. And remember, these are the ppl who survived while millions, of not billions, of others died. These are the clever survivors that take the dangerous criminals with them on missions, and give away their kids. They really need to bounce some ideas off other people before they commit them to film. “Sorry, that’s really stupid, and no way would I, nor any other reasonably intelligent person do that.” [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/171 "2011-07-19T15:45:53Z")
Yeah, this is just not a good show. Everything that happens is totally telegraphed. [spoiler]At the beginning of the episode, when the Dr. was working on a kid with a family we’d never seen, I said, “she’s getting shot.” Well, that didn’t happen but there was a gun in her face when she turned around. I knew she wouldn’t die, but it was so obvious that something bad was going to happen. And yeah, who thought it was a good idea to just send the kids with the new guy? Come on! Finally, what’s the deal with Ben? He seems way more normal after removing the harness than Rick (is it Rick?) does.[/spoiler] The show is not frustratingly bad in a \*Lost \*sort of way. It’s just a combination of a dumb story, dumb writing and sometimes quite bad acting. The DVR is set to record the whole series, so we’ll probably finish out the season. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/172 "2011-07-19T15:51:23Z")
It’s not great, but it is worth watching. Better than your average cop/doctor/lawyer program anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/173 "2011-07-19T16:00:04Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > Spoilers for July 17th episode: > > [spoiler]Is there ANYBODY that didn’t see that coming? I didn’t trust the dude from the get-go. ONE guy comes in and says he wants all the kids? Yeah. . .no. > > And remember, these are the ppl who survived while millions, of not billions, of others died. These are the clever survivors that take the dangerous criminals with them on missions, and give away their kids. They really need to bounce some ideas off other people before they commit them to film. > > “Sorry, that’s really stupid, and no way would I, nor any other reasonably intelligent person do that.” > > [/spoiler] I really think the problem was that he was just introduced to us. It was implied that they knew him pretty well, but we had no reason to trust him. They should’ve introduced him now, have him fight aside them, and then introduce this plot like five episodes from now. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/174 "2011-07-19T16:04:53Z")
I haven’t seen this newest episode yet, but I have to ask…does the guy own a bike shop? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/175 "2011-07-19T16:38:26Z")
More spoiled stuff about the previous episode. [spoiler] > [@](#): > > They should’ve introduced him now, have him fight aside them, and then introduce this plot like five episodes from now. But the aliens are probably using his family to make him co operate, so he doesn’t have much time.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/176 "2011-07-19T16:50:45Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > [spoiler] > > But the aliens are probably using his family to make him co operate, so he doesn’t have much time.[/spoiler] Well, they could’ve made him not get “turned” until later on. I’m not saying my idea would work with the plot as it is right now, I’m saying that we needed to know this character more so his sudden but inevitable betrayal was more of a twist. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/177 "2011-07-19T16:55:37Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Well, they could’ve made him not get “turned” until later on. I’m not saying my idea would work with the plot as it is right now, I’m saying that we needed to know this character more so his sudden but inevitable betrayal was more of a twist. Yeah, that would have worked. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/178 "2011-07-19T18:35:23Z")
[SPOILER]Well, that’s just it - ‘we’ don’t know his motivation just yet, and it was also clear that he had ties with members of that group before they split off - so, it’s not unreasonable for them to trust him at that juncture. It also makes sense to move the children away from imminent fighting, as well as having to maintain the FOB for the rest of the whatever group to meet up with. They also sent members of their own fighters with him - so its not like they trusted him entirely on his own. I also think its quite understandable that ‘most humans would trust other humans to not betray them directly to the aliens’ at this point - unless harnessed, this is likely the first time they will have encountered a traitor of this magnitude. IOW, while it was obvious ‘a mile a way’ to all of us viewers - it does actually fit into the show. and of course - he will still end up dieing a ‘hero’s death’ before the end of this - he’ll do something redeemable - at least partially so.[/SPOILER] ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/179 "2011-07-20T09:05:19Z")
No need for spoiler boxes after we’ve been talking openly about the show for weeks. But yeah, that plan didn’t even have the superficiality of sounding reasonable. Even if it had been “send all your civilians ahead while the fighters delay” that makes more sense, and you could have a subplot in which the civilians were killed or abandoned and the kids taken. But just saying “oh hey guys yeah just give us your kids. And stay here. And keep the adult civvies with you” makes no sense from any angle. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/180 "2011-07-20T14:41:25Z")
I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that the kids were lead into a trap. Never would have guessed it in a million years. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955/181 "2011-07-20T15:23:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that the kids were lead into a trap. Never would have guessed it in a million years. Hmmph. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/falling-skies-new-tnt-series-starts-sunday/585955.md?page=10)