Falling Skies (Anyone watching it?)

[BobA]

Looks good from the point of directing and producing but the first 2 episodes left me a bit cold.   Maybe I was expecting too much from the beginning.   Hope it gets better.

[Ginsu Victim]

Without watching it, I've seen it so many times before, just with different titles....

[hypernova]

That's what I thought as well, Ginsu.  Many clones already on the air or have been on the air.

[drventure]

Yeah, nothing new there. It was disappointing. The premise is ok, but again, not new. And all the sappy music every time the guys kids came onscreen. Jeez. Talk about directing with a sledgehammer. It's like the depressing version of a laugh track.

Here's hoping it can find its legs in the next few episodes.

[SavannahLion]

I can't say I even watched the first 20 minutes of the show when I wasn't really paying much attention to it. The only scenes I can recall is one involving them trying to get a hold of C4 and some shootout in a warehouse. The aliens are familiar but I can't recall where I've seen their like....

Interesting concept, uninteresting show.

[Howard_Casto]

It's not bad.  I wouldn't lose sleep over missing an episode though.

The production values and acting is suprisingly high for this type of scifi cheese though, so it makes it worth watching if only for the fact that the actors' acting doesn't get in the way of the show  (which is a BIG problem on tv now days)

[SNAAKE]

terrible..tbh

[ark_ader]

I saw the preview but the aliens look like the ED-209.

 

Oh well....

[Dartful Dodger]

I streamed the pilot yesterday from their webpage. I liked it.

The "if the aliens have 6 legs why do their robots have only two?" question irritated me a little. We have 2 legs and our robots on Mars have 6 wheels, so it should have been a non issue. Since the show brought it up in an obvious, trying to be subtle, manner there is going to be some deep (and stupid) social commentary behind it. I have a feeling the reason for the two legged robots will disgust me enough to stop me from watching it, but for now I'll enjoy the show.

[SavannahLion]

I saw the preview but the aliens look like the ED-209.

 

Oh well....

Hmmm.... No, not quite. The basics elements are there but not the right artist. I keep thinking I've seen those aliens, or at least some of them, before. Discarded Half-Life alien concepts? Early 40k stuff? I feel as I ought to know.

[Howard_Casto]

I streamed the pilot yesterday from their webpage. I liked it.

The "if the aliens have 6 legs why do their robots have only two?" question irritated me a little. We have 2 legs and our robots on Mars have 6 wheels, so it should have been a non issue. Since the show brought it up in an obvious, trying to be subtle, manner there is going to be some deep (and stupid) social commentary behind it. I have a feeling the reason for the two legged robots will disgust me enough to stop me from watching it, but for now I'll enjoy the show.

I think you are a little confused, or you missed a bit of the plot.  Those aren't robots, they are exo-suits.  You can tell they are exo-suits not only from the plot explaination, but because they have legs.  Wheels/jets/whatever are infinately more cost-effective, energy-effective and easier to engineer than robot legs.  The only reason you would make a robot with legs, aside from asthetics, would be because it's a suit and there are real legs to contend with inside.

A robot, a car (lunar lander) and a exo suit are totally different things.

It seems to me that the dialog in that scene was poorly written though.  You look at the crab aliens and it's obvious that they are too big to fit inside those walker shells. 

And yes what you are thinking is probably the case.  Either that or it's a master/slave class of two seperate aliens. 


I've got to say, the show is getting more interesting as it goes on.  Still not great, but at least it's original.

[Dartful Dodger]

I think you are a little confused, or you missed a bit of the plot.  Those aren't robots, they are exo-suits.

Exo-suits?  This isn't a show from the 80s.

A robot, a car (lunar lander) and a exo suit are totally different things.

In the second episode a girl mentioned to her teacher that when humans build robots we give them 2 legs then she asked why these 6 legged aliens give their robots (her word for these mechanical beings, not mine) 2 legs.

The point I was making is that we are currently using 6 wheeled robots on Mars, so the aliens using 2 legged robots to on Earth shouldn't even be an issue. Since they brought it up in the show (and since it was brought up by a child) there's going to be some significant reason behind. Which is going to make me hate the show.

Until then I'll enjoy watching the show.

[Howard_Casto]

I think you are a little confused, or you missed a bit of the plot.  Those aren't robots, they are exo-suits.

Exo-suits?  This isn't a show from the 80s.

A robot, a car (lunar lander) and a exo suit are totally different things.

In the second episode a girl mentioned to her teacher that when humans build robots we give them 2 legs then she asked why these 6 legged aliens give their robots (her word for these mechanical beings, not mine) 2 legs.

The point I was making is that we are currently using 6 wheeled robots on Mars, so the aliens using 2 legged robots to on Earth shouldn't even be an issue. Since they brought it up in the show (and since it was brought up by a child) there's going to be some significant reason behind. Which is going to make me hate the show.

Until then I'll enjoy watching the show.

Turn on the news sometime.  Exo Suits, just as we imagined by our scifi series are currenty under testing by the US Military. 

Second point, a 6 year old girl is going to call anything they see moving and made of metal a "robot". 

I think you are missing the point.  I don't get into the physics of it, but making something stand on two legs is infinately more complicated than making it stand on eight or better yet using wheels.  So while the little girl might have been misguided about the reasoning, it still made the teacher think and thus it was noteworthy. 

While I agree that it's some pretty blatent foreshadowing, they shouldn't have to hit you over the head with a hammer in terms of plot to get you to understand that conversation. 

To go ahead and say it, I don't see where having the kids pilot the suits is going to ruin the show, they are already slave labor, which is bad enough.

[TOK]

I just caught up on this... Had it in DVR since the start and just watched the last episode last night. I think its OK. Not loving it, but I'll continue watching.

There is stuff that frustrates the hell out of me, like them trusting the Pope dude. That whole character is kind of lame... 140 pound renegade chef dude. They need to beat whoever is writing his dialog. They try to make him sound edgy, racist and dangerous, but it has to be so tame for TV that he says stuff like "This gas tank is dryer than a Texas nun". Have you EVER heard a tough guy utter a ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow--- line like that? 

I like the alien design. Kind of different looking, but they didn't try to give them over-the-top mean looking faces. They move cool too, just creepy enough. I agree about the kid stuff being overdone. I have an issue with the way kidnapping subplots drag a story down to begin with, and they are a major plot point in this show. I could wind up hating it if they keep dragging that out.

[boykster]

To me, feels like a Battle for LA mashup with The Walking Dead....but not as good as either of them.  I want to like it, but so far its 'meh, ok' rather than 'OMG can't wait till next week!!!'

[Howard_Casto]

To me, feels like a Battle for LA mashup with The Walking Dead....but not as good as either of them.  I want to like it, but so far its 'meh, ok' rather than 'OMG can't wait till next week!!!'

I haven't even seen Battle for LA and I can already tell you that ANYTHING is better than Battle for LA. 


As for The Walking Dead, I'm not sure if I like the tv version or not.  They only made 7 frikkin episodes and that isn't long enough to even build basic character development.

[fallacy]

I never heard of it but I just saw the trailer. Looks like Battle LA which I stopped watching after 40 minuets because it was so terrible. Basically it is just crappy face paced far away CG so you can’t tell what is really going on. They do this so they can just ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- it out with out spending any time on the detail. I am sure they have a multimedia class do half the work for them for free.

Hey we got this building and sky background and these people in the foreground staring up at the sky looking amazed. Can you take these shity ufo models fly across the sky real quick so you cant tell how shity they are, then put  a blow up effect with smoke effect, then we will pan back to the actors real quick.

Total garbage not interested.

[geomartin]

My biggest complaint with falling skies is the same complaint I have with most alien invasion movies or shows.  It seems hollywood can't figure out how to make a species so far advanced beyond ours look advanced.  They always look like primitive swamp creatures or something.  How is something like the creature in this show or Independence day supposed to build intricate devices with the clunky looking articulating devices they have that are supposed to be hands?

[Howard_Casto]

My biggest complaint with falling skies is the same complaint I have with most alien invasion movies or shows.  It seems hollywood can't figure out how to make a species so far advanced beyond ours look advanced.  They always look like primitive swamp creatures or something.  How is something like the creature in this show or Independence day supposed to build intricate devices with the clunky looking articulating devices they have that are supposed to be hands?

Well you've got to understand that smart looking aliens typically are going to look very weak.  Monsterous aliens seem like more of a threat as they are scary looking. 

In the case of these aliens, they apparently are capable of mind control, so that should explain how they get things built. 

Also if you look at the crab aliens on the show they actually seem very intelligent.  Sure their digits aren't as fancy as ours, but they have two fingers and an opposable thumb, and that's all you really need. 

[Dartful Dodger]

How is something like the creature in this show or Independence day supposed to build intricate devices with the clunky looking articulating devices they have that are supposed to be hands?

The show already suggested that the 6 legged aliens didn't create the 2 legged robots. Since it already got signed for a second season I'm guessing they’ll milk the suspense for another season.

[Dartful Dodger]

In the case of these aliens, they apparently are capable of mind control, so that should explain how they get things built.

I can't believe I missed that. This show is sounding a lot like the “Tripods” series I read in grade school.

The books had three legged aliens with 3 legged vehicles and they use mind control to take over the Earth.

First they used subliminal messages to control the weaker minded adults(and kids) to attack the adults that resisted.  Then they started "capping" pre-teenagers to insure the control. The resistance had to recruit strong minded children before they were capped.

Also the 3 legged aliens are just in the caterpillar stage of the aliens' development, the aliens would eventually mature into pure energy beings.

I wonder if Falling Skies is stealing those ideas?

The two legged machines could be controlled by aliens that have matured into something other than 6 legged creatures.

The more I try and figure out this show the more I hate it.

[BobA]

The old SF novel Puppet Masters had the same thing clinging to you back for the same reason.  In SF nothing is new.