Falling Skies - Pilot - Review

After much anticipation, Falling Skies finally arrived on TNT this week! The show was tipped to be the “must watch” show of the year … but did it meet these expectations?

I have to say, I have been waiting for this premiere for months now, so I did have very high expectations, and I wasn’t left disappointed.

Was the show completely unique? No. Have we seen similar things in movies? Yes. But that’s not the point, in just two hours, ‘Falling Skies’ drew the audience in, took us on a journey with the characters and opened up a whole summer of blockbuster style TV! It looks to be everything that recent shows such as ‘V’ were not, (as much as I supported V).

From the start of the show, the cast had my attention. Seeing Noah Wyle back on my screen as Tom Mason, a father of three helping to fight the battle against the aliens was brilliant. He took to the role perfectly. We meet two of his sons in the premiere, Matt and Hal, both have great chemistry with Tom. It’s a bit early to say too much about the cast/characters on the whole, but one thing I will say is that they all felt completely real.

The episode started after the aliens had invaded which I liked, I think where certain shows, no names, in the past have gone wrong is doing the opposite. We quickly learnt that there were two types of aliens: The Mechs and The Skitters. We are told both can be killed, just like humans. If the aliens don’t kill the humans, they take them hostage and turn them into slaves. One of Tom’s sons has been taking hostage. He is spotted early on and is still alive.

Not much was given away about the aliens which makes the show even more exciting and mysterious. Another thing I loved about the premiere was the balance of action with the reality of real life after an event like this. The scene were Tom was watching his son play on his skateboard helped to keep the show grounded and connect with the audience. I hope the show can keep this up and not get lost in big action sequences, although lots of them would be good too please.

It’s hard not to compare ‘Falling Skies’ to ‘The Walking Dead’, they both have similar themes, one with aliens and one with zombies. But for me, ‘Falling Skies’ held its own against similar shows in the past.

The show may not have given us anything blockbuster movies haven’t, yet, but we have all summer to watch the show develop. It looks a lot more promising than other recent sci-fi shows, that’s for sure! What I think is the most promising after seeing the pilot, is that the show isn’t just going to be about an alien invasion and fighting them, it’s going to be about values, survival, relationships and how the characters deal with this post-apocalyptic World.

I am more than excited about the rest of the series and will most definitely be tuning in next week!