Monday, July 25, 2011

Falling Skies: "Sanctuary, Part 2"

Season 1, Episode 7
What? Things actually happen on this show???

I’ve been thinking about “Sanctuary, Pt. 1” since it aired last week, and I think my initial reaction may have been wrong. I stand by my statement that the episode seemed to waste a good deal of time getting to the end, I think I was a little to hard on the episode because (as I stated last week), I wasn’t viewing the episode as I was supposed to: as the first half of a two-parter. What I now realize is that “Pt. 1” was following today’s current trend of sci-fi two-parters – the first half is all set up, the second half is all payoff. While I am not a fan of this particular format – I feel stories told this way often end up feeling way too staid – accepting this from the outset may have made my viewing experience a bit more pleasurable.

What I’m far surer of is that last week’s snooze fest made this week’s episode far more enjoyable, if only for the fact that things actually seemed to happen. I realize this isn’t exactly a high critical bar for the show to clear, but it seems as if Falling Skies is resigned (for this season at least) to aim for mediocrity, so we’ll have to adjust our expectations accordingly.  For now, sad as it may seem, that means just asking the show to give us some action to hold our interest, and they at least delivered on that front tonight.

I have to give props to the show for not making anybody stupid tonight. Yes, Lodres finding that backpack was a bit convenient, but it helped to kick off the action by having Hal et al discover Clayton’s secret within the first fifteen minutes, and luckily Mike quickly fell in step with the rest of the crew. Mike’s been a bit of a problematic character since his stupid freak out back in “Prisoner of War”, and it’s been hard on the show to redeem him. I wasn’t particularly happy when this episode tried to make it seem as if he might side with Clayton (how would such a move keep Rick safe, exactly?), but at least they tried to make him go out on a heroic note, even if they stole most of that dramatic payoff away by having his death take place off-screen.

The main story ended well enough, with Tom forfeiting himself and the kids over to Clayton (which again deals with the question of “what risks are acceptable” that the show seems so fond of), and then having it be a double-cross played by Tom, which allows him to keep his smarts. And while the resolution seems to put all of characters back where we essentially started from (and thus rendering these two hours moot, at least plot development wise), I’m willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt and chalk this double bill up to an exploration of the relative morality in a post-apocalyptic landscape.

What I can’t overlook are the various almost pointless side plots that littered this episode. The worst offender of these was Sarah giving birth, which only received points for not taking place during some group migration, but considering that this plot was ultimately worthless, that’s not saying much. What were we supposed to learn exactly? That Weaver’s a softie on the inside because he knows about childbirth? At most I think this was meant as a way to keep a few actors busy during a week where the writers couldn’t find another place for them.

Pope’s arc is similarly irritating, if only because I’m not sure if giving him a redemption storyline is the smartest move at this point. Last week, I expressed displeasure at Pope showing up at the end of the episode, which wasn’t so much due to his appearance as it was the fact that I could feel the show forcing a new plot to arise. I never suspected that Pope sold the 2nd out without some coercion, so the show’s attempt to clear Pope’s name rang hollow for me. Clearly TNT is not the network for moral ambiguous characters, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at this development, but it does pain me to know that the show’s best character (thanks, Graham Yost!) will soon be watered down into a boring, straight-up good guy like everybody else.

The final side plot – Rick’s continued zombie state - holds the most promise for future episode, but continues to irk me in ways that I just can’t put my finger on. While I like the idea of the show trying to contrast Rick and Ben’s varies post-Harness experiences, the show isn’t exactly offering up any reason why these two kids are acting so differently, so once again we have an issue of forced drama. Add on top of that the fact that Rick’s zombie state doesn’t exactly make got riveting television, and as well as that the reveal that he thinks of himself as a Skitter isn’t exactly shocking given his past action, and you’ve got a plot that’s fairly boring, even as it’s trying to widen the show’s mythology.

Next Week: Answers already?

Quotes, Etc:

Man, is there any girl who won’t flirt with Hal? Think about Karen, Hal, think about Karen.

“Get in line behind the pregnant lady, nobody will even blink if you ask for seconds.”

“I smell asparagus, which means you’re boiling it, which means you’re ruining it.”

“Civilization, you gotta love it.”

“Why is it I always get the seat next to the crying baby?”

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