CATCHING UP: Falling Skies (Season One, Episode Seven – “Sanctuary: Part 2”)

First aired July 24th, 2011.

The kids of the 2^nd Mass. feel like they’re at camp. They have hot meals and play friendly games of soccer. They have no idea that Terry Clayton (played by Henry Czerny) plans to offer them up as Skitter bait.

Gradually, they begin to notice something’s wrong. Lourdes (Seychelle Gabriel) finds the backpack of the boy Clayton gave to the Skitters in the last episode. Meanwhile, Hal (Drew Roy) notices that the guards are more interested in watching them instead of signs of Skitters. They take their suspicions to 2^nd Mass. soldier Mike (Martin Roach), but he’s an old friend of Clayton’s and is skeptical of their claims. Clayton eventually confesses to everything, that by trading kids he and his men are protected from the Skitters.

Clayton urges Mike to join him in order to protect himself and his de-harnessed son, Rick (played by Daniyah Ysrail). Mike decides to be heroic and evacuates all the kids and dies in the process. After finding shelter in a suburban home, Hal sends Ben (Connor Jessup) to run and find help with his newfound stamina.

While the overall plot is interesting, there are a lot of moments in the episode that feel too convenient, such as Clayton and his men conveniently finding the house Hal and the kids are hiding in, or how Ben conveniently finds his father, Tom (Noah Wyle), while running back to base. It takes away from the drama when so many things “just happen” to fall into place.

Sure enough, Tom and Clayton have a firefight outside the house with Pope (Colin Cunningham) showing up to assist. Tom tells the kids to surrender and leads Clayton into an ambush by the 2^nd Mass. led by Captain Weaver (Will Patton). Clayton goes down fighting while his men are left behind after being warned never to bother the 2^nd Mass. again.

At the very least, the episode does set up a good future plot involving Rick, who seemed very wooden throughout the episode. He disparaged Ben for eating “their” food and barely registered the loss of his father. It turns out that Rick is upset at being de-harnessed and now views himself as a Skitter and not human. He wants to go back and thinks Ben feels the same.

The B plot of the episode focuses on Anne (Moon Bloodgood) helping Sarah (Melissa Kramer), a pregnant civilian going through labor. Anne cannot safely perform the necessary C-Section, so Captain Weaver steps in, having (conveniently) helped his wife turn a breach baby safely. This small peek into Weaver’s past is a nice piece of the puzzle of who he is. Not showing the birth is also a smart idea, as it would take screen time from the main plot.

It was great seeing Pope back in action as his antagonist personality was always fun to watch. His coming to Tom’s aide was not out of any loyalty, but hatred for people who would work with Skitters, which was great. Having Pope suddenly become a nicer person that fast would have been unbelievable and not as interesting to watch.

Quotes/Thoughts

“I’m just pragmatic. Get in the chow line with the pregnant lady, nobody even minds if you ask for seconds.”

First episode without aliens. Hopefully, that won’t happen again.

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

I really hope Pope sticks around for a while.

If you enjoyed Manny’s review and would like to read other pieces like it, you can find the rest of his work HERE. You can also follow him on Twitter @KN_Manny.

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