Falling Skies Recap: “At All Costs”

by Merrill Barr:

Falling Skies Recap: “At All Costs”
Original Air Date (TNT): June 23, 2013
Season 3 Episode 4

So let’s get right to the obvious question shall we, how the fuck has Hershey lasted this long in the alien post-apocalypse? Seriously, those suckers looked fresh, didn’t they? Didn’t they?! I really want a Hershey bar now… anyway let’s get down to the nuts and bolts of something that I truly love about this season of Falling Skies… the pace. Every time a new revelation is revealed on the show I think “well it’s gonna be probably another three episodes before we get to that moment,” and so far this season has proven me wrong every time, the latest of course being the meeting between Tom and President Hathaway, a meeting that was everything I could have asked for. Stephen Collins brought everything he could to the table, playing a man on the brink of surrender while trying to maintain composure for the sake of those around him, I see a lot of potential for where his character can go should his arc extend past this season, not to mention the awesome performance by his right-hand man played by Michael Hogan, honestly, after Teen Wolf I’ll watch that guy in anything. And while I’d love to talk theories on the detaining of Cochise by the government, I feel it’s best to withhold my thoughts on the subject for a later date.

Now while meeting the president was fun the real meat of the episode was back in Charleston with the stunning revelation that Anne is in fact not crazy, that her baby is indeed infused with some kind of Espheni genetics and that as he feared, Hal is indeed the mole. I’m actually not a fan of this revelation because of all the bait and switching that the writers tried to pull in the last three episodes to sell the idea that Hal might not be the mole, if that was the route they were going to take no matter what it seems like the better play would have been to reveal his Norman Osborn like psychosis from the start, then we the audience get to play the fun game of guessing which Hal we’re seeing every time he pops up on screen.

And speaking of things I’m not loving at the moment, I feel like the whole motherly instinct thing with Anne is a trying to have your cake and eat it too situation. She can’t be trying to uncover the truth of baby Alexis then, when she learns that truth, turns right around and harms a bunch of her friends to try and get the baby out of Charleston, it doesn’t feel like something Anne would do to protect something alien, remember, this is the chick that jammed her hand down a Skitter’s throat in season one just to see if she could kill it and thus ruin any chance The Second Mass had of question the creature, she don’t fuck around when it comes to stopping the aliens, so why would she not want the truth revealed that Alexis is part alien? Does she honestly believe she can’t trust her husband, Abraham Lincoln 2.0, to keep the baby safe? Come on now guys, I expect better, also how can you hit good old Doc Kadar in the head like that, honestly?

But let’s skip ahead to the episodes book end moments for a moment because those were flat out excellent. Two weeks ago I said the opening battle of season three was the best action sequence the show has ever produced and while that still holds true, the opening of “At All Costs” was rivaling it for a solid second place trophy. It really is nice to finally see some actual weight and scale be brought to all the Espheni battles, even one as quick as what we saw this week. Then there’s the closing scene, a dog fight, a dog fight! I love dogfights, old school fighter planes fighting it out for airborne supremacy, what’s not to love? So when I realized that’s what was happening (all be it through mostly an airborne chase sequence) I was thrilled, cable budget level CG be damned! And the “to be continued” ending just furthers the idea that season three is the season that’s going to completely change the structure of Falling Skies by its conclusion, and I can’t say that I’m not at all for that.