by Merrill Barr:
Falling Skies Recap: “Homecoming”
Original Air Date (TNT): July 15, 2012
Season 2 Episode 6
One moment please:
SEASON 3!!
Anyway:
It’s been two week’s since the Second Mass took refuge in the abandoned hospital outside Richmond, but those two week’s haven’t come without consequence. As Weaver said, the resistance has become slow, complacent, weak. They’re quickly heading down the path towards self-destruction, not survival. But thanks to a well timed biological struggle, Homecoming served as the episode to establish the status quo for the rest of the season.
First and foremost, Karen is back in play. Unlike the characters of our favorite resistance group however, I at no point believed Karen was telling the truth. I do the best I can to avoid calling any writing “bad,” but the way the beginning of her arc played out this episode was dull. If for no other reason than the fact that her story didn’t add up on the surface lever.
“Tom, it’s so nice to see you alive. I hated watching them torture you”
“How did you get unharnessed, Karen?”
“I don’t remember. All I remember is being harnessed and then waking up in the field”
But wait, wouldn’t that mean she wouldn’t remember any of her experiences being harnessed? You know, like Tom being tortured? So now we must ask a new question, is Karen acting under her own volition or not? Have the Overlords developed an updated “harness” that doesn’t need to be attached to the spine? Has Karen come to not only accept but embrace the Overlords’ plan? There’s much to ponder on her regard. Sadly, there isn’t much else to discuss until we know more.
The other piece of Second Mass business is that we as an audience are now able to believe Tom can take care of what’s needed. With Weaver out of commission, Tom was fully thrust into the leader position like he’s never been before. But like a true champ, Tom passed the leadership test with flying colors. While he may have seen relaxed, he was ready to spring into action at a moments notice. Was he right when he said to Weaver everyone just needed some R&R? I’d say so. I’d say so indeed.
Now there’s just the tiny matter of Ben. Much like the rest of the episode, all the really compelling stuff was bogged down in major set-up work for the rest of the season. Does he believe Karen’s story? Is he being mentally manipulated by her? Is he falling in love with her? After a while it just got lame and boring. All good arcs, they just weren’t started with the kick in the ass like some others this season.
It isn’t fare to judge this episode too harshly since three major arcs were established in the mere 40+min run time. While by far the weakest episode of the season to date, it definitely leaves us wanting to see where everything’s headed.
~Merrill Barr, DarkMedia Resistance Group 49 – out~
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DarkMedia contributor Merrill Barr can also be found on his podcast, The Idiot Boxers and on Twitter @sonic43.
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