Falling Skies Recap: “Strange Brew”

by Merrill Barr:

Falling Skies Recap: “Strange Brew”
Original Air Date (TNT): July 21, 2013
Season 3 Episode 8

I guess I should just expect “close to greatness” as the norm from now on, shouldn’t I? When Strange Brew began I got excited. Obviously it wasn’t going to be a flashback episode, something was clearly being done to Tom’s brain by the Espheni, what that was and what its purpose was, was going to be where the fun of the episode came from. Watching Tom’s vision slowly unravel was going to be so entertaining to watch… but that’s not what we got.

Like so many of the episodes this season, the best plot point of the episode was glossed over for the excuse of “story progression.” The interesting take on this story would have been to watch Tom slowly realize things weren’t as they seemed. Perhaps he should have believed he knew who Anne was, that he was having an affair in his dream land. Let it go on, and on until the reveal in the final act that it’s all a dream. Let it get to that final moment where it comes down to either accepting the improbable truth of it all being a dream, or living in a fantasy land where his wife is still alive but the real world crumbles around him.

Instead, we get the rushed reveal halfway into the episodes runtime, and then the plot becomes nothing more than a series of scenes featuring Tom shooting various cast members in the head. That’s boring. That’s lazy. And that’s below what I expect from this show.

Then there’s the reveal that Anne and Lexi are dead (?). And that, that reveal is the truth because all of Charleston sees the grid go up. So here’s my question, in what world would Karen believe killing Anne and Lexi would make Tom talk? You lose your bargaining chip by doing that. it’s interrogation 101. The play would be to torture Anne in front of Tom to make him talk, that’s drama. And thus it brings me back to original point, this episode was rushed through. Had the entire episode been spent with Tom and his dream land and never cut to Charleston, I would have been highly intrigued by the possibilities.

And as for all the Charleston drama, beyond some great scene chewing by Weaver and Pope… eh. I’m just not feeling it the way I used to. We know Laurdis set the bomb. We know Peralta isn’t the mole. We know the Volm plan will succeed. There’s no stakes, and that’s the problem. No one’s stakes in this alien game of chess are clearly identified, ever. What does Laurdis gain? What does Karen gain? What does Peralta gain? Etc..

Nothing about character motivation in Falling Skies has been spelled out clearly in the last few episodes and until it does, I fear this trend of half-baked, rushed plot points will continue… and that’s helpful to absolutely no one.