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Falling Skies: The Complete Third Season
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (16th June 2014). |
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The Show
 “Human logic is to be discarded when at war with extraterrestrial beings.” I’m not the only one who thinks “Falling Skies” is to TNT what “The Walking Dead” (2010-present) is to AMC, am I? I think even the execs at TNT saw the connection, or at least hoped there'd be some correlation when they gave the green light to “Skies” mere months after AMC's adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s on-going comic book changed the expanded cable landscape overnight. It's a post-apocalyptic tale of survivors, from Steven Spielberg and “Saving Private Ryan” (1998) screenwriter Robert Rodat, set against not a world made waste by a zombie plague but alien invaders. As if not analogous enough already, the shows have striking similarities both on screen—from the broadly archetypal, beleaguered and bearded lead, to the oddly specific detail that the twenty-something guy character’s love interest is named Maggie. The series share some off screen similarities too. “The Walking Dead” ravenously chewed through former showrunners Frank Darabont and Glen Mazzara—leaving a figurative skeleton without any dramatic “meat” or structural “muscle” on the bone anymore. “Falling Skies” has had an equally revolving roster, too. The first season was overseen by Mark Verheiden and Graham Yost, who then left to give his full attention to “Justified” (2010-present); Remi Aubuchon signed on for season two, and he’s passed the reigns off to former “Battlestar Galactica” (2004-2009) executive producer David Eick for the upcoming fourth season. The difference is, while I think the tussle between network and top title crew has ultimately made “The Walking Dead” decline steadily in quality—with fewer highs and a dumbfounding dip to new, lower lows with every increasingly disappointing season—“Falling Skies” has almost had the opposite happen, with each subsequent set of 10 episodes slightly better than the last. Still, improved or not, “Skies” is not among the best hour—or 40-odd minutes—on television at the moment, although the third season is passably entertaining in all its popcorn-y sci-fi (but not science-fiction) pulp. In a move that’s a little surprising—but hardly shocking for a series that’s very first episode already opened in media res, where the titular skies had fallen sight unseen and an alien force was well on its way to enslaving humanity—“Skies’” third season picks up seven months after the game changing second season finale, where a new race of apparently benevolent aliens, known as the Volm, had presented themselves in a cliffhanger. As is quickly, and at times bluntly explained in the season premiere, the Volm sent a skeleton crew to assist humanity in their war against the previous invading force, now given a name beyond the pejorative Skitters and Overlords (and their Mechs): the Espheni. In a series instilled with frequent and hilariously overdone illusions to the American Revolution, the Volm are the French to the Espheni’s British army—agreeing to fight a mutual enemy, which is quite helpful to now-official President Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), his military counterpart newly christened Colonel Weaver (Will Patton), and the rest of the ragtag group of rebels who call themselves the Second Massachusetts. The Volm have given the 2nd Mass access to much more powerful alien technology, including battle-changing weaponry, and even an adviser, affectionately named Cochise (played by Abe Sapien himself, and vaguely looking like a much greener version of him too, Doug Jones). A sort of Lafayette stand-in with an Native American name, the alien offers much to Tom and his brain trust, particularly vital information about the Espheri, which helps them understand their adversary in ways never thought possible. The Volm have been fighting the opposition for many years, and fitfully staved off a previous invasion themselves. There’s an ambiguity that runs through much of the season, leaving Cochise’s—and the Volm’s—true intentions and motivations as an subtle serialized mystery. Unfortunately, the season finale spoils much, solving the mystery almost completely instead of leaving it open ended for a more effective cliffhanger, which could’ve given into season four. Regardless of how the Volm ultimately figure into “Falling Skies” larger end game, in the interim, the Volm give slight assistance and a subtle upper hand to humanity. For the first time since the invasion, the 2nd Mass appear to be winning battles, if not yet the war. And so some semblance of normality is restored, as the group establishes a permanent settlement in the ruins of Charleston, North Carolina. The city is appropriately dubbed New Charleston, and within its confines there is both safety and subversive danger, because among the many other mysteries and serialized plot elements in play in season three, it seems there’s a possible mole inside the 2nd Mass. The third season also sees a continuation of the interesting if ill-handed Skitter rebellion, wherein a small faction of Espheni are working closely with humans and previously harnessed kids to overthrow their own species, with the help of Mason’s middle son Ben (Connor Jessup), who spends much of the season attempting to further reconcile his post-harness alien and human sides. And there’s a development for Tom, whose contentious presidency faces occasionally opposition from internal forces—his own constituency and newly introduced Vice President Marina Peralta (Gloria Reuben)—and externally as well, in former president-elect Hathaway (played to stoic effect by Stephen Collins), who it turns out is still very much alive and in charge of his own band of survivors. Less interesting, and often very troubling subplots include Mason’s scene-sucking romance with Anne (Moon Bloodgood), who finally gives birth to the couple’s child—of all things, a creepy demon baby with inexplicable hybrid DNA. Mason’s youngest son, Matt (Maxim Knight), enters his teen years with a touch of ye ol’ pubescent rebellion and the show runs through all the cliches of that arc, apocalypse be damned. And then there’s Hal (Drew Roy), engaged in a secretive three-way with new squeeze Maggie (Sarah Carter) and old flame Karen (Jessy Schram), who has pulled a Benedict Arnold and serves her Overlord masters by choice, without a mind-altering harness. Hal’s plot thread includes a complication that has him effectively possessed, manifesting in a comically evil variation on the elder Mason son, which, unintentional hilarity aside, at least gives Roy a chance to have some fun with a different take on his character. Wyle continues to be a fine fit for the reformed History professor turned wartime leader at the core of the show. Mason is a sort of not-to-novel spin on Tom Hanks' character in “Saving Private Ryan”; a man of letters and books that in a time of need has become a man of leaded bullets. He’s almost always on the front lines, although he’s essentially a woeful tactician, who leaves much of the battle planning to Weaver and his team, and is instead a speechifying rallier—addressing the troops and surviving civilians with valiant vigor. The writers use Tom’s orating skills like a crutch, propping up the plot with empty, vaguely patriotic, platitudes between lulls in the action. As with many things this season, the speeches are less grating, and amusingly have even become somewhat meta (Tom literally gives a speech about giving so—perhaps too—many speeches). But Wyle still proves believable in a kind of bland if not boring way, as a tried-and-true family man who'd do anything for those he loves (even when those he loves frequently do very stupid things that really could've, and should've gotten themselves and others killed, mostly due to a complete lack of logical sense). The actor/character does all while sporting his continually marvellous beard. The rest of the cast turn in at the very least decent work, with Colin Cunningham’s John Pope continually the best written and performed character in the show; his swarthy scoundrel is given not just much to do as a counterpoint to Mason and the other leaders, but literal power in season three, in the form of his own shantytown, a fiefdom of frothy debauchery on the fringes of New Charleston called—because why not?—Pope Town, where his bar The Nest is host to all things nasty and untamed. The best new addition to the series is Dr. Roger Kadar, played by Robert Sean Leonard in full on anti-Dr. Wilson mode. Long-haired and slightly disheveled, Leonard is a little more like his former character’s screen partner Greg House; acerbic and often short, but resourceful and always the smartest guy in whatever room he’s in. He’s what Steven Weber’s doctor character from the first season should have been, but wasn't. In fact, most of season three seems to be best described as a refinement on the show’s previous form. New Charleston serves a similar role as the school in season one, but with expanded scope in that it is much less a fortified block of a confused collective staving off attack after attack, and rather the birthplace of a full blown civilization thriving with old and new life. The survivors are no longer fully on the defensive, but actually mounting frequent—and intermittently successful—offense, and these impressively well-staged battles likewise prove to be much bigger than “Falling Skies” basic cable budget would usually confine. The season is inconsistent, as are episodes—which can prove rife with the same inane and groan-inducing illogical idiocy as the show has ever had at its worst moments—but the writers, which include former members of the “Battlestar” staff David Weddle and Bradley Thompson, attempt to innovate to various degrees of success. When the writers wander outside of the usual structures, as they do in “Search and Recover”—which draws more character focus from the show’s most interesting parallel in Tom and John Pope, as they're forced to work together in the woods essentially severed from the rest of the characters—“Strange Brew”—in which Tom wakes up in an alternate reality where the aliens never invaded—and "Journey to Xilalba”—another insular character-centric study in less-is-more—both elevate the storytelling in those encapsulated episodes and expose the deficiencies in it elsewhere. Through it all, “Falling Skies” is decent entertainment, with solid if hardly consistent visual effects, a very capable cast, and some excellently directed action sequences, with enough pulpy if often trashy mystery and plot twists to keep the show watchable even at its worst. And like "The Walking Dead", I'm still hate-watching even when it's awful. Fortunately, "Falling Skies" is a lot less awful than it once was, but still far from great. “Falling Skies: The Complete Third Season” includes 10 episodes on two discs; each episode below has a approximate runtime of 42 minutes: – “On Thin Ice”—Seven months after the Second Mass arrived in Charleston, Tom Mason has been elected to political office, but has his hands full as the resistance continues to battle the alien invaders. – “Collateral Damage”—With hostilities escalating between the resistance and alien invaders, Tom calls on a nuclear specialist known as “The Rat King” to come up with a plan that will strip the aliens of their power. – “Badlands”—the two-year anniversary of the alien invasion is fast approaching as the people of Charleston prepare for another potentially devastating offensive. – “At All Costs”—After the people of Charleston defeat another alien attack with the help of new advanced weaponry, Tom is invited to meet with a powerful leader. – “Search and Recover”––When a mission goes terribly awry, Tom and Pope must rely on each other to survive. Meanwhile, Weaver and company search desperately for two members of the 2nd Mass who have gone missing. – “Be Silent and Come Out”—Hal finally reveals his internal struggle to everyone, and it doesn't bode well for the Masons. Charleston’s government sees a massive shift in leadership when a group breaks away on a search and rescue mission. – “The Pickett Line”—The Masons run into trouble on the road when a family of outlaws intercepts their search and rescue crew. Meanwhile, looming doubts over the construction of a massive alien weapon ignite a conflict of interest within the survivors. – “Strange Brew”—Things seem much too calm for Tom, making him suspicious of his surroundings. On his way back to Charleston, he makes a number of discoveries, some incredibly surprising and other utterly horrifying. – “Journey to Xilalba”—Tom uncovers confidential intelligence about the heart of the alien operation. Meanwhile, Charleston prepares to mount an offensive against the Espheni, but a massive explosion brings operations to a halt. – “Brazil”—In the season finale, when the 2nd Mass destroys a crucial alien base, a relentless enemy is taken down and the Mason family is reunited with those who had been lost. But the arrival of more interstellar players puts the fate of Earth’s remaining human population in doubt.
Video
Detailed but never razor-sharp, with a desaturated color palette of mostly grimy grays and other muddy tones, overblown contrast and blooming whites, a healthy layer of 35mm film grain, and lots of chaotic handheld camerawork (and some very nice long takes), “Falling Skies: The Complete Third Season” would never win top prize in a pretty-picture contest. While the 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded high definition presentation, framed in 1.78:1 widescreen (incorrectly labeled as 2.40:1 on the packaging), is a marked improvement over the bit-starved HDTV broadcast, nagging compression artifacts, faint aliasing inherent in the occasionally questionable CGI, spotty skies fraught with banding, and some chunkily-rendered grain are troubling, although perhaps not as much as the unsatisfying blacks, which leave the entire presentation slightly milky, flat, and uncharacteristically bright without much depth. Although never flawed to the point of distraction, and in fact frequently quite impressive, I have a nagging feeling that the third season could look better than it does on this Blu-ray. It was never going to be a conventionally pleasing picture, but spreading the season to three discs might have alleviated some of the compression problems (in addition to 5 episodes apiece, each disc houses more than an hour of HD bonus material.) I also have a suspicion that there’s something off with the black level.
Audio
In another tech specs packaging error, “Falling Skies: The Complete Third Season” lists the codec as DTS-HD Master Audio, replete with requisite logo, when in fact the series’ third Blu-ray iteration continues the trend of the first two releases with an effective English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. The season opens with a pretty impressive action sequence that has almost every character in play, and is supported by booming explosives, rat-a-tat artillery fire, crumbling rubble, truck tires spitting gravel and galloping hooves from the damn horse Tom literally rides in on—in his first shot, looking as presidential as George Washington crossing the Delaware, if Washington had looked like a bearded homeless man. Dialogue is always intelligible, and the track has an energy—with well-used surrounds and smooth panning—most obvious in the alternating action scenes. As solid as it sounds, the mix betrays the budget limitations and narrow television origins, at times when the track is never as immersive, and bass never bottoms out, in the way a comparable blockbuster might. The third season also includes a plethora of subtitle options: English, French, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish.
Extras
“Falling Skies: The Complete Third Season” is a little lighter on supplements than the series’ two previous Blu-ray releases—missing the audio commentaries found on earlier sets—but that’s not to say season three is exactly barebones. The two disc set includes several featurettes and 9 episodes of the roundtable interview style featurettes after show, “2nd Watch”. All content is encoded in high definition, the disc’s static menus are surprisingly clean, and there are no forced trailers cluttering up the viewing experience, all of which is kind of a welcomed bonus in itself . An UltraViolet digital copy of the third season is also included; although the digital copy must be redeemed through Warner’s Flixster service it will link with your VUDU account once claimed. DISC ONE: 6 brief “Behind the Scenes” featurettes (1080p) offer snippets from the third season’s electronic press kit. Most of the material first debuted at fallingskies.com. The featurettes include: – “Pope Town” (1 minute 6 seconds); a look at Pope’s shantytown within New Charleston and his bar, The Nest. – “The New Charleston” (1 minute 29 seconds); the cast discuss settling in to a new home, and the various attempts to recapture the civilization of old this season. – “Gloria Reuben” (59 seconds); the actress and other members of the cast discuss her new character, Vice President Marina Peralta. – “Doug Jones” (1 minute 59 seconds); the actor and his character, Cochise, get similar treatment as above. – “Shout Out: Two Popes” (46 seconds); Colin Cunningham gives a shout out to his stuntman, Duane Dickinson. – “Stunt Man Bradley” (1 minute 40 seconds); Mpho Koaho, who plays Anthony in the series, interviews former stuntman Brad Kelly, who plays Lyle. Yet another similarity “Falling Skies” has with “The Walking Dead” (2010-present) is its “Talking Dead”-esque after show called “2nd Watch: with Wil Wheaton” (1080p). Like Chris Hardwick’s fitful and mostly frustrating after show, Wheaton’s endeavor is a sort of roundtable discussion with the cast (and occasionally, with crew), who recap the plot and generally dissect the twists and turn of each episode. It’s like a video commentary, only shorter and usually less insightful. “2nd Watch” featurettes include: – “On Thin Ice” (15 minutes); with Wil Wheaton, Noah Wyle, Drew Roy, Jessy Schram, Doug Jones, and Maxim Knight. – “Collateral Damage” (14 minutes 8 seconds); with Wil Wheaton, Moon Bloodgood, Maxim Knight, and executive producer Remi Aubuchon. – “At All Costs” (12 minutes 34 seconds); with Wil Wheaton, Moon Bloodgood, Drew Roy, Doug Jones, and executive producer Greg Beeman. – “Search and Recover” (9 minutes 42 seconds); with Wil Wheaton, Maxim Knight, and executive producer Greg Beeman. DISC TWO: “Warrior Poet: Creating the Character and Emotion of Cochise” (1080p; 19 minutes 36 seconds) is a rather extensive, if not exhaustive featurette that explores the series’ new alien race, the Volm, and in particular Doug Jones’ benevolent warrior-poet, Cochise, with as much insight into the writing and performance of the character as the design and visual effects. The set’s other lengthy featurette, “Karen: The Overlord Next Door” (1080p; 21 minutes 23 seconds), turns its eye to the third season’s primary antagonist, Karen, whom former history teacher Tom might call the show’s Benedict Arnold—a traitor that, no longer enslaved, switched sides and bought into the alien cause on a philosophical level. All 5 episodes on disc two include a companion of the “Falling Skies” after show called “2nd Watch: with Wil Wheaton” (1080p) featurettes include: – “Be Silent and Come Out” (14 minutes 4 seconds); with Wil Wheaton, Drew Roy, Sarah Carter, Maxim Knight, and executive producer Remi Aubuchon. – “The Pickett Line” (12 minutes 49 seconds); with Wil Wheaton, Doug Jones, Stephen Collins, and executive producer/director Greg Beeman. – “Strange Brew” (16 minutes 39 seconds); with Wil Wheaton, Noah Wyle, Drew Roy, and Jessy Schram. – “Journey to Xilalba” (15 minutes 31 seconds) with Wil Wheaton, Drew Roy, Sarah Carter, Doug Jones, Seychelle Gabriel, and executive producer Remi Aubuchon. – “Brazil” (15 minutes 11 seconds); with Wil Wheaton, Noah Wyle, Drew Roy, Jessy Schram, and Maxim Knight. An UltraViolet digital copy code that is meant to be redeemed through Flixster but will link with VUDU and other streaming services once claimed.
Packaging
Warner Brothers Home Entertainment and TNT bring “Falling Skies: The Complete Third Season” to Blu-ray in a familiar package. 2 dual layered, region free, BD-50's are housed in an Elite keep case, which also holds an episode guide. The Elite case is housed in an outer cardboard slip-case.
Overall
It’s unfortunate that the third season is my first published review of “Falling Skies”, because that little B- at the bottom lacks the context of how I rate these 10 episodes against the previous 20. The short of it is, in many if not even most ways, “Falling Skies’” third season is a marked improvement over the frustratingly hit-and-miss first two. Speaking at Comic Con last year, Noah Wyle said, "I feel in a lot of ways like we figured the show out. The first season we had a good idea, the second we figured out how to make it better, the third season we established the characters, we established the world and play a little bit with our narrative. Now we know these characters, we know this world, the threat's gotten bigger, bigger and bigger.” And I have to agree with him. The first season was a good idea… but very poorly executed. The second season, an improvement over the earlier near unwatchable mediocrity. The third improves further; in expanding already massive scope by adding the Volm, while at the same time settling into New Charleston, where the character’s are allowed some needed natural development, the writers have tried some new things and many have worked. Additions to the cast, including Robert Sean Leonard, playing the total antithesis to his Dr. Wilson from “House, M.D.” (2004-2012), and a couple of serialized mysteries and not-completely-telegraphed plot twists—along with just the right balance of the show’s continually impressive (for a TV budget) action sequences—are almost enough to distract from those annoying moments where characters do terribly stupid things and the writers slip into their own cliches and stupidity. Almost. “Falling Skies” still misses by a wide margin occasionally, and those times when it’s shooting for the broadside of a massive Mega-Mech and doesn't even come close are aggravating, but it hits more often than it once did, and I think “Falling Skies” is getting better with each season, although it’s still not anywhere near the best hour of television on the air right now. As popcorn entertainment, “Skies” works, and the Blu-ray supports its gritty visuals and aggressive sound by offering solid but not perfect video and audio. Extras are extensive but only fitfully informative.
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