Both Noah Wyle (Tom) and Connor Jessup (Ben) have stated this is one of their favorite episodes to shoot. I can see why. The format and structure of this episode is very different but also done very well. The idea was that Karen would use Tom’s mind to reveal the intel on the Volm weapon by convincing his mind that the invasion never happen and they were all living normal lives. That meant the cast was able to shed their war time outfits and spikes. Or in the case of Doug Jones, shed his entire alien skin and jump into a real ‘fake’ world.
Connor commented in his interview with us that “Strange Brew is probably the most fun he has had shooting Falling Skies all season”. I can see why. He gets to be the normal geeky self that Connor is in real life but on screen. Though besides the Mason family and watching young Matt with his head set on, some of my favorite changes were Weaver, Anthony, Pope and Dai. Yes I said Dai. Peter Shinkoda makes a return as Anne Glass’s husband in Tom’s dream world. I think if we sat down and counted the words exchanged between Tom and Dai that he spoke more in Tom’s dream than he did as Dai, which is sad because Peter’s character could have been used so much more.
Professor John Pope? Not sure that I can fathom that ever happening but with his long hair in a ponytail he is a professor along with Tom, Doug Jones (Cochise) and others. Pope is just strange enough that he could pass as that really fun tree hugging professor who you remember from high school. My next favorite was Weaver as the bum who continues to show up where ever Tom goes telling him to wake up. Weaver in Tom’s mind is his voice of reason and his sub-conscience telling him that he is living in a dream. Anthony appears as the dean of the school, commenting to Tom about trying to take his job. Mpho really played the part well and convincingly and really added to Sarah and Tom’s performance as teacher and student.
Does Karen show up in Tom’s dream world? Of course she does and she does it as a cop trying to stop Weaver. It is a fun concept and just when we think Tom is awake and that he killed Karen we find it is yet another dream. Once Tom is awake we learn that Karen had captured him she reveals the Espheni are not happy with her lack of results. In a desperate attempt to get information Karen shows Tom what he thinks is a dead Anne and Lexi, incased in an alien skin.
Back in Charleston, Anthony begins to point the finger at Marina as the mole, because she is the only person whose alibi could not be confirmed. Weaver is starting to suspect her also and he starts confiding in Pope about it. I’ve said it more than once over the past few weeks, but I really do enjoy the Weaver and Pope scenes much like I did Pope and Tom scenes and Weaver and Tom scenes. The 3 of them have an unspoken respect for each other and really are the leadership group of the 2nd mass and most of Charleston.
A touching scene at the end shows Tom revisiting the home that his family grew up in. While laying in the bed upstairs he sees his wife Rebecca one last time before the memory of her fades away again. In many ways this is closure for Tom that he has not had since his wife died. No matter what face he put on for his kids, his relationship with Anne always had something hanging over it and this closure helps achieve that.
With the energy grid online and the Volm preparing for attack, will they find the mole in time and will they be able to stop the Espheni weapon from killing everything on earth? The encasement that Anne and Lexi were in reminded me of a scene from the 1980’s series V and I have a feeling Karen may have lied to Tom about their fate. Notice that Karen never directly says they are dead nor does Tom do anything to verify that what he is looking at is a dead Anne and Lexi. Karen has been known to do some fairly nasty things in the past and this might top the cake. She is desperate and the Espheni are running out of patience for her lack of results.
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