Recap
Matt, Tom, Weaver and Cochise make it back to where Hal and the group were when he last left them but nobody is there. The group left to get away from the incoming skitter patrols. Tom turns the radio on and learns of the sanctuary in Chinatown. The patrols finally catch up with Tom and the group and Scorch is personally overseeing this search. Is wants Tom badly.
Hal and the group realize that there are patrols on all sides of them and if they plan on making it back to Chinatown they are going to need to find out just where all the patrols are. Shaq refuses to pull the Volm devices off their current mission to help the group but instead comes up with an unorthodox idea. They decide to lure in and take down a mega-mech. To do this they put up a trip wire and have Pope/Sara waiting in a truck. When the rope is pulled the mech looks at it almost laughingly and turns to fire on Hal and the others. Pope and Sara drive straight into it knocking it down and Shaq goes in and pulls out its core. Using the core, they hack into the Espheni communication system and determine where all the patrols are. Oddly enough the area where Chinatown is supposed to be is clear of any patrols.
In Chinatown Anne and the group have the monk overlord tied up and she begins to question him. Through Ben he continues to claim he is there on his own accord to help Lexi and nothing more. However, he makes a subtle threat that the connection of communication with Ben is hard on him and we see Ben start to shake and is in noticeable pain. We have seen this only one other time with the overlord that was with Karen. It is clear that the Espheni connections with harnessed kids are a bit more dangerous as the overlord has the ability to assert pain to the victim.
Tom, Weaver and Matt end up getting in some trouble with 2 men who try to kill Weaver and Matt but take Tom hostage. We learn that they were captured and sent to a human skitterization facility and in order to get away the older brother made a deal to capture Tom Mason. As it turns out the older brother sacrificed his younger brothers kids and wife to be skitterized just to save his own hide. Weaver and Matt work together to save Tom but when Matt, who is very bitter, goes to take the kill shot, he can’t do it and Weaver takes control.
Lexi is sick and her fever would kill a normal human. She asks that the monk be released but Anne refuses. Anne goes to the Monk to take out her frustrations and asks for a way to save Lexi and bring the fever down. She starts to beat the crap out of him with a board and suddenly we see Ben screaming out in pain. Deep bruises show up on his abdomen and Maggie is freaking out. She runs over to where Anne is and stops her from beating the monk as its killing Ben. However, the monk reveals through Ben the flower needed to help Lexi.
As Lexi recovers, Anne finds out the monk escaped. Lexi had Lourdes help him get away. She reveals the monk is her father!
Review
So many great things in this episode across each group of characters but one thing is true this episode was about 2 key things: Matt’s growing closer to Weaver and getting bitter. The second part is the Espheni are setting up our characters for war through mind games.
The pairing of Matt and Weaver continues to be such a great on-screen duo and something the actor, Maxim Knight, commented he was excited about during our last interview. All of the mason actors from Drew Roy, to Connor Jessup have commented about how great it is to work with Will Patton and this season Maxim gets the opportunity to be the surrogate son to Weaver who has lost his daughter. I titled this episode Cotton Tail for a rather important reason, Matt is still not able to act on his feelings and convictions just yet. While the team had gone hungry for days he refused to kill the rabbit. He failed to act a second time when it came to taking down the men who had his father. Both are powerful statements that are going to play out as the season move forward.
In another episode of the Pope and Sara show, we get another great moment of their antics as they take out a Mech in style. Gotta love these two. Colin and Mira are both playing off each other so well.
Obviously something is going on with Lexi but the more interesting thing this episode is what is going on with the monk and Ben. We have seen an overlord hurt Ben through his spikes before but this was different. During the first connection the monk seemed to be doing something to him that was more than simply hurting him. Later when Anne starts to beat the overlord, all the injuries inflicted on it were also inflicted on Ben. This suggests the monk created a bond or connection with Ben that would result in Ben’s death should someone try to kill him. While this of course is an action of preservation on his part, there appears to be a bigger end game in his decision to connect with Ben in that way. The title mind wars is fitting considering the monk may use this new-found connection with Ben to warp his mind and use him to his own benefit.
In case you missed the news, Falling Skies was renewed by TNT for a 5th season. The sad news is, it was confirmed that would be its last season. The order for season 5 is 10 episodes. All good things must come to an end as they say, and at least the show has given itself another season to wrap up the stories and allow it to finish up properly. The original show runners commented to us during a set visit for season 2 that they had a ‘bible’ of sorts for the entire story. The idea was the show had 5-6 season run and they got what they expect out of it. The show will be able to go out while it is at its peak.
With Falling Skies leaving after next season, there will be a big gap for alien science fiction on TV. I know you are saying to yourself, what about Defiance on Syfy? Defiance is a great show and I love it but its appeal is to hard-core scifi nerds only. What Falling Skies has that so many Scifi and aliens shows lack is a broader appeal to non-scifi fans and families. It’s going to be a big loss on our TV’s and we will be sad to see it go.
