They didn’t expect resistance at this level. That was the line the aliens used on Tom and Weaver when they were stopped after shooting down an air ship. They gave Tom a choice, go with them or they will take Ben back. Season 1 ended with Tom agreeing to go on board, despite his better judgement in an effort to protect his son.
This week we had a chance to talk with Noah about Season 2 and what we can expect not just from Tom but his boys Hal, Ben and Matt. One of the most interesting things we learned was the reaction of his close friends to the season 1 finale of him getting on the ship with the aliens. Of that Noah said
I got a lot of phone calls about that. Number one feedback: what the hell were you doing getting on that spaceship. So we kind of wrote ourselves into a little bit of corner trying to justify it and I think we did a really good job coming back season two, and explaining what happened to him and what happens to the group in his absence. And it’s allowed us to really jump off from a novel place this year.
Season 2 starts 3 months after Tom gets on the ship and we are left with many questions. We know Tom ends up making it back to the 2nd mass but how exactly does he do that? The 2nd mass has just come out of a huge battle (as depicted in the Dark Horse Comics) in Fitchburg which resulted in heavy losses and reducing the 2nd masses numbers by almost half. We asked Noah about how he feels the 2nd mass trusts or distrusts him when he returns.
I think they’re really happy to see him, I think his kids are happy to have him back, I think Capitan Weaver is happy to have an ally again in a leadership position and that may be blinding them a little bit to the practical concerns of where is this guy has been and what have they done to him. And is he a homing pigeon leading the enemy right to them makes for some interesting storytelling in the first couple of shows. And I think he’s a smart enough character to realize that that’s a possibility that he doesn’t really know himself and until he can get his footing and establish himself back in the group and win their trust and vice versa, he should be watched.
He can’t be positive that he wasn’t released without some ulterior motive in mind. So that allows us to start this season off with a little bit of tension in trying to figure out how to envelop Tom back into the fold and him to try and establish a position of leadership again after having been gone for three months.
Yes, yes it helped that I was being restrained by four actors. But I had great confidence in Moon Bloodgood’s medical skills and she kept the forces away from my eyeball.
Some new posters were revealed today that shows a defiant tone to the 2nd mass, moving away from the hiding and scared group they were in season 1. Now they are fighting back. The attack on the alien structure wasn’t as much a victory for the 2nd mass as they had hoped. What little damage was done did less to further the resistance and more to piss off the invaders.
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Noah comments that while season 1 was about the harnesses and trying to get them off the kids, season 2 moves on from there. We have learned that at this point, any one harnessed as long as Ben is going through a ‘process’ they cannot stop. Now in season 2, the plot isn’t find our kids, save them and hide. The new plot is what do they want and what is going on with Ben?
In the 3 min preview for season 2, we see a militarized Ben who is a strong fighter and has a vendetta against the skitters. This increased strength and hatred towards the aliens could result in Ben putting others in harms way. Season 2 brings out the more basic questions : Why are they harnessing the kids, what are they changing into and what is the end game?
All of the cast have said how interesting and important Bens story is this season and Connor Jessup delivers that story very well. Ben can hear them and without the harness the process may be slowed but it is obviously not stopped. This new direction in season 2 allows them to move away from focusing on just the 2nd mass and coping with the aftermath of the invasion and the capture of their children but focus on the technology, the organization of the aliens and what it may mean for Ben and humanity as they fight against a stepped up and more intense offensive from the aliens.
We talked to Noah more about why he felt Falling Skies had struck such a cord with the viewers where other sci fi shows just couldn’t.
Well I am a little guilty in that I didn’t really watch the other shows so I don’t really have a strong basis of comparison. But you know science fiction shows work really well when they serve as the backdrop to very human stories being told. And if you can find characters that are interesting and dynamic and relatable and put them in a fairly extreme situation and can make it as plausible and as if scenario as you can it usually has some resonance.
So I am hoping that our success is predicated on the fact that we are able to draw some really interesting characters, and people are interested to see how they’re going to react in these really difficult situations.
Another interesting topic for Noah was understanding his character Tom Mason. Noah feels he is still learning a lot about Tom and there is a lot more to know.
Yes I sort of feel like I am just getting started you know and this guy really will extent over three or four years in this slow deconstruction of his intellectual aspects. And he is becoming a little bit harder and they’re in a way having a big of transference with the Weaver character who starts off very militaristic where Tom’s a bit more of a humanist. And then gradually Weaver becomes a lot more vulnerable and a lot more human and Tom gets a lot more practical and a lot harder edged.
We sort of continue in that vein hopefully arriving at some sort of synthesis between the two of them as the most effective way of leading this group which isn’t not traditionally military dogmatic style and not exactly touchy feely human but something in between.
I am sure I am not the only person who agrees that 3-4 more seasons to explore Tom and the story would be awesome, but lets focus on season 2 and getting renewed for season 3. Stay tuned as we share our interview with Moon and Colin next week and for new and exciting looks at The Battle Of Fitchburg #3, being released Wednesday.
