Surprises Abound. Retrospective: Falling Skies — “The Pickett Line”

Season 3, Episode 7

Air Date: Sunday, July 14, 2013 at 10/9c on TNT

Rating: ★★★★★

“Yes sir, Truth is one squirrely bitch.” — Col. Dan Weaver

“The Pickett Line” picks up exactly where “Be Silent and Come Out” ends with Tom (Noah Wyle) and his sons heading out alone in search for Anne (Moon Bloodgood) and baby Alexis. Unfortunately, they run into a few snags along the way.

Observations:

While it’s not until mid-way through the episode and the very end that my jaw begins to drop and stay agape, I find the majority of “The Pickett Line” to be more of a filler episode, but it does a great job of leaving me satiated. There are subtle clues and key plot points mixed into this episode that I had to watch it twice to really pick up on them.

Falling Skies - Ep 307 - The Pickett Line

Anthony (Mpho Koaho) and Col. Weaver race to the entrance of Charleston’s gates as an alarm is raised

Pope’s (Colin Cunningham) little Nest is about to get relocated but the reason behind the move is what piques my interest. It seems more refugees are entering Charleston, which means they need the space. Where are these refugees coming from? Do they pass through some sort of inspection prior to being allowed into the city? With moles running amok in Charleston, is it really safe to let more innocents into the city? And did Pope really think his attempts at a citizens uprising would actually work? I admire Pope’s tenacity to be the anti-hero but in the end, he remains in Charleston when he could simply choose to leave.

After staggering into the city carrying an injured President Benjamin Hathaway (guest star Stephen Collins), Cochise (Doug Jones) is wary of giving away more details to the new President Marina Peralta (Gloria Ruben) regarding the Volm machine. Although Marina tells Cochise the Espheni spy problem has been dealt with, Cochise is right in his surmising that the Espheni wouldn’t deploy only one spy – they would have back up. Another surprise comes when Cochise divulges information about the reasons why they must hurry and launch the weapon to destroy the Espheni towers. I’ve often wondered why the Espheni were building such enormous towers. At first I thought it was their version of communications towers much like our cell phone towers, but I was mistaken. It seems these towers, once online, will create a grid surrounding the earth and according to Cochise, “It will destroy all organic life form in three months.” Wow.

L-R: Hal (Drew Roy), Ben (Connor Jessup), Matt (Maxim Knight) and Tom (Noah Wyle) after they’ve been robbed on the road.

As I watch the Mason boys get held up by bandits while traveling on the road, I can’t understand why this whole scenario is even brought up. Now, I think it plays a part in how Tom has raised his sons. Despite the Pickett family robbing them of their weapons and supplies and the countless back and forth each family goes through holding each other hostage, when Tom sees a Mech and Skitter patrol headed towards the Pickett’s farmhouse, he sends his boys ahead to go look for Anne and Alexis while he doubles back to help the Picketts. Tom’s good intentions are going to get him killed and in this case, captured again. I appreciate his wanting to help but now he’s surrounded by Skitters and a super Mech pointing their guns at him. Tom says it himself, “The aliens kidnapped the rest of my family and every minute I spend with you is one less minute I spend looking for them.” Then why do you go back alone to help this family, Tom? Honor is not going to save you in this unfair fight against the Espheni. These aliens are utilizing dirty tactics to get what they want and have no qualms about killing anyone.

Young Matt (Maxim Knight) learns a hard lesson – when you shoot someone, you must face the consequences alone. Even though his brothers are there to help him, Matt must bear the weight of shooting another human being on his own shoulders. No one will be able to carry it for him. In a post-apocalyptic society, I love how the writers are giving us such gritty realisms. Kids don’t stay kids for long.

There is a shocking revelation of the identity of the other mole. My mouth is still sitting on the floor thinking about it. As she changes President Hathaways’ IV bag, Lourdes’ (Gabrielle Seychelle) strange behavior and subsequent actions that follow astound me. How? How can she be the other mole? When did this happen? As you see her kneeling to pray in a make-shift chapel, you see so many Espheni bugs crawling underneath the surface of her face. I don’t understand how she could have become so infested. And though Pope still has his doubts about Marina and suspects she’s behind the assassination of Hathaway, it will be a shock to all when they find out it was Lourdes who actually killed him.

There are only three episodes left this season and I’m on the edge of my seat. With Lourdes being revealed as a mole, I wonder if there are more moles in Charleston lying in wait. If one, like Hal (Drew Roy) falls, another rises up to finish the job. And in the previews of what’s to come, it looks like we may find out what really happened to Tom when he was first taken prisoner on the Espheni ship at the end of season one. Perhaps he was infused with alien DNA thus creating a half-alien/human child.

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Tune in to Falling Skies, Sundays at 10/9c, only on TNT.

For more on Falling Skies, go to http://www.tnt.tv/series/fallingskies.

Follow Falling Skies on Twitter @FallingSkiesTNT, and use hashtags #Resistance or #Aliens.

Follow some of the cast on Twitter: Matt Mason/Maxim Knight @RVRocket, Ben Mason/Connor Jessup @connorjessup , Maggie/Sarah Sanguin Carter @sanguin_carter, Hal/Drew Roy @drew_roy, Lourdes/Gabrielle Seychelle @seychellegab, John Pope/Colin Cunningham @CunninghamColin, Crazy Lee/Luciana Carro @lucianacarro, Anthony/Mpho Koaho @MphoAK, Karen/Jessy Schram @jschramer

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.