Back in the early 2010s, a TV show aired on the TNT network called Falling Skies. It was a science fiction drama series starring Noah Wyle, Will Patton, and Doug Jones that was executive produced by Steven Spielberg. The series followed a ragtag group of human survivors as they fight back an alien threat that has invaded the Earth. 

It was a captivating story of survival that also served as an intriguing mystery as more about the aliens, their backstory, and their motives were revealed. It felt very reminiscent of The Walking Dead, but with aliens instead of zombies and with a Massachusetts setting instead of Georgia and surrounding states.

The first few seasons of Falling Skies were absolutely fantastic. They were everything a television show should be. Every episode was movie quality, equipped with phenomenal effects, brilliant dialogue, and shocking surprises that would hook any audience to want to come back for more every week. The show was action-packed, exciting, and emotional. It was hard not to get attached to the characters and invested in the incredible story.

Then, about halfway through the series, the quality fell off hard. This is mostly the case with the writing, as the effects and acting were still impressive. That writing though, as well as some of how the show was shot, is shocking when compared to how great the series was initially.

When this drop in the writing quality occurs, characters’ decisions start feeling forced and questionable, and even feel out of character at times. There’s a baby who is eventually introduced, and a character with no relation to them becomes so obsessed with them that it becomes the only topic they talk about, which feels weird. Another character, named Marty, is introduced late in the series, and Weaver (played by Will Patton) becomes weirdly obsessed with him for some unknown reason. The main family mostly stops growing as characters and feel stagnant. A character who is mortally wounded somehow limps miles to the ocean before dying. The aliens stop feeling mysterious or threatening and start feeling weak and lame. The list of what went wrong in the story could go on and on.

I do think the very ending of the series was a pretty good one, but it felt rushed getting there, making it ultimately feel unearned. It’s satisfying enough, it’s just that the couple of seasons leading up to that finale don’t fully work for it.

It is extremely unfortunate that the series ended up going south in such a way with how much promise it showed in its first couple of seasons. That being said, it still might be worth checking out if you’ve been looking for an alien TV series to binge. Just keep in mind that it gets weaker as it progresses.

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