Falling Skies "On Thin Ice/Collateral Damage" Recap

I must admit, when my husband and I started watching Falling Skies last night we both felt a little lost. The season picks up 7 months in the future and a lot has happened. I found a recap video of Seasons 1&2 to help you catch up:

Remember, that when we last left off, Tom (Noah Wyle) became President of the 2nd Mass, Anne (Moon Bloodgood) discovered she was pregnant, the 2nd Mass stumbled across a new species of aliens, and Karen (Jessy Schram) infected Hal (Drew Roy) with some sort of bug.

Before I get into the recap, I thought it would help if I reviewed some of the Falling Skies vocabulary. They introduced a lot in this episode and it was hard to keep up:

Volm – The Volm are the new race of aliens that landed on Earth at the end of Season 2. They have teamed up with the humans to fight the evil aliens. We learn that the Espheni Overlords have taken over many planets and the Volm fought back against them. Now the Volm travel around to planets that the Espheni are trying to take over and attempt to stop them. Here is the link to the Volm Wiki which provides more information.

Cochise – Cochise (Doug Jones) is the Volm Commander who interacts with Tom and the 2nd Mass.

Cochise

Skitters – The Skitters are the first species of aliens that the humans interacted with when the Espheni invaded Earth. They have six legs, claws and generally look like your worst spider nightmare. The Skitters are responsible for the harnessed children. The Skitters are controlled by the Espheni Overlords. There is a group of Skitters that have broken free and they created a resistance to fight back against them. Click here for more details.

Skitter

Harnesses – The Skitters all started out as someone who was harnessed. When the Overlords attack a planet they attach harnesses to the child inhabitants on the planet. Over time the harness will transform the host into a Skitter. The longer you stay harnessed the more advanced your abilities will become. Tom’s son Ben (Connor Jessup) had his harnessed removed, but he still has the ability to communicate with the Skitters and has retained enhanced strength and agility. Click here for more details.

Overlord/Espheni -These are the evil alien Overlords of the Skitters. Last season, Tom killed the main overlord and we learned the Karen is the new Espheni Overlord. I’m not 100% clear on how she got to be an Overlord instead of a Skitter, but maybe that will be explained later. Click here for more information on the Overlords.

Espheni Overlords

Mechs – Mechs are the warrior robots that the Overlords use to fight the humans. They receive commands from the Overlords and sometimes harnessed children. They have massive firepower and it is difficult for the humans to fight off more than one at a time. Click here for more information.

Mechs

Mega Mechs – The Mega Mechs were an upgraded version of the Mech introduced in Season 3. Click here for more information.

2nd Mass – Also known as the 2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment, the 2nd Mass was commanded by Dan Weaver. They are part of a bigger Militia in Massachusetts and have gone through a lot to finally make it to Charleston, South Carolina where a more sophisticated operation was set up. The first two seasons detail the journey of the 2nd Mass and how they end up at Charleston. Click here for more information.

2nd Mass

Berserkers – The Berserkers are an offshoot of the 2nd Mass led by John Pope (Colin Cunningham). The Berserkers usually march to the beat of their own drum and have a hostility towards the Skitters. They usually show up during big battles and are good at taking down Mechs and Skitters.

Here is a little tribute to the Berserkers:

Now that you are up to speed on some of the new terms let’s get into the Season 3 Premiere.

The episode opens with Tom’s youngest son, Matt (Maxim Knight) planting some high tech bombs. This escalates into a full blown battle situation with the 2nd Mass and rebel Skitters against a team of Mechs. The rebel Skitters are now marked with war paint so you can tell them apart from the bad Skitters.

Did anyone else question why Matt was allowed to be in the fight? Last we saw, Tom was trying to keep him out of the fight now he looks like a little street fighter:

Matt Mason

The 2nd Mass ends up winning the battle, but it raised a lot of questions since the Espheni were expecting them. We discover that there must be a mole in the ranks.

Tom has taken his new role as President in stride and he tasks Arthur Manchester (Terry O’Quinn) to lead the investigation for the mole.

We discover Hal is in a wheelchair, this seems to be a side effect of the bug that Karen implanted in him. Hal is the only one that knows of its existence, but Maggie (Sarah Carter) suspects that there is something else going on. Hal is having vivid dreams of Karen where they are still together as a couple.

Anne is still pregnant with Tom’s child, and she goes into labor just as Arthur plans to give Tom some big news on the identity of the mole. Arthur goes back to his office and is assassinated by the mole.

Anne gives birth to a baby girl, Alexis, who has advanced, creepy powers. She can stand up in her crib and is already saying Mama. Anne is the only one that notices these weird abilities so far.

Tom seems to be the only person that trusts the Volm, Colonol Weaver, Pope and other cabinet members aren’t on board with the new alliance. Tom reveals to Weaver that he is constructing a secret weapon with the Volm that will end the war in one shot.

As we begin the second hour, we are set up for the next battle. Ben discovers a base camp full of Mega Mechs that are getting refueled. The base is on a nuclear reactor site which means they can’t blow it up. This leads them to an agoraphobic scientist under the city that can help them destroy the base camp without creating a nuclear radiation apocalypse.

They start preparing to demolish the base camp and we see the unknown mole sneak into the war room to steal pictures of the battle plans. Tom has anticipated this and sets Weaver and the Berserkers up to be the collateral damage and distract the enemy while he sneaks in to blow up the reactor. The 2nd Mass ends up saving the day and destroying the enemy base, but not without losing some good men.

Cochise informs us that the Espheni will launch a major attack on Charleston to retaliate which foreshadows next week’s storyline.

At the end of the episode, we see Hal back in his dream sequence trying to meet Karen, but we discover that they haven’t been dreams at all. Maggie ends up finding him before his last rendezvous and it raises her suspicions even more.

This leaves us with a few unanswered questions:

Who is the mole?

I suspect it could be Hal, since Karen is controlling him. I also am curious about Captain Weaver and Pope since they aren’t onboard with the new regime, but they dislike the aliens so much I doubt they would work with them. Who do you suspect?

What will happen to Hal?

We saw Hal and Karen have sex in the woods, which makes me think that she is trying to get pregnant with some sort of hybrid alien baby. What do you think her endgame is?

What is up with Anne and Tom’s baby?

Did Karen infect her in some weird way at the end of Season 2? There didn’t seem to be much celebration around Alexis, what do you get for a post-apocalyptic baby?

Possibly a Future Post-Apocalyptic Dictator Onsie from Cafe Press ($18)?