This week’s episode of Falling Skies is the best one I’ve seen for the season yet. The previous episodes have been enjoyable, but the fragmented storytelling and excess plots held them back from being really great. While these problems were still very much present in Mind Wars, the show was finally able to find a way to devote the entirety of an episode to developing a singular plot that lead to some legitimately exciting character drama.
The focus of this episode was on Tom, Matt, and Colonel Weaver, and while some of their stories have felt drawn out recently, this week absolutely nailed it. After discovering that Hal and the rest of the 2nd Mass had moved on from what was their home base, Tom finds Hal’s clue and begins to make his way to the same safe-haven that Hal is heading towards. Which, as I’m sure you know, is where Lexi is with her peace-loving Espheni father-figure. Unfortunately for Tom though, he’s low on food and rations, and the need for supplies quickly becomes his most important objective, especially with both Matt and Weaver along with him.
So, when our heroes come across a pair of brothers in the woods who are loaded with food and supplies, Tom is forced to make a temporary alliance with them in order to feed his son and friend. This is where the episode really excelled, as the audience had to look at these two strangers the same way Tom was. While both of them were happy and more than eager to share their resources with a legend like Tom Mason, you couldn’t help but feel like something was just off about them.
Which, surprise, surprise, there was. As soon as night fell, Tom was knocked unconscious by the older brother, the obvious leader, while the younger brother was left to murder Matt and Weaver in their sleep. Thankfully, Matt and Weaver had caught onto the scheme and escaped without being noticed, leaving our dastardly brothers believing that they were both dead. Despite their actions, I was never quite sure what to think of the two brothers, and digging deeper into their personal motivations and backstories was one of the episode’s most rewarding features. While it was obvious that they were far from good guys, the younger brother’s pained expression upon firing an entire clip of bullets into Matt and Weaver’s sleeping bags was awfully telling of his actual character. Even the older brother, who showed little remorse, seemed to only be focused on protecting his brother no matter the cost.
The reveal that the older brother had made a deal with the Espheni to turn over his family, including his brother’s kids, to the aliens in order to save himself from being turned into a Skitter-hybird was not a shocking surprise, but an appreciated one nonetheless. The character development for both these characters was fantastic in this episode, and I really enjoyed seeing them crack and fall apart as Tom continued to challenge their decisions and beliefs.
I also loved seeing Matt struggle with his desire for revenge against the brothers for taking his father away form him again, and it was another great bit of development for his character this season. His anger was totally understandable, and while I never expected him to actually take the shot and kill one of the brothers in cold blood, having Matt stare them down through the scope of a rifle was a fantastic way to push his character to the limit. The episode also ended with a climax that was far darker than I expected, but I can’t help but appreciate that the writer’s for the show really committed to the story they started with the episode. Yes, having the younger brother discover his brother’s betrayal and then murder him in cold-blood was brutal, and even a little hard to watch, but it was also the kind of surprise needed to give it the extra shot of energy that it so desperately needed.
As for the rest of the episode, well it was just more of the same, unfortunately. Hal and his team, along with Cochise and his alien commandos, figured out a way to get into Lexi’s encampment without getting caught, which was momentous, but fairly predictable and not as exciting as it should’ve been. The same can be said of the story between Anne and Lexi in the encampment, as their family bickering was basically just a rehash of what we saw last week. However, seeing Anne brutally assault her Espheni prisoner was surprising, even more so once we discovered that, through some kind of leftover psychic link, she was actually hurting Ben. Another dark and surprising moment that showed just how far these characters are willing to go in order to get what they think they need.
Overall, Mind Wars was a step in the right direction for Falling Skies, and it took some much needed risks that paid off in a big way. The show still needs to iron out some of its storytelling techniques, but in terms of its characters, Falling Skies is getting better and better with each episode and I can only hope this trend continues going forward.