The third season of TNT’s Falling Skies begins this Sunday, June 9, and it is just the start of a new journey for the survivors of the 2nd Mass. New alliances are formed and new characters are introduced alongside favorites who have been a part of the series since its inception.
Recently, we spoke with actors Noah Wyle and Drew Roy, who play Tom Mason and his son Hal, about Season 3.
“I feel it’s such a huge accomplishment just to be in a third season,” Drew Roy says, adding that doing a third year is “exciting.” “That’s one of the nice things about this show; story lines are always changing and evolving, and I think that’s due to both the writers, who have done an excellent job, and we’ve been able to transition different writers in and out, so even though they have this through-line that they’re shooting for, they refer to it as this “bible” of things they’ve established, these different ideas help keep it alive and always moving,” he adds.
Noah Wyle also spoke of the creative evolution of the show, and he sounds very happy with where things are going for Season 3. “I think the first season, we had a really good concept, but we didn’t quite know how to execute it. We learned a lot from watching those first season episodes. We learned that the show worked better at night. Better when there’s some shadow and some mystery. We learned that these characters are more compelling when they’re wet, dirty, bloody, looking miserable… we learned which relationships really had some pop, and some gravitas to them. And we kind of built on that momentum in the second season, and as a result, I think we had a really good second season where we got to explore these characters a little further. The third season, I think we just keep building on our own momentum. It’s the strongest season to date. It’s certainly the broadest in terms of the storytelling. We’ve really opened up the narrative considerably. We brought it some new players, and as Drew said, we’ve got a lot of new talent on the writing staff. We just keep refining it as we go on,” Wyle says.
“We took a lot of risks, creatively, coming back into the third season,” Noah Wyle confirms. “There’s a seven month time jump. When we last saw Tom, he was pretty adamant that he didn’t want to assume anymore responsibility, and that Charleston didn’t have anything left to offer the 2nd Mass and we were on our way out of town when suddenly these aliens landed. So we find him as the President. Ann’s pregnant… there’s all sorts of big storylines going on right off the bat.”
One of those “big storylines” involves Drew’s character Hal. “Karen’s definitely done something to him,” he says. “We have to try to figure out why this girl who looks like she’s all alien now; she’s been taken to their top echelon, yet she still has this thing for Hal. I was trying to justify how that could be possible. The fact that she still does have something for Hal is a sign that there might still be a little Karen in there, and that we potentially could get her back fully, even though it doesn’t look that way. There are times where she’s as cold as can be,” he speculates.
“I was a little nervous about asking audiences to get their mind around so much so quickly,” Wyle admits about the time jump and the installation of Tom Mason as a new President. “But the way that I justified it was this alliance with the Volm has been very successful, and you can’t argue with results, and if the people need to feel there’s a President in order to feel a sense of normalcy and calm, then Tom’s willing to play that part, but that’s all it really is at this stage. He’s just playing a role, knowing full well that any formation of a government structure is premature until the war is finished. In actuality, he’s the president of 20 square blocks, and more like the mayor of a small town than actually the President. But, on his arc to becoming a good leader, it’s an important step to start him off in a suit that doesn’t quite fit, and that he gradually grows into as the season unfolds,” he says.
Falling Skies Season 3 premieres Sunday, June 9 on TNT. Take a look at some preview images!
