It might be some kind of psychological thing, but as much as I love certain summertime-only TV series, so much time passes between seasons that I sometimes forget where we last left off.
The producers of Falling Skies (returning tonight at 9PM ET) must have felt their audience felt the same way, because in creating the Season 3 premiere for the show, complete with a time jump of several months, you’re easily up to date with what has been going on with Tom Mason and his crew, even if there are some new alliances that not everyone agrees on, there’s a mole within the ranks, and there’s even a creepy baby. The two-part premiere, comprised of two back to back episodes, also features some early loss for the crew, as any war might have, as well as some new mysteries.
It’s almost like they knew we may have forgotten some things, so they wanted a fresh jumping on point for everyone.
Despite that between-seasons amnesia that I get sometimes, I am really glad TNT is showing this series on Sunday nights during the summer. It keeps the show from getting mixed up against heavy summer broadcast competition, and really makes the return of Falling Skies feel like a summer event. I almost wish TNT had done the same with the second season of Dallas, which was also something I enjoyed seeing in the summer months.
At the core of the series is still Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) and his family. Hal is facing some new challenges involving paralysis; Ben has really stepped up as a character and a major figure in this show; and even Matt looks like he’s aged about 5 years since the show began, and now he’s hanging out with Baelfire among other things. Look for a really nice moment between Matt and Anne Glass early on.
Plus, we’ve got Weaver, Maggie, Pope, and special guest stars including Terry O’Quinn and Gloria Reuben. There’s also a member of the Volm named Cochise, played by Doug Jones, that just adds a lot to the Falling Skies world.
I’ll definitely be checking this out weekly this summer. TNT might not be the place you’d think of for good summer sci-fi, but they certainly nailed it here.
