Falling Skies, "What Hides Beneath": We're taking the fight to them

My review/recap of last night's episode after I pad my stats for jumping rope.

After last week's failure of a good conclusion to the first half of the two-part episode, I was concerned that the show just wasn't good, and that the one good episode was a flash-in-the-pan. The beginning of last night's episode didn't help to change my mind. However, as the episode moved along, it started to get better, leading up to a major revelation and the start of what should be a good arc to end the season on.

The episode opens with Weaver dreaming that he is in the backyard of his house when he is attacked by a skitter. Tom wakes him up to tell him Captain Porter has arrived. Porter tells them that they are doing an excellent job. He says that the skitters are pulling back to the structure that is over Boston, and that the same thing is happening in Los Angeles and Chicago. The plan is to launch a coordinated attack on the structures in four days. Porter assigns Tom to scout the structure, and that the plan is for each remaining unit to bomb one of the legs of the structure, causing it to collapse. They have the necessary materials to create explosives, but not the expertise of someone to make it, except for Pope.

Pope checks Scott's explosion plans and collection of Mech parts. He says that the plans are terrible and won't work. Scott shows him a piece of a Mech that he has saved, but as soon as he touches it, it shoots a hole through the wall, scaring Matt.

As Tom, Hal, and Dai are preparing for their scout mission, Weaver walks in and says that he is taking Dai's spot. Weaver worked in the construction business before the invasion and knowing where to attack the structure is the key.

Tom, Hal, and Weaver are investigating the structure over Boston. Weaver realizes that it is made out of general construction materials and is made in a very basic way. They notice that a new alien is on the ground, seemingly in charge of the skitters. These new aliens are much more human-looking than the skitters. Tom worries that since it is the first time they have seen this type of alien, that maybe they are the commanders and were waiting until it was safe. They run into Sonia (Blair Brown) who holds a gun on them. They explain who they are and Sonia invites them to her house. Tom and Hal go with her, while Weaver stands guard. Sonia says that the aliens took her to a camp, but let her go because they don't care about older people. Weaver rides off on his motorcycle, after taking the spark plugs out of the other two. After fixing theirs, Tom and Hal chase after him.

Anne and Lourdes cut open the dead skitter and finds a harness inside of it. Anne says that is what she is afraid of and that the skitter seems like it was something else before.

Tom and Hal track Weaver to his old house. Tom goes inside and finds Weaver drinking in his backyard. Weaver tells Tom about his family before the invasion and what happened to them during it. He says that he has been fighting for revenge but it isn't enough. Tom says that he can't give up before their attack. A Mech appears and Hal is forced to hide. Tom is able to snap Weaver out of his depression and they work together to destroy the Mech. They realize Sonia was the one who told the aliens where they were.

They return to Sonia's apartment. A voice on the other side of the door asks her if she has seen anyone else. At gunpoint, Sonia reports that she hasn't. Hal looks out the peephole and sees that it is Karen who is talking to Sonia, and that she is harnessed. Tom then looks through the peephole and sees the new type of alien with Karen. They tell Sonia that they are going to Gloucester, but go the other way back to the school.

When they return, Pope is holding a demonstration to show what he has been working on. First he shoots the Mech parts with normal bullets, which doesn't do any damage. Then he takes the bullet he made using the Mech materials and shoots it at the Mech, blowing a hole through it. The crowd cheers, as Pope tells Weaver that they can make many more of these bullets. Weaver announces that they are taking the fight to them.

Pope's funniest lines:

• "That was so three weeks ago."
• "I wouldn't be surprised if there was a 'Made in Japan' sticker in there."

The episode definitely had its ups and downs. The whole Rick and Ben storyline is the bane of the show right now. Every time that they are on the show it just becomes so boring. I understand that they will be needed, especially now that we are to assume that the harnesses eventually turn the children into skitters, but they really just aren't interesting. The show seems to have been broken into three parts: the first five episodes were about setting up the characters, the middle two episodes were about showing a potential new conflict, and these last three episodes are about the humans fighting back against the aliens. We will soon find out what happens, as next week's episode is the two hour season finale.