Sci-Fi Storm

Falling Skies Season 2 DVD review

by on Jun.09, 2013, under Television

Falling Skies Season 2Falling Skies returns to TNT tonight at 9/8c with two episodes, but Season 2 was released on [sfs=1316]Blu-ray[/sfs] and [sfs=1317]DVD[/sfs] this past week to help get caught up on events.

[This is a review of the DVD edition. Both editions have the same content]

Warning: Some potentially spoilers ahead, but nothing that should be surprising, and generally all within the first 15 minutes…

The second season of Falling Skies picks up three months after Tom Mason boarded the alien ship in the final scene of Season One. The 2nd Mass has fought in the devastating Battle of Fitchburg, with both sides suffering losses. Tom has been help captive by the Overlord, where Tom learns that the aliens don’t wish to talk or have peace with the humans. He is let go with several other captives, but all the other captives are killed – he however is mysteriously let go, and travels back to meet up with the 2nd Mass. In the meantime, everyone’s favorite renegade Pope is given command of a group of misfits called the Berserkers, an undisciplined group who take on some of the more dangerous missions, tolerated as a necessity by Colonel Weaver but certainly not trusted. Sanctuary fans will recognize Ryan Robbins as a member of the Berserkers.


The second season takes on a different, darker tone. No longer does it seem to be about making peace, but survival and avoidance, but also about what happens when two – or even three – different philosophies about how to move forward come in to direct conflict.

The acting remains top notch. Connor Jessup, Jessy Schram and Daniyah Ysrayl, and the harnessed or formerly harnessed kids, get to play dual roles in a sense, as their characters but also as the aliens speaking through them, and do a good job without sounding robotic. Lost alum Terry O’Quinn appears at the end of the season as the mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, trying to put back together a government while keeping his people hidden, and Max Headroom‘s Matt Frewer appears in a role I haven’t seen him play before – a hard-nosed take-it-to-them general.

Overall, this season had some powerful storytelling. You’ll wonder who is right, and what is the right decision. And you’ll wonder why the aliens need a giant gun when they’ve already seemed to have won…

Now on to Season Three…

The DVDs include a host of special features, all that you’d expect and more from such a big production:

Audio commentary on “Worlds Apart” with Actor Noah Wyle, Co-Executive Producer Greg Beeman, and writer Mark Verheiden.

Audio commentary on “Homecoming” with Actor Noah Wyle, Co-Executive Producer Greg Beeman, and Executive Producer Remi Aubuchon.

Audio commentary on “Molon Labe” with Actor Noah Wyle, Executive Producer Remi Aubuchon, and writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle.

Audio commentary on “A More Perfect Union” with Actor Noah Wyle, Executive Producer/Writer Remi Aubuchon, and writers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle.

One Page At A Time: Writing the Second American Revolution – About writing the second season, with no specific planned direction from the first season. (20:49)

The Fan’s Perspective: Touring the set of Falling Skies – The winners of a contest and some press members get to visit the set. (9:00)

Team Skitter – Making the Skitters believable (2:48)

Terry O’Quinn Is Manchester – The star of Lost appears as Tom’s mentor who starts a new government (1:45)

Designing the Spaceship – Designing the Overlord’s spaceship interior (1:22)
Creating the Crawlies – The insect-like alien creatures (1:11)

2nd Watch – Episode 20: A More Perfect Union – An episode of the Wil Wheaton-hosted after-show dealing with the season finale (30:57)
The Skitter Evolution – Giving life to the Skitters (9:46)

Season 3 Preview – (2:19)

Season 2 Animated Trailer, created by Dark Horse Comics – A trailer for the digital comic about the Battle of Fitchburg, the battle that “defined” the 2nd Mass (1:13)

Also included is an exclusive trading card, number 10 of 10 of the international series of graphic novel pinup art, in this case England.

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