Episode Title: “The Pickett Line”
Writers: Heather V. Regnier & Jordan Rosenberg
Director: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
Previously on “Falling Skies”:
Episode 3.06 “Be Silent and Come Out”
There’s a great TV series hiding in “Falling Skies.” And sometimes it comes out to play.
After the letdown of the last two installments, “The Pickett Line” was one of the strongest episodes that “Falling Skies” has delivered in a while. It’s not perfect, but it was a noticeable step in the right direction.
Full spoilers are ahead for “The Pickett Line,” so steer clear of this review if you missed last Sunday’s “Falling Skies” or else Matt Mason will be gunning for you.
The primary story catches up with Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) and his sons, Ben (Connor Jessup), Hal (Drew Roy) and Matt (Maxim Knight) as they travel on horseback to meet some rebel Skitters and rescue Dr. Anne Glass (Moon Bloodgood) and her alien hybrid baby (fathered by Tom).
First off, the rebel Skitters have been completely bland this season. Season two’s Red Eye was the only Skitter who seemed to have a personality, that’s why his eventual death had meaning. Watching the death of a random rebel Skitter in the opening moments here had no impact because the rebel Skitters have no dimension as characters.
Far more effective was the introduction of Wayne Pickett and his family, who rob the Masons and steal their horses and equipment. Wayne was played by Christopher Heyerdahl (The Swede!), who was the most consistently entertaining performer in “Hell on Wheels” for two seasons. Heyerdahl gave Wayne a sense of misguided humanity that kept him from just being a dark reflection of Tom Mason.
The rest of the Pickett family weren’t exact parallels to the Masons (there was no annoying kid to serve as Matt’s counterpart), but it was interesting to see the Pickett’s interact before the Masons inevitably struck back during a terrifically staged sequence that ended with a bang. And it was Matt who fired the potentially fatal shot into Wayne’s brother, Gil.
It was kind of disingenuous for Gil to wonder aloud why Matt shot him when he was trying to knife Hal at the moment that happened. The writers on this series have consistently made Matt’s scenes almost unbearable to watch. But this one worked because Matt didn’t say anything at all in the immediate aftermath.
Tom being Tom, he tries to give Gil the best chance of survival while letting one of Wayne’s sons treat him alongside Hal and Ben as the rest of the family is restrained. I loved the notion that Tom’s adventures alongside the 2nd Mass are largely unknown to people outside of his circle of influence. And Wayne wasn’t having any of Tom’s attempts to get him to recognize that life in Charleston was better than living in the backwoods as bandits.
The really silly part of this episode was the ease with which the Picketts and the Masons kept disarming each other during life or death situations. Tom and his sons even end up facing execution at the hands of Wayne, only to turn the tables once again. But it was refreshing that there was no reconciliation between the Picketts and the Masons. No handshakes or anything sappy. Gil’s imminent death precluded that semi-happy ending.
Back in Charleston, Cochise (Doug Jones) staggered back into town with the injured President Benjamin Hathaway (Stephen Collins). The explanation for why Cochise and the President survived the crash of Air Force One was a little suspect, but Cochise has been such a fun character that I’m willing to overlook it. During his time offscreen, the President has become a firm believer in the Volm’s plans to deal with the Espheni. But neither Captain Weaver (Will Patton) nor President Marina Perlata (Gloria Reuben) were particularly happy to learn that the Volm superweapon wasn’t guaranteed to work… and it might actually speed up the death of humanity.
Meanwhile, John Pope (Colin Cunningham) was making some noise as Popetown was being forcibly cleared out to make way for the Volm superweapon. Pope always works best when he’s the voice of dissent. Except this time, even Weaver seemed to think that Pope had a point. Weaver was so disquieted by the Volm plan that he released Pope from prison just to have another ally if the Volm can’t be trusted.
Which brings us back to the mole, who was revealed to be none other than Lourdes (Seychelle Gabriel). It’s almost a shame, as Lourdes has actually become interesting this season. But because her last name isn’t Mason, she probably won’t survive this. Previously, the mole storyline wasn’t working because the only real suspect was Marina Perlata. Arthur Manchester’s killer looked like they had very feminine hands, so it was no surprise that it was a woman.
As soon as Lourdes left the President, the way that she walked gave away her intentions. But it was still an effective reveal to out her as the mole by assassinating the President with an alien weapon… from directly below his room. It was also compelling to see the way that Weaver and Perlata spoke about the mole as if Lourdes wasn’t in the room with them. Lourdes is not even remotely a suspect because she is the only doctor left in town.
We still don’t know how Lourdes was infected by the alien bugs that are controlling her, but it was a great shot to see the bugs crawling on her face as she prayed. My initial theory is that Evil Hal either seduced Lourdes before infecting her… or it was the Volm who infected her while she was training to use their medical equipment. The only problem with the Volm theory is that the President supported their agenda. If he had been against it, the Volm would be looking pretty guilty right now.
Lourdes could have killed the President in a more subtle way, but I think that she intentionally made a big show of it to demonstrate that there was another mole besides Hal and to sow distrust among the remaining survivors. It also begs the question: has Lourdes been using her position to infect other people? And is she responsible for turning Tom and Anne’s baby into a hybrid?
I want to go back and watch the earlier episodes of the season to see if Lourdes gave Tom anything before his ill-fated flight to see the President that could have been an alien tracking device. Likewise, if she gave the Masons anything before they left to rescue Anne, it could explain why the alien mechs were suddenly heading towards the Pickett family.
Tom’s attempt to rescue or warn the Picketts was a nice gesture, but their home was suspiciously empty when he returned. The cliffhanger for this episode was great, as Tom found himself surrounded and outgunned by the Skitters and a nasty looking Mech.
If “Falling Skies” was always this good, it would be one of the best shows on TV. But for now, I’ll settle for consistency.
