S04.E07: Saturday Night Massacre

[Bishop]

I stopped watching every episode of this show, so when did Weaver stop leading the 2nd Mass and turn leadership over to Tom?

 

He hasn't, and if you're not watching the episodes, that's probably why you're confused.  In fact, Weaver called all the military shots last night, not Tom.  Tom basically said to Dan that "this" (meaning a battle) was his wheelhouse, and Tom sat down, and Weaver decided the strategy.  It was a good strategy and probably would have worked successfully to the end had he anticipated a blown gas line.  So no, Weaver did not turn leadership over to Tom.  Tom and Weaver work together; they always have.

There's a problem for showrunners when your audience hates nearly every main character despite how much you keep telling us how noble, loving, brave (and did I mention noble?) they are. It's another problem when you kill off the secondary characters that people actually like.

How do you know what the 'audience' thinks?  I don't agree with you at all.  I like every main character.  Now I like some much more than others, but I don't hate any of them.  The noble characters ARE noble but flawed like any human being, and contrary to what I read all the time here, Tom and Weaver work together as a team.  They always have (except for season one when Weaver was in charge).  Tom took over as temp leader when Weaver got sick, but they are equals.  Also, no one told or insisted that the 2nd Mass has to listen to Tom (or Weaver).  Pope could have left a LONG time ago.  

 

Anyhoo, last week's episode was better than Sunday's episode but only because it had more emotional heft for me.  I did enjoy this past episode, but I would have preferred a much better ending for Tector who chose to do what he did.  Tom never asked him to take his place.  Tector made a choice, and I love that he would risk his life for his family.  I feel that Tector would have made the exact same decision had it been Weaver, btw.  I just feel that Tector should have had a more awesome death.  I also feel bad that Lourdes had devolved into a less than likeable character.  I didn't hate her, but she was becoming annoying.  I wasn't expecting to lose her just yet.  I also will miss Dr. Kadar, but he had served his purpose up to this point.  I was watching some of the interviews at Comic-con site regarding Falling Skies, and Eick mentioned when asked about the science fiction post apocalyptic nature of Falling Skies, that he considered it a family drama more than a post apocalyptic show.  This just affirms what I suspected in that the show is about a family, whether it's the Masons or the 2nd Mass, and their family drama just happens to take place during an apocalypse.

 

Lastly, regarding Tector's shot of Scorch, he made the shot, but it looked like the shot grazed him in the neck - not a kill shot.  Considering that Tector was using a very old gun, hitting his target at all was impressive.  I will miss him the most of all the people lost on Sunday.  Next week looks intense, and there's only five episodes left for the season.  That went fast.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Bishop

[BungalowSummer]

How do you know what the 'audience' thinks? I don't agree with you at all. I like every main character. Now I like some much more than others, but I don't hate any of them.

I am a member of the audience, and I hate half the main characters at this point. I find Anne, a previously admirable character, utterly unwatchable. She is the embodiment of the worst of maudlin mommy cliches, a formerly intelligent woman who has parked her brain in her uterus. Tom Mason used to have some complexity, despite his pedantic need to lecture everyone. Now he's just addled. Weaver is on auto-pilot. In fact, in some ways, the entire show seems to be on auto-pilot half the time. Even Cochise, the alien charmer, is just baffling and aloof.

I believe this state of affairs is due to the writers putting all their eggs into the Lexi basket. I blame the nosedive this show has taken on the Lexi storyline, beginning with the decision to make her an alien hybrid.

First, it wasn't even new for the show. Lexi is merely a reinvented Karen. They just upped the ante by making her a Mason daughter. And more than Karen ever could, Lexi has become the lightning rod for bad decisions made by main and secondary characters alike. The last person we saw who "chose poorly" was the idiot Lourdes. No, wait! The last person was Tom Mason, who decided he could make guarantees about an alien hybrid, because...family!

I am not so kind or forgiving. I'm hate-watching with the forlorn hope that the writers finally kill off the worst: Lexi and Anne.

[feverfew]

I thought this episode was interesting, although I'm not that fond of big explotions; I prefer my sci-fi a little more cerebral. An maybe that's the reason why I continuesly try to look for a deeper intent from the showrunners. As a big, big fan of BSG, I was optimistic when I read that David Eick was coming onboard, because I hoped he would bring BSG's grasp of moral dilemmas and it's inherent sense of danger. In a way, I think we got it with this episode:

 

This was a complete disconnect with the rest of the show prior. "You humans always choose violence?" Aliens literally invaded the planet and laid a hell of a lot of waste to it, at least from what we've seen. The show has been pretty heavy with the revolutionary war, etc., motifs from the start. It's disingenuous to call that out now. This was just disrespectful to the audience. You're changing the premise of the show not even mid stream, but like 5 feet from the other river bank. That's just not fair. You can't put this on the humans. 

I don't think we were supposed to think that Lexi was correct in her assesment of human behavior. After all, she killed Lourdes immediately after her speech. I think it was meant as a juxtaposition to the conversation Hal and Maggie had earlier in the episode: Hal says that love is what gets you killed (familial love especally when it comes to the 2nd Mass and their relation to the Masons'), but Maggie points out that love - and I'm sorry, now I'm going to sound hippy-dippy like Lourdes - is the only reason they still fight. It might have been a clumsy one, but I'm pretty sure "putting it on the humans" wasn't the intent from the showrunners. 

Edited August 6, 2014 by feverfew

[LittleIggy]

Why are humans fighting against an invaders trying to kill them all evil? And nobody asked Miss Piggy (no reference to weight, to nose and hair) that? WTF!

[NurseGiGi]

I gave up on even hate watching the show and simply come here out of curiosity to find out what has transpired.  Looks like I made the right decision.  I would definitely still be watching if they had kept with the original premise.  I'm holding on to the hope that soon I'll check here and find that Lexi is dead and everyone else has come to their senses.  You know, she dies and everyone's collective IQ's are returned to their pre-Lexi states.

[Ottis]

So much of this show is drama with no point:

 

• Anne and company mourn Lourdes like she was a fallen daughter, when she was an idiot who kept trying to out herself between the wider group's needs and whatever she personally believed. Plus, if Lourdes would have just shut the hell up, she would still be alive. She did it to herself.

• I cringed when Ann said to Lexie that some of them "had faith" Lexie would come out of the cocoon and not harm anyone. Boy, that sounded like a kooky religion was being born.

• Ann asks Tom Mason to "not quit on us." No idea where that came from. Mason would never quit. Then he wouldn't be able to run around acting heroic and telling people what to do, even when his ideas make no sense.

• All of a sudden, the Volm are back? And able to shoot down Espheni ships in one shot? And take out a bridge? They sure come and go when they please. I would ask for more accountability from the Volm if I were the humans.

• I will give the show credit for dodging what looked the the biggest character blunder - Pope not running away. Because hanging around to fight as part of the team was very unPopelike. But they had him explain to his pal why he stayed. Points off, though, for his praise of the special snowflake Masons.

• Why did the Espheni insist on walking miles to take another bridge to get into the town? With all their technology, they can't airlift troops over water?

• Speaking of, if they just had infrared capability, the Espheni would have wiped out the humans by now.

• And please oh please don't tell us that what was in Hal's eye was more worms.

 

I find Tom Mason extremely grating as a leader. Everything he decides is absolutely right to him (and usually because he has some emotional need) - until he is wrong, which is often, and then he waves off the consequences with a, "It's on me." He needs to step back and let Weaver or others lead, and Tom can contribute.

[Bishop]

I am a member of the audience, and I hate half the main characters at this point. 

 

That's fine, but that's your opinion, not the audience's.  The way you made your statement implied that the audience (the rest of the viewers) shared your opinion.  We don't.  Some do, of course, and probably in this forum, but not in others.  That's the point I'm trying to make.  It's no big deal.  I know people who love the characters, some who love SOME of the characters, and others who hate everything, which is the same for how people feel about other shows.  

 

I believe this state of affairs is due to the writers putting all their eggs into the Lexi basket. I blame the nosedive this show has taken on the Lexi storyline, beginning with the decision to make her an alien hybrid.

 

I agree with you that Lexi, the alien baby hybrid that grows at a ridiculous rate, was a stupid writing choice, but it's done.  I don't think the show has taken a nosedive because of it.  I love the fact that the 2nd Mass is on the move again and actually fighting the enemy and not having council sessions in Charleston.  I also think there has been better focus on all the characters this year.  We're seeing a different side to Ben, Pope, even Hall.

 

First, it wasn't even new for the show. Lexi is merely a reinvented Karen. They just upped the ante by making her a Mason daughter. And more than Karen ever could, Lexi has become the lightning rod for bad decisions made by main and secondary characters alike. The last person we saw who "chose poorly" was the idiot Lourdes. No, wait! The last person was Tom Mason, who decided he could make guarantees about an alien hybrid, because...family!

But that's not what happened.  Tom made no guarantees, and he said as much.  He promised that if she came out of the cocoon dangerous, he would deal with her, but didn't she prevent everyone from trying to stop her, if I remember correctly?  Even Pope couldn't kill her.  I watch Falling Skies through a different lens.  I don't watch it as a pure science fiction show, but rather what would I do in those situations and how would I react in those situations.  Yeah, it's easy to say "Kill the alien hybrid baby," but it's completely different when that hybrid is your child (much like Ben, who turned out fine), and then you have your "wife" and your young son asking you to continue to believe in her.  So you have one group screaming for her blood and the other pleading for mercy.  As a human being, those are not easy choices.  I had no problem with Tom's actions.  Weaver's would have been exactly the same had it been Jeannie in that cocoon.

I am not so kind or forgiving. I'm hate-watching with the forlorn hope that the writers finally kill off the worst: Lexi and Anne.

 

LOL, well at least your honest about it.  I'm not hate-watching at all.  If I don't like a show, I just don't watch it.  Why waste my time?  I actually don't have a problem with Anne's actions.  I did in the beginning of the season because she was way too commando for me.  But Anne's tunnel vision regarding Lexi is the fact that Lexi is her last existing blood relative on the entire planet.  Tom still has family; Anne doesn't.  If Tom were to lose Lexi, he'd still have three sons.  Anne only has Lexi, and you couple that with the fact that Anne watched her young son die, and that's going to add another layer of trauma for her.  Is she being smart about Lexi?  Logical?  No, but there are plenty of people who don't react logically towards their children and are just afraid to lose them.  I got the impression from Sunday's episode that Anne is still very much on the "We have to save Lexi" bandwagon (along with Ben) while Tom is starting to waver.  Hal isn't on that bandwagon at all, and I think he would kill Lexi if the had the chance.  He doesn't really look at her like a sister the way Ben does.

 

 

I thought this episode was interesting, although I'm not that fond of big explotions; I prefer my sci-fi a little more cerebral. An maybe that's the reason why I continuesly try to look for a deeper intent from the showrunners. As a big, big fan of BSG, I was optimistic when I read that David Eick was coming onboard, because I hoped he would bring BSG's grasp of moral dilemmas and it's inherent sense of danger. In a way, I think we got it with this episode:

 

BSG had it's own very big flaws over time, but I am happy with the direction that Eick has taken the show.  I think it's much richer and more like Falling Skies seasons 1 and 2 this year.  I actually enjoyed the fact that he broke up the 2nd mass and put them in different places this season because it allowed those characters to grow separate from the other characters.  So for instance, usually Tom is the commanding voice for his son's actions, but this season, Hal, Ben, and Matt had to think for themselves, and make their own choices.  I liked that.  I notice now that Tom doesn't even try to reign in Hal or Ben.  Only Matt he still regards as a kid and protects him as such, which is why he went after Matt.  Yet, surprisingly, he didn't go after Ben when he took off after Lexi.  I also like seeing Pope have someone else to play off of in Sarah, rather than just railing against everyone.  Lastly, I like the dynamic right now between Ben and Maggie.  I'm not saying I need to see a love story or anything, but I just like how things have changed up a bit and we get to see things from a new perspective.

 

I don't think we were supposed to think that Lexi was correct in her assesment of human behavior. After all, she killed Lourdes immediately after her speech. 

 

I agree.  Lexi is completely manipulated by Geminus, and he's been able to manipulate her from the very beginning.  I view Lexi as someone who has been brainwashed, and that's why I feel that Ben is the right person to help deal with her since he is also part-alien.  I think Lexi's story will ultimately involve helping the humans to defeat the Espheni.  Yeah, it's predictable, but I'm hoping that Falling Skies ends on a message of hope and not doom and gloom.  I want the survivors of the 2nd Mass to be in a better place at the end of the series finale.  

Edited August 6, 2014 by Bishop

[sjohnson]

The principal who fired the mother was the unsung villain of the piece. 

[ganesh]

I believe this state of affairs is due to the writers putting all their eggs into the Lexi basket.

 

 

Oh, no doubt. Which resulted in eye rolling from me because now the plot is boringly predictable, which I'm sure I'm not alone in that assessment. It's mystifying to me that TPTBs made this decision.

 

It might have been a clumsy one, but I'm pretty sure "putting it on the humans" wasn't the intent from the showrunners.

 

Why are humans fighting against an invaders trying to kill them all evil? And nobody asked Miss Piggy (no reference to weight, to nose and hair) that? WTF!

 

Clumsy indeed if that's their point. But in the second statement, that's basically what I was saying. The aliens invaded Earth, and not due to anything in retaliation for what humans did. It's not like we were out exploring the galaxy and accidentally shot their queen or what ever. They enslaved children and rounded people up into internment camps. 

 

It's the human desire to be free which is what they're fighting and dying for. They aren't "choosing violence" as she said. I don't know why they intended Lexi to be wrong, or, if they did, why they didn't have another character say something like this. 

[iMonrey]

 

I will give the show credit for dodging what looked the the biggest character blunder - Pope not running away. Because hanging around to fight as part of the team was very unPopelike. But they had him explain to his pal why he stayed. Points off, though, for his praise of the special snowflake Masons.

 

I'd still call that a blunder, and a major one, because this episode started out with Pope leading the charge to kill Lexie. That put him squarely at odds with the Masons - certainly Tom and Anne at least. Once you draw that kind of line in the sand, you can't turn around in the very next scene and go "I'm sticking with Tom Mason because he never seems to get killed." That doesn't even make any sense for any character - plenty of people around Tom get killed. But I think the writers failed to grasp the enormity of Pope basically gathering up a kill squad and going after Tom and Anne's daughter. Just because Lexie managed to escape doesn't mitigate the position that Pope took against the Mason family. To simply sweep that under the rug and have Pope going "Rah Rah Tom Mason" in the very next scene gave me whiplash. 

[BungalowSummer]

Tom made no guarantees, and he said as much. He promised that if she came out of the cocoon dangerous, he would deal with her, but didn't she prevent everyone from trying to stop her, if I remember correctly?

"He promised ... he would deal with her."

I believe that's as good as a guarantee, and it was a guarantee, or promise if you insist, that he had no business making. He made it based on magical thinking. He made it on the baseless assumption that an alien hybrid, emerging after a mysterious metamorphosis in a cocoon, was still "family", as if genocidal aliens have the same sentimentality about "family" as your average Hallmark movie.

And it's not as if Tom had no warning. He chose to ignore Cochise's advice that Lexi would emerge more dangerous and unpredictable.

This is why I don't want to see a miraculous Lexi redemption. Not only has she not earned it, I have no love for the trope that humanity conquers all because...well, because humans are just so awesome. I'm not looking forward to the moment when that tiny spark of humanity supposedly left in Lexi is ignited by the suffering of Ben, or Mom, or some other Mason. Of course, given Lexi's tender treatment of the idiot Lourdes' suffering, I'd say the milk of human kindness has curdled somewhat in Lexi's veins.

Edited August 6, 2014 by BungalowSummer

[Ottis]

I'd still call that a blunder, and a major one, because this episode started out with Pope leading the charge to kill Lexie. That put him squarely at odds with the Masons - certainly Tom and Anne at least.

 

 

I can see that. Maybe that is why it bothered me so much, even though Pope addressed it.  It was the single most uncharacteristic moment in the episode.

[ganesh]

This is why I don't want to see a miraculous Lexi redemption.

 

I don't either. I really *want* to be surprised, but this show has been fairly predictable and I don't see another outcome.

 

Looking at this episode itself, she flat out killed Lourdes. I assume that's going to be swept under the rug because zomg!Mason. But really, lots of people liked her in the 2nd Mass. It's unrealistic to think they'd just discard that.

[Gudzilla]

I think the biggest tragedy of this episode/season/show is poor Matt's hair.

[feverfew]

Clumsy indeed if that's their point. But in the second statement, that's basically what I was saying. The aliens invaded Earth, and not due to anything in retaliation for what humans did. It's not like we were out exploring the galaxy and accidentally shot their queen or what ever. They enslaved children and rounded people up into internment camps. 

 

It's the human desire to be free which is what they're fighting and dying for. They aren't "choosing violence" as she said. I don't know why they intended Lexi to be wrong, or, if they did, why they didn't have another character say something like this. 

I don't think it would have mattered to Lexi, if any humans in that moment had told her that they were fighting for freedom, not because violence is the human nature. As Bishop wrote, she has completely bought into the nonsense the Espheni told her, and I don't believe a trademark Mason speech would have made a difference. Whether it would have made a difference for the audience is another thing, but I think TPTB thought it would have been redundant vis-a-vis Hal and Maggie's talk. Again, maybe I'm reading too much into the show, but I don't think we're supposed to take Lexi's view as Word of God.

 

"He promised ... he would deal with her."

I believe that's as good as a guarantee, and it was a guarantee, or promise if you insist, that he had no business making. He made it based on magical thinking. He made it on the baseless assumption that an alien hybrid, emerging after a mysterious metamorphosis in a cocoon, was still "family", as if genocidal aliens have the same sentimentality about "family" as your average Hallmark movie.

And it's not as if Tom had no warning. He chose to ignore Cochise's advice that Lexi would emerge more dangerous and unpredictable.

What Tom and Anne did was idiotic. It was exactly what Hal was warning them all about; that love makes you blind*. And they paid for it. No matter what we the audience think of Lourdes, in the show she was loved by several characters, and Tom especially was shaken. Anne is so consumed by the loss of her son she's not thinking clearly, but I believe Tom might see things different now.  And again, I think (cross-my-fingers-hope-to-die) we weren't supposed to agree with Tom and Anne's wishful thinking, but instead feel that same shock they did, when they realised she was the enemy. 

 

That said, if the hybrid baby-plot ends with Lexi-the-savior-of-all-humankind, I will rage as much as the next person. That is not clever; that's just lazy writing. A dying Lexi speechifying like her dad I can live with, full-on redemption is not interesting. 

 

*Conversely, this is the most interesting I've found Hal in all four seasons. I think he works better in juxaposition to Tom, especially since Pope's too much brawn for that position.

[ganesh]

That said, if the hybrid baby-plot ends with Lexi-the-savior-of-all-humankind, I will rage as much as the next person. That is not clever; that's just lazy writing.

 

The entire season has been lazy so this seems most likely (boring) to me.

[sjohnson]

So far, Lexi just needs to redeem Lourdes' mercy killing. She was never going to have a happy ending, from the beginning. I don't watch Walking Dead, but didn't they kill off their emotionally troubled character? I saw something in entertainment news to the effect it was a real high point. I don't think Lexi needs any redemption for talking trash about people after they gin up a lynch mob for her. 

 

As to redemption, Pope was worse in what he's done. His on/off redemption is worse than anything they can do with Lexi I think. I see no reason to think Lexi will really buy into the Espheni once she finds out the peace she was living in was just a Potemkin village. Again I look forward to Ben and her confronting the Espheni. If they really go with her being a Karen, the humans will be even doomeder, yet we know they're going to survive. I think it's better to go with obvious than completely stupid.  Unless you want to go full tragedy, but tragedy is not popular.

Edited August 6, 2014 by sjohnson

[ganesh]

I don't watch Walking Dead, but didn't they kill off their emotionally troubled character?

 

That's a tenuous comparison. On TWD, people who die come back as zombies, which of course are a big problem. This character didn't understand that, and killed someone because "look, they just wake up again! NBD!" This one needed to be put down. 

 

Why wouldn't Lourdes have a happy ending though? She was insufferable, but she didn't kill anyone in Chinatown. I don't think Lourdes needed to be put down.

[sjohnson]

"Why wouldn't Lourdes have a happy ending though?" She was a believer in a world that proves belief is crazy. She had given up her whole personality to serve Lexi. She was going to march into the Espheni camp with Lexi. If she couldn't even comprehend the world she grew up in, she would have been even more lost in the Espheni society. The old ways are gone and no one will bring them back, not even Lexi, who really only promised peace. If people didn't hate Lourdes she could have been a pathetic figure. Or is that the same thing?

[ramble]

I've been thinking about this topic for far more time than it deserves, but in my crazy dream world Lexi's rapid aging hit's a human snag. She develops hormonal teenage angst about normal things. Obsessing about how her hair looks & if the hot new guy that just got captured might like her. When daddy overlord tries to instruct her to dark mojo the humans she starts crying & tells him he doesn't understand her or how she feels. She can scream she hates him & go dye her hair black & wander around the nearest ghetto camp humming depression songs. Yeah, I know it won't happen & if it did it would be bizarre, but I was trying to come up with a scenario that involved me not wishing she was dead.

[ganesh]

Yeah, I meant within the context of TWD comparison that I quoted. Lourdes in Chinatown didn't actually kill anyone. She wanted to follow Lexi to the Esph, but it's not like she was saying anyone who didn't want to follow had to die. In comparison with TWD she didn't have to be put down. It's not like she couldn't have snapped out of it. 

 

Basically, her and all the other deaths from this episode were just TPTB cleaning house. They couldn't do it in the beginning of the season because it would have been egregious, but it was still sloppy. 

[green]

So, I guess all of humanity must die so that the Masons may live. 

 

I see they broke up Denny and Ben. That's too bad, I liked what little we saw of them together.

 

Why is anyone still following Tom?

 

Yeah I've watched this series on and off as it jumps shark after shark after shark.  Was fine when it was a small group of guerrillas (2nd Mass) fighting in their own backyard against alien invaders.  But it is so over the top at this point with demi-gods, multiple aliens, cross-species and crap like that.  Which is bad enough.  But pour on the "only the Masons" count and "we got to save our little quickly grown-up semi-anti-messiah-demonic-angelic-weirdo girl who goes around killing in the name of love cause she is family and screw what she just did to a trusting human being just now."

 

Stuff was over the top before they added Bozo the Quick Grow Daughter to the mix.  Now it's a homage to the "universal" (cough) theme that it all all about "family" ... only if it is THE family.  Cause only they count so it's okay to excuse baby sis for killing Lourdes was it.

 

Wish pony-tail second-in-command and the rogue bad ass guy would just lead everyone off and leave the Masons to their "special" destinies.

[Sonny]

Yeah I've watched this series on and off as it jumps shark after shark after shark.  Was fine when it was a small group of guerrillas (2nd Mass) fighting in their own backyard against alien invaders.  But it is so over the top at this point with demi-gods, multiple aliens, cross-species and crap like that.  Which is bad enough.  But pour on the "only the Masons" count and "we got to save our little quickly grown-up semi-anti-messiah-demonic-angelic-weirdo girl who goes around killing in the name of love cause she is family and screw what she just did to a trusting human being just now."

 

Stuff was over the top before they added Bozo the Quick Grow Daughter to the mix.  Now it's a homage to the "universal" (cough) theme that it all all about "family" ... only if it is THE family.  Cause only they count so it's okay to excuse baby sis for killing Lourdes was it.

 

Wish pony-tail second-in-command and the rogue bad ass guy would just lead everyone off and leave the Masons to their "special" destinies.

I have to agree and I hate to say it: this was the worst episode for me. Everything felt so wrong.

Lexi killing Lourdes and talking nonsense, the overlord not just bombing them, Pope sticking to the Masons, the ridiculous gas explosion, Tector and the doc dying. Every other scene and action had me rubbing my eyes in disbelief.

 

The gas explosion was ridiculous. A little burst of fire killed most of the 2ndMass when there was no one visible in the street? Wow. Best way to save money ever!

 

Lourdes was bad this season, but she didn't derserve to die in this way. Either she revives soon, or her death will be further used for more empty drama. I so couldn't believe it when Anne said she was like her baby sister. We barely saw them together and what we saw didn't have the depth they implied.

I wish they would have killed Maggie instead. Maybe next week they find her dead body and the brothers can fight over who gets to dig her grave.

 

That Pope thing was so bizarre. In some way I liked his female couterpart urging him to flee the scene of disaster. They really need to decide which side he is on, though.

 

The writing and editing is so bad. I kept wishing the overlord just bombed them and it would be over. But no! Tector did the bombing, though they should have made him kill or seriously injure the overlord at least. His death seems so pointless. Same as the Doc's. There I really liked them, only to see them killed for nothing. Except for Weaver, Ben and Matt I don't find most characters interesting anymore, and I wouldn't mind losing some others.

 

I just hope the story and characterisation improve, because I hate to see a good show end this awful.

[feverfew]

I'm sorry so many people here thinks the show has gone to crap - makes me start wondering whether I'm seeing things that aren't really there on the screen, since I still love the show. Or maybe I just love the show in my head ;) I agree that the first two seasons were more consistent in terms of both thematics and scale, but I found the third season rather boring, so this feels like an upgrade. Or maybe it's because Ben takes more of a center stage in this season (and Hal is in the background) and he's the most interesting of the Masons. (And the better actor, but that's not on the showrunners).

 

Speaking of Ben, one of the things I'm missing this season, is actually his alieness. I think it was in season two, but wasn't there something about his back turning more scalely? Did that development get thrown away with the magic baby-plot or? 

[iMonrey]

 

I think the biggest tragedy of this episode/season/show is poor Matt's hair.

 

Heh. At least he lost the mullet. 

[Ottis]

Everything felt so wrong

 

 

You know what it resembles? It's like when you read a self-published book from Amazon and it starts out decently and then the writing, sentence structure and plot fall apart. At first you think, well, if you just tweaked this or that, it would be OK, and you keep going. But then it compounds, and you arrive at a point where there is so little consistent characterization or logical plot development that nothing is meaningful anymore because it doesn't tie together. You get stuck on a mispelling or contrivance that distracts you from whatever else is going on. That's how this season of FS has been for me. Little bits of decent TV surrounded by 'What?" moments.

 

Leading the charge is Tom Mason, and his "Lexi isn't dangerous! I will stop her from harming anyone! Oh wait, she is dangerous? Sorry - that one was on me, gang!" leadership style.  Followed in a tie by "Flip a coin - Mason or anti-Mason" Pope and the inexplicable WWII tactics of the technologically advanced Espheni.

[xaxat]

Speaking of Ben, one of the things I'm missing this season, is actually his alieness. I think it was in season two, but wasn't there something about his back turning more scalely? Did that development get thrown away with the magic baby-plot or? 

 

I miss it too. And that goes along with my disappointment that the writers are apparently done with his relationship with Denny. I liked how their friendship was based on being so different from the others.

[ganesh]

I think they came up how they wanted this season to end first and then kind of jammed the best back in order to make it fit. I mean, just as someone who watches a lot of tv, it's seems like the time jump at the beginning of the season was intended to wipe the board off from the prior seasons. 

 

You can use a time jump without it being a cheat. The end of the BSG movie to the jump to "33". That make sense. This is just cheap. 

[Sonny]

I'm sorry so many people here thinks the show has gone to crap - makes me start wondering whether I'm seeing things that aren't really there on the screen, since I still love the show. Or maybe I just love the show in my head ;) I agree that the first two seasons were more consistent in terms of both thematics and scale, but I found the third season rather boring, so this feels like an upgrade. Or maybe it's because Ben takes more of a center stage in this season (and Hal is in the background) and he's the most interesting of the Masons. (And the better actor, but that's not on the showrunners).

I'm glad you still enjoy it. It's not that I hate it yet, maybe it has just changed too much for my taste. Last season was interesting in its own way, though also not my favourite and with plenty things I didn't like.

 

Speaking of Ben, one of the things I'm missing this season, is actually his alieness. I think it was in season two, but wasn't there something about his back turning more scalely? Did that development get thrown away with the magic baby-plot or?

 I like Ben a lot and hope he gets more scenes. The actor improved a lot and is now one of my favourites on this show.

Maybe the  Volm found a way to stop the scaling for now and tptb just didn't bother to mention it.

 

You know what it resembles? It's like when you read a self-published book from Amazon and it starts out decently and then the writing, sentence structure and plot fall apart. At first you think, well, if you just tweaked this or that, it would be OK, and you keep going. But then it compounds, and you arrive at a point where there is so little consistent characterization or logical plot development that nothing is meaningful anymore because it doesn't tie together. You get stuck on a mispelling or contrivance that distracts you from whatever else is going on. That's how this season of FS has been for me. Little bits of decent TV surrounded by 'What?" moments.

Hah! That's a very good description. Like they got rid of the editor.

Leading the charge is Tom Mason, and his "Lexi isn't dangerous! I will stop her from harming anyone! Oh wait, she is dangerous? Sorry - that one was on me, gang!" leadership style.  Followed in a tie by "Flip a coin - Mason or anti-Mason" Pope and the inexplicable WWII tactics of the technologically advanced Espheni.

 I could accept Tom and Anne's infatuation with their daughter, but combined with how it plays out and all the other stuff happening, like Maggie and then Hal being against them, forgetting to tell Tom what the Volm said and lack of normal conversations and discussions about this important topic, yeah, it's getting too silly. Everything seems to only happen for plot advancement, like ganesh said.

 

I miss it too. And that goes along with my disappointment that the writers are apparently done with his relationship with Denny. I liked how their friendship was based on being so different from the others.

Me too! I thought they had good chemistry and  an interesting story. Harnessed kids were an important part of the series from the very beginning and I hope they get more time, or at least one scene together.

[feverfew]

I miss it too. And that goes along with my disappointment that the writers are apparently done with his relationship with Denny. I liked how their friendship was based on being so different from the others.

Me three. I would rather have seen that hybrid story told, than the one we got. I liked Denny, but I realised, as soon as Anne treated her like crap wrt the skitter she stabbed while Denny was still attached, that we weren't gonna get her story in the show all.  I do think they are going with "we're different from the rest, but not Lexi-different", considering the preview

shows Maggie getting one of Ben's spikes implanted in her back. Maybe that'll be the triangle focus, rather than brother-swapping. I hope so, even though I have no problem with that story in itself. It just makes for a better story trope.

 

I'm glad you still enjoy it. It's not that I hate it yet, maybe it has just changed too much for my taste. Last season was interesting in its own way, though also not my favourite and with plenty things I didn't like.

[...]

 I could accept Tom and Anne's infatuation with their daughter, but combined with how it plays out and all the other stuff happening, like Maggie and then Hal being against them, forgetting to tell Tom what the Volm said and lack of normal conversations and discussions about this important topic, yeah, it's getting too silly. Everything seems to only happen for plot advancement, like ganesh said.

Thank you. I wish a lot of it was dfferent - I too believe, as you and ganesh wrote, that when characters are sacrificed for plot advancement, the story suffers. And I do recoqnise that particular problem; I'm just hoping they'll right the ship before it's too late. Getting rid of Lexi will be a start, because whatever conflict she represent, it's not coming across too well. 

Edited August 7, 2014 by feverfew

[Insomnia]

Proptip: If an otherworldy being asks you if you want to be set free, never, under any circumstances say yes. It never ends well.

[Bishop]

"He promised ... he would deal with her."

I believe that's as good as a guarantee, and it was a guarantee, or promise if you insist, that he had no business making. He made it based on magical thinking. He made it on the baseless assumption that an alien hybrid, emerging after a mysterious metamorphosis in a cocoon, was still "family", as if genocidal aliens have the same sentimentality about "family" as your average Hallmark movie.

 

You seem to watching this only from the point of view of a science fiction show and not from the character's perspective (which is fine, but that's now how I watch it).  Yes, Tom said he would deal with it, but Lexi started to walk away and then SUDDENLY killed Lourdes.  No one, including Pope, was able to stop her.  Could Tom have gone after Lexi?  Sure, but do you really think he could have killed her?  Are you saying that Tom should have killed Lexi while she was still in the cocoon?  Yeah, maybe he should have, but he was hoping that she wouldn't be dangerous.  Remember Ben?  Remember how people were reacting about him?  Should Tom have killed Ben too?  

 

I get the logic of your argument, but to completely dismiss the emotional connection of the characters ignores what is driving Tom in the first place.  ALSO, Dan Weaver, Tom's most trusted friend, told Tom to stand by Lexi.  So is Weaver wrong also or is it just Tom that's always wrong?  My point is that the story is much more about fathers and daughters (both Tom and Weaver) and what they are willing to sacrifice to save them.  Sometimes you want to believe your child isn't going to be an alien-hybrid murderer.  Now Tom (and Weaver) know better.  Hal wasn't all that keen on killing Karen, remember?  And she did TONS of stuff to hurt the 2nd Mass and the Masons.  Yet he wavered over and over again, and Tom killed her (and Maggie).  It's why Hal was so pissed off at his father.  It's hard to kill people you are emotionally connected to.  Killing Lexi is not an easy task because it IS Tom's child, and he's got Anne and Ben and Weaver telling him to give her a chance.  So would I listen to Pope and his constant "Let's kill people" mantra or would I listen to the people I trust?  The bottom line is that Tom did give Lexi a chance, and she failed that test.  Now if he is able to subdue Lexi (a big if), and then lets her go again, then yes, he'd be dead wrong.

 

And it's not as if Tom had no warning. He chose to ignore Cochise's advice that Lexi would emerge more dangerous and unpredictable.

I believe that information was given to Hal, not Tom, and Hal never once shared that information with Tom or Weaver.  So Tom and Weaver can't be blamed for information they didn't have.  Also, I think it was Shaq who gave Hal that information, not Cochise.

This is why I don't want to see a miraculous Lexi redemption. Not only has she not earned it, I have no love for the trope that humanity conquers all because...well, because humans are just so awesome. I'm not looking forward to the moment when that tiny spark of humanity supposedly left in Lexi is ignited by the suffering of Ben, or Mom, or some other Mason. Of course, given Lexi's tender treatment of the idiot Lourdes' suffering, I'd say the milk of human kindness has curdled somewhat in Lexi's veins.

 

I agree with you on this point.  Frankly, I'd rather Lexi turn evil and have the 2nd Mass take her out.  Wouldn't that be a nice change for the usual sci-fi hybrid baby trope?.  I have a feeling we're not going to get that, however.  It would be a bold move for Eick to just let her embrace her Espheni side rather than watch the Masons try to find that sliver of humanity still left in her.  I just hope the show doesn't devolve into the Lexi Show.  I haven't seen that happen yet.  Lexi's story is much more related to Anne than the rest of the characters.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Bishop

[shapeshifter]

KIlling off cast lowers pay roll and rarely has anything to do with shaking up the drama. 

That's how I interpreted this episode. They even have fewer extras to pay now. Too bad the new show runners didn't make greater use of Tector and Kadar instead of killing them off.

Thank you, Lexi!  I will not miss Lourdes in the slightest.  She has never not been an annoying nuance, and I'm glad that finally caught up to her.  If Heaven does exist, I hope God is there to greet her and be like "My child, I'm glad you were a fan, but you clearly did not learn to use that brain I gave you!"

LOL! Thank you @thuganomics85 for giving the comic relief that this episode was lacking.

Even Pope is mopey now--when he's not cheerleading Tom Mason (which is sooo OOC).

I haven't looked at spoilers or anything, but from the previews I think there may be hope that

they will kill off Maggie

.

I did think Moon Bloodgood did some great acting/yelling at Tom in their scene, but her character is totally unlikeable to me at this point.

I'm still halfway expecting Lourdes to rise up as some kind of more powerful minion of Lexi.

I hadn't thought of the "more powerful minion of Lexi" part, but, yeah, showing her laying on a clean, perfectly tufted mattress didn't look like she was dead dead, and it would make sense the Lexi's killing touch would make f'in' Lourdes into a killer cylon or something.