Nitpicks and Pet Peeves: Where Do They Get Their Hair Done?

[FormerMod-a1]

The place to discuss nitpicks and pet peeves with the show, as a whole.

 

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My thoughts: I'm one of the few that seems to enjoy this show, and many of the inconsistencies that others notice or get bothered by don't have the same effect on me.  However, the one that does bother me and that I always notice, even four seasons in, is the hair.  How do the women have such great hair?  Long I don't mind, but why isn't it at least pulled back?  at least some of the time?  And it's never even disheveled either.  Tom's beard annoys me, but that's at least a bit more realistic.  It would also help if at least one of the female character had short hair.

[SFoster21]

Thank you! Me too!

How about platinum Lexi with two dark haired, dark eyed parents?

What is the point of making her Bargain Khaleesi. (tm another poster)?

Blonde people are destined to rule us all?

Besides, she thinks skitterdom is a step up from human, so how come she looks like any Hollywood starlet/Barbie doll?

No pride in those other genes? What? What is the point of the platinum hair?

[anstar]

In season 1 they were worried about ammunition.  Now they seem to have found an armory because they never seem to run out anymore.

[tv echo]

Where do the women wash that long hair? It always looks clean and shiny to me. Nobody would have long hair if this show were even trying to be "realistic."

I remember that season 1 of Revolution had the same criticism because Charlie's hair was always so clean and shiny like a Breck commercial.  Then in season 2 they made her hair look more grungy.  In Falling Skies, the environment is even dirtier and grittier than in Revolution and yet the characters' hair all look clean and nicely styled - this includes both women and men.  Remember, Pope has long hair.  And Tom must have hair gel because his short hair sticks straight up in a way that doesn't look quite natural.

[ganesh]

Ammo is always a huge issue with me on shows like this. When TPTBs on a show make ammo unlimited, they take away from actually having to write strategy. It's a subtle cheat no one really notices, but I think it's really cheap. They did that on Atlantis, and actually gave a good reason within the show universe, but I think it was still cheap. 

 

Say what you want about TWD and you can say a lot, but they don't half ass that kind of stuff. 

[xaxat]

How about platinum Lexi with two dark haired, dark eyed parents?

 

I think she genetically has three parents, and one of them is a ten foot tall, green, hairless alien.

 

I'm not sure how that works.

[paulvdb]

I don't think the writers know how DNA works. But the actress did have her natural hair color in the dream sequence with Tom where she explained that she lost the blonde hair color because some technobabble thing removed her alien DNA. So apparently as far as the writers of the show are concerned, you can get blonde hair from a ten foot tall, green, hairless alien.

[Guest]

I really have no idea where to ask this but I think this may the best fit.

 

I stopped watching when they realized they had to attack the moon.  I mean literally Tom did his little speech about attacking the moon and I turned this thing off.   My assumption was that every single scene from that point on would end own this thread.

 

So is the rest of the season too stupid to watch?

[ganesh]

Attacking the moon was one of the lesser stupid things I could deal with on the show. At least it's scifi and it something aliens might do. If you got that far, you might as well finish the season and decide if you want to watch the final season. 

[xaxat]

Forget the Masons. This is how you shoot the moon.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dTVfSJoj04

[TVSpectator]

I haven't seen this season (not till I can catch up online) but I have keep up reading on this thread, but I am not totally sure if they still did this, but I always kind of hated the relationship between Tom and Pope. Yes, Pope is mostly right, then he argues with the rest of the 2nd Mass (or Charleston) but no one listens, because Tom doesn't agree with him and/or they all get mad at him, then he leaves, then something does happen and it turns out that he is right and/or half right about his suspicions that no one wanted to listen too in the first place but comes back like everything is fine. I just wished that they would just stop doing this and just have Pope leave the 2nd Mass (and maybe star in a spin-off series of his own).

 

Also, I really hated the whole Mason hug(s) moments on the show and also the circle jerking between Tom and all of the 2nd Mass. 

[ganesh]

Then you'd probably gag watching this season. Like dry heaving. 

[green]

Just a small pet peeve that really REALLY bothered me.  The whole Charleston, SC stuff.  All the scenery around it looks like northern fauna and hilly geography.  It's flat there.  And not one single palmetto, gray moss crap, rattlesnake or swamps.  (I still don't know what they were thinking making Charleston the hub of human existence or something.  Maybe the aliens couldn't be bothered with the place).

[TVSpectator]

Then you'd probably gag watching this season. Like dry heaving. 

 

Braf. But seriously, I will probably catch up online, only to find out exactly what happen before the finale season. 

 

Just a small pet peeve that really REALLY bothered me.  The whole Charleston, SC stuff.  All the scenery around it looks like northern fauna and hilly geography.  It's flat there.  And not one single palmetto, gray moss crap, rattlesnake or swamps.  (I still don't know what they were thinking making Charleston the hub of human existence or something.  Maybe the aliens couldn't be bothered with the place

 

In the first couple of seasons the show was filmed in Toronto and then production moved to Vancouver (the explanation that I have heard, for the move, was because so the production team and crew could be in the same time zone as the executives). 

Edited September 6, 2014 by TVSpectator

[green]

...

In the first couple of seasons the show was filmed in Toronto and then production moved to Vancouver (the explanation that I have heard, for the move, was because so the production team and crew could be in the same time zone as the executives). 

 

Thanks.  I figured it was just in BC.  Didn't know about the Toronto seasons.  But in both cases these areas are in the temperate zone.  So why did the writers write the series going way down to to the palmetto state instead of staying somewhere in the north or, gasp, crossing into Canada itself.  Because there was no reason given plot-wise for the need for the southern exposure.  So why not write it so they flee to some other northern location far away? 

 

Just seemed a stupid writing choice to me and a very very annoying one.  Like we viewers are too dumb to notice how badly the geography didn't match the location we were told they were at.  Always took me out of the show every single time.  Was the first reason I started skipping episodes and began dropping away from the series.  Soon there were way more reasons but this started my original dislike for the show.

[spritz]

As I was watching the Lexi dream sequence during her and Tom’s flight to the moon, I noticed something unseemly about the show. Imho, this show gives off a misogynous vibe. It may be subtle, but it seems to be there (intentional or not).

 

It was sad that Lexi had to beg Tom for forgiveness and that she had to plead with him to get him to unconditionally accept her as his daughter. Tom had brutally disowned her, unlike how he treated Hal and Ben. When Hal was infected with that parasite, he did some awful things too. But Tom didn’t hesitate to forgive him. After Ben was rescued from his captivity, Tom welcomed him back to the fold even though he was still harnassed. Neither had to beg Tom for reacceptance. Double standard?

 

Remember how Tom greeted Lexi when Lexi returned to Chinatown seeking to make amends. “What the hell are you doing here?” You could just sense the fatherly love in Tom’s voice (sarcasm). What a way to greet one’s daughter.

 

Tom kept reminding Lexi about her killing of Lourdes. He was holding that over Lexi’s head. But how much control did Lexi have over her actions? She was thoroughly brainwashed by the esphani. That was her reality. Lexi didn’t have the benefit of Tom’s wise and sacred parental guidance during her accelerated formative years. Yet she got no sympathy from the old man, unlike Hal after Hal did what he did.

 

It goes beyond that. Who has been the human face of the enemy on the show? Most seemed to have been women. Before Lexi, it was Karen. In the overlord’s space ship, which harnessed kid was it who represented the overlord? It was Mira. And who was the protector of the cult of the evil Lexi in Chinatown? It was none other than Lourdes.

 

I remember how Karen was portrayed almost like a succubus. Hal was the victim of this evil woman’s seduction. And to a lesser extent, Matt was a victim of Mira’s cunning when she blew her whistle on him. The holy Mason boys have been shown as victims of wicked women.

 

And then there’s Maggie. I thought it was odd that Maggie just accepted what Hal had done to her. She was opposed to having alien dna imposed onto her. And Hal knew it. But Hal didn’t respect her wishes. It was his desire that mattered. Maggie is a feisty character. Hal had Maggie altered, yet it seemed out of character that she has carried no resentment against him (other than that punch). It was also out of character that she would not have lasting anxiety about it especially since she opposed it. Instead the show has shown her as being happy with her new condition. What is the show saying, that a woman should just accept that her fate should be in a man’s hand instead of her own and then be happy with it?

 

And how come Weaver’s daughter had such an undignified demise? She was mutated into a monster. Why couldn’t it have had been Hal or Ben or Matt or Dingaan or Anthony or Pope?

 

Back to the Lexi/Tom situation, Tom belittled Anne’s feelings about Lexi. Father Tom knows best. Only Tom’s opinion mattered. Lexi could only receive redemption from Tom. Anne never got the satisfaction of seeing her daughter redeem herself, even though it was she, not Tom, who still had faith in Lexi. Furthermore, Lexi had to sacrifice herself in order to achieve full redemption. No second chance to live on, unlike Hal and Ben. Hal did not need to seek redemption from Tom or any one else of the 2^nd Mass for what he did when he was traitorous Hal.

 

I don’t know if I am reading too much into what I see when I watch this show. But I can’t help but wonder why so many female characters on this show haven’t fared well.

[TVSpectator]

Thanks.  I figured it was just in BC.  Didn't know about the Toronto seasons.  But in both cases these areas are in the temperate zone.  So why did the writers write the series going way down to to the palmetto state instead of staying somewhere in the north or, gasp, crossing into Canada itself.  Because there was no reason given plot-wise for the need for the southern exposure.  So why not write it so they flee to some other northern location far away? 

 

Just seemed a stupid writing choice to me and a very very annoying one.  Like we viewers are too dumb to notice how badly the geography didn't match the location we were told they were at.  Always took me out of the show every single time.  Was the first reason I started skipping episodes and began dropping away from the series.  Soon there were way more reasons but this started my original dislike for the show.

 

I really don't know. Currently, many Sci-fi/Fantasy shows are filmed in the BC area and also in and around Toronto (except for the Walking Dead, which I have heard is filmed actually in Georgia and possibly a few other TV shows, that I can think of, that film where they are set in or close to the actual areas they are set in); one of the only reasons I can figure out why, is because its cheap to film there and there is already (currently anyways) a large film industry that can support a show/movie filming in both cities (and I am  not saying that money is the only reason but money and resources are  major reasons to film in an area or not). 

 

Edit- another factor are tax breaks  and other government subsidies, have put in place to attract the filming industry up there.

Edited September 9, 2014 by TVSpectator

[green]

^  I think you may be missing my point.  I understand totally that the Vancouver and Toronto areas have become Hollywood North for over a decade or two and love that they have.  The same endless Southern California exteriors are exceedingly boring to look at.  They used one particular ranch some studio owned over a hundred times in western movies and TV shows down the decades.

 

What I don't get is having the storyline of this show take the characters to South Carolina when the exteriors do not match SC exteriors and there is no reason in the plot that they "had" to go to SC.  It isn't like the Mason's had long lost relatives there or something.  They could have just as easily "had" to go to Milwaukee or Montreal or Boise or somewhere that matched the exteriors they were working with.  Just seemed a really stupid thing for the writers to do fobbing off very obvious northern hills and forests for flat, swampy, palmetto-y SC.

 

And since this is the pet peeve thread this is a major pet peeve for me.  It takes me right out of the story having South Carolina suddenly terraformed into something it isn't.  That is all I am saying.  For me it is a MAJOR pet peeve.

Edited September 9, 2014 by green

[spritz]

Imho, this show gives off a misogynous vibe. It may be subtle, but it seems to be there (intentional or not).

 

 

This show continues to give off a misogynous vibe. There were a few scenes in the season 5 premiere that made me cringe.

 

When Matt demanded to go along with Tom and Anne on their mission, Anne said no. I believe she said "I don't think so". Tom immediately countermanded Anne's order to Matt. He told Matt it was ok for him to come along. Granted that Matt is Tom's biological child, but Tom didn't even pretend he was taking Anne's wish and opinion into consideration. Tom didn't hesitate for a moment, not even out of respect for Anne, in countermanding Anne. It didn't bother Tom one bit that he was undermining whatever authority Anne might have had.

 

And Anne's reaction was odd. Her facial reaction showed complete contentment, as though she was thinking "you're the man Tom, you're right. You know better than me Tom. I'm just the woman." That was the impression I got from watching that scene.

 

Then there was that scene where Tom ordered Anne to take off her necklace. Tom's tone was blunt and unsympathetic. He didn't even offer an explanation, just a "trust me". It had a misogynous tone, ordering his woman to do as told. 

 

Also, the show seemed to have stripped Anne of a lot of her femininity. The writers have turned her into a she-Rambo. I don't find this version of Anne as appealing as what she was like earlier in the series. I can understand Anne evolving into more of a fighter as the war has dragged on, but I don't like how dramatically the writers have changed her.

[Raja]

Ammo is always a huge issue with me on shows like this. When TPTBs on a show make ammo unlimited, they take away from actually having to write strategy. It's a subtle cheat no one really notices, but I think it's really cheap. They did that on Atlantis, and actually gave a good reason within the show universe, but I think it was still cheap. 

 

Say what you want about TWD and you can say a lot, but they don't half ass that kind of stuff. 

For me it was the gun porn. Every speaking character had his unique signature fully automatic rifle with the many different calibers of ammunition needed as if every weapons manufacturer in the world sent a single gun to the 2nd Mass for testing before humanity was wiped out..

 

Then there was Pope's skeeter killing advice to slow them down by shooting at their spider legs before taking a head shot. If that was the advanced tactics of man no wonder humanity was wiped out.

[TVSpectator]

Okay, so I have a few pet peeves for this show:

 

1. I am tired of hearing how the 2nd Mass is/going to be the savior of humanity. I would really like to see all of the other so call other militias that we keep on hearing about just meet up with the 2n Mass and form a joint mission (and that all of the other militias survive as well). Yes, we got to see Charleston and that one lady that was gun down by the Skitters (I think she was from Michigan), but I want to actually see the many others that they keep on talking about. 

 

2. I want Pope to star in his own spin-off show. Maybe it can be about rebuilding society but I would like to see Pope to get his own show. 

 

3. If the 2nd Mass is from Boston, which in real life is like 25% Irish, where are the members of the 2nd Mass with Irish surnames? Did all of Boston's Irish just die out?

 

4. I do want the Ben, Maggie, and Hal love triangle to end. 

 

5. I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but  they seem to use a blue filter for their screen (which isn't uncommon in movies and TV shows where their subject matter is about bleak hopelessness), but I do with that they stop doing this. Maybe just use some other color scheme, since we are supposed to  believe that the humans are now on the verge of winning the war. 

[BooksRule]

I was just coming here to post about the bleakness of the landscape.  I know that it's supposed to show the tone of the show, but I think that ever since the first episode it has been overcast, gloomy, cold and gray.  Even with aliens roaming around, they obviously didn't firebomb the entire east coast (at least I don't think).  Shouldn't there have been a few wildflowers, grass or the occasional blue sky? 

 

As for filming locations, I agree about the landscape not matching Charleston, SC.  However, I could have sworn that they filmed the show in North Carolina, until I read differently here and looked it up.  I guess I was thinking of 'Sleepy Hollow' and 'Under the dome' which both film in NC (although 'Sleepy Hollow' is moving to Georgia for the new season).  I always have a major peeve with locations that look nothing like what they are supposed to represent.

Edited July 27, 2015 by BooksRule

[TVSpectator]

Yeah, the bleakness is getting to me. I feel that this show's idea of drama is to have everything bleak as possible. Although, if you do try to rationalized it, I guess you can argue that:

 

1. This show is now filmed in Vancouver that apparently  has that shitty weather. 

2. This was a trend that was popular with shows on TV, when Falling Skies first aired (i.e. ripping off BSG), so to stay consistent, everything is just bleak. 

3. An in-universe explanation is that since the 2nd Mass is from Boston we maybe seeing all events during the mid/late fall to early/mid spring where that bleak overcast is pretty much consent here in the East Coast. Although, once you get to mid spring you are going to have more sunnier days and also much warmer temps. Plus, if you live on the East Coast and not in New England, then be prepared for the humidity that is present in the mid to late summer

 

Although, I do think that only 1 & 2 is possible because, IMO, details like plausible regional weather just doesn't matter on this show. Take for the fact that the 2nd Mass is somewhere in the South, while everything is still bleak and cold. Now, what usually comes to mind when someone is thinking about the American Southeast and its weather: too me it's hot and humid weather with sunny days. 

[ganesh]

I don't really get too bothered by things that aren't essential to a show. You have to film where you can film. Just picking the east coast is good tv-wise because there's a lot of cities, so you have more story potential.

 

I nit and in-show things that can be controlled by TPTBs. It's ridiculous to me that there wasn't some kind of attempt at a communications network. Just logistics, which are boring, but should be referenced at least tangentially.

[spritz]

Imho, this show gives off a misogynous vibe. It may be subtle, but it seems to be there (intentional or not).

 

Who has been the human face of the enemy on the show? Most seemed to have been women. Before Lexi, it was Karen. In the overlord’s space ship, which harnessed kid was it who represented the overlord? It was Mira. And who was the protector of the cult of the evil Lexi in Chinatown? It was none other than Lourdes.

 

 

You can add Captain Katie Marshall to that list.

 

And in "Stalag 14 Virginia", Maggie tells us that she did it for Hal. She didn't get rid of the spikes for her own sake, but to impress her boyfriend. How sad.

[spritz]

Imho, this show gives off a misogynous vibe. It may be subtle, but it seems to be there (intentional or not).

 

I guess it shouldn't be any surprise that the villain of villains of this series will turn out to be a female, the queen. Not a king, but a queen.

 

Women characters on this show seem to constantly get screwed over (at least during the last two seasons).

 

What was the point of having Maggie apologize to Matt? He wasn't even involved in the love triangle. What were the writers implying? That Maggie was a home wrecker whose double dealing somehow traumatized Matt? Hal has been part of two love triangles, but he hasn't apologized to anyone for his cheating ways.

 

Why did the writers bring Lexi back anyway? She got trashed the first time around. And she gets trashed again. Anthony could get redemption, but not Lexi. I know it was just a Lexi impostor. But why not have Anne reminisce about Lexi's contribution to the cause, blowing up the Esp moon base. Not that I care about the Lexi character, but why give Tom all the credit.

 

And nobody gave a crap about what Anne might have thought about Lexi. When Lexi was brought back to the base, Weaver ordered that nothing be done about Lexi until Tom returned. Only Tom's decision mattered, even though Anne had the maternal/emotional connection to Lexi. The rational men of the 2nd Mass should decide, not Anne who would be too emotional about it. Weaver told Anne to keep her emotions about Lexi in check.

 

As Anne said, "can't take this shit anymore".

 

 

 

 

[TVSpectator]

I guess it shouldn't be any surprise that the villain of villains of this series will turn out to be a female, the queen. Not a king, but a queen.

....

What was the point of having Maggie apologize to Matt? He wasn't even involved in the love triangle. What were the writers implying? That Maggie was a home wrecker whose double dealing somehow traumatized Matt? Hal has been part of two love triangles, but he hasn't apologized to anyone for his cheating ways.

 

Why did the writers bring Lexi back anyway? She got trashed the first time around. And she gets trashed again. Anthony could get redemption, but not Lexi. I know it was just a Lexi impostor. But why not have Anne reminisce about Lexi's contribution to the cause, blowing up the Esp moon base. Not that I care about the Lexi character, but why give Tom all the credit.

 

And nobody gave a crap about what Anne might have thought about Lexi. When Lexi was brought back to the base, Weaver ordered that nothing be done about Lexi until Tom returned. Only Tom's decision mattered, even though Anne had the maternal/emotional connection to Lexi. The rational men of the 2nd Mass should decide, not Anne who would be too emotional about it. Weaver told Anne to keep her emotions about Lexi in check.

 

As Anne said, "can't take this shit anymore".

 

Overall, there was no point to apologize to Matt because Matt wasn't involved in the love triangle. 

 

As with Hal's love triangle, technically he has been in at least three. In season 1, before Karen was harnessed (and she mentioned to Hal how much she loved to be harnessed) there was a blooming of a love triangle involving Hal, Karen, and Lourdes which got sidetracked because Karen was harnessed by the Esh. 

 

As with the commit about the Esh having a queen, overall it's not unusual in sci-fi for there to be at least one alien race that has a queen that controls all. It's a common trope.

Edited August 31, 2015 by TVSpectator

[ganesh]

Yeah, we probably all could rattle off sci fi queens for about an hour or so. 

 

They probably used the queen as a reason why the Esh have telepathy. Overlooking the fact that waging a war on a galactic scale requires a massive amount of logistics that TPTBs haven't even remotely considered, having a queen is a big handwave to that. 

 

Moon B is a terrific actor who is completely wasted on this show.