S04.E02: The Eye

[maraleia]

 

The Espheni reveal their new plan to Tom, and he is faced with an impossible decision. Meanwhile, Weaver and Pope investigate a way out of the Espheni prison, while Matt struggles to hide his true allegiance from the “Team Leaders” at the Espheni Youth Camp. Elsewhere, Anne leads an exhausting search for her daughter Lexi, while Ben’s concerns about Lexi’s increasing powers uncovers a devastating secret she’s been keeping.

 

[shapeshifter]

Good that Pope isn't going to be sidelined.

I wonder if Anne's "exhausting search for Lexie" means we, the audience, will be likewise exhausted by it.

[Bishop]

I've decided that I'm not going to invest too much in Lexi until she actually becomes relevant to the story.  I am far more interested in my main players:  Tom, Weaver, Ben, Anne, Hal, Pope, Maggie, and Matt (and Tector).  

[ottoDbusdriver]

All I can think of these days when I see an episode title like 'The Eye' -- is they might pull an Orphan Black on a character (right in the eye !!)

[thuganomics85]

Yay, Dr. Kadar is back!  Too bad he's stuck in the Lexi story-line, but at least he's apparently a "non-believer" a.k.a. the sane man in land of crazy.  And surprise, surprise: of course, it's Fucking Lourdes that's apparently the reason everyone is all cuckoo for coco puffs in Chinatown.  So, if I'm getting all this correctly, she's the reason everyone thinks Lexi is some kind of goddess?  And is the reason why Lexi is isolated?  And being all high and mighty to everyone?  Figures.  But, now Maggie actually wasn't drinking the kool aid?  So, was all her stuff in the premiere an act?  But, now it looks like Lexi is working with the Espheni, according to that meeting Ben stumbled upon?  Argh, I'm so confused about this entire plot.   

 

Yeah, Anne is getting crazy now.  Still pushing the rest beyond their physical limits, and now going off on Skitters, consequences be dammed.  I would think Anthony would be able to put a lid on this.  Doesn't he have military background?  Why isn't he the leader instead?  I'm all for Moon Bloodgood getting more to do, but not if it makes Anne unlikable.

 

Meanwhile, Tom playing Batman gets the entire camp in trouble, but he uses this to get himself on the ship, and learn more about them.  And the Espheni are claiming that something even worse is coming to Earth?  What the hell, now?  The Borg?  The aliens from Independence Day?  The aliens from The Event?  Ultron?  Thanos?  Loki, again?  Does everyone in the galaxy hate Earth?

 

Looks like Matt's little rebellion is already getting into trouble.  Uh oh!

 

Preferred this over the premiere, since I was able to understand more of it, so that's good, at least.  But I still have a lot of concerns over where this season is going.

[mattie0808]

Hmmm...well, I don't know that this episode helped clear things up or help get me more on track with where this season is headed. But my main confusion was the head Espheni guy on the ship with Tom who was talking through the harnessed kid.

 

Espheni Guy: We've got a totally new plan. No more harnessing kids because since they're still growing, they're too unpredictable. And no more free will for harnessed people whatsoever, because that turned out to be a mistake. We just want completely controlled adults to do our fighting and grunt work and whatever else for us... But in the meantime, hey, this Hitler Youth Camp to convince the kids we rock seems like an awesome idea! Because...?

 

 

Espheni Guy: Tom, we need you to be the bridge between us the humans, to be the human leader and the face of our bold new plan as outlined above. We will totally kill your family if you won't do it, but will spare them if you do. This is, like, really important to our efforts. What say you?

 

Tom: Ok...?

 

Espheni Guy: Great! I totally believe you, even though I literally JUST commented on the fact that you and the humans have been 100% resistant to everything we've tried since the invasion began, they're shooting at us now, and you were the Nazi ghetto masked avenger super-hero about 15 seconds ago. What are you still doing here? Go ahead and get back to all your buddies and take some food with you and get to all that leading, face-of-the-Espheni stuff! It's not like we're going to keep you here, or accompany you back, or even monitor you. We totally take your word. Go get 'em, Locutus!

 

 

I have too many other questions to deal with (why are seasoned/experienced fighters so blindly following Ann when it's clear she's only rather psychotically going after Lexi rather than trying to do anything otherwise strategic or helpful? Was Maggie just acting last week when she seemed so hunky-dory with the whole Chinatown life since she seems so relieved to be able to talk to Ben? Did Espheni Guy say there's ANOTHER alien race about to get thrown into this fracas? Do the Volm know that? Weaver went after Pope with not one single other human being? Lexi's working directly with the Espheni? Where is the "West"? Like, the west side of town? The country? The universe?) but I guess I just need to adjust to what the show is, now. 

[xaxat]

I have too many other questions to deal with (why are seasoned/experienced fighters so blindly following Ann when it's clear she's only rather psychotically going after Lexi rather than trying to do anything otherwise strategic or helpful?

 

This! "Oh, Denny. . . I'm sorry I shoved a knife into your brain while you were in that mind meld." 

Edited June 30, 2014 by xaxat

[transgojobot]

And the Espheni are claiming that something even worse is coming to Earth?  What the hell, now?  The Borg?  The aliens from Independence Day?  The aliens from The Event?  Ultron?  Thanos?  Loki, again? 

 

It's Darkseid and the the planet Apokolips. 

 

This second episode is a little better than the premiere, but I still feel like I missed a half-dozen webisodes over the winter break. That, and it seems like Matt, Ben and Tom are all on three different shows; the dissonance between the three storylines is so stark.

Edited June 30, 2014 by transgojobot

[tv echo]

I think I'm on my way out, unfortunately.  The show this season seems to be in the throes of multiple personalities.

 

While I'm generally liking the Tom Mason/prisoner war camp storyline, it had a lot of WTF moments (as commented above).  I also found it unbelievable that the alien ship room that Tom was left alone in conveniently had schematics of the ship's power supply and tether.  

 

I'm lukewarm about the Ann/rebel leader storyline.  

 

I dislike the Matt/Hitler Youth camp storyline, which seemed to belong to a different show.  

 

I absolutely hate the Lexi as goddess storyline. It was like a parody of a bad sci-fi movie.  The scene with Lexi and Ben, where Lexi gets mad and her hair starts blowing back from her face, was laughable.  The Lourdes character now seems out of the blue.  Before. she was religious, sure, but she was also studying to be a doctor by Anne's side and seemed pretty sane.  Now she's all crazy keeper of the gate.

 

I also felt uncomfortable during that scene between Maggie and Ben where it seemed like they were hinting at something romantic (possible future love triangle with Hal?).  In past seasons, Maggie obviously being much older than Hal (under 18 at the time?) was disturbing but it got a hand wave.  Now Maggie (the actress playing her) seems to have aged a lot and looks old enough to be Ben's mother.

Edited July 2, 2014 by tv echo

[Iamsweetdee]

Anne can fuck off and die now. I really hope this story line is going to lead to folks calling her out (Anthony, maybe??), but who am I kidding. No one calls out a Mason. They're always right, the bestest, most specialist family that ever existed!! I really don't like that family and that has now extended to Anne. What she did to Denny was fucked up. 

 

Don't care about Lexi and by extension Ben. Used to care about Lourdes (just a little bit as I felt sorry for such a sad sack) but that story line is awful and the actress can't handle crazy.

 

Awww, Matt has a girlfriend. She'll probably be used and abused and disappear soon. 

 

Why the hell are Aliens so enamored with humans? 

[shapeshifter]

Yay, Dr. Kadar is back!

...And surprise, surprise: of course, it's Fucking Lourdes that's apparently the reason everyone is all cuckoo for coco puffs in Chinatown.  So, if I'm getting all this correctly, she's the reason everyone thinks Lexi is some kind of goddess?  And is the reason why Lexi is isolated?  And being all high and mighty to everyone?  Figures.  But, now Maggie actually wasn't drinking the kool aid?  So, was all her stuff in the premiere an act?  But, now it looks like Lexi is working with the Espheni, according to that meeting Ben stumbled upon?  Argh, I'm so confused about this entire plot.   

Yes, everything is better with Dr. Kadar.

About Lourdes: I watched on an iPad Mini, and it was a very dark scene, but I thought, once again, Lourdes has become the hostess with the mostest, in this case she is really a giant, malevolant dude from outerspace. No?

Too bad they destroyed major league basketball, because those tall space aliens would've become superstars and had no trouble bending the masses to their will.

[Latverian Diplomat]

Clearly the Espheni culture has no equivalent to the "Lucy pulls the football away at the last second again even though she totally said she wouldn't" motif from Peanuts. Otherwise, they would stop trying to cut a deal with Tom Mason. This lack is a serious weakness that will be their undoing.

Edited July 1, 2014 by Latverian Diplomat

[ramble]

I'm ready for the storylines to merge. I can't take much more of Anne, the baddest bad ass fighter to ever fight. She's coming across as just an ass who is bad. I have tried to dream up a scenario in which I care about Lexi the hybrid godling & can't come up with one. Maybe her mom should find her & let all the other characters go do interesting things while they stare at water together.

The Espheni, to be such a master race, conquerors of worlds & all are really stupid when it comes to Tom Mason. Is he their kryptonite? Does he drain their brain cells? Sure he's going to agree to a deal & when be does, cause you know he will, he'll definitely keep it. Cross my heart. Say why you're wheeling & dealing why not show him your schematics & plans & even where you keep the keys to the lake house.

I have such a love/hate relationship with Pope. I loved that his stash was eight cans of beans. He's such a tool at times but I never can quite quit on him either.

[Ottis]

I was laughing so hard when "Ghost" rode into town, nodding at the locals along the way ("Yo, 'sup!") in order to go to the mothership that I had to stop the DVR and play it again. I have no idea why the writers think Ghost was a good idea. It's like having a member of the Village People be a superhero. 

 

And then Tom cuts a deal with the Espheni, and doesn't feel the need to explain it (or any moral qualm about his right to cut a deal, insincerely or no)? if he had an intact command structure, they should arrest him.

 

There is no sense of menace in this show anymore. Everyone is comical or stupid. Tom, Pope, Anne ... as she decided to interrogate the injured skitter, we all said, "She will lose control and kill it, thereby losing her one source of intel, and later say she shouldn't have done that," And of course she did.

 

And the Hitler youth are veering dangerously close to Niedermeir on Animal House. 'Where's your Pledge Pin, mister!"

 

And Lourdes. When the hell did she become so influential? She was barely worth paying attention to as a doctor's assistant. Why does anyone listen to her or obey her?

Edited July 1, 2014 by Ottis

[Joimiaroxeu]

I absolutely hate the Lexi as goddess storyline. It was like a parody of a bad sci-fi movie.

I keep waiting for her to start screaming, "Where are my dragons?!"

[xaxat]

I think I'd like this season a lot more if it were about the Mason boys. (After last season I never thought I'd write that.) While I don't like the separate plotlines, I do like what each of the brothers is doing. Matt trying to form a resistance cell, Hal showing leadership qualities in the absence of his father and Ben treating Lexi not as the divine being like the others do, but as the little sister he still sees her as.

[random chance]

I desperately want to love this show but somehow they've managed to use every last thing I hate in one season.  Nazi Youth Groups, someone whose search for their stupid kid puts everyone else in constant danger (and yet they don't just "accidentally" shoot her and be done with it), prison camps, giant insects, and aliens who have the technology to travel through space but for some reason they need humans for their endgame to succeed.  (I mean seriously, it's like if someone invented the iPhone but they needed to harness the power of fireflies to make a call.)  Ugh. I'll hang in there for awhile, but I'm very sad about this turn of events. 

[tv echo]

I do have to say, however, that this episode was better than the recently aired episode of Under the Dome.  I think that show and Falling Skies will be vying for the title of Most Stupid Sci-Fi Show on TV this summer.  Which one will have more ridiculous plots and unintentionally laughable moments?  At this point, Under the Dome is leading because Falling Skies still has potential (in my opinion).

Edited July 2, 2014 by tv echo

[Kris117]

Yes, there's a lot of good stuff in this show that isn't happening in Under the Dome. There are wonderful actors in both of them, but at least the actors in this show are being given something to work with that shows off what they can do. I also like more of the characters in this one, whereas in UtD they are all being killed off. 

 

I do think it's kind of funny that Lourdes is the twisted one behind Lexi's throne—it's as if the writers thought, "Hardly anyone seems to like the character anyway, so let's make her even more annoying!"

 

The Pope and Weaver show was entertaining. 

[Ottis]

I do have to say, however, that this episode was better than the recently aired episode of Under the Dome.

 

 

I watched the first two episodes of Under the Dome season one and quit. Why? Because it was very apparent that the whole premise of the show - the dome - was simply a plot device to tell the soap opera of the people within it. Resurrection is currently committing the same sin, BTW. Soap operas don't interest me. Interesting ideas do.

 

Falling Skies does at least focus on the aliens and has an integral sci-fi story. It has veered a little close to soap opera with the Mason boys now and then, but has always returned to the bigger story. My problem with this particular season is that the characters are all becoming cartoons (Ghost) or cliches (Lexi) . And in some cases seem to be entirely different people (Ann, Lourdes). And the aliens are becoming a bit too dumb in order to keep the plot alive. They should have simply killed Tom vs. cut yet another deal.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Ottis

[Bishop]

I'm enjoying the show.  Yes, it has holes, but it's still entertaining for me to watch, and I am intrigued by where this might be going.  Things I learned:

 

The poor Rebel Skitters were punished by being genetically mutated into those mindless flying drones.  I'm glad Red Eye didn't live to see it.

 

I love that Ben (and Maggie) have their senses about the Kool-Aid being drunk in Chinatown.  I loved Maggie's "Thatta boy" when Ben refused to just sit back and do nothing regarding his sister.  I also hadn't considered that Lexi is still, mentally, a child.  Her body is growing, but her mind is still that of a child.  That's what Ben said, and love that the Doc is back.  His also dropped a surprise in that he said that Lexi was dying.  That makes sense to me.  If she's growing so quickly, then it stands to reason, she would age quickly.

 

Loved the twist that Lexi is connected to an Overlord, and I am curious to see how Ben handles it.

 

I am less interested in the Matt internment camp storyline, but that's because I just don't think Matt is a strong enough character to really carry his own storyline in that way.  I don't dislike it, but it's not as exciting to me.

 

The Tom/Aspheni conversation was important to hear, and I had been suspecting that was the Aspheni's objective - to use adult humans as their soldiers.  I had stated that the Aspheni (and the rest of the aliens) were surprised by the humans fierce refusal to give up.  He even commented to Tom that the humans have never gone down easy.  The Overlord explained that THEY have a powerful enemy, more powerful than the Volm, and that they need resources to fight this threat.  Its' why they've been looting the galaxies of its resources.  The thought they could use human children, much like Skitters, via the harness, but it didn't work.  Karen's free will doomed her as a possible soldier in the Aspheni army.  So now they want to target the adult human and remove any free will.  As adults, they won't grow anymore.  Their personalities are cemented.  They want to pick out the best and the brightest throughout the world, which they have already started to do (he said), and he would like Tom to be a conduit, much like Karen was, between the Aspheni Overlords and the new human adult army.  If he does't agree, the Aspheni will turn him and his family into mindless drones.  Basically, he said, that Tom can't stop what's coming.  So he can choose how he wants to be incorporated into the new order.  

 

The Overlord on the ship does not strike me as a major player.  Heck in the alien military structure, he may only be a sergeant.  He seemed fairly easy to dupe, by believing their were other 'ghosts," but then again, his species may simply not understand what was going on.  I did appreciate that he layed out the plan (and story) for the season.  There were holes in that story, of course.  I agree that allowing Tom access to the ship with no guards was wrong, but then again, I can believe that this particular Overlord was none too bright.  Why must we assume that ALL the Overlords are brilliant?  Humans certainly are not.  Regardless, I was okay with the set up.  It served it's purpose, and if it can get the 2nd Mass out of the ghetto and the story moving.  I'm all for it.  

 

I was very happy to find out that Pope hadn't been hoarding mass quantities of food, as I had thought.  He only had six cans of beans, but everyone thought he had the stash.  Like Pope said, he had to keep up his image, but at least he wasn't the jackass I had thought he was being.  I do love him and Weaver together.

 

Then there's Anne.  I get her anger and her determination to find Lexi, but she hasn't really asked about Tom and his kids or whether they are even alive.  They were her family too.  God bless Anthony for trying to keep her sane, but I have a feeling Anne is going to spiral out of control at some point.  

 

Overall, I am enjoying this new season.  It's TONS better than last season.  There's more action, more stories, and the characters are in situations that make sense to me.  That wasn't the case last year.  Too much had happened when season three started, whereas the missing pieces of this new season are part of the storyline.  We'er going to learn them as we go.  I do think that FS needs a major, permanent, big bad.  They need a worthy adversary, and not one that changes every season.  I think that's what FS is lacking - a smart, formidable single enemy.  That's why season two was so good, imo.  The overlord in that season WAS smart and powerful.  They need that for the entire run of the show, jmo.  Looking forward to next episode.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Bishop

[sjohnson]

It's kind of hard to blame Falling Skies when they pull out the old Lost/BSG tactic of inventing another player to explain yet another twist in the plot. Most everybody raved about how great those shows were, and they were shameless. All the real dumbness of Falling Skies boils down to how aliens who have the tech to travel to other stars somehow need resources yet can't win the war for them. Deep Space Nine, BattleStar Galactica had stupid space wars too. Babylon Five at least had the grace for their warmongers to basically be hobbyists even if it annoyed some of the audience who thought humans were supposed to Conquer the Universe! 

 

I think most of the turns of events are pretty logical in fictional universe terms. Even the Hogans Heroes Ghost was finished sensibly enough. The exception so far is of course Lexi. And we're two episodes in, maybe they will make at least a wallet out of that sow's ear.

 

PS The remarkable change in Anne has already been shown to be the result of Lexi's manipulation. And we had a clumsy shout out that the rest of the group was also looking for their kids. It's not like she's come back from the dead.

Edited July 2, 2014 by sjohnson

[ramble]

The poor Rebel Skitters were punished by being genetically mutated into those mindless flying drones. I'm glad Red Eye didn't live to see it.

I forgot about that in my Lexi disgust, but it made me sad. I really liked the idea of rebel skitters & knowing how they were punished is just nasty. I wonder how Ben will feel about that development once he gets out of plot contrivance hell.

[iMonrey]

It looks like we were right to hate Lourdes all the way back in Season 1. I still don't understand, though, how she could wield so much power in this Chinatown camp. If Dr. Kadar had been taking care of Lexi up until the point where the lightning bolt struck the Mech, why all of a sudden did everyone agree to put Lourdes in charge of Lexi? 

 

There's a similar problem with the Nazi Youth camp scenario. What made the Team Leader and others "drink the Kool-Aid" to begin with? I can understand some of the younger children being too afraid to act out, but how were these so-called "leaders" brainwashed into spreading the Espheni propaganda? They're not harnessed. Who made those propaganda films?

 

And talk about pulling a 180 - last week Maggie was completely on-board with Lexi the Goddess and this week we find out she was, what - faking it? Why with Ben? Did she fear Ben might turn her in or something? Was she waiting to see how Ben would react to this whole situation before showing her hand? I guess any of those scenarios are plausible, but why wasn't it addressed in this episode? There should have been some dialogue in there between Ben and Maggie to explain the difference between the way she was acting last week and this week.

 

And yeah - Jeez! - please don't tell me Maggie and Ben are going to become romantically involved now! Ick! What is she, a child molester? Is she going to sleep with Matt next?

 

Speaking of which - poor Matt. I feel sorry for him, being the dorky looking brother of the family.  

[ganesh]

Ha ha ha, this show.

 

Honestly, *another* Big Bad? That's so stupid. They didn't know what to do with the Volm so they got rid of them and now they don't know what to do with the Esph so they made a bigger enemy? Because there's no possible story left with them at all? Whatever.

It's funny but not everything has to be a thing in order to get drama out of it. "Why are you here?" Because it's our destiny to take over the spiral arm. This planet has abundant natural resources and we're making it one of our staging areas. Because there's no parallel to that in any of human history.

 

Again, no bible, poor world building. It's at the point now where it's garbage in-garbage out.

 

And surprise, surprise: of course, it's Fucking Lourdes that's apparently the reason everyone is all cuckoo for coco puffs in Chinatown.

 

I don't get when she got all crazy, and she was legit irrational, why Ben didn't just smack her. Enough already, you stupid bitch. At least we know why none of the aliens have attacked them now.

 

But, now Maggie actually wasn't drinking the kool aid? So, was all her stuff in the premiere an act?

 

Say what you want about the show, but Maggie's been pretty street wise. I think she was just laying low. And, in retrospect, since the actual doctor Kadar was ostracized from the quack doctor Lourdes, I can buy Maggie deciding to stfu and play it cool to see how Ben was.

 

I'm all for Moon Bloodgood getting more to do, but not if it makes Anne unlikable.

 

Not to mention stupid. It's like the tropiest trope that women get batshit because zomg mah babeh!

 

I absolutely hate the Lexi as goddess storyline. It was like a parody of a bad sci-fi movie.

 

I can't say it enough. "Let's force age the baby. Let's give her special powers." If real aliens showed up, even they'd be like, 'this is stupid.'

 

I really hope this story line is going to lead to folks calling her out (Anthony, maybe??), but who am I kidding.

 

He really should have stopped her when she was going to kill the skitter while the other woman was connected. Really, once she started ramping up the mah babeh MAH BABEH. You have to really get her to dial it down.

 

 

I have such a love/hate relationship with Pope. I loved that his stash was eight cans of beans.

 

And he was like, ha ha ha BEANS. Pope's awesome. You know he's getting back into the fight.

 

He seemed fairly easy to dupe, by believing their were other 'ghosts," but then again, his species may simply not understand what was going on.

 

He was so comically confused. How could there *possibly* be more than one of them?! What's going ON?!

[Bishop]

It looks like we were right to hate Lourdes all the way back in Season 1. I still don't understand, though, how she could wield so much power in this Chinatown camp. If Dr. Kadar had been taking care of Lexi up until the point where the lightning bolt struck the Mech, why all of a sudden did everyone agree to put Lourdes in charge of Lexi? 

 

And talk about pulling a 180 - last week Maggie was completely on-board with Lexi the Goddess and this week we find out she was, what - faking it? Why with Ben? Did she fear Ben might turn her in or something? Was she waiting to see how Ben would react to this whole situation before showing her hand? I guess any of those scenarios are plausible, but why wasn't it addressed in this episode? There should have been some dialogue in there between Ben and Maggie to explain the difference between the way she was acting last week and this week.

 

And yeah - Jeez! - please don't tell me Maggie and Ben are going to become romantically involved now! Ick! What is she, a child molester? Is she going to sleep with Matt next?

 

Speaking of which - poor Matt. I feel sorry for him, being the dorky looking brother of the family.  

 

Lourdes is an annoying character right now, much more than Lexi.  As for why people are listening to her, it's the same as a cult.  They believe in one person as their "God," and everyone else protects that person.  Dr. Kadar was simply outnumbered and Lourdes has control of them because they are all nuts.  That's why I was glad Ben showed up.  

 

I don't think Maggie ever was on board with the kool-aid.  Keep in mind that when Ben confronted her, she was taking a shower with other people standing around.  I would have had a hard time believing that Maggie suddenly turned and went all "zen-like" on us.  She's never been Zen, and I'm glad that she and Ben are on the same page.

 

As for a possible romance, I have no problem with it.  Ben is not a child.  He's of legal age, and during an apocalypse, all bets are off as to what age is appropriate - as long as they are not children.  Ben is not.  Also, if the guy can kill and fight other humans, isn't it a bit silly to say he can't fall in love with a beautiful woman who is also attracted to him.  As long as it's consensual, and not a child, I'm all for it.  I think Ben and Maggie have more in common than Hal and Maggie.  Ben will forever be changed by the harness, and Maggie has been changed by her life experiences.  Hal is more of a white-picket fence guy, and I just don't think Maggie wants that.  She told him as much.

 

As for the Overlord, it occurred to me upon second viewing that he may just be a jailer.  I mean those ships are above every single "fence camp" in the US and around the world.  Their job, I would presume, is to watch over the prisoners,not exactly a high-level position.  This ship was not populated by a lot of aliens at all, unlike Tom's first time aboard an Aspheni ship in season two that had mechs and Skitter guards.  This time, it looked like it was just the harnessed guy and the Overlord, and probably a few others, but there were no Skitters on guard or anything like that.  So I am assuming that this "Overlord" - if he even is an Overlord - is a lower level Aspheni alien.  Jmo. 

 

I agree that Lexi is the weakest link, but I am loving that Ben may be part of a potentially good story against the Overlord talking to his sister.  I can ignore the Lexi crap because I am enjoying the rest of the stuff, and we are only two episodes in.  I am curious to see how this all shapes out.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Bishop

[xaxat]

As for the Overlord, it occurred to me upon second viewing that he may just be a jailer.  I mean those ships are above every single "fence camp" in the US and around the world.  Their job, I would presume, is to watch over the prisoners,not exactly a high-level position.  This ship was not populated by a lot of aliens at all, unlike Tom's first time aboard an Aspheni ship in season two that had mechs and Skitter guards.  This time, it looked like it was just the harnessed guy and the Overlord, and probably a few others, but there were no Skitters on guard or anything like that.  So I am assuming that this "Overlord" - if he even is an Overlord - is a lower level Aspheni alien.  Jmo. 

 

I like this idea. This particular Overlord as the Colonel Klink of the Espheni.

[Bishop]

I like this idea. This particular Overlord as the Colonel Klink of the Espheni.

LOL!!!  He just needs a Sergeant Schultz who "knows nooothing."

[ganesh]

Well, you have to figure if this is a galaxy spanning operation, the Esph are probably drafting their people left and right, and 'overseeing' earther prison probably doesn't require your best people. 

 

I wish we had more of a peek into the Esph hierarchy. I don't think TPTB even know or have this established anywhere. As interesting as the rebel plot was, the skitters really didn't drop much in the way of intel. Are they from this galaxy? What's the state of the war? I've been asking these questions since S1, and it's getting kind of eyerolling now. 

 

"something bad is coming?" Is it? Worse than this?

 

Now that I think of it, what have they done with all the nukes? There's thousands of them between USA and Russia. I would think the Esph might find them useful. 

[Bishop]

Well, you have to figure if this is a galaxy spanning operation, the Esph are probably drafting their people left and right, and 'overseeing' earther prison probably doesn't require your best people.

That's what I think too.  The prison overlord didn't look or act like one of the top ranked generals.  I mean all he's really doing is food drops and security.  I remember someone stating that the rebel skitters (who are now flying mutations) were taking the children.  So the question is are they taking them back to the "warden's" ship or somewhere else?  Maybe to an indoctrination camp?

 

I

wish we had more of a peek into the Esph hierarchy. I don't think TPTB even know or have this established anywhere. As interesting as the rebel plot was, the skitters really didn't drop much in the way of intel. Are they from this galaxy? What's the state of the war? I've been asking these questions since S1, and it's getting kind of eyerolling now.

This is really the change that needs to take place on FS.  If there are different ranks of Overlords, we should be aware of it, and also be able to identify them visually.  Again, I'm not going to throw them under the bus since we are only two episodes in, but I agree that in season four, we should have an idea about the Esph hierarchy. 

 

"

something bad is coming?" Is it? Worse than this?

Yep, something even the Espheni fear.  I just feel that the writers are heaping on more and more bad guys, but this is what happens when you have too many showrunners.  It's like each wants to make their own mark.  That being said, I still find FS immensely entertaining.  

 

Now that I think of it, what have they done with all the nukes? There's thousands of them between USA and Russia. I would think the Esph might find them useful.

I don't think they care.  I'm sure they are armed with far more advanced weaponry.  I think the Espheni think in terms of military might and discard intellect in other species, almost as if it's beneath them to even consider a superior or intelligent species.  The Volm are guilty of this arrogance too.  It's why I think the human's have a shot at survival.  They are consistently underestimated or at the least dismissed outright.  Even the Espheni view the humans as a nuisance rather than a threat.  Now it may be true that the humans can't defeat them, but the fact that they've managed to thwart the Espheni several times and force them to change their tactics, you would think that the Espheni would at least not view them as irrelevant.  That's their biggest mistake, I think.  Their arrogance.  You never underestimate an enemy, no matter how small. Edited July 3, 2014 by aquarian1

[tv echo]

Assuming that Ben is at least 18 now and Maggie looks at least 30-ish, then yes, they're both legal.  But there's still the ick factor of brother-swapping - at least, for me.  Not everyone has to agree.  In any event, I could be completely wrong about there being an intended romantic vibe in that scene.

Edited July 4, 2014 by tv echo

[Alison]

Assuming that Ben is at least 18 now and Maggie looks at least 30-ish, then yes, they're both legal.  But there's still the ick factor of brother-swapping - at least, for me.  Not everyone has to agree.  In any event, I could be completely wrong about there being an intended romantic vibe in that scene.

You're not wrong - in the "this season on...." segment, it showed a clip of Ben and Maggie about to suck face. I think she said something like, "I can't resist you any longer." I mean yeah, Ben grew up and is pretty cute, but lady, you were sleeping with his older brother not even months ago. Simmer down.

[wmdekooning]

"Oh, Denny. . . I'm sorry I shoved a knife into your brain while you were in that mind meld."

 

Since this episode at various times I've been going <shouts flatly> Oh no...  Oh no... Oh no...</shouts flatly>