‘Falling Skies: Sactuary Part 1’ Review
Where did this episode come from? It had emotion. It had tension. It had great character moments. It had a great cliffhanger. This is what I have been waiting for since the show started. What a surprise! And its only part one of a two part story!
Believe it or not, season one of Falling Skies is more than half over already. If you have been paying attention to my weekly reviews of the show I have been less than impressed with most episodes thus far. However, Sanctuary Part 1 is easily the best episode yet. If Falling Skies can keep this momentum up for the rest of the season, then the already confirmed season two might be worth a look.
The episode started by bringing in a new character, a military man and colleague of Weaver. His name is Clayton and he had this idea of moving all of the group’s children to a safer location because the Skitters are planning an attack on their location. Clayton claimed to know this because his group was just ravaged by the aliens. The decision of whether the children would stay with the group or go with Clayton rested on Tom. This was a great set up for the events to come.
Another part of this episode focused on Anne becoming more of a fighter after being robbed of medical supplies in the opening scene of the episode. It was cool seeing her practice shooting a gun alongside Margaret. Moon Bloodgood still leaves a lot to be desired acting wise, but at least the writing for her character is good.
Back to the main plot. The young Jimmy asked Weaver to rejoin the fighters to prepare for the attack. All of his scenes during the attack were excellently done. You cared about Jimmy and it lead to some very suspenseful moments (The Skitter’s shadow behind him? Chilling!). My only problem with the attack was that I did not believe that the aliens would only send one Mech and one Skitter. It took away from the overall feeling of war that this show is all about. Yet it was still exciting and one of the highlights of the episode.
After the attack Tom decided the best choice was to send the kids off with Clayton. It was obvious that something bad was going to come from this, but I never would have guessed what it ended up being. Clayton has struck a deal with the aliens, trading children for peace. Then it was revealed that he has Pope hostage and that he has been tortured for information. Seriously great stuff.
Sanctuary Part 1 is clearly the best episode of Falling Skies yet. It has left me genuinely excited for next week’s episode in a way that none of the others have. This is a step in the right direction for the show and I hope they can keep this momentum up until the finale. (8.5/10)
photo credit: http://www.daemonstv.com/2011/07/15/falling-skies-sanctuary-part-1-episode-6/
mattsmoviethoughts 