TV Review: TNT’s Falling Skies 4×6, “Door Number Three”

For me, the best part about having all of the main characters back together again revolves around my notes.  Rather than having to divide up the page of notes I have been taking on Falling Skies every week, I can simply take notes and not worry about the different plot threads going on.  With that in mind, while our heroes did manage to find their ways back to each other, various characters still had to resolve what was going on with them in their individual arcs, before converging once more towards the end of the episode.  “Door Number Three” certainly brought things to a head, actually making Falling Skies a bit more exciting in the process, as a major storyline figured out a way to have less irritating elements involved.

“Door Number Three” actually did begin with one of the plot threads I could do without, which is the Ben/Maggie relationship.  We have had hints at these two getting together, but this week opened with them getting even ‘friendlier’ with each other, before Hal came in, with a gunshot wound in his chest.  We then see this was all a dream, so no harm, no foul… yet.  Again, it really comes down to how much I care about seeing these characters hooking up.  With aliens having invaded earth and a war going on, the coupling of characters, particularly the younger males, does little to interest me.

Moving on, we check in with Hal, as he leads his people into the Chinatown location, where Lourdes’ message had sent them.  After a brief standoff, Tom also makes himself, Weaver, and Matt known, and just like that, everyone is back together again.  After several episodes of us watching these characters split apart, we finally have cohesion, ideally meaning good times could be ahead in some sense.  This also continues to indicate how lucky Tom seems to be, as a prison camp, constant movement on the run, and a strange Nazi-like camp were not enough to keep Tom from putting his family back together.

Tom is soon informed by Anne what is going on with Lexi.  This knowledge sets up the rest of the episode, as everyone is soon aware of Lexi and the powers/weirdness that comes with her.  While Lourdes and people following her voice are certainly on Lexi’s side, others such as Pope and Maggie are less convinced Lexi is some kind of deity and more convinced they need to stop her, before something really bad happens.  What makes this all work for me, though, is the lack of Scarlett Byrne.  Last week I explained how I just have not been much of a fan of her performance and this episode actually tried to do something about that apparently, as Lexi is in a cocoon for the majority of the episode.  Sure, this also prompts lots of worry from everyone involved, but it was a nice step in my eyes.

Anyway, with Lexi in a cocoon, Anne’s initial reaction is to cut her out, but Tom stops her pretty quickly, as he knows how to think reasonably at all times, even when the circumstances involve his children.  An assumed confirmation from Dr. Kadar informs everyone that ripping Lexi out would most likely kill her.  The solution, in Tom’s eyes, is to wait it out, but not everyone wants to go along with that idea.  Much of the episode actually revolves around what the Masons want to do for each other, whether it means protecting family or doing what is considered to be strategically and reasonably acceptable.  Much of this weight falls upon Hal, who is conflicted, but clearly leaning on the side against his sister.

It is unfortunate that Drew Roy is not given the best dialogue to work with this week.  I have stated in previous weeks how putting him on his own has allowed the Hal character to act a lot like his father and problem solve in a similar manner.  This week, Hal tries to deal with the plight of Lexi, but his dialogue never comes across in an assured manner.  It actually felt more like script ideas and basic thoughts he should be having, but voicing them aloud felt like we were hearing very simplified understandings of what he is arguing with his dad and himself about.  Combined with the information he learned from the Volm, but did not share effectively, Hal was more of a frustrating presence than he could have been.

Faring better were the older folks, as Tom made clear arguments as to why he needed to do what he considered was the right option, with Weaver backing him up, and Pope standing opposed and ready to fire away.  While Pope is expectedly fired up about this situation, Maggie’s decision to ultimately side with protecting Lexi was well handled.  Sure, it meant dealing with another scene where she and Ben awkwardly share a connection, but I liked how power shifted in regards to her character, as she made her decision.

As all of this was going on, we did also have Anne going on her own spirit journey by way of having Dr. Kadar knock her out in an effort to dig up repressed memories.  We have been in the dark in regards to what exactly happened to Anne, while dealing with her newborn in previous seasons, so getting a peak at not only her Espheni abduction, but even further back was worthwhile for sure.  Anne’s son was given some brief screen time, before some unfortunate events took place.  Moving onward led to creepy Karen’s reveal as the one who looked in on Anne and baby Lexi, before Anne found herself stuck in an unconscious state.  Anne is then able to talk to Lexi somehow, which led to her realizing what needed to be done.

I have said before that Moon Bloodgood has been getting a lot to do this season and that she is very different from how we have seen her in previous seasons.  This week allows her to really express some big emotions, with the added bonus of seeing her in full-on mothering mode, as she wants to do everything she can to save her daughter.  This was a good way to handle Anne this episode, allowing the show to have a useful side story that led to a merging with the main story, with a nice little ending of the episode to go with it.

While we will still have to see where Lexi’s cocoon story goes, having the whole cast back together is nice.  I was not opposed to the separate groupings taking place on this show, but we have certainly gotten a better sense of who everyone was and is now, meaning possible new dynamics may be put on display, with everyone back together.  Regardless, “Door Number Three” felt like a pretty standard and well-handled episode of Falling Skies in general, as it provided some drama based more around discussion rather than action, which we have seen a lot of so far this season.  Not sure what is to come next week exactly, but given that these characters are in a supposed safe zone, I am curious how long that will last, with Tom being hunted and other elements that could turn things dangerous for everyone.

Other Thoughts From The Desk Of Tom Mason:

• So I am writing this after having come back from Comic Con.  I had the chance to watch the Falling Skies panel, which was quite a lot of fun.  The biggest bit of info came from a preview of footage from the second half of this season, which certainly promises to go pretty big, given a certain major development that was hinted at in this episode.  I will be very curious to see how that plays out, but let’s just say that Tom will truly become a frontiersman this season.
• Hal has very good eyes, given something he tries to spot out in the sky, early in this episode. Hmm…
• Okay, let’s hurry up and get Cochise back in the mix.
• Mira Sorvino is too cool for mob scenes apparently. No sign of her this week.
• Shut Up Lourdes: She makes a decent argument, but still sounds like a nut job… plus, she spilled tea everywhere!
• “We would Jack Ruby her ass.” – Pope is all class.
• “I fix broken things.” – Dingaan may not be a huge presence this season, especially after putting his special talents to use, but he gets some solid monologues.
• Next week, stay up late for a “Saturday Night Massacre” #TNT BOOM!