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2.06
Writer : Bryan Oh
Director : Greg Beeman

THE ONE WHERE : Weaver fights for life after suffering a bite from an alien parasite and the 2 ^nd Mass discover Karen, unharnessed and alive.

THE VERDICT : Weaver’s sudden collapse in the middle of one of his traditional growly pep talks provides a reasonable hook, and the operation to save him adds a reliable touch of emergency room drama. There are some nice character beats, too: a long, good scene where Ben and a caged Karen get to share their experiences, his distrust slowly melting before they lock lips (let’s face it, nothing says romance like mutually glowing spines) and a well-played confrontation between Tom and Anne, always the emotional anchors of the show. Falling Skies has a knack for the evocative image, too, and this week it gives us the memorable visual of the deharnessed kids buried beneath leaves (and how unnerving that the aliens would deliberately slay these children in order to infiltrate the 2 ^nd Mass – that has to be one of their coldest moves so far) . Impressive fight sequence between Maggie and a superpowered Karen.

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STAR TURN : Jessy Schram does good work as Karen, particularly in the cage scene – almost convincing you that she’s to be trusted before undercutting it with a splendidly creepy smile.

TRIVIA : There's not a single alien in this episode...

BEST LINE :
Anne: “I’m not your wife, Tom, and we don’t get the luxury of having a lover’s spat in this stupid wasteland of a world. All we get to do is survive.”

Falling Skies is now showing on FX.

Nick Setchfield is the Editor-at-Large for SFX Magazine, writing features, reviews, interviews, and more for the monthly issues. However, he is also a freelance journalist and author with Titan Books. His original novels are called The War in the Dark, and The Spider Dance. He's also written a book on James Bond called Mission Statements.