Why I no longer watch Falling Skies
When Falling Skies first debuted, I was willing to watch it; the concept was rather intriguing. How would humans react to a ground invasion by aliens. I could even put aside the insipid PC that appears to permeate most every show on television these days. As I watched the first season of the show, I began to be more disgusted with each episode that I saw. It is too bad that Noah Wyle's talent is being wasted in this fashion. I originally posted this for the most part on a 'Falling Skies' forum but apparently someone deleted the post. What started out as a decent premise devolved into this touchy feely crap concerning the human love affairs and the overwhelming threat of the alien invaders. In addition to spidery looking quasi humanoid 'Skitters', you have ponderous and heavy sounding robots called 'Mechs' and the humanoid overlord race controlling things. So what is wrong with this show?
Touchy Feely crap is over the top - According to the blurb about the show, the aliens exterminated 90% of the human race...or over six billion people. Trying to make peace with them or find a common ground with them is so much utter bullshit. A more realistic reaction would be to dig a grave big enough for 6 billion aliens and then start filling it.
How can a 'Mech' 'stun' someone? - In the first episode, the oldest son of Noah Wyle's character loses his girlfriend from an alien attack. Later on, he says that the Mech 'stunned' the both of them. If the Mech is using DU ordnance (depleted uranium is usually an armor piercing round), how exactly do you 'stun' someone with such a thing? This also leads to two other points....
Do not use aliens or the equivalent to plug up gaping plot holes! - While many of your viewers may be awed by seeing an alien in your show, plugging a plot hole with one is an insult to those of us who both read AND write science fiction. We would be ripped apart if we did something like that in our novels so what makes you think that you can get away with it? Now for the other point....
These aliens crossed interstellar space to get here; do they also have massive internal combustion engines on their spaceships? - It is rather stupid to have the Mechs spitting bullets and firing rockets because a race that can travel between star systems would be beyond what essentially is 16th century technology. You could also stun someone with a laser and the Mechs are heavy enough without the weight of ordnance. regarding the Mechs and the humans and what ordnance they have....
Bad Ammunition or stupid Mechs? - When the humans fight the Mechs, they allegedly have hundreds of armor piercing rounds but they are only attacked by a single Mech and judging by a post battle bullet count, they fired off at least 200 rounds. ..but the Mech still manages to wander away...with only ONE penetrating bullet wound. As many times as that single Mech was hit, it should have been scrap iron but perhaps the new ammunition wasn't as good as it was expected to be? Maybe there had to be a stupid firefight to cover up another massive plot hole.....
Casting Idiocy - Though the oldest son and his new flame are around the same age in real life, she looks like she is in her mid thirties while he looks like he is seventeen; she looks like a pederast.
The Pope Character - (Pimp? Poop? Peep?) You have to have a male bad boy character in shows like these but since when do they have perfect teeth and are free of chemical dependency? How much more two dimensional can you get? They are allowed to drink beer but no one can smoke cigarettes... Err...Roger that......
In General - The aliens used an EMP burst to knock out a lot of electronics but EMP shielding is in use at least at the military level. Why wasn't there at least some retaliation? Some sort of irradiated area would add credence to the show. A 'mule' missile might only be LOS to an extent, but its low tech wouldn't be affected by EMP.
In Conclusion - When I watch a show on the television or a movie at a theater, the goal is for me to suspend disbelief...not look in utter disbelief as I see slipshod writing, unbelievable or illogical plot mechanisms, gaping plot holes and such an adherence to PC stereotypes that not even frequent ass shots of Moon Bloodgood and her assistant can carry the day. If I have learned anything from this show, it is what NOT to write and to do research if I am unsure of something.
A Jaded Bard
Touchy Feely crap is over the top - According to the blurb about the show, the aliens exterminated 90% of the human race...or over six billion people. Trying to make peace with them or find a common ground with them is so much utter bullshit. A more realistic reaction would be to dig a grave big enough for 6 billion aliens and then start filling it.
How can a 'Mech' 'stun' someone? - In the first episode, the oldest son of Noah Wyle's character loses his girlfriend from an alien attack. Later on, he says that the Mech 'stunned' the both of them. If the Mech is using DU ordnance (depleted uranium is usually an armor piercing round), how exactly do you 'stun' someone with such a thing? This also leads to two other points....
Do not use aliens or the equivalent to plug up gaping plot holes! - While many of your viewers may be awed by seeing an alien in your show, plugging a plot hole with one is an insult to those of us who both read AND write science fiction. We would be ripped apart if we did something like that in our novels so what makes you think that you can get away with it? Now for the other point....
These aliens crossed interstellar space to get here; do they also have massive internal combustion engines on their spaceships? - It is rather stupid to have the Mechs spitting bullets and firing rockets because a race that can travel between star systems would be beyond what essentially is 16th century technology. You could also stun someone with a laser and the Mechs are heavy enough without the weight of ordnance. regarding the Mechs and the humans and what ordnance they have....
Bad Ammunition or stupid Mechs? - When the humans fight the Mechs, they allegedly have hundreds of armor piercing rounds but they are only attacked by a single Mech and judging by a post battle bullet count, they fired off at least 200 rounds. ..but the Mech still manages to wander away...with only ONE penetrating bullet wound. As many times as that single Mech was hit, it should have been scrap iron but perhaps the new ammunition wasn't as good as it was expected to be? Maybe there had to be a stupid firefight to cover up another massive plot hole.....
Casting Idiocy - Though the oldest son and his new flame are around the same age in real life, she looks like she is in her mid thirties while he looks like he is seventeen; she looks like a pederast.
The Pope Character - (Pimp? Poop? Peep?) You have to have a male bad boy character in shows like these but since when do they have perfect teeth and are free of chemical dependency? How much more two dimensional can you get? They are allowed to drink beer but no one can smoke cigarettes... Err...Roger that......
In General - The aliens used an EMP burst to knock out a lot of electronics but EMP shielding is in use at least at the military level. Why wasn't there at least some retaliation? Some sort of irradiated area would add credence to the show. A 'mule' missile might only be LOS to an extent, but its low tech wouldn't be affected by EMP.
In Conclusion - When I watch a show on the television or a movie at a theater, the goal is for me to suspend disbelief...not look in utter disbelief as I see slipshod writing, unbelievable or illogical plot mechanisms, gaping plot holes and such an adherence to PC stereotypes that not even frequent ass shots of Moon Bloodgood and her assistant can carry the day. If I have learned anything from this show, it is what NOT to write and to do research if I am unsure of something.
A Jaded Bard
Labels: Falling Skies, human nature, Mechs, Noah Wyle, omnicide, Skitters
posted by CryHavoc at 4:04 AM
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