Falling Skies (TV Series) Reborn (2015) User Reviews

Not THAT bad

[lowellstone · 7/10 · 31 August 2015]

We followed this show from its beginning and there were some great episodes and then some that were only ordinary - just mailed in by the writers. The problem with this final episode is that it should have been 2 hours - so much more could have been resolved. Even the final confrontation with Pope could have had a little more depth.

At least we got to see a final episode. Look at all the series that were canceled before a final resolution could be made. "Alphas" is a great example.

Maybe the lack of imagination in writing all across the TV lines has lowered the bar for me, but I was OK with the series finale.

So that's all, isn't it? A disappointing finale

[ivangcastro · 6/10 · 2 September 2015]

Far from being a perfect show, FS had some wonderful characters (Pope, Col. Weaver) and most of the episodes were interesting enough.

But this very last season, things seemed quite rushed on one hand while, at the same time, some episodes were clearly taking things slow to gear things up to the great finale.

So, I can't see the point in many of the last episodes of the series (like the 14th Virginia ones) going nowhere, and then in the last one, you mix it all: - Getting rid of Pope (the scene at the base was just plain ridiculous, cartoonish, and his last appearance seems to be just a way to fill 1'30"). Oh, BTW, the same truck & barrels that get blown up in e09 while fighting Pope's renegades, are back in place (of course, in perfect condition) for Tom's speech last night before the final battle, at the beginning of series finale.

• Neither any of the Masons, nor Col.Weaver (or any other main cast for that sake) gets more than scratches from their final stand against the aliens. Sure.

• The whole 'Alien queen' concept. She only shows up when a planet is on the brink of being conquered. Yet she decides to come to Earth when humans are not just far from extinction, but striking back harder than ever throughout the series. And she is finished off in less than a second by Tom Mason. I know CGIs are expensive, but it just ruined the climax!!

Oh, and they had invaded the Earth 1500 years ago. 1500 YEARS. Yeah, we got proof of ancient civilizations like the Egyptians, but somehow the only account of an interstellar invasion are Nazca drawings. No written word of that in Latin, Spanish, English, Chinese, or ancient Greek at all.

Season Five

[zkonedog · 6/10 · 4 July 2019]

Over the course of the previous four seasons, "Falling Skies" was a show that largely succeeded because of its storytelling balance. You had action, science fiction, and plenty of bravado...but also many reflective, character-driven moments. Sadly, I felt that the show messed up that equilibrium in this final campaign, instead choosing to keep "push, push, pushing" forward with a lack of characteristic reflection.

This final season isn't terrible. For those who are in it primarily for the alien apocalypse angle, it might be one of the strongest seasons in the show's run. From the first episode of this Fifth Season, when Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) gives a revenge-laden diatribe whilst holding the severed head of the enemy, one could understand that this season would be different. It is more about setting up the final battle and less about the struggles of humanity.

Your enjoyment of this final effort will really come down to why you began watching the show in the first place. If you like to see people blowing up aliens, there is plenty of that (always has been). However, if you (like me) are into the show for other, more subtle, character-driven reasons, then you might be a bit disappointed in how things all play out. Despite friends and family telling me that I "had to watch" this show for a number of years, I ignored those exhortations because I saw it as "just another alien apocalypse show". When I finally relented, however, I realized that it was about so much more. It was a show about what it means to be human. There were many times when I was moved to tears, while other moments were so inspirational ("we choose to go to the moon!") that they left me speechless after viewing. I counted Captain Weaver (Will Patton) to be one of my favorite television characters of all-time. I remember one particular episode where the Second Mass. was literally travelling in a caravan from one destination to another, just talking with each other. It was one of the best episodes I can recall watching, proving that the science fiction and action (while exciting) was not what defined "Falling Skies".

As I've mentioned, however, this final season goes away from that and focuses on the battle. It also (disappointingly) covers ground that has seemingly already been tread: Masons vs. Pope, "can we trust the Volm?", Mason and his family "on trial" for questionable wartime decisions. Stop me if you remember this stuff from previous seasons. Basically, instead of being inspired by the ending of the show, the thought I had more often than not during this season was: "they had the freedom of mapping out the show's ending and THIS was the best they could do?".

I hate to rag on this final season so much, because the show truly is one of my favorites. I'll conclude with an example of why Season Five failed to live up to my expectations: After five episodes of tireless battle, the sixth episode finds the Masons stumbling across a family of "conscientious objectors" to the battle against the Espheni. At first, Tom is flabbergasted that they can live in such denial of the world around them, but after some time with them he realizes exactly what he is fighting this war for in the first place. Reflective, contemplative moments like this are what made "Falling Skies" stand out from the crowd. Without them, it would have been a run-of-the-mill post-apocalyptic blow-up fest. For four seasons, the show managed to maintain that perfect balance. Surprisingly (as this was a show that rarely let me down), it couldn't do it for a fifth.

have realistic expectations ;)

[iv_vivy · 6/10 · 4 August 2020]

First of all lets mention the fact that no long-lasting tv show gets to the final at its peak. For many series final season and/or final episode are not necessarily their best as they are not planned in advance but come when popularity drops as does the budget, not when and how the story would naturally end. On the other hand many great shows just disappeared on us without any ending whatsoever, which apart from being highly annoying is intensely disrespectful towards the viewers and all the hours of their lives they gave to those shows.

So, I wouldn't judge this one so harshly. Be real, this is not the time and place to expect A Beautiful Mind or Ben-Hur. It's nice to get an end for a story you followed for so long. Also after all the pain and suffering I sort of enjoyed the idea of a happy end :). Don't appreciate much when something I watched leaves me with the feeling of hopelessness... The final speech was too much though - pure platitude. It did hold my attention and left me in a good mood.

However my main impression is - The Lord of the Rings. Like some digest version... The Queen is the twin sister of Shelob; the scene of alien creatures swarming around Washington obelisk - only missing the Eye of Sauron; main character stands alone to fight the doom - almost expected Frodo to appear; little curly guy writing the history - Frodo again; people gathered for the speech in the same shape and even colour (blue in the middle) as for the crowning of Aragorn; destruction of only one thing-ring/creature-Queen leads to literal disintegration of the enemy and the list goes on. This isn't the the first nor it is going to be the last show/movie/novel using LOTR as "inspiration" but it WAS almost unbelievable how they copy-pasted LOTR milestones "word for word". I was so bewildered. So much so it didn't even bothered me...

Full on addiction

[geodym · 8/10 · 10 February 2017]

I binge watched all 5 seasons and couldn't stop watching. The series was excellent. I will agree that the ending was somewhat of a disappointment. Could have been stretched out over at least two episodes. Ann being dropped in to the water only to mysteriously appear at the end of the final episode? Pope surviving that explosion. Should have been dead. His reappearance was ridiculous. Why did Ben still have a spike left in his neck? I may have missed it but how did the 'Queen bomb' get from Tom's bound up arm to the Queen? And why wasn't the Queen protected by skitters and overlords? She was just left all alone as an easy target? The whole series was thoughtfully laid out but I suspect the writers had been given no choice but to wrap it up. Shame on you TNT for letting a great series collapse in the final episode. But all in all, I was glued to the set.

Farewell to a relatively good show.. even that the finale was so crowded with fast last solutions ..

[Aktham_Tashtush · 6/10 · 1 September 2015]

Well overall ,, we had a fair amount of fun and excitement throughout the series.

I really never though of myself watching a 5 seasons of a show on TNT .. but they did well .. The only thing in the finally is it was really fast, congested and so crowded with events "core events" and it were all in 40 minutes ..

i mean instead of killing a "main character" in the last episode or "bringing it back" and winning the war and killing the queen and not really solving the issue Pope .. all in one .. they could've easily spread the surprises on the episodes .. but they preferred to present a mediocre level of 9 episodes on the final season and solution to all of the series problems in one last episode ..

but again the series had a good run on the network .. and i would easily say that it was kinda success for TNT .. and farewell to a Relatively great show.

Falling Skies Falls On Its Face...

[enorth77 · 1/10 · 2 September 2015]

There were a lot of things about this series I didn't really take to immediately, but as each season progressed, I accepted them because the story arc was developing interestingly enough, and I put my faith in that the producers and writers would thoroughly tie all loose ends together, and answering any remaining questions before the Series close. When I saw the final episode's total running time was the standard 45 minutes, however, that alone sent up an immediate red flag, and I started to suspect I was going to be disappointed. There was simply too much left to explain, and so much more that needed to happen - I couldn't see it all fitting into one 45 minute episode!! How will they ever do it!?

Needless to say, they didn't do it, and I WAS disappointed. Completely and thoroughly. Not so much by the fact that there was a lot left UNEXPLAINED, but because what little they did wrap up, was done shoddily, quickly and as totally anti-climactic as possible.

I expected to be made just a little nervous with some chance of danger and threat to the main characters, even knowing chances were pretty good the heroes would come out alive, victorious and more less no worse for wear. The show historically has stuck strictly to crowd pleasing, and so I could accept that there likely wouldn't be anything TOO surprising happening. I expected the standard fare AT LEAST, though; i.e. a big final battle (didn't happen), lots of satisfying scenes of the Espheni getting their lanky butts kicked (never saw a one of them in the whole episode). Apparently they decided the best element of surprise in the final episode would be to completely slough off on any quality of story, writing and even production value (!), and leave everyone in the audience who's invested their time in it for the past 5 seasons, completely unsatisfied. Wow, what a twist! Of the knife. In your back. For trusting professionals to deliver a quality piece of entertainment. This was so crappy, it made the final episode of Dexter look better, because just when you thought a Series Finale couldn't get worse than that... one did!

I could go on for pages, but to cut to the point, and illustrate only the sorest moments of a sorry excuse for a final episode to an otherwise decently conceived series, I'll point to these:

(1) No final battle. The entire last half of the last season was building and promising and raising expectations for this all out hell break between mankind and alien invaders that just never happened. The 2nd Mass and Co. more or less identified where the Espheni were holed up, sneak in the back door past a bunch of glowing (and unguarded???) Espheni eggs that never really hatched on them full scale (save for one soldier getting killed by one unseen flash of nothing substantial), even after the foreshadowing of Cochise (their Volm ally) advising they'd best not disturb them due to the hatch-lings extraordinarily violent behavior. What a figurative loaded gun that never gets fired!!

(2) The Queen alien is a big spider with a Walt Disney villain agenda, complete with cliché Evil Stepmother voice?!? Are you kidding me?? So... all this invasion was because some cavemen killed her spider daughter thousands of years ago the first time they tried to invade. Was it Bring Your Kids To Work Day in the writers room when the final episode was being written? Did they all let their middle school children have Carte Blanche with the storyline? What the hell just HAPPENED to this show!?!??!!?

(3) Pope comes back, just to die in front of Tom. Huh. Okay... So out of nowhere John Pope - who, mind you, throughout the entire series has had this on and off, good guy/bad guy thing going on, and who up until this point, the character development and conflict of personality between he and Tom Mason was really dynamic and frequently very volatile - he just shows up again at the end after we all thought he'd been killed off (but we really didn't), not to have a final confrontation with Tom - or even, maybe, a setting aside of differences, or one saving the other from peril, and a friendship or at least better understanding is made between the two, as the battle for a mankind wanes, symbolizing the future of a new humanity... Nothing like that, no. He just kind of stumbles out of the bushes, says "sucks your wife died, but now I don't feel so angry at you anymore so I'm gonna lay this gun down - barrel pointing at me (why??) - breathe heavy for a little bit with a look on my face that might imply some kind of potential menace to you, but not really - I'm just gonna die." And the whole time Tom couldn't seem less threatened. He just keeps looking out over the ocean, where he just moments earlier gave his supposedly mortally wounded wife to some mysterious tentacles from the deep (WTF?), though he does look over his shoulder at Pope once or twice, probably thinking the same thing we are: "GOD - just die. It's pointless and annoying that you even showed up right now."

To top off this whole travesty, at the end of the episode, we see the words: "Thanks For Watching the Last 5 Seasons!" I personally took that as adding insult to injury. Not only did you just pee all over 45 minutes of my life, now you're saying "Hey - look back at how much time you REALLY wasted just to get to this gigantic drooling let down!"

Does not deserve this much hate

[kikkertrutger · 9/10 · 25 November 2018]

Yes it was rushed and it pulled the "they lived happily ever after" on us; and yes the death of Anne was unnecessary, because she was brought back to live literaly 3 minutes later. But this show all over was lame here and there, with Tom for instance being persumed death a whole lot of times. So don't worry this ending doesn't fall out of place.

One of the Worst Series Ending Episodes Ever

[consultinggroupusa · 2/10 · 31 August 2015]

What happened? Did the writers run out of ideas and just pulled the plug on 'Falling Skies' or did everybody just get tired of this show and just ended it with a story book ending (and they lived happily ever after)?

I have watched Falling Skies for the full five year run. While some episode were great others were from good to OK. But my wife and I were gearing up for the biggest, baddest finally of all time when poof, it ended. We didn't get to see the final battle of the patriots fighting the Asphines, we didn't get to see the world fighting back the Asphine and Slider hordes, we didn't get to see the Alien allies throw in their two cents worth in defense of mother earth, we didn't see the bikers kick some butt. No what we got to see was the glorification of the Masons. They all lived with one being brought back to life.

The writers, producers and director of this show should be ashamed to end a great show with an ending so badly written that the characters in the show looked embarrassed at the speech giving by Mason to be involved it this POS ending.

EVEN WORST was the fact that the show preceding Falling Skies was THE LAST SHIP and this was the most awesome episode of that series giving us goose bumps and causing us to high five each other through the thrills of the next to the last episode.

What a disappointment.

A really good finish.

[culedude · 10/10 · 27 October 2015]

If they had another season, they probably would have stretched the queen plot a bit longer and made a really good finale, but they had to wrap up all the loose ends and tie the whole series up in one 40 minute finale? That would be pretty impossible for a series like falling skies, especially from the way the previous episode ended, but they played it out well. The queen did go down pretty easily, but I would rather have it that way than instead killing off Tom, dragging out the war longer and probably ending on a cliffhanger which would be even worse for a series finale. So I liked how it ended with "We are not alone." And the amazing song and message at the end, and all together I feel that this episode did do what every series finale is support to do: end the series. And the last 10 minutes pretty much summed up and expressed the whole series in a really good, happy ending.

insulting the intelligence

[jolejupijuhu · 1/10 · 31 August 2015]

Not sure what to say. First two seasons were good, maybe 7,5/10 then third season was 6/10 fourth and fifth were somewhere near 5/10 but still watchable... if you consider the fact that first two seasons were entertaining.

Series finale was just insult to my intelligence. 1/10 Awful, stupid and without any logic.

Anne lives... because she's important, and others can die.

Pope shows again just to die again? wtf?

worst ending I have ever seen in series that I actually liked for first two seasons.

Waste of Time

[rodobrodo · 7 July 2016]

The Director of the season really made a great TV sucks... all scenes are very weak, no production value, all night dark scenes , the history does not connect or the characters. it could be a great 5th season , but it was the worse season and finale ...too bad.

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Hastened, yet fitting ending

[jaysoncurry93 · 9/10 · 31 August 2015]

This was a solid ending to a series that wavered multiple times throughout its tenure (get it?? teacher joke). My initial reaction was one of frustration due to the fact that he characters I have watched the last five seasons are now gone. However, I am kind of glad Falling Skies is over, and this is as fitting on an ending as could be mustered given the way the series has faltered the last two seasons. It ended on a note that the first two seasons held throughout their entirety. While there series as a whole might deserve a lower rating, the ending was a good as the best I have seen. My only big qualm with the ending is that it felt absurdly hastened and it should have included at least one more episode. It ended as it should.

The writers just gave up

[rickdover-35800 · 2/10 · 11 August 2023]

Just like Lost, the writers, producers, whoever, just decided, "screw it, we're done". In the first couple seasons this show had so much potential. The first sign that the writers had lost their vision and went to just collecting a paycheck started the ghettos and "the ghost", it was really uneven from there. The last season was sometimes cool, sometimes a train wreck. Was most disappointed with how they handled Pope. He always had an edge in earlier seasons, but also with a bit of humanity, despite the bravado. A sympathetic character with his relationship with Sara, then suddenly they decided to kill her off and turn him into a comic book psycho. The final confrontation between Pop and Tom was absolutely the laziest ending between two adversaries I've ever seen. Overall, a decent series, but the final episode was one of the worst ever.

Worst finale ever

[juanicolas · 1/10 · 13 September 2015]

It lacks Narnia's Lion giving an a award to Tom or something more absurd. The queen faults on quality of character designs, besides this happy ending was far away from the sacrifice style of the whole series.

Finally as others says, they tried to solve everything so quickly, John Pope breaks bad in the middle of the season took many episodes to explore the issue that he became to give him an end like that. Ben's spikes have to be affected in some way, with espheni death as dominoes effect. Isabella was relegated to have no impact on love's story where she was enrolled, so I feel that there is much things unresolved for a finale episode.

Out with a whimper

[vinnvinn · 1/10 · 23 September 2015]

It's always frustrating when a great show ends poorly. It's even worse when previous shows have built up the finale to something great, only to not deliver. We've been getting ready for the massive offensive for weeks, knowing that militias from all over are converging on DC. This was supposed to be it, the big spectacle! The final showdown. Gritty. Nail biting. Edge of your seat.

Instead we got... a sewer? Followed by ideas ripped-off from Alien and Starship Troopers. And the awfully timed delivery of rushed dialog desperately trying to tie up every last little side plot point with a nice neat vanilla bow. I don't know how many times I rolled my eyes at this last episode. I don't know who wanted this episode, but it certainly wasn't the fans.

So what was wrong? There was very little action. Very little in the way of dilemma. The drama felt contrived and manufactured. Too much effort was put into wrapping everything up nicely in a little square box. They forgot to put the present inside.

Dreadful

[SecularSurfer · 2/10 · 8 July 2019]

Overall the series was pretty decent. This last episode was one of the worst I've seen in any series. It was bad enough that I wish I never started watching it in the first place.

what i wanted to see

[luckyspencer-60573 · 1/10 · 31 August 2015]

Honestly I only liked one thing about the finale that Hal and Maggie ended up together they were only two characters I liked the rest of it sucked I would have had Ben sacrifice himself to save his family because his the only one who can go after the queen cause of his spikes and die in Toms arms. Hal and Maggie get married and she tells him shes pregnant with a boy and Hal stays I have the perfect name for him Tom becomes president and gives a speech and it ends with Ben Hal and Maggie son as a elderly old man reading the last world war by those fought it to his great grandkids with the ghosts of the mason boys watching over them

Deceptive Conclusion

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 19 February 2022]

"Falling Skies", like "Lost", "Prison Break" and other series, have in common very deceptive conclusions. The plot reasonably works until the end of the Third Season, despite the gap between seasons that end in climax situations and beginning without any reference to the end of the previous season. Instead of ending the story with the victory of humans and their allied Volm, the producers decided to proceed with the saga of the Mason family and the survivors in two other weak seasons.

However, this last episode is awful and there are many terrible points such as: a) The awful music that the viewer has to hear b) The death of Anne and her revival, maybe the worst decision in this episode. Maybe there will be a crossover with "The Walking Dead" of this character in the future; c) The appearance of Pope to die immediately after; d) The speech of the histrionic Tom Mason; e) Ben surviving with his spikes; f) The situation not resolved of Hal, Maggie and Izabella; g) No final battle between humans and Esphenis and Skitters.

Maybe there are other stupid situations in this episode but since the death of Sara due to Tom's choice I believe the plot lost the meaning of protection of the human race above all. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Reborn"

I blame the accountant

[akaslammin · 2/10 · 23 November 2023]

Meeting discussion at the end of episode 9: Director: "Okay team we've got one more episode. Let's make it great wrap everything up, and conclude in a spectacular finale.

I want this to be the ultimate battle that represents 5 years of the 2nd Mass struggle toward final victory and reward.

We need an army of aliens fighting an army of humans across the battle scared landscape of Washington. Explosions! Lasers! Vehicles flying and driving back and forth!

Let's do this! Let's make the 10th episode the best episode."

Accountant: "Wait 10th episode, what? I thought we were only making nine episodes in the final season!"

Director: "No, definitely 10".

Accountant: "But, um we don't have any money left. I budgeted for nine episodes."

Director: "what, no money? Really?" Accountant: "I may be able to use the money we allocated for the writers Christmas party".

Director: "How much is that?" Accountant: "Maybe $10,000"

Director: "Special effects guy, what can you do with a $10,000?"

Special effects guy: "If we turn off all the lights, use the red balloons from the writers party and some cheap torches, I could probably cobble something together. But it won't be that great."

Director: "It will have to do. Hey writers how are you going with the script for the final episode."

Writers: "Did you say something about our Christmas party."

Director: "Yes, we had to cancel it, it's for the good of the show."

Writers: "Writer the episode yourself, we're off".