"Taps---it's a bugler's song from the civil war used to signify the end of a day's work. And in a way, it's a lullaby, to tell soldiers that all was well and that it was safe to rest."
The opening shot of the well-filmed, well-photographed Falling Skies is a close-up of Jimmy Mack Boland desperately running. While the appearance is one of a young man running from a deadly enemy the camera pulls back to reveal a friendly game of soccer. The kids enjoy a little spirited down time at their new found sanctuary encampment, but is it really a sanctuary? Like that opening shot, as we discovered in Sanctuary (Part 1) (S1, E6), things aren't always as they seem.
Minor character moments like a distrustful Jimmy peering at Ben Mason's post-harnessed back or Hal Mason, of the 2nd Mass, flirting with a girl named Tessa continue to draw us into the world of Falling Skies beyond the aliens. "You know why they're here," informs a father about the arrival of the 2nd Mass kids under the watchful eye of the agenda-driven opportunist that is the evil of Terry Clayton. Sadly, this disturbing human sanctuary is the equivalent of a Nazi death camp. The children are the proverbial lambs to the alien slaughter. Welcome to the increasingly unsettling world of Falling Skies, Season One, Episode 7, Sanctuary (Part 2).
Things are getting ugly. John Pope: "Do you really think you can deal with those lizards?." Clayton: "It's not about winning or losing anymore Pope. It's about surviving."
The deal with the extra-terrestrial devils is conceptually as troubling as Ursula K. Le Guin's short story The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas (1973) and what it takes to maintain prosperity through the misery of a single child.
The sci-fi aspects of the harness are explored further suggesting they infuse humans with strength. The previously harnessed, in some instances (Ben Mason seems unaffected), also exhibit empathy or an empathic connection toward the aliens. It's the alien equivalent of Stockholm or Helsinki Syndrome, whereby captives develop a psychological bond with their captors while in captivity. There is indeed a hangover effect here from the harnesses. The impact of the harness on some versus others remains something of a mystery, but the biological impact is varies and credible like an illness or a vaccine. Rick Thompson: "Killing's in their nature. Humans. We would never kill one of our own. You should understand that." Ben The physical/psychological impact varies (perhaps based on time of harness attachment) and makes for a fascinating subtext throughout the entry.
Why aren't the soldiers in the camp on high alert looking to the skies or roads? Lourdes and Hal Mason grow suspicious of the camp.
We discover in the episode what happened to the survivors of the camp. Skitters attacked like locust. A girl named Megan was captured and harnessed. As a proxy for the aliens she makes the deal with the camp, peace in return for the children.
There is a scene involving pregnancy that allows one to do the math and deduct the aliens have been on Earth for approximately 7.5 months.
The two-part Sanctuary gives new meaning to human sacrifice as the battle within the human race intensifies and appears to be as troubling as ever. The episode concludes with one of its darkest human portraits with nigh an alien to be seen.
Writer: Melinda Hsu Taylor (LOST).
Director: Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Battlestar Galactica, Invasion, Raised By Wolves).
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