DJariya

By djariya at 2011-06-01

Synopsis:



Episode 8 of 10

Next week is the 2 hour season finale

northmoor

Not great, but maybe slightly better than what it has been.

The return of Karen to the storyline is too little and WAY too late. It's almost like they were reading message boards and suddenly decided, "I guess we do need to do something with Karen." I had to laugh a little when the teenage son tried to suddenly show some emotion towards Karen after not even trying to rescue her or even thinking about her in the last 4-5 episodes.

Only one more 2-hour finale episode. Perhaps, they can make a comeback and salvage the show. We'll see.

Ropes Pierre

I thought he was more like "Who is this blonde chick and why is she bringing tea to the door? Her face...it looks vaguely familiar..."

dalbowski

Whoever it was in an earlier thread, good call on the biped aliens.

Thrush

Definitely better than much of what we've seen. But the hammy sentimental moments that they shoehorn in at every opportunity continue grind this show to a screeching halt. The new alien species and the Skitter harnesses were cool developments that were surrounded by crap like the Tea Lady and Pope bonding with Tom's son. Not to mention Weaver's storyline which was pointless and contrived...........

Paraphrasing
Weaver: "Leave me here, I've lost all hope ,I want to die.
(2 seconds later)
Alright Lets kick some ass!!!"

Didn't they say that they had dissected dead skitters before? No one else during those dissections noticed the harness embedded in there backs?!

Pretty much every scene involving Pope is awful. And why would one of the commanding aliens tag along to drop off food and gather intel from an old lady? Seems like the kind of menial task that they would use a Skitter for.

gmanca

I don't remember the exact plot details on the dissections so there could be an out. Personally I would hope it turned out that those skitters were originally of a different species and that the connection wasn't made at that point.

Part of the reason why the hammy shit sucks worse than just on face value is the incredibly awful scoring; it's completely generic and it basically consists of sustained strings at either a low volume during twists or a high volume at inspirational moments.

I am glad to see that they did follow through on a hierarchy of aliens and if they are smart enough to use the established deal-making as part of a new coalition, that will be great. Might be telegraphed but at least it's interesting instead of some mundane crap.

devilshalo

Still no explanation why Ben acts differently than Rick.

I saw that the skitters were those that were harnessed long before the autopsy. Also surprised no one else took the time to dissect one. So what's in the mech? I guess it's just a version of the ED 209? I always thought there was something inside them, like the mech from D9. Figured there was some other aliens behind the scenes and good to see them now.

MLBFan24

This was the episode that I finally dropped this show. I tried to force myself to watch, knowing that next week is the finale, but couldn't get through the first 15 minutes.

I feel better...haha

I rarely drop serialized shows (the last one was Heroes), so I'm kind of disappointed this show didn't hold my interest.

Doctor X

I thought they said that Ben's skitter was dead when the harnes was removed so they didn't have a connection. But Rick's harnes was removed while his skitter was still alive so they still had a connection.

Or maybe I read that somewhere...

mikehunt

the other aliens sure do jump it up a notch

SuckaMC

Weaver's switch was explained by him finding his wife's glasses. Seems reasonable.

Also, who says the bi-peds are commanding class? Our heroes? They know nothing and it was just an assumption. Until we know for sure what they are it's hard to say what they would and wouldn't do.

Autopsies are typically done from the front, so missing the harness is not that much of a stretch.

I liked this episode and I'm curious to see what the finale brings.

david12

Clearly I'm in the minority...but I liked it.

RoboDad

Yeah, I don't get all the hate either. I thought the reveals (the bipeds, harnessed skitters, and the mech shells) made the story very interesting, and really changes the way we look at the skitters from now on. Knowing that they are mind-controlled slaves makes them pitiable creatures, and makes it more tragic to have to kill them.

As for the difference between Ben and Rick, there could be a number of reasons. It could be the length of time they were harnessed. It could be related to the fact that Rick was healed of a serious disease, and that triggered some kind of an emotional bond. It could simply be Stockholm Syndrome in Rick that Ben somehow avoided.

Seriously I can think of at least half a dozen more reasons why they might be acting different, and I don't fault the show for not making it clear (yet). I don't need to have everything spelled out for me from square one to stay interested.

mikehunt

they better make lead bullets and only use the mech metal for the core, or they won't have any rifling left in their barrels

Navinabob

This was the first episode that I actually liked. Not that much has improved... I think I'm just invested in it now.

Goldberg74

I like this show too... yeah, it's not hi-brow stuff, but certainly better than the drek on SyFy.

I'm in for the finale and season 2.

TimeandTide

Same here.

But I really wish the writers were more attentive to detail. Like, how did three motorcycles being driven near the base go unnoticed by the aliens? Of all the scavenging they group has done, the only recon equipment they could find were a pair of binoculars, a rifle scope and a low-powered camera lens?

I get that this is a leave-you-brain-at-the-door-type show, but shit like like that is just lazy.

resinrats

How much recon equipment do you expect there to be in Boston? Its not like they are going scavenging on military bases. They are still in the suburbs.

TimeandTide

Um, they've mentioned scavenging at military depots, and they carry modern submachine guns. Safe to assume they might have stumbled upon a telescope or a few pairs of binoculars at a sporting goods store.

Barth

I really enjoyed this episode too. A big jump in entertainment value for me. The series has been kind of take it or leave it for me so far but now I'm looking forward to the finale. The harness reveal and the new aliens added a little intrigue.

Original Desmond

Great episode, love the new master aliens