4.5 Mind Wars As we saw last week, not all strangers are trustworthy, but not all strangers are dangerous, either. Pope’s made a new friend, and this week it’s up to Tom Mason to make a couple of new friends while on the road from the internment camp with Weaver and Matt. Nick (Gil Bellows) and Cooper (Aaron Douglas) are friendly, they have food, and more importantly, they know who Tom is—the legendary Ghost who ran the skitters and mechs ragged in the concentration camp—and they’re more than willing to help out. Perhaps too willing, and they’re also pretty flush with resources while Tom, Weaver, and Hal have to make due with a scrounged-up rifle and the kindness of strangers. If you get the sense that these two are going to betray Tom and company, you’d be right. The episode takes a pretty quick dark turn for Tom and company, courtesy of writer Bruce Marshall Romans. Nick and Cooper both seem to be fairly layered characters, particularly as single-episode visitors go, and they’re both pretty nasty customers, with Nick being the leader and kingpin of evil (the Merle Dixon if you will) to Cooper’s kinder, more willing to follow figure (the Daryl Dixon, without the vest or crazy hair). These two are set up to be slightly… wrong from the very beginning, and both the actors, Gil Bellows and Aaron Douglas, do fine jobs with their mostly thankless roles. It’s pretty easy to figure out where the story is going, and there’s no real mystery there, but it’s done competently enough and it gives Weaver and Matt a chance to talk about what makes a soldier versus a killer, and it’s always nice to give Will Patton parenting moments with the Mason kids, as he’s a great grandfatherly figure and he has good chemistry with the younger actors on the show. Director Nathaniel Goodman does a more-than-capable job with the action scenes, particularly the surprising final moments of the episode in which Tom has his bacon saved by Weaver, as well as in the early moments when Tom and Matt are escaping from the abandoned safe point the Volm used as a home base. He does good work with the actors as well, as judging by my praise for Will Patton and company, but he doesn’t elevate the episode. It’s good, but not great, which seems to be the niche that Falling Skies is aiming for. There’s something to be said for consistent entertainment, even if it’s not going to be jaw-dropping or revolutionary or brilliant television every week out. But hey, it’s July, it’s hot outside, and you’re watching some good character actors shoot machine guns. I don’t need much more than that. US Correspondent Ron Hogan is nursing a slight sunburn and a critical case of having his face melted off by music for a whole weekend, which means he looks roughly like that Espheni that Tom Mason burned in the camp. Find more by Ron daily at Shaktronics and PopFi. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
