Distributor: Warner Home Video
Episodes: 10
Duration: 42 min (per episode)
Falling Skies: Season 5 (Blu-ray) – Series Review
After taking down the power core of the Espheni forces on the moon, it seems that the war has finally shifted in favor of the last bastions of humanity, even though this tactical strike may have raised questions about the fate of Tom Mason, and his daughter Lexi. Nonetheless, this fifth and final season will either become a success for the survival of our race, and many others in the universe, or the demise of the world as we know it. This curtain call of the series fills our hearts with regret, but also we are happy to see a series end when its story is told, rather than to be dragged out needlessly. Once more we gaze towards the skies.
It’s hard to tread into the specifics of this last season without spoiling too much, thus we’ll give you a few rough lines which will grant you a picture of these final ten episodes. The war with the Espheni is slowly, but surely, reaching its conclusion now that the power core is down. From now on the Espheni tech, or at least most of it, will not work properly anymore, thus it evens the scales and allows the humans to fight back without having to deal with pesky overpowered mechs. While the encampment of Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), his family and the rest of the ‘Second Mass’, deal with a hunger crisis, there is still a bit of light at the end of this alien-filled tunnel.
In the meantime the Second Mass learns of the existence of other militias, and they are trying frantically to have them fall in line, in order to end the war once and for all, as the alien presence is gathering in one spot. Nonetheless, before doing so, they will have to reach said location safely, while avoiding hordes of rampaging Skitters, a vengeful John Pope (Colin Cunningham), other humans who have suffered from the toll of this war and many other perils.
Knowing the conclusion of the series was in sight, we expected things would be handled in rapid succession of one another, but the actual proper conclusion is only well underway the last two episodes of this season. Of course, there’s already being built towards a proper ending before that, but it feels rather late that the series actually presses on. This is a choice that can have two effects, namely one of suspense, and one where the ending feels rushed, even if it’s still a rather pleasing one.
Cast wise hardly anything has changed, thus you can expect more of the same from most characters, even though there are two main characters who show a big shift in their personalities. It’s clear that Noah Wyle’s character, Tom Mason, is slowly reaching the end of his strength, making him strive for one purpose, namely winning the war. While he still shows the compassionate character we’ve come to know and love, he is slowly adopting another mindset, simply to achieve his goal. Tom is being turned into a real fighter, rather than a compassionate warrior. It’s clear for us that Noah has come a long way since he starred in series such as ER or the Librarian movies. Colin Cunningham has been playing the whiney badass John Pope, who tends to disagree with Mason on nearly everything he does. Even though his character has known a boost in happiness since season four, he will finally snap completely due to certain events, and he goes from a whiny moping bully to a true psychopath, which is actually quite interesting to see.
Another thing that remains consistent is the quality of the effects used. Some effects look rather splendid, detailed and realistic, while others will make you think back of the nineties, where CGI was still a new and growing concept. Even though it doesn’t really bother you when viewing the series, it just ruins the atmosphere of certain scenes a bit more than you’d like.
For a series that has reached its conclusion, the special features on this Blu-ray edition of the fifth season are rather slim and disappointing. You’ll have to dry your tears with a few goodbyes from the cast, some short trips down memory lane and a Wondercon panel. While the Wondercon panel is the longest special feature by far, as the rest are only a few minutes in length, it’s a rather useless feature as it’s all about fan questions that were posed before the fifth season actually aired. We feel there could have been a lot more to give this last season the goodbye it deserved.
Conclusion
Even with the rather slow buildup, Falling Skies goes out with a bang after its fifth and conclusive season. Even during this last season you’ll be treated to a lot of character development, a few surprising twists about the Espheni and of course, a good story to boot. Perhaps a bit slow to reach the actual ending, even within the limited time span of ten episodes, and a lack of special features hold down the overall experience, but fans of the series will certainly be pleased with this farewell to the series.
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