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Falling Skies Season 1 Episode 3

Prisoner of War

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AIRED: Jun 26, 2011

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7.1

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Episode Summary

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The 2nd Mass comes face to face with Skitters and Mechs when Tom and Hal lead a mission to finally attempt rescuing Ben and the other captured teens. Tom's search for answers to nagging questions could jeopardize the plan to save the teenagers from the harnesses that is presented by the 2nd Mass' latest recruit Dr. Michael Harris.moreless

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

Okay episode but it's a little better than "The Armory"

6.5

By tigerdude22, Sep 07, 2011

This was an okay episode of "Falling Skies" but this show still hasn't proved to me that it's the most awesome sci-fi show on television yet. This episode is a little better than "The Armory" (Part 2 of the 2-hour series premiere) but not as good as "Live and Learn" (Part 1 of the 2-hour series premiere). I hope the rest of the season in this show is gonna be slow. Come on writers, you should know that you making the episode really slow so far. You made the promos for this show look action-packed but there hasn't been any action-packed episodes so far. The one that had the most action was probably "Live and Learn", it was still slow but at least it way more action than "The Armory" and a little more action this episode "Prisoner of War". We get some like two or three good action scenes in this episode but even those didn't last that long. This episode was still slow and all they do is just talk. I want to see them have a war against the aliens and save those children. The next episode better be action-packed and the same goes to the rest of the episodes in this season. Overall, it was an okay episode but make the episodes action-packed writers... you're making most of the sci-fi fans disappointed right now. 6.5/10moreless
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Good and bad, surprise and dumb asses

5.5

By silverfoxs, Sep 07, 2011

What I'm going to say about EP03 is it is Steven Spielberg TV series who is still stuck in the WWII. How many times do you need to mention Nazi? so the father of Rick rushed out to save his son and put whole team in the risk and got two more men in prison and life risk and he walked out as free? No consequence because he brought a nice twist? That scene just makes me want to throw up a little bit. Right. He got an alien by himself. I assume that Alien wants to catch him alive. Otherwise, I don't see any weapons from this creature. I even assume it's naked since it doesn't carry out any weapons, communication tools or GPS like device. Oh, yeah. Let's welcome a hero bringing a live Alien home. Wait a second, have you searched it for weapon, GPS device and bring it back to base directly? so you think it's WWII and you know what Nazi use to communicate? Walkie talkie? This show just makes me laugh.moreless
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Prisoner of War

8.0

By TrueTvWatcher, Jul 14, 2011

Prisoner of War was a superb and entertaining episode of Falling Skies. I really enjoyed watching this episode because it touched upon basic human emotions and makes viewers think about what they would do in similar circumstances. It is hard to imagine what we would actually do under pressure and threat. There was character and plot development. I like how this series focuses on the survival side though I'd really like to learn more about the aliens and their agenda. It is very interesting that they only enslave children with their harnesses and have military robots. It was nice to learn more in this episode and I look forward to watching the next episode as well to learn more!!!!!moreless
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The beginning of OPERATION: RESCUE BEN

7.5

By VConn, Jul 12, 2011

This was another good episode not quite of the caliber of the first two but by no means bad.

The episode highlighted the fact that family is important even after a total devastating attack by aliens nothing can be more important than family -- Either saving them fighting with them or avenging them if you've lost them.

The episode also highlighted the trouble family can get you into, The team was almost killed when Rick's dad decided to abandon the plan and snatch his son which leads to my only real complaint about this episode for a highly advanced alien species you think they'd have better security and wouldn't let people just walk off with their slave labor.

The Special Effects were again on a very high level and the writing and acting were all excellent even Connor Jessup as a slightly creepy zombie like teenager.moreless
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So, after the premiere it's time for the third episode. Most shows struggle with this episode, and Falling skies is no exception...

6.5

By kepa55, Jun 30, 2011

So, after the premiere it's time for the third episode. Most shows struggle with this episode, and Falling skies is no exception...

I started watching Prisoner of War, and unfortunately kept checking how long the episode had run. Because nothing really happened in the first act, apart from the nice teaser. Overall the plot was rather predictable and frankly boring. The cliffhanger at the end was pretty obvious as well. The moment Mason dragged the skitter into the HQ, you knew it was a bad idea. The skitter moving along the ceiling was awesome though.

The problem at the moment seems to be that the drama just isn't working, and there's too much of, while the action-y parts do work, there's too little of them. I think Game of Thrones has spoiled me forever concerning kid actors, but I can't help but point out how horrible some of the kids in this show are. Heck, even the established actors seem to be struggling with their performance; that scene with Tom and Hal Mason in the alley was just cringe-worthy. I think Noah Wyle's characters seems way too whiny for someone who takes out a skitter single handedly. Moon Bloodgood seems like the only one to understand her character, but they gave her nothing to do in this episode. Colin Cunningham did a pretty good job as well, but Pope turning out to be a chef felt a bit unnecessary (although it gave us some laughs).

This episode also really felt like that horrible 90s film Independence Day. Pretty much every shot had a US flag in the background. I hope they tune down the patriotism a bit. And man do I hate the music. That horrible, slightly uplift military anthem. Much more subtle score would work so much better.

As the first season is just 10 episodes, I think I'm going to stick with this series for now - it's good enough.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Noah Wyle	Tom Mason
Moon Bloodgood	Anne Glass
Drew Roy	Hal Mason
Maxim Knight	Matt Mason
Seychelle Gabriel	Lourdes
Peter Shinkoda	Dai

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Johnny Larocque	Soldier	Guest Star
Steven Weber	Dr. Michael Harris	Guest Star
Dale Dye	Porter	Recurring Role
Bruce Gray	Uncle Scott	Recurring Role
Martin Roach	Mike	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Steven Weber and Moon Bloodgood on Falli...

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Will Patton on Falling Skies from the ep...

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Moon Bloodgood on Falling Skies from the...

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (1)
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- Tom: What about the guy?
  Anne: Just my first impression, but he's very smart, very capable and very sure he's the best man for the job.
  Tom: I suppose he's good looking too?
  Anne: I don't know. Lourdes? Do you think he was good looking?
  Lourdes: Mmmm... Yeah, for an older man.
  Tom: Older? Lourdes: He must be like forty? Tom: Ow!
  Anne: Ouch! Lourdes: Oh! I didn't mean...Tom: Oh no no...That's quite all right. I think I kinda' walked into that one.
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- Audience - 4,200,000
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Australia: Thursday, July 14, 2011 on FOX8
  United Kingdom: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 on FX/FX HD
  Finland: January 17, 2013 on Nelonen
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