Falling Skies - S5E2 - Hunger Pains
Previously on Falling Skies, ‘Find Your Warrior’
Starring: Noah Wyle, Will Patton, Moon Bloodgood, Colin Cunningham, Doug Jones, Drew Roy, Connor Jessup, Sarah Carter, Maxim Knight, Mpho Koaho | Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi
‘Hunger Pains’ begins with Tom and the gang at defensive positions as a horde of rabid skitters rush the town seeking food in any form, be it canned fruit or a juicy human. Wave after wave of the creatures attack their gates and a few get through. Anthony (Mpho Koaho), in the midst of a bloodfrenzy, as many skitters as he can and accidentally takes out the entire food cache with a poorly timed rocket. Clearly, Tom wasn’t impressed. Bad Anthony, bad!
A week later, tensions are running higher than ever within camp. No food and low on ammo, some of the folks are getting desperate enough to not let the piles of alien bodies go to waste and barbecue a few skitter corpses. By the way, they apparently are (barely) palatable and have a bold beefy taste. Just, you know, don’t swallow or else their flesh – medium rare or otherwise – will eat through your insides. Mmmm, delicious!
Everyone in the 2nd Mass is making the necessary sacrifices like usual, rationing what little resources they could salvage. The skitters continue to find a way inside their compound with a mindless ferocity. Tom and Weaver recognize that many of their fighters are barely able to lift their weapons, so Maggie, Ben, Pope and Sarah are charged to scout the factory nearby to see if any food and supplies are still
During the second act, we’re introduced to a wily new survivor named Caitlin (Julia Sarah Stone), who has been hunkered down in a food distribution center for perhaps the entire occupation. She cleverly traps Ben, Pope, Sarah and Maggie, rightfully suspicious of their intentions. Young Caitlin may have inadvertedly placed them in more danger than they knew with only a plywood door between them and her mutated brother. Thinking on her feet, Maggie promises a means to reverse the process for Caitlin’s brother back at camp, which everyone else in the group knows is a lie.
Only two episodes have aired, however the devil-may-care attitude of the leads to do anything to achieve their goals is quite striking compared to previous seasons. Maggie’s deception pays off and the group hastily makes their way back with a truck full of food (and an ornery skitter). With no Overlord present to quell the wildness and coordinate their attacks, the skitters endlessly attack anything that moves, including themselves. It isn’t long before the scout group are swarmed mere feet away from the gates.
Thankfully, Dingaan (Treva Etienne) was able to perfect the project that had taken most his time throughout the episode: merging Human and Espheni tech. Rudimentary in design yet highly effective, Dingaan’s will be put to immediate use given the stinger in the last 10 seconds of ‘Hunger Pain.’ The odd bug that bit Tom at the end of ‘Find Your Warrior’ is revealed to be unlike what it seems AND part of a much, much larger swarm not far the 2nd Mass’ stronghold.
Life appears ready to throw even more curveballs in the direction of the resistance. The endgame is nearly there yet the Espheni, desperate in their attempt to conquer earth are at their most lethal. How Tom and the 2nd Mass face this ever-growing adversity will be revealed in next week’s episode ‘Hatchlings’, July 12 on TNT at 10pm.
