Falling Skies season 2

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Falling Skies
Season 2
Falling Skies S2 DVD.jpg
Region 1 DVD cover
Starring
No. of episodes10
Release
Original network TNT
Original releaseJune 17 (2012-06-17) 
August 19, 2012 (2012-08-19)
Season chronology
 Previous
Season 1
Next 
Season 3
List of episodes

The second season of the American television drama series Falling Skies premiered June 17, 2012. [1] It consisted of ten episodes, [2] each running approximately 42 minutes in length. TNT broadcast the second season on Sundays at 9:00 pm ET in the United States.

Contents

The season's plot focuses on the 2nd Massachusetts' discovery that a large community of survivors has formed in Charleston, their journey there, and their reception once they arrive. It also focusses on the discovery that the Skitters are themselves "harnessed" and mind-controlled by the invaders, but that some of them are resistant to the effects and are rebelling against their Overlords..

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

Production

I watched all of the episodes in a row, and I was going along, going, 'Okay, that's interesting. Okay, I can see something there. Okay, that's good. And when I got to the end, and it was that ending, I went, 'Oh my God, I'm in trouble.' I mean, I thought it was cool, but it's also one of those moments as a writer, where you go, 'Ohhh kay, what do I do with that?' ... I called up Graham Yost and I called up Mark [Verheiden], saying, 'What were you guys thinking?' And they said, 'I dunno. We just thought it was cool.'

 — Season two showrunner, Remi Aubuchon [3]

Promotional poster for the second season 436px-Falling-skies-season-two-poster2.JPG
Promotional poster for the second season

Falling Skies was renewed on July 7, 2011, for a second season. [2] TNT announced production had begun on the second season on October 24, 2011. [4] For the second season, Brandon Jay McLaren joined the cast in October as Jamil Dexter, [5] a mechanic. McLaren will feature in seven episodes. [6]

Filming took place in Vancouver and at the Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam from October 2011 to March 2012. [7] For the first season, production took place in Hamilton [8] and Toronto. [9] [10] Noah Wyle said that the change in location made filming significantly different. [11] A new crew came in for the second season, with only "two or three people on staff that were there in season one." [11] The new staff includes a new writing staff and showrunner. [11]

Remi Aubuchon was hired as the showrunner for the second season in May 2011 before the first-season premiere. [12] [13] Once Aubuchon entered the writer's room, he began speaking of the cliffhanger "it became a really fun challenge." Out of that cliffhanger, says Aubuchon, "came some really positive things that propel a lot of the storytelling in the second season. And the writers came up with a pretty cool way for Tom Mason to get off that spaceship again." [3] "You'll always catch people after a huge trauma saying, 'Oh, it wasn't that bad.' Or, 'It was fun,' Or, 'It was cool falling off that cliff,'" says Aubuchon. "The truth is, at first it was like, 'Oh my God, should i just say I can't do this job?' Ultimately, though, I think it turned out cool." [3] Series lead Noah Wyle received several phone calls after the first-season finale aired. The number one question was "What the hell were you doing getting on that spaceship?" He said that they "wrote themselves into a corner". [3] Moon Bloodgood, who plays Dr. Anne Glass, says she was sort of daunted but impressed by the writing. [3] Aubuchon added that Tom Mason's capture helped the writer's change the character slightly. He stated: "Tom comes away from that experience feeling used and manipulated. It wasn't the experience [he expected]. He thought he was going to be having a nice conversation with an extraterrestrial being. It turned out to be worse than that. More than that, I won't say. But that's what made it fun." [3]

Greg Beeman, who directed the episode, spoke about Remi Aubuchon's hiring. He said that Remi had "a lot of ideas about how to keep the good stuff we'd established in Season 1", and "diminish the things that weren't as strong". [14] Steven Spielberg's original conception of Falling Skies was that the characters in the series would be nomadic. [14] The idea for the second season was to "create a mobile refugee camp made up of vehicles and rag-tag tents." [14] Chris Faloona, who was the Director of Photography in the first season, was unable to return due to commitments on another series, and Nate Goodman was hired. [14] He worked with Greg Beeman on the NBC series Heroes . Aubuchon and Beeman discussed what was ahead for the characters this season, and soon after, Beeman called Connor Jessup, who plays Ben Mason, and said "I've just heard what the plans are for you for this season. And my strong advice is that you get a trainer and start eating your Wheaties! You are in a HUGE storyline is going to revolve around you… You're a warrior, you're a skitter killer and you're a badass!" [14] Jessup hired a trainer that very day. [14]

Promotion

Promotion for the season includes a digital comic book, entitled Falling Skies: The Battle of Fitchburg. The comic was published by Dark Horse Comics and was launched on April 18, 2012. [15] Bridging the gap between seasons, the comic picks up where the first season left off. TNT launched a webseries titled 2nd Watch on June 17, 2012 to air after the second-season premiere. Wil Wheaton hosted the show, which ran throughout the entire second season of Falling Skies. The episodes are available on the Falling Skies official website. [16]

Episodes

No.
overall
No. in
season
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateUS viewers
(millions)
111"Worlds Apart" Greg Beeman Mark Verheiden June 17, 2012 (2012-06-17)4.46 [17]
122"Shall We Gather at the River"Greg Beeman Bradley Thompson & David Weddle June 17, 2012 (2012-06-17)4.46 [17]
133"Compass" Michael Katleman Bryan OhJune 24, 2012 (2012-06-24)3.81 [18]
144"Young Bloods" Miguel Sapochnik Heather V. RegnierJuly 1, 2012 (2012-07-01)3.39 [19]
155"Love and Other Acts of Courage" John Dahl Joe Weisberg July 8, 2012 (2012-07-08)3.64 [20]
166"Homecoming"Greg BeemanBryan OhJuly 15, 2012 (2012-07-15)3.61 [21]
177"Molon Labe" Holly Dale Bradley Thompson & David WeddleJuly 22, 2012 (2012-07-22)3.45 [22]
188"Death March" Seith Mann Heather V. RegnierAugust 5, 2012 (2012-08-05)3.34 [23]
The 2nd Mass convoy pushes on to Charleston as tensions grow between Pope, Hal and Maggie. Weaver discovers more about Tector's past on the long drive.
199"The Price of Greatness" Adam Kane Mark VerheidenAugust 12, 2012 (2012-08-12)3.46 [24]
The 2nd Mass finally reaches Charleston and is introduced to some familiar and new faces. However, the new setting turns out not to be quite what they imagined.
2010"A More Perfect Union"Greg Beeman Remi Aubuchon and Bradley Thompson & David WeddleAugust 19, 2012 (2012-08-19)3.84 [25]
An impending Skitter presence causes mixed reactions throughout the Charleston base. New loyalties are made and tested, alliances created and lost.

Reception

Reviews

The second season was well received by critics. Many praised it as being stronger than the first, noting a step-up in quality. Maureen Ryan of The Huffington Post compared the second season to the first by saying "Season 2 is a different animal, a much leaner and meaner machine that allows sentiment to be present but unexpressed and depicts a darker world in which innocence is a luxury that no one can truly afford." [26] Chuck Barney declared "Sunday's explosive two-hour opener boldly delivers on the promise by TNT producers to rev up both the pace and the firepower in Season 2." [27] Screen Rant's Anthony Ocasio lauded the season premiere. "While further episodes will reveal more, the type of character development, intriguing storylines and exciting action that will be contained in Falling Skies season 2 , there's no doubt that TNT's hit drama will likely become an epic adventure, spanning many seasons," he said. [28]

Ratings

Episode numberTitleOriginal air dateRatings share
(Adults 18–49)
Viewers
(in millions)
Rank per week
on Cable
1"Worlds Apart"June 17, 20121.5 [17] 4.46 [17] #10 [29]
2"Shall We Gather at the River"June 17, 20121.5 [17] 4.46 [17] #10 [29]
3"Compass"June 24, 20121.3 [18] 3.81 [18] #18 [30]
4"Young Bloods"July 1, 20121.2 [19] 3.39 [19]
5"Love and Other Acts of Courage"July 8, 20121.2 [20] 3.64 [20] #13 [31]
6"Homecoming"July 15, 20121.2 [21] 3.61 [21]
7"Molon Labe"July 22, 20121.2 [22] 3.45 [22] #25 [32]
8"Death March"August 5, 20121.3 [23] 3.34 [23] #15 [33]
9"The Price of Greatness"August 12, 20121.3 [24] 3.46 [24] #15 [34]
10"A More Perfect Union"August 19, 20121.4 [25] 3.84 [25] #18 [35]

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