This episode's main focus was on a mission to recover the middle son of main character, Tom Mason (Noah Wylie). Crusty military guy doesn't like the idea, but "was just going to retire before the war" commander does, but only so they can bring back a test subject for Dr. Skeezy, who was with Mason's wife when she died in an alien attack. Of course, things don't go according to plan, secrets are revealed and so on.
SPOILERS BELOW. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. HIGHLIGHT TO READ.
- Of course they don't get back Son #2. That would have been too easy. I've got no reason to really care about Son #2 - he's a mindless zombie - so using this as a plot device will get old, fast.
- Son #1's girlfriend, Karen, was captured. I'm a bit ticked -- she's a pretty decent character. Hope she avoids the zombie treatment. She may not though, as there is Maggie, girl who betrayed Pope, and looks about the same (cute, blond, steely gaze). And there's the annoying brunette girl with the obvious interest in Son #1. Karen's days may be numbered...
- Pope's turn as group chef and how the show is obviously setting him up to be an anti-hero is lame. He was leading a bad of murderers and rapists a few days prior. I'm sorry, but it's not a past that the character can redeem himself from, at least IMO. Kill him off. Survival note - don't handover cooking responsibilities to a known murderer, rapist and prisoner, even if he claims to be a chef.
- Where did their weapons go? The resistance team had to run from the alien forces so fast that they not only abandoned half their people, they actually dropped all of their guns, including holstered sidearms? Those fell off too?
- Dr. Skeezy, as I'm calling him, is an obvious weasel character. However, his abandonment of Mason's wife during the alien attack seems just a bit too contrived. It sets him up as a coward and scum bag, but that can be done in a myriad of other ways. Why would he ditch the heavy bag of food and run, and then Mason's wife not run as well? Overall, he came off as a fairly uninteresting character--here's to hoping he dies quickly.
- Mason should have choked out the alien. Rear naked choking out a skitter > blowing off some legs with a sawed off.
- I would NOT bring an alien right into my camp, but that's me. They clearly don't know much about the alien's abilities, so this would seem to be an obvious thing. You know, psychic powers or some such. Looks like they will pay the price next week.
If you haven't caught the show yet, TNT has the pilot episode up on their website, here.
Anyone else tune in for this week? Any thoughts?