'Falling Skies' is NOT 'The Walking Dead'

I'm going to let you in on a little secret, I don't have cable. So I caught the series premiere of 'Falling Skies' through a completely legal, alternative outlet ;)

This review is a day later than most others because of the above reason, but don't discount it because of that. I have a day's worth of twitter and bloggers telling me that this show is this summer's TWD. So I was thinking,'hey, I'm a guy that likes The Walking Dead and this commercial seemed legit.' I was pumped.

(Also, about that commercial, I lucked out and saw it on one of the TV's at the gym, otherwise I would have never known about it)

So needless to say, I'm expecting to be mind-blown, and well I sorta was.. then I sorta wasn't.. then I sorta was, again.

The only MAJOR flaws of this show are the numerous post-apocalypse cliches. The pre-hell on earth professor and know-it-all Tom Mason, portrayed by Noah Wyle, at odds with the grizzled once a hard-ass always a hard-ass military man Weaver, played by Will Patton (who is oddly uncredited on both the IMDb and Wiki pages).

Then we have the desperate to be his own man Hal Mason, son of Wyle's character, played by Drew Roy. Who surprisingly delivers some of the best performances of the whole premiere, in my opinion.

The beacon of hope amidst all the gray and gloom is Matt Mason, Maxim Knight. The youngest of the Mason family, provides an innocent link to the world that once was. His birthday celebration provides a brief moment of joy to the rest of the survivors. While very cliche, is very enjoyable to watch as you realize, in their world, it probably is the happiest they have seen anyone in quite sometime.

Did I mention the babes?

Moon Bloodgood, besides having a badass name which far outshines her characters name, portrays Anne Glass and provides a very believable love interest for Wyle's character. Also a vital asset to the survivors as their doctor and de facto spokeswoman for the civilans. She's hot.

Jessy Schram plays the badass Karen, clearly Roy's girl of choice, she feels at odds for his attention with a fellow female survivor, Lourdes played by the spicy Seychelle Gabriel.

Though Gabriel's looks are deceiving as she makes very clear her Christian values. They're both hot.

Sarah Carter, plays the hotter than hot Margaret. Definitely the hottest of the females. She has a rough entrance into the show being rescued from a gang of rapist outlaws by the survivors. She is extremely hot and in my opinion yet ANOTHER corner for the Hal Mason, Karen, Lourdes, four-pointed love triangle.. thing. Though this isn't made explicitly clear, it's just a prediction.

As for the title of this post, comparing this to 'The Walking Dead' is like comparing lemons to limes, they're both kinda sour, but they have a unique flavor. This is not your typical small band of survivors kinda show. They make it very clear in the beginning they belong to a very large, well organized regiment of 'fighters' and civilans. Calling themselves the 2nd Mass, an hommage to the American Revolutionary regiment of the same name. This aspect of the show is what truly sets it apart from most post-apocalyptic tales, especially TWD. That and they're fighting aliens not zombies. All in all, the premiere could have been stronger. But it is definitely enough to check out the next episode at the very least.