This week’s Falling Skies episode Strange Brew gave viewers a taste of Tom’s past with a twist of the present, Maggie waited for Hal to return from his mission, and Peralta’s loyalty was questioned.

The Breakdown

In this week’s Falling Skies the episode began with life before the invasion for Tom, but in a strange way.  Tom was with his wife Rebecca and their boys, in their home on a typical morning during Christmastime.  Tom’s wife asked who Anne was because Tom had talked about her in his sleep.  Tom did not know who Anne was and could not stop looking at his wife and telling her that he loved her.

As Tom headed to work he saw a bum (Weaver) holding a sign about the “end being near”. He headed to the college where he taught and ran into a few more characters, including Pope, Karen, and Maggie who were strangely a part of his life.  The cities Boston, New York, Chicago, and Jacksonville were continually mentioned and Tom tried to figure out why.  Then, the husband of Anne who Tom dreamt of and sent him notes about a supposed rendezvous, confronted Tom about an affair between the two of them. Tom continued to tell everyone that he did not know Anne.

Tom finally met up with Anne at a coffee shop.  She kept asking which city they were going to together: Boston, New York, Chicago, or Jacksonville.  Tom denied even knowing her and as he began looking around, he saw his current friends from Charleston again…then answers to the craziness were finally answered.

Tom woke up on a torture table with an alien device attached to his head.  Everything had been a dream of sorts.  Karen was watching over him, waiting to hear information on their plan.  Suddenly gunfire broke out as Weaver and the team busted into the room.  Tom shot Karen in the head and was then knocked out.  After he woke in the hospital he went to see Weaver and the others.  He turned to see the maps labeled Boston, New York, Chicago, and Jacksonville.  Was all of this real? – Of course not.  This was another sequence of dream-like events.

Meanwhile back in Charleston with Weaver, Peralta’s loyalty was being questioned as one of Weaver’s men told them both that she was the only one without an alibi for the time The President was shot.  Later as Weaver and Maggie were headed to his office there was an explosion.  The mole struck again!  Luckily Weaver and Maggie were both fine.

Karen removed the alien device from Tom’s head once more when she did not get the information she was seeking. Then Tom saw Anne and the baby covered in a cocoon type of material.  Tom began yelling at Karen for killing them, but Karen told him she had no choice.  Just then she told Tom that “it” has started.  They looked outside and saw the alien structure was beginning the process of its defense and putting Earth at risk for extinction at the same time.  Tom grabbed a Skitter standing next to them and pushed it off of the structure with him, using it as a shield from hitting the ground directly.  The Skitter was dead, but Tom was unharmed and on foot.

Back in Charleston, Maggie was on watch waiting for Hal when Pope again tried to tell her that the Mason’s would never return.  Suddenly, guess who returned?  – Hal and the other Mason boys.  Maggie was thrilled and flew into Hal’s arms.

Tom headed back to his home, the one he had with his wife Rebecca and boys before the invasion.  He relaxed in bed and saw Rebecca as she told him that there is nothing there for him anymore.  The episode ended with Tom walking away from the house.

The Analysis

Strange Brew was a good name for this week’s episode of Falling Skies.  I actually really enjoyed the beginning of the episode with Tom back in his old life, somewhat.  Seeing Tom without his beard and mustache and the boys in a normal setting was interesting.  Tom’s interaction with his wife showed us just how much he loved her.

The other characters such as Weaver, Pope and Karen popping into Tom’s dream-like state were also pretty entertaining.  Pope especially is always amusing; giving Tom a hard time about the so-called affair with Anne. 

Waking up on Karen’s torture table a couple of times and interacting with her made it a very good episode.  Then when Tom saw Anne and the baby he flipped out screaming at Karen – Noah Wyle did a great job in this scene, in my opinion.

I really did not want to miss a minute of this one for fear of missing out on something really important!

There are only two Falling Skies episodes left this season and it is obvious that they are building up for a big season finale.