Live and Learn (Falling Skies)

"Live and Learn (Falling Skies)"

"Live and Learn" (sometimes referred to as "Pilot" in short) is the first episode and the series premiere of the TNT Science fiction drama Falling Skies. The episode was written by series creator and executive producer Robert Rodat and directed by Carl Franklin. The episode first aired in the United States on June 19, 2011, alongside the second episode

Plot

In the opening scene, young children tell their versions of the invasion. They draw pictures of their families, kids with harnesses and the alien airships. Tom Mason's son, Matt, tells Anne Glass that his mother died during the attacks and his older brother, Ben was kidnapped. He then shows her a picture of his father and older brother, Hal. Matt informs Anne that they are fighting. In a dark street, Tom and Hal look for food. They grab a food kart, but are ambushed by "mechs", which destroy the food. As Tom and Hal run away, soldiers fire guns at the aliens behind barricades. The aliens destroy the barricade and kill the soldiers. Tom and Hal hide in an empty story. They exit, finding Weaver and other soldiers armed with guns. An airship flies overhead and fires, causing a bright light to consume the atmosphere around them. The group runs away back to their base.

Upon arrival, Tom sees his son Matt asleep and picks him up. He talks to his friend, Anne who tells Tom about his son's drawings. Tom is then called by Col. Porter for a meeting. There, Porter discusses his plan to leave the city and break off into groups. He puts Weaver in charge of the 2nd Mass. and Tom as his second-in-command.

The following day, the fighters and civilians begin to move. They search for food in stores but find no luck. Weaver tells Tom that they can't go back looking for more food as the numbers are too large. Tom volunteers to go back. Weaver gives him six fighters and a pickup truck. Hal, Karen, Dai, Anthony, Click and Jimmy join Tom in the hunt for food. Hal and Karen leave the group to search for aliens. Hal sees "mechs" and "harnessed" kids with them. It is there that he sees his brother, Ben. He immediately returns to tell his father. They are both overjoyed, yet Tom insits that they stick with the mission at hand. Hal disagrees and tries to go and find his brother. Tom wrestles him to the ground and convinces him to do the job the "right way".

The group finds a supply store with food and scout the area for aliens. Finding none, they load the food into the truck. Hal is attacked by a "skitter". Tom fires at it and his son runs away. A "mech" is alerted and comes after Tom. Hal stops the "mech" from hurting his father by firing at it. It then runs after Hal. Tom puts a C-4 in a shopping kart and wheels it next to the "mech", killing it. The "skitter" comes after Tom, but Dai shoots it. The alien dies slowly after it's gun wound and the group observes it before it dies.

The six fighters return and Tom informs Weaver of their success. He then tells Weaver that he and Hal must go looking for Ben. Weaver declines and says the must raid the armory for weapons. Tom tells him after that, they will go and find him. Before the 2nd Mass. leave the city, Hal gives his brother his birthday gift. The children of the 2nd Mass. play with it as the adults watch. Weaver tells Tom it is time to leave and they all mount out on foot.

Production

In May 2009, TNT announced that it had ordered to pilot an untitled alien invasion project. In January 2010, a 10-episode first season was ordered.

The pilot episode was shot in 2009, approximately two years before the series premiere.

The episode was written by series creator and executive producer Robert Rodat and was directed by Carl Franklin.

Reception

Critical reception

Eric Goldman from IGN reviewed the pilot and the seconds episode as one, giving it an 8 out of 10, addressing similarities between the series and AMC's The Walking Dead, stating: "Falling Skies is a good show that has its own tone and mood and pronounced differences from The Walking Dead – most notably that Falling Skies picks up further down the road, and involves a much more organized and militarized force on the human side."

Ratings

The two-hour premiere of Falling Skies was watched by 5.9 million viewers, making it cable television's #1 series launch of the year. It also delivered more than 2.6 million adults 18–49 and 3.2 million adults 25–54.