The 2nd Mass is never going to make it to Washington at this rate.

The Norfolk naval base seems too good to be true - and it is.

Crawl Toward Washington

Falling Skies drives me nuts. So much potential, and yet they can't get their act together. The characters are a stone's throw from Washington, but from a storytelling perspective they might as well be on the moon.

The theme this season seems to be "mankind is its own worst enemy", which is actually an engaging premise and one that I wish the show had spent more time exploring throughout the series. But at this point, I'm as frustrated by the lack of progress as Tom seems to be. 'We don't have time for this' is a recurring theme both on and off-camera.

Girl Time

It was a pretty strong episode for the women, though:

• Anne is given a nice little subplot utilizing her medical skills. I am so not talking about the maggots. Nope. Not talking.
• Isabella gets to diss a smarmy soldier in an awesome fashion.
• Maggie tells Hal off by reminding him it's not all about him.
• Anne stands up to the guards who are detaining her.

But as usual there were a few cringe-worthy moments:

The base is commanded by a woman, who just happens to be an "old flame" of Weaver's. Wasn't it enough that they were old colleagues and he helped her out of a jam? Why did you need to go there, show? And by the way, since when did unfulfilled romantic tension in the middle of war constitute being a "flame"? Did I miss something here?

The aforementioned smarmy soldier tries to rape Isabella and she has to be rescued. I'm actually going to call that one a draw, though, since she's rescued by Maggie, who reminds us that she doesn't need spikes to kick ass. Seeing the girls team up against their assailant was a nice moment, especially given Maggie's comment at the end that they need to stick together.

I'm starting to like Isabella. I wish they'd introduced her sooner.

Kangaroo Court

The courts martial of Tom, Ben and Hal was a joke in more ways than one. I'm not really sure what the show was going for here. Having Marshall be suspicious of the Masons after all the times the aliens have monkeyed with them was actually realistic, but it seems as though their defense could have been relatively straightforward.

Organizing the Mason Militias, all the victories in Charleston with the Volm, teaming up with President whats-his-name, orchestrating the Skitter rebellion, blowing up the Espheni power core... I could go on and on, but all the Masons (and Weaver) can muster is an indignant protest and a lot of awkward silence? Do they not get the reality of their situation?

And the military... I get that Marshall is apparently under some kind of Espheni control, but what about everyone else? Seriously, is there not one of them who can see that there's a war on and this is not the time to be attacking your allies?

The whole plotline made everyone involved seem really, really stupid. And that's not where you want to be with only three episodes left in the series.

Random Thoughts

• The war's most tragic casualty: Weaver's Ponytail.
• Dinaan and Cochise can jury-rig an attack drone from spare parts and get a Beamer flying, but using a lever or pulley to lift something out of a pit is apparently beyond them.
• Tom, upon finding out that Ben has been detained, declares himself a traitor and gives them all sorts of ammunition against him. Way to get yourself arrested, Tom.
• Poor Lexi. So forgotten she can't even be used as "evidence" against her family.

Ratings

• Princess Power:
• Overall:
• Bechdel Test: Pass - kind-of, depending on how you count Maggie and Isabella teaming up.

Learn about my Ratings System.