Falling Skies

This series has just started on FX. it's another import (FX only shows programmes from the american Fox network) that is being promoted as "the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated"

Make no mistake. One thing this show is not: is science fiction in the War of the Worlds tradition. The first few minutes of the opening 1-hour episode - the only one shown so far, has a small child giving their view of what has happened so far. It appears that some aliens have invaded America (or "the world" as they traditionally call it), destroyed their military, turned most of the people into homeless refugees and disabled all their electronic gadgets, but the surviving population is fighting back. As the show's resident history professor reminds us in one of his speeches "history is full of inferior forces creating so much trouble that the invading army leaves". However, I don't think we're supposed to draw any parallels with current western sponsored military actions - who would be the aliens?
So once the aliens have subjugated the country, somehow a new military force made up of civilians who are not only armed to the teeth, but fully trained in warfare, heavy weapons and tactics and organised into a coherent fighting force (even without any communications) emerges and starts fighting back. As I said, this is not a science fiction story - it's a fairy tale about family values, grit, determination but mainly about shooting as many aliens as possible.

The trick seems to be not to question the many and gaping holes in the plot. Not to ask why, after 6 months all the people are still happy and upbeat, well-fed, clean and nicely dressed and still able to drive around the Boston area in convoys, at will during the day or night, without being detected and destroyed by the obvious might and destructive force of the aliens ground and air superiority.

In short, my impression of this series is that it's superficial. Merely another Spielberg production of feel-good/Disney values meant to reinforce the lesson that no matter what adversities the american people face, no matter how overwhelming the odds or challenges or how desperate the situation - enough firepower directed at the enemy is the answer to pretty much any problem. If I was leading the aliens, I'd just sit back and let the cold of a New England winter finish the job for me.