Death March?

When I read the title of the last episode of "Falling Skies" was going to be "Death March" I had visions of historical references to the Bataan Death March that U.S. servicemen had to endure at the hands of the brutal Japanese Army in World War II.  Or, perhaps we would get a reference to the Trail of Tears that American Indians were forced to undergo and remains one of the darkest moments in American history.

In doing so I believed we would bear witness to the near death of the 2nd Mass as they struggled to reach Charleston and the excruciating torture they would encounter at the hands of the Overlords along the way.  This was not to be.  Unless, of course, you count the tragic radiator hose break that Hal, Maggie and Pope suffered as they blazed the way south.

So what did I miss?

Why call an episode "Death March", a term with such grievous historical significance, if the worst thing that happened was the aforementioned hose leak or the death of some anonymous poor soul from dehydration.  (Hmmm, an engine bereft of water and a human in the same condition, no that can't be it!)

I don't mean to deviate from the actual events of "Death March" but I thought the title so compelling that there must have been more to it.  Apparently I am mistaken.

So let's get to some of the events of Death March and the things we learned fro it.

There was a promotional Facebook post touting Maggie's big reveal and what did everyone think of it?  I saw the post but didn't read it not wanting to spoil the episode that I had scheduled to watch Monday night.  To tell you the truth I thought she was going to come out as a murderer.  Especially after watching the episode unfold and Pope taunt her with the "truth".  As it turns out she had fallen into despair after her bout with cancer, taken to drugs and drifting and experienced an unwanted (?) pregnancy.  While sad this is hardly Earth shattering.  Did Pope and Maggie think this tale of woe would doom any relationship with Hal?  Is Hal so naive that a woman that ran with Pope's armed thugs would be chaste?  At the very least he should have reached out to her upon hearing this revelation despite the fact that it was a lot to take in.  Maggie's problems are pretty miniscule when taken in context with 90% of the Earth's population being wiped out.  Aren't these people battle hardened yet?

Let's deal with another reveal of sorts and that is the introduction of the character, Jenny.   Tector (how's that for a great name? "Tector" is also a class of Star Destroyer from the Star Wars movies. I wonder if his parents were big fans?) gave her a good thump when she jaywalked in front of the convoy.  Being part skitter makes you pretty tough and it wasn't long before she was on her feet and asking questions.  And she had a lot of questions!  Isn't there and old saying if something smells like you know what it must be "you know what."  Weaver caved once again and it wasn't long before Jenny started pumping Matt for information.  Didn't they learn anything from Karen?  How naive are these people?  I would have screamed, "She's a spy!" at the TV if I didn't know how dense these people are already.

At least Jenny had some information of her own to spill and it provided us with more insight into the background of the skitters.  She refers to them as "Guardians" and the harnessed kids the Guardians care for refer to themselves as family with each being brothers or sisters.  Additionally the skitter that cared for Jenny's brood was a female, so at least you don't lose your sexuality once undergo full skitter conversion. I wonder if the male skitters are hunter gatherers and they rely on that primeval structure in order to survive or bend to the will of the Guardians?

Jenny's "brother" was named "Tyler" which made me think of the tenth president of the United States and who was also sympathetic to the Southern cause prior to the Civil War.  Tyler also served in the Confederate congress and with the 2nd Mass heading towards Charleston South Carolina where the Civil War began I thought the historic symmetry and symbolism looked rather gloomy for Boston's best.  (More on this in a future post.)

This being a science fiction show I also thought that the character of "Jenny" may have been a nod to the character "Jenny Hayden" of "Starman" renown.  Anyone else see that movie?  The Starman played by Jeff Bridges responded to the invitation recorded on Voyager 2.  I wonder if Earth accidentally beckoned to the Overlords.  The military did seem to be taken off guard in what little evidence we learned from season one.  We'll have to keep an eye on this to see if Earth dropped the ball and brought doom upon themselves by inviting the Overlords here and then had their welcome betrayed.

The last revelation of Death March was that Charleston wasn't a burnt out cinder after all.  Psych!  Either ending to this episode had to be a bit cliche.  We either get the "march for nothing" or we get "Kidding!"  "Charleston's alive and well underground."  Both are derivative of the way Battlestar Galactica ended.  So what is the other shoe that has yet to drop?  As we approach the Death Star that is Charleston all I can think is,  "I have a bad feeling about this." 

Next up, how bad can it be and what is the price of greatness?