Falling Skies Season 1 Ending Explained: Does Tom Join the Aliens?

Created by Robert Rodat, ‘Falling Skies’ steps into the post-apocalyptic reality of Tom Mason, a history professor who is forced to turn into a resistance fighter following an alien invasion. While the extraterrestrial forces swiftly cut through 90% of the human population, they notoriously kidnap the children and turn them into mind-controlled workers. Tom’s younger child, Ben, is one of the harnessed kids, which explains his unshakeable resolve in the face of hopelessness. However, Tom is not alone in this endeavor, as he is part of a larger paramilitary force, known as the 2nd Mass, which plans to defeat the aliens in any way possible. To that end, the premiere season finale of this science fiction series, titled ‘Eight Hours,’ explores humanity’s most valiant charge against the aliens yet. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Falling Skies Season 1 Plot Recap

The narrative of ‘Falling Skies’ begins roughly six months after a deadly alien invasion on Earth, which is frontlined by creatures known as Skitters, who kidnap children and turn them into mindless workers. While most human life has been decimated, resistance groups continue to fight the entities and scavenge for resources. Tom, along with his eldest son, Hal, is a member of the 2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment and faces off against alien forces almost every day to survive. While the higher-ups in the resistance plan to break off into smaller groups and escape to a safer location, Tom wishes to stay and look for his younger son, Ben, who has been harnessed by the aliens. Ben is ultimately found, but before he can be extracted, another soldier, Mike, spots his son, Rick, and rescues him first.

Although previous attempts to detach the children’s harnessing device had proven to be a failure, this time around, the device is safely clipped off, leaving only the spinal spikes behind. However, upon waking up, Rick does not recognize his father and begins exhibiting alien-like behavior. In the subsequent attempts to rescue Ben, Tom, and his team lose Hal’s girlfriend, Karen, to the aliens. Sometime later, however, Tom manages to knock a Skitter unconscious, and the 2nd Mass decides to hold it captive for experimentation. Here, they learn that the aliens communicate through radio waves and that they have a weak spot inside their mouths, near the brain tissue. Using this knowledge, Hal ties Rick’s harness to his own back and pretends to be one of the harnessed children. Once at the alien base, he kills the Skitter, rescuing Ben and all the other children in that group.

The 2nd Mass Finds a Way to Beat the Aliens For Good

While Ben’s device is successfully detached, he too displays altered characteristics, worrying both Hal and his father. When a man named Clayton comes to tell the 2nd Mass about a new sanctuary on the other end of town, Tom and the 2nd Mass leader, Weaver, consider sending the children there. This, however, turns out to be a trap set up by the aliens, and Mike has to sacrifice his own life to save the kids. In the process, however, a way to hurt aliens using reconstructed alien metal is discovered, and with that, new ammunition is designed.

Knowing that their chances of pushing back against the invasion are numbered, Weaver calls for an all-out suicide mission, only for it to fail. With most of the forces being sent back, Tom and Weaver set out for the final charge all by themselves. Out of desperation, Tom fires a missile at a landing aircraft, which crashes into the alien ship, triggering a massive chain of explosions. Before Tom and Weaver can celebrate this victory, however, a different alien spaceship descends upon them, promising to change things forever.

Falling Skies Season 1 Ending Explained: Does Tom Defeat or Join the Aliens?

At the end of ‘Falling Skies’ season 1, Tom and Weaver are approached by the aliens to have a conversation aboard the spaceship, and Tom seemingly agrees. While Weaver is left confused by this turn of events, Tom has a very specific reason for agreeing to his enemy’s demands. The alien, who speaks to him through a harnessed Karen, explains that this exchange might be the key to turning Ben back into a human. As such, Tom’s willingness plays not on one, but two of his vulnerabilities. The entire season has proven his willingness to do anything for his son. He is also disarmed by Karen being the intermediary between the two species. The two are effectively family, and it is possible that he might also be doing this to save her life from whatever the extraterrestrial entities are planning.

The manner in which Tom volunteers to enter the spaceship is also suspicious, as he almost appears to be in a trance. While the aliens communicate via radio signals, outright hypnosis has not been featured as one of their abilities. Still, given the many unsolved mysteries about these entities, such an ability is entirely possible. However, there is also a different, more psychologically driven explanation for Tom’s reaction: his love for his son. Given that he has been through heaven and hell to save Ben’s life, to watch him slowly be consumed by the Skitter implants is bound to chip away at his mind. In such a scenario, the alien’s proposal can feel like a glimmer of hope.

Communication With Aliens Might be a Breakthrough for the Resistance

Notably, the ending also marks the first time Tom has an actual conversation with the aliens. As the protagonist of the narrative, he serves as an emblem of the continued human resistance against the invasion, as well as our primary lens into everything they have endured thus far. In the moments prior, we see the battle claim several soldiers, and in a desperate bid to save lives, Weaver and Tom decide to venture in by themselves. When Hal is sent back to the 2nd Mass, he is tasked explicitly with relaying this message, indicating that preservation of life is paramount for the group.

To that end, a conversation with the extraterrestrial forces opens up a path, no matter how narrow, to solve the crisis without any further bloodshed. As humans have already figured out a way to effectively kill alien forces, it is expected that the aliens are now cautious and might want a truce. As such, conversing with a single human, such as Tom, is unlikely to be a part of their psychological tactics. The aliens have proven their ability to negotiate with human factions, even if it is in a sadistic fashion, and Tom has the chance to negotiate a deal that saves as many lives as possible. Still, the possibility that he will come out of the spaceship as a completely altered person, akin to Rick, cannot be ruled out.

Is the Alien Lying About Ben?

One particular detail that raises questions about the aliens’ true intentions is their choice of target. While Tom and Weaver are indeed the only two soldiers on the scene, the new alien specifically calls out Tom and offers him a very personalized deal in the form of Ben’s recovery. This suggests that the entity was aware of Tom’s tormented past and may have exploited it to lower his guard. In the same vein, it is entirely possible that the alien’s claim about Ben being healed is a lie, and that his ongoing transformation is irreversible. Earlier in the story, it is discovered that the Skitters are harnessed creatures themselves, indicating that they themselves have been controlled all along. An even more terrifying idea is that the Skitters are actually human children who have been manipulated for a long enough period.

At the start of the season finale, Rick talks to a harnessed child who has scale markings over her face and body, which may have appeared due to her prolonged harnessing and exposure to alien life. This lends more credence to the theory that all harnessed children inevitably turn into aliens themselves, possibly due to the nanotechnology implanted on their spines. This connection not only explains Ben’s superhuman abilities, but also why the Skitters have been considerate to the children. Still, with layers of psychological programming in place, it is unlikely that the aliens can undo Ben’s transformation. As the alien talking to Tom appears to be distinct from the other Skitters, it is possible that they are the orchestrators of this entire arrangement and that this is their next move.

What Happens to Weaver and the 2nd Mass?

While Tom seemingly climbs onto the alien spaceship, Weaver is left behind, confused and shaken at this development. Having just discussed sacrificing themselves for humanity, he might interpret Tom’s actions as a betrayal. However, given his own lingering sadness about his daughter’s death, he might even empathize with his fellow soldier. The parallels go even deeper, as Weaver accidentally killed his daughter while trying to remove her harness forcefully, and essentially re-humanize her. The fact that Tom has a chance to save his son’s life without any bloodshed is enough reason for him to go aboard, and for Weaver to potentially understand. Nonetheless, the possibility of all this being an alien ploy does not escape his mind, and we might see him react accordingly.

Due to Weaver and Tom’s timely decisions, the majority of the 2nd Mass survives the battle unharmed. Among the primary casualties are likely the people who stayed behind at base camp to fend off advancing aliens. Up next, John Pope and his team took the brunt of the offense, and we last see him carrying a barely alive Anthony to safety. However, Hal likely reaches out to the rest of the forces just in time, informing them of the mission’s now shifted priorities. As Tom and the alien are about to have a conversation, Weaver is unlikely to be attacked anytime soon, which means an easy way back to the 2nd Mass. Once there, he might even prepare an extraction team to rescue Tom, or, worse, for a full-length battle, depending on how this new avenue plays out.

Will Karen Become a Human Again?

Although Ben is the subject of Tom’s conversation with the alien, it is Karen who actually speaks, as well as leads Tom into the spaceship. As such, despite being a subtler presence on-screen, she undeniably moves the plot forward. We first see Karen with a harness in episode 8, where she checks up on Sonya Rankin, along with an alien — presumably the same one who is talking to Tom right now. This suggests that her primary role in the extraterrestrial hierarchy is that of a communicator, which demands complete alien control. The only characters who are capable of doing this are Rick and the unnamed girl, and both of them show signs of being brainwashed on top of their physical alterations. Thus, there is a grim chance that she is too far gone already, with little chance of her returning to normalcy.

In the ‘Sanctuary’ run of episodes this season, we are introduced to a character named Tessa, who has a brief flirtatious dynamic with Hal. The fact that this plot thread emerges within a few episodes of Karen’s alien abduction might suggest that her romantic arc with Hal is nearing its conclusion. Instead, it is possible that she might be a key player in the alien lifeforms’ plan to defeat humanity. Whether or not Tom is able to save her life within this alien encounter is directly tied to what he learns about Ben, as a way to undo his alien programming, which also opens the path for Karen’s recovery. Still, with the final scene framing her as the person who whisks Tom onto the ship, for now, her fate remains in the dark.