"Previously on Falling Skies..." "I was in school when the ships came." "All electronics stop working." "They killed grown-ups, and they catch kids." "Get off." "We cannot fight these things unless we know how." "Ben." "He's alive." "We got to go get him." "They die, just like us." "Just got to get close." "I thought you were all just a bunch of strangers thrown together by fate." "Ships are gonna target the flares." "Well, I guess you got me after all." "I said you could go look for your son." "Do you have any idea where he is?" "Margaret -- she saw some harnessed kids out by a hospital." "What if it's a trap?" "Go to the van." "Don't wait for us." "You go, and you go fast." "♪ Falling Skies 1x03 ♪ Prisoner of War Original Air Date on June 26, 2011" "== sync, corrected by elderman ==" "Ben's on the roof." "Looks like they're scavenging scrap metal." "That's exactly what they're doing." "They flew here in spaceships and turned kids into slaves just to collect old toasters and copper wire?" "Well, there must be some reason for it." "You think they know what's happening to them?" "I hope not." "How many kids are you trying to grab?" "As many as we can." "Okay, let's see what we're up against." "Okay, we got two Mechs patrolling in front of the building." "And there's that one behind the back." "Skitter by the collection bin." "And another one inside the building." "Six of us, five of them." "I like those odds." "All right, we do this now -- tired as we are, low on ammo, low on supplies " "I mean, losing Click was enough, wasn't it?" "That's my son over there." "I know." "But we may only get one shot at this." "Okay, Tom?" "They're gonna be here tomorrow and the day after that." "Okay." "How about we do this?" "Dad, come on." "We'll be back." "We'll get him, Dad." "Welcome home." "Love what you've done with the place." "Did you find Ben?" "Ben and about a dozen others, yeah." "Is he all right?" "He's alive." "Look, there's some really good news." "What's that?" "Excuse me." "Um, did you, uh, see my daughter?" "No." "No, no, I'm sorry." "We didn't really get that close." "Our son -- he's been missing since the second week." "Maybe you saw him." "No, I'm sorry." "Please." "No, I -- Okay, everybody, just " "Hey, hey, hey, hey." "Come on." "Break it up." "Give them some space." "We've got the right to ask!" "Hey, no one's saying you don't." "But we all have missing kids, including Tom here." "And you." "That's right -- my boy, Rick." "Okay, look, everybody, I know what you're going through." "We all just want to get our kids back." "And I promise that we're gonna do everything possible to make sure that that happens." "Wait, look." "There's a -- there's a school-announcement board here." "Why don't you guys take your pictures and post your missing kids up here?" "Yeah." "Great idea." "Yeah, and write their name, hair color, weight, height..." "Last time that you saw them." "Yeah, anything that you guys can think of that'll help us identify them." "I promise that all the squads will check this board before each and every mission." "Okay?" "Thank you -- both of you." "Porter's here." "He's not due back for another couple weeks." "You know that good news?" "He brought it." "He's delivering a briefing in the command post." "Take a seat." "The picture in this war is changing." "One of the runners that we sent west ran into a contingent of resistance fighters just outside of Chicago." "But they've made contact with other groups in Texas, Oklahoma, even California." "What that means is..." "We're not in this alone anymore, people." "That's the good news." "The bad news..." "Is that alien structures like the one that's over Boston are going up over every city that we know about." "Anybody figured out what they're for?" "No, Weaver." "So as of now... we're in a full-court press to gather intelligence on the enemy." "I want to know about his plans." "I want to know about his tactics." "I want to know about his weapons and his technology -- everything." "Now that you people have a secure operating base," "I want you to start collecting war material." "That means motorcycles." "That means weapons, explosives, camo gear -- anything and everything that could be used to support a growing insurgency." "Weaver, put 'em to work." "All right, start breaking your units down into search-and-requisition teams of four to six fighters." "I'll give you your assignments tomorrow." "Dismissed." "Hey, Tom." "Got a report that you spotted a bunch of harnessed kids." "Yeah, we were tracking my son Ben." "We found him." "At night, they've got them in a hospital off Route 9, and by day, the Skitters have them salvaging scrap metal." "Yeah, we've gotten reports like that before." "They seem to use them as some sort of slave labor." "Yeah." "Look, Tom, our science team is struggling with this harness thing." "They were able to get it off of three kids, but they died a couple hours later." "I'm sorry to hear that." "Yeah, well..." "The chief surgeon thinks he's got an answer to the problem." "But in order to test the theory, he needs a kid." "Ben?" "Look, Tom..." "I'll understand if you want to say no." "But this is probably the best -- hell, it may be the only chance" "Ben and any of the other kids have got." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Um..." "I can't go back and just rescue one kid, even if it's my own son." "We need to rescue them all." "We will, in time." "The time is now." "If it were up to me, you wouldn't be going at all." "Our priority has to be winning this war." "There are hundreds of people out there with missing kids." "We rescue those kids, as many as we can, we keep their hope alive." "We give up on those kids, those people are gonna give up hope, too." "We save a few dozen kids and lose the war, they're no better off than they were in the harness." "Well, they'd die free." "I think we're wasting time and resources, but it's not my call." "That's right." "It's mine." "Just Ben this time." "That's it." "Right." "You okay?" "Did you know I was due to retire when all this happened?" "Nothing to look forward to but golf and travel and..." "A stack of spy novels on my nightstand." "Listen, Tom..." "You go out there and get Ben." "But, damn it, be careful." "Hey, buddy." "Hey." "I'm back." "Did you bring Ben?" "No, not this time, but we found him, and he's safe." "We're gonna go back for him." "What's the matter?" "Come on." "I can take it." "At school today, some kid said that when you take those things off their backs, the kids die." "Yeah." "Well..." "That was before." "Before?" "Before a really smart doctor figured out how to take them off safely." "What doctor?" "He came here today with Colonel Porter." "He's gonna teach Anne how to do it, too." "So Ben's gonna be okay?" "Hey." "Hungry?" "You bet I am." "Here you go." "Everybody's got a right to eat." "Thank you." "You got a problem?" "What is this -- Skitter a la king?" "Chicken and rice." "Are you sure?" "Look, if it's not up to your usual high standards, you'll have to make allowances." "We all take turns in the kitchen." "Let me guess -- it was your turn." "First of all, the chicken shouldn't bleed like this." "It's way undercooked." "That, and you got enough salt in here to give my kid a stroke." "And what is that?" "What is that -- paprika?" "Paprika?" "Nobody puts paprika on chicken." "What are you " " Hungarian?" "You do realize you're a prisoner, right?" "Before you grill it, fry it, put it on a barbecue, you poach the chicken first, preferably in some chicken stock with a little bit of herbs and spices." "That way, it absorbs all the herbs and all the spices." "And then you can drop it onto a barbecue, you can grill it, put it into a frying pan, and all that moisture and all that flavor's already cooked into it." "What are you -- a cook?" "Certified culinary arts." "And it's "chef," not "cook."" "How was the food?" "When I could stomach eating with a bunch of degenerate psychos..." "The food wasn't bad." "And who prepared it?" "Pope." "He said he trained in prison." "I say we just put him to the test." "We already have people who can cook." "Yeah, they can cook..." "Oatmeal." "He'll be under guard at all times." "You three can go." "Send him in!" "Yes, sir!" "So, you want to cook?" "Oh, I'd love to..." "If you had anything to cook with." "He showed me what you got, and what you've got..." "Are 50 cans of lima beans... 32 cans of tuna fish, some chicken..." "And rice." ""Rots" and "rots" of rice." "Don't you people know how to scrounge?" "You were here for weeks before we came along." "What did you eat?" "We hunted." "There wasn't about a dozen of you." "Okay?" "We've got 300!" "Maybe you can't hack it, Pope!" "Hey..." "I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for three entire cell blocks." "That's 170 inmates." "If they didn't like my food, I'd lose body parts." "Here's the deal, Pope -- the facilities are substandard, the provisions are meager, and until Scott rigs the burners for propane, you're gonna be cooking on camp stoves." "Now, if you're not up to it, you just say the word, and we'll put you back in lockup." "I'll do it." "But for the love of God, could somebody please find me some olive oil?" "Hey." "How'd it go?" "Um, that good news that you mentioned, it was about the harnesses." "That's right." "Have you talked to Porter's guy yet?" "Briefly." "And what do you think?" "Oh, the procedure is simple, to the point of elegance." "What about the guy?" "It's just my first impression, but he's very smart, very capable, and very sure he's the best man for the job." "I suppose he's good-looking, too?" "I don't know." "Lourdes, did you think he was good-looking?" "Uh, yeah, for an older man." "Older?" "He must be, like, 40." "Ohh!" "Ouch." "Oh, no, I didn't mean that " "Oh, no, that's quite all right." "I think I kind of walked into that one." "So Who is this medical genius?" "Harris." "Dr. Michael Harris." "Do you know him?" "Tom?" "Tom!" "Michael." "You're alive?" "Yeah, so are you." "Rebecca and I foraged for a couple of hours, -- and... it looked like rain, so...we both figured it'd be more efficient to split up." "And -- and there hadn't been an a-attack for a while." "Yeah, I remember." "We weren't apart five minutes -- these airships started pounding the area, and I-I-I-I tried to get to her, Tom." "I really did, and, uh, I -- and I got this." "And, uh..." "And then the second wave of the attack started, and, uh I hid in a collapsed house." "I passed out." "And a group of fighters found me the next day, and I became the medical officer for the resistance." "I can't tell you how sorry I am about your wife, Tom." "Thanks for telling me." "Sure." "Where are your boys?" "Hal and Matt are with me." "Ah." "Ben's a prisoner." "Is he harnessed?" "Mm-hmm." " Is he nearby?" " Yeah, yeah." "We were gonna try to go get him tonight." "You know... when we found Rebecca we went to go look for you." "But there were Skitter patrols everywhere, and..." "You don't owe me an apology." "This is war, right?" "Yeah." "Bring Ben to me." "I couldn't save Rebecca, but maybe I can give you back your boy." "Okay, let's go." "They didn't see the explosives in the car." "That's good." "What's going on?" "The first crew's here." "Ben with them?" "I don't see him." "There's another crew coming." "I think I see him." "No, it's not him." "It's Rick." "What?" "It's my boy." "Where?" "Right by the building." "Ricky!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Cover me." "No!" "No!" "No!" "Ricky!" "Ricky." "Rick." "Rick." "It's dad." "Dad." "Come on." "They must have Ben." "Let's go." "There's the truck!" "I'm going after Ben." "Where's Hal?" "Karen?" "We couldn't get them." "We were running for the truck." "Got hit by debris from the explosion." "Tom, we got you this far." "Where's Hal and Karen?" "!" "There was a Mech on our tail." "Couldn't wait." "How far to the school?" "A quarter-mile, maybe less." "You two go on." "What about you?" "I'm going after them." "At least come with us for weapons and reinforcements." "No." "There's no time." "What were you thinking, Mike?" "I'm so sorry, Tom." "He's the only family I got left." "Where are the rest of the weapons?" "I had to leave them in the truck." "Just got this." "Let me have that rope, too, and your flashlight." "Be careful." "Who's there?" "Aah!" "It's only natural that you want to do that." "Captain Weaver?" "Colonel Porter?" "What is it, Anthony?" "Dai and Mike are back with one of the harnessed kids." "Yeah " " Ben, Tom's son." "No, sir." "Mike's." "They're in the clinic." "Guys, it's Tom -- he's back!" "What is this?" "You -- you go ahead." "I'll see what this is." "Tom!" "Captain Weaver." "I've brought you a prisoner of war." "You beat this thing yourself?" "Yes, sir." "How?" "You just got to get close enough." "Can I trade this in for an automatic?" "Where you think you're going?" "I still have two sons and a scout out there." "Sentry, give me your weapon." "I'll give you two fighters." "No." "Thanks." "It's safer if I do this alone." "Hey, buddy." "How much did you hear?" "Everything." "Go get him." "Ben." "Ben!" "No!" "No!" "The father says the patient has cystic fibrosis." "Really?" "I didn't hear anything." "Well, he's on supplemental oxygen, so..." "As long as his airways are clear, shouldn't be a problem." "Boy, I'll tell you -- if we'd have had access to..." "Modern hospitals and labs, we could have this all figured out in a matter of hours." "As it was, it's just educated guesses... and trial and error." "What can I do to help?" "Uh, you can stay out of my way." "Here you go." "All right, get ready to lift the harness, please." "The whole idea behind this is to expose as much needle as possible." "Pulling those out kills them." "Yeah, well, that's why we've been cutting them instead." "Learned that the hard way." "So did a lot of people." "Wouldn't you rather be outside?" "I like to expose at least an inch of needle." "Start the drip, please." "How far?" "All the way." "Lift up the harness, please." "Okay." "You know, the first few times we cut the needles..." "We lost the patients." "Why?" "Look at his eyes." "Pinpoints." "He's drugged?" "Yeah." "My theory is that the harness... synthesizes an opiate." "Didn't show up in the autopsy." "It's like nothing we've ever seen before." "But I realized..." "If you cut the needles, you cut off the drug, the kid goes into shock -- end of story." "Oh." "The -- the morphine drip is a bridge." "That's right." "That's the idea, anyway." "And all opiates basically affect the same brain receptors." "So then I thought, pump the kid full of morphine before we cut off the harness." "Then, once he's stable, you walk back the dosage, bring him in for a soft landing." "Okay." "Take it away." "Okay." "Blood pressure?" "Still 110/70." "Okay." "That's what I like to hear." "Once the needles penetrate the spine, they soften and grow roots." "They become part of the host's nervous system." "How is that possible?" "Oh, you know, some sort of nano-engineering or something." "I mean, they look like needles, but they behave more like living tissue." "It's fascinating, actually." "And that means if they wear the harness long enough..." "The kid and the harness become one." "Doctor!" "I got it, I got it." "Come on!" "Do something!" "Get him out of here, will you?" "Come on, Mike." "Okay." "Okay." "It's all right." "I was actually expecting that." "Who's there?" "!" "Dad." "Hal?" "Dad." "Oh." "I got you." "I got you." "What happened?" "Where's Karen?" "You drove away." "Then the Mechs stunned us." "Then, when I woke up..." "They were taking Karen to the Skitters." "She's a prisoner?" "You left." "No." "No, no." "No." "One of those harnessed kids was Mike's son." "He saw him, and he just -- he just grabbed him." "If I didn't hit the explosive, they both would've been killed." "And I got knocked out." "Otherwise, I wouldn't have left." "I wouldn't have left." "I'm so sorry." "I'm just glad you came back." "I'm just glad that you're alive." "Dad..." "They killed those kids." "Wait a minute." "What kids?" "Ben?" "!" "No, no, not Ben." "What kids?" "Not Ben." "The other crew." "The ones with Mike's son." "Yeah." "I don't know why, but..." "The Skitter made the Mech kill them, and they let me go." "They let you go?" "Yeah, it was like they wanted me to see it." "And then -- they killed them, and they let me go." "The Nazis sometimes did that with allied prisoners of war." "To send a message -- take one, and we'll kill the rest." "That's why they left you alive." "You're the messenger." "That means we can't just take one kid." "No, no." "When we come back, we take them all." "If it was up to me, we'd kill the damn thing now." "Yeah, let's do that." "Nope." "We've never had a live Skitter before." "Nobody's ever had one that I know of." "And if we're gonna beat these things, Weaver, we damn sure need to understand them." "Tom handled this one with a sawed-off shotgun and a flashlight." "What more is there to understand?" "That'll be Dr. Harris' call." "Dr. Harris?" "I thought he was leaving with you tonight." "Nope." "Change of plans." "You're gonna have him for the next three weeks." "I want somebody with a background in physiology and anatomy to study this damn thing." "And we'll always have flashlights and shotguns." "Well, don't everybody thank me at once." "Well, it's good." "Isn't it?" "It's not bad, considering..." "Considering what?" "Who made it." "Well, line up, everybody!" "Gonna have some?" "Serve them first." "Looks like you might be of some use to the 2nd Mass." "Yeah?" "We'll give it a week." "Does that mean I don't have to be, uh, locked up anymore?" "It does not." "Lock him up." "All right." "Come on, Pope." "You're not gonna regret it!" "I already regret it." "Yeah, yeah." "How is he?" "He's stable." "So it works." "It seems to." "Are you okay?" "Yeah." "Hey, Tom." "Looks like he's gonna be okay." "I'm praying." "Keep an eye on him while I step out?" "Of course." "Why don't you sit down, let me take a look at you?" "How did it go?" "Hal's okay." "But they captured Karen." "Oh, no." "Lord." "How's he taking it?" "He blames himself." "I'm so sorry." "Yeah." "Now we know, right?" "I mean, now we know..." "That we can take these things off and it doesn't have to kill them, right?" "Harris knows what he's doing?" "Yeah." "He's great." "Got any idea where I can find him?" "Ah." "I..." "I got some scotch." "How's the prisoner?" "Eh, too soon to tell." "Uh, Porter wants me to stick around a little while longer and make a fuller study of our conquerors." "Is that what he called them?" "No, that's my word." "We're not conquered." "Unless we give up." "Uh, I got too much respect for your intelligence, Tom, to, uh, take that little display of human vanity seriously." "Well, maybe I'm not as intelligent as you think I am." "You know, there are people who actually believe that surviving the first wave of the invasion proves that they're the best of mankind." "Obviously you don't agree?" "Well..." "Those people who ran away or found the deepest holes to hide in -- they're the survivors." "You find something ennobling in that," "I-I'd love to hear about it." "Is that how you survived?" "Running away?" "Hiding?" "What do you mean?" "The morning of the attack, when you and Rebecca got caught outside, you ran away and you hid." "And you left her to save yourself." "I mean, I -- look." "She was not with me the morning of the attack." "I told you that." "I know what you told me." "But when I found her, she was still holding onto the duffel bag full of provisions that you guys had collected, and it was much too heavy for her to carry by herself." "And that's how I know you were with her when the attack started." "Look, Tom..." "Please." "I-I-it wasn't premeditated." "It was a split-second decision." "And I-I guess I thought " "What?" "What?" "Well, I guess I thought that my -- t-the community needed my medical skills." "Man." "Well..." "I guess you had to do that, huh?" "You guessed right." "Well, I understand how guilty you must feel 'cause of what happened to her." "What are you talking about?" "Well, it was your morning, Tom." "Wasn't it?" "Rebecca told me that you were supposed to go out there looking for food with me that morning." "But she knew how exhausted you were, and she couldn't bring herself to wake you up." "She really loved you, Tom." "But it should have been you out there the morning of the attack and not Rebecca." "You're as responsible for her death as I am -- maybe more." "And because I'm alive, you've got a chance to get that harness off your son." "Rebecca's death may save Ben's life." "The Skitters won't win." "Well, we'll see." "And no matter how each of us survived, maybe we owe it to those who didn't... to become the best of mankind."