Series overview
Falling Skies begins six months after an alien invasion of Earth, where in the early days, the invaders neutralized the world's power grid and technology, defeated and largely destroyed all the world's militaries, and killed over 90 percent of the human population by destroying all of the world's major cities and capitals. The remaining 700 million humans, spread across the planet, continue to be killed by the alien invaders on an ongoing basis.
The aliens include mechanical attack drones called "mechs"; a species of six-legged beings known as "Skitters" that appear to control the mechs; and a mysterious species known as the Overlords, or "Espheni", the latter presumably the actual engineers and masterminds behind the invasion and Skitters' masters.
The aliens' objectives are not explained until the fourth season. They plan to extract helium-3 from Earth's moon to power their technology and to use humanity as an enslaved frontline military force in their war against another alien race. To do this, the invaders round up children between the ages of 8 and 18 to each of whom a biomechanical mind control harness will be attached to their spine. Forcibly removing it generally kills the child, but midway through the first season, a surgical method is developed that allows a harness to be safely removed, leaving in place the "spikes" that connected the harness to the spinal column. The fifth season reveals through an Espheni communication device (which Ben, who has the spikes, can interact with by touching it) that the Overlords have a Queen. In the series finale, the Queen explains that the invasion upon which the entire series is based is the result of a prior Espheni attempt to invade Earth, which is the only habitable planet in this galaxy and thus of immeasurable strategic importance. Her beloved daughter led that invasion 1550 years ago, but the Espheni underestimated humanity and the invasion was stopped. The Queen's daughter was killed and eaten, so the Queen swore to wipe out humanity in revenge.
The story follows a group of survivors who band together to fight back. They call themselves the "2nd Mass", an allusion to the historical regiment from the Continental Army. The group is led by retired United States Army Colonel Dan Weaver. Boston University history professor Tom Mason is second-in-command and must put his extensive knowledge of military history into practice while searching for his son Ben.
At the end of the second season, a new alien race known as the Volm are introduced. Led by a Volm nicknamed Cochise by Tom Mason, the Volm are another species conquered by the Espheni in their galactic expansion, and who want to destroy the Espheni in revenge. While more Volm forces arrive at the end of the third season, an attack on the Volm across the galaxy causes all but Cochise and a small team of Volm to abandon Earth. Cochise and his soldiers continue to aid humanity in their war with the Espheni despite the lack of support from their superiors, notably Cochise's father.
In the fourth season, a devastating Espheni counterattack relegates humanity to Espheni-controlled ghettos across the planet. Meanwhile, Tom's half-Espheni daughter Alexis continues to grow and develop psychic powers due to her heritage. After the 2nd Mass eventually escapes the ghettos, another attack severely depletes its numbers. Learning of a power core on the Moon that controls all Espheni technology, Tom and Alexis launch an attack on the power core using a captured Espheni spacecraft. Alexis sacrifices herself to destroy the power core and Tom is lost in space, but the Espheni war machine is left crippled by the loss of their air support and mechanized servants.
In the fifth season, Tom is rescued by the Espheni's ancient enemy, the Dornia, who guide him into finding his inner warrior to defeat the Espheni once and for all. Returned to Earth, Tom rallies humanity into a global resistance that will march on major Espheni bases all over the world. Tom leads the militias in the United States in a march on the Espheni base in Washington, D.C. With the help of an Espheni communications device, humanity learns that the Espheni serve a previously unknown queen who comes to planets when victory is assured and the Espheni are moving from invasion to occupation. Indeed, while in Washington, Tom spots signs of the Espheni moving in on Earth. Tracking the queen to the ruins of the Lincoln Memorial, Tom confronts her alone, and she informs him of the true reason for the invasion. Tom manages to infect the Espheni Queen with a Dornia bioweapon, killing her, and spreading the bioweapon throughout the Espheni species. The Espheni are destroyed and the Earth is freed. Months later, humanity is united in a favorable position, no longer faced by the pre-invasion challenges of over-population, while moving forward with the benefits of the technology taken from the Espheni, Volm and Dornia. Humanity begins rebuilding Earth and making plans to elect a new leader; when Tom is offered the leadership position, he refuses it.
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