Falling Skies is an American science fiction television series set in a post-apocalyptic era, created by Robert Rodat and executive produced by Steven Spielberg.

The series stars Noah Wyle as Tom Mason, a former history professor who becomes the second-in-command of the 2nd Massachusetts Militia Regiment, a paramilitary group of remnant US military personnel, military veterans, civilians and various fighters fleeing Boston, US, following an alien invasion that devastated Earth.

On July 18, 2014, TNT renewed the show for a 10-episode fifth and final season, which started on June 28, 2015, and concluded on August 30, 2015.

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 where each will be attached with a biomechanical mind control harness to their spines.

The fifth season reveals through an Espheni communication device, with which Ben can interact by touching it, due to having the spikes, that a being is the Overlords' superior, known as "the Queen".

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.

Returned to Earth, Tom rallies humanity into a global resistance that will march on major Espheni bases all over the world.

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.

Development officially began in 2009, when TNT announced that it had ordered a pilot for an untitled alien invasion project.

"[9] While writing the pilot, Rodat dedicated a five-page montage to the alien invasion, but decided not to go through with it as it had been done before in films such as War of the Worlds.

"When we were working out the initial stuff, the thing that excited [Spielberg] was the idea that adults are killed if they're a threat, and kids are captured for whatever reason and changed or altered.

Spielberg previously explored the idea of enslaved children in the 1984 film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

[10] Series lead Noah Wyle emphasized Spielberg's presence on set by stating, "Anytime he gives an anointment to a project, it steps up the pedigree.

He shaped the script, cast the pilot, watched all the dailies, made the editing suggestions, worked on the post and on the aliens and spaceships.

[13] He also decided to do it as he could relate with his character, stating, "I identified with Tom's devotion to his sons, and admired his sense of social duty."

[9] One of the things that was most attractive about it was shooting 10 episodes as opposed to 24, which affords me a bit of quality-of-life and allows me to have a presence in my kids' lives.

"The whole process went on for quite some time, and then towards the end, it was down to me and one other guy, and we were literally waiting for the word from Steven Spielberg 'cause he had to watch the two audition tapes and give the okay.

"[19] The pilot was filmed in 2009 in Oshawa, Ontario, and the rest of the season was shot from July to November of the following year[20] in Hamilton[21] and Toronto.

[24] Filming took place in Vancouver and at the Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, British Columbia, from October 2011 to March 2012.

The series premiered on June 19, 2011, and was broadcast on the cable television channel TNT in the United States.

As part of the promotional campaign, a vehicle, with the TNT logo and called Falling Skies Technical, was released as a free gift in the social networking game Mafia Wars on June 14, 2011.

Written by Paul Tobin with art by Juan Ferreyra, the series details events taking place before the first season of the television show, but after the alien invasion and victory.

On June 15, 2011, Dark Horse announced that due to higher-than-anticipated orders, the graphic novel had completely sold out.

Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "... the entertainment value and suspense of Falling Skies is paced just right.

"[50] Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly gave the series a B+ and wrote that a "gradually developed, but decisive conviction makes Falling Skies an engaging, if derivative, chunk of dystopian sci-fi".

"[51] In the Boston Herald, Mark A. Perigard gave the series a B grade, writing, "Don't look now, but Falling Skies could be a summer obsession.

"[53] Chuck Barney declared, "Sunday's explosive two-hour opener boldly delivers on the promise by TNT producers to rev up both the pace and the firepower in Season 2.

[56][57] The eighth episode was watched by 4.31 million viewers and scored a 1.5 ratings share among adults 18–49 and Falling Skies became TNT's highest-rated series in target demos.