‘It’s like the Wild West out there. If we get into trouble, we’re going to need something to trade!’ Civilian Jeff sweats at Dr Glass, as he steals a pillow case from her.

Civilian Jeff clearly has a rather optimistic idea of how much bargaining a weedy man with spectacles and one handgun can do when faced with either Skitters or Looters. In apocalyptic situations I think it should be standard procedure for anyone joining a revolution and/or commune to have to read a selection of some horror and SF classics. Just so they don’t pull stupid things like this.

It goes badly for Jeff, as he ends up facing up against Weaver, Mason and some other guy – his hand-gun against their assault rifles. They hide behind a car. I’m not entirely sure why, other than to give Terry from the 7th Mass a change to save them all. Jeff and his family scuttle off, because after a now-dead Skitter killed a douche they just feel safer along and defenseless in a war-torn city. As my Granny would have said, ‘God love him, he’s a idjit’

Still, at least he got 7th Mass off to a good start with 2nd Mass – since he comes bearing ill tidings. The 7th Mass is gone and the Skitters are coming for the 2nd Mass soon. The orders from Porter are that all the under-20s are sent ahead to keep them safe from harnessing.

This, of course, starts a debate. The non-parents want to send the  kids away, what with them being Skitter-bait, but the parents want to keep them close. They agree to disagree until they know more.

Elsewhere, Glass is dealing with a dose of PTSD brought on by a split lip, leading her to having an oddly orgasmic gun-training session with Margaret. Both of them continue to have very shiny, flowy hair. As for the newly de-harnessed Ben, he has a row of spikes in his back that aren’t dissolving and a bit of Beiber-do, as well as the ability to do 102 press-ups thanks to the Skitter’s healthy regime of lots of fresh air, marinading in their own pee and carrying scavenged metal about.

(In an impressive, Torchwoodian, display of the human ability to be prejudiced and horrible, the civilians have already come up with a slur for the five de-harnessed kids that exist in the whole world: Razorbacks. In an equally impressive display of spinelessness, the slur-user is then faced down by a teenager shorter than him.)

The decision about whether or not to send the children away is decided when a child-soldier is sent out to keep watch with Parker. Since Parker was a black man with a rapport for kids who hadn’t been seen before, that was never going to end well – for him. Luckily Jimmy is an adorable kid with a bond with the gruff (and frankly more awesome by the episode) Weaver, and gets bad-ass saved.

I think we are supposed to see Mason as the natural leader of the 2nd Mass while Weaver is short-sighted and reactionary. Unfortunately, Weaver rocks.

Convinced they have to send their kids away to keep them safe – and Mason’s historical career path is once more flagged up, as his on points out the similarities to children being sent to the country in England during World War II – the 2nd Mass wave them off under the care of trustworthy old Terry.

Turns out, that’s not such a good idea. The 7th Mass have a secret in the forest. Watching it, you knew something was going to happen but it was still an ‘ooohhh’ moment when it came to fruition.

This is actually one of the best episodes so far. Taken in its parts it is quite slow-moving, the pay-off not coming until the last quarter of the hour, but there inevitability to what happens that keeps the tension humming along like a wire. The building tension between Ben and the rest of the civilians and the eerie, nightmare sequence of Jimmy fleeing the Skitter through an empty school helps with that.

Much as I might sigh when humanity lives down to its expectations again, the exploration of what people might do to survive in this situation is an interesting one. Falling Skies handles it better than Torchwood, the petty, nasty evil that humans are capable off is handled with subtlety rather than drawn in panto strokes. Goodness is also not limited to the main cast, we see it bits and pieces in lots of people.

The question of why the Skitters want children and what it means to be harnessed continues to intrigue. As the harnessed Megan, Niamh Wilson turns in an eerie performance. She is less zombie-like than the other children, but no more human. Her fixed smile and glazed eyes are reminiscent of a doll. The lights are on, but nothing is home.

The writers also gave the awkward background expositions that keep happening a rest this week. Maybe we have learnt everything important about the characters we are meant to care about? Or maybe they just realised that the viewers tend to glaze over during the info-dumps of random background information rather than seeing it as character development.

And Pope is back! Despite the fact he is a rape-enabler and probable rapist, he is the most fun character of the ground. Which I do resent a bit. It is fun to see him again though, although since he is chained up in a basement, a bit pink-looking and appears to be either furious or so constipated that he is about to actually pass a diamond – it isn’t going to be fun for whoever put him down there.