Prisoner of War

"Prisoner of War" is the third episode of the first season of the TNT science fiction drama Falling Skies, which originally aired June 26, 2011. The episode was written by Fred Golan and directed by Greg Beeman. The 2nd Mass is joined by Dr. Michael Harris, the only doctor to have discovered how to safely unharness enslaved children. A failed attempt to reclaim Tom's son Ben leaves Hal and his girlfriend Karen at the mercy of the aliens. A Skitter later orders a Mech to kill the remaining kids in front of Hal, then releases Hal to deliver a message: take one, the rest die. Plot Tom, Hal, Karen, Anthony, Dai and Margaret watch as kids with harnesses collect scrap metal for the aliens. Tom sees his son, Ben and the group prepare to grab him. Karen accidentally knocks a loose piece of rock from the building, alerting the aliens and the group runs away. Back at the school, parents of harnessed kids come over and ask Tom if he saw anything. Mike tells them to back off as more and more badger Tom for the information. Col. Porter tells Tom that a doctor has a theory on how to remove the harnesses and that he wants to test it on Ben. Porter then tells him to bring Ben back safely. Tom meets up with Matt who heard that when a harness is removed, the kids die. Tom reassures his son that Ben will be fine.