I really enjoyed the Falling Skies finale. But only because perfectly embodied everything that’s been annoying me about the show (I’d actually decided to quit watching it halfway through last year, then they announced this year would be the last and I just had to see how the trainwreck ended), and amped those things up to the point of comedy. I almost fell off my couch laughing when Pope showed up just long enough to die on his own. They achieved self mocking, it was great.
That's the only explanation. The first time he showed up and got "killed", it was so quick and pointless and stupid that you knew he'd be back in the end.
He didn't even die well. He just kind of shrugged and then deflated, like somebody let the air out of a life-sized balloon.