One of the coolest things about TNT’s alien-invasion drama, Falling Skies, is its commitment to practical effects for the alien creatures whenever possible. The production features a few real-world skitter puppets for close ups, and it really does show when actors interact with them on screen. But the skitters aren’t the only practical aliens featured on the series.

Last season, we were introduced to yet another alien race, the Volm. As we learned, the Volm is a species traveling the universe in search of planets overrun by the Espheni (the invading force that’s taken over Earth). Upon their arrival, the Second Mass is given a fighting chance against their fish-head foes thanks to expanded personnel and advanced weaponry. Now, you’d imagine that, like the Espheni, the Volm would be completely CG creations, especially on the show’s basic cable budget. But like the skitters, the Volm’s leader, Cochise, is in fact a practical effect created through a very labor intensive process by MastersFX that Nerdist has been given an exclusive look at in the following gallery:

It suddenly makes complete sense why Cochise is used so sparingly on the show. The process by which it takes to turn actor Doug Jones into the Volm leader is crazy, and to think the team does this on a TV budget? Even crazier. But, the extra effort’s totally worth it because, as far as the aliens go, Falling Skies has some of the best creature effects on television.

Falling Skies premieres June 22^nd at 10/9c on TNT.

What do you think of this look behind the scenes of Cochise’s make-up job? What are you hoping to see this season on Falling Skies? Let us know in the comments below.

[Photo credit: James Dittiger]