Colony on USA: A Kick-Ass Science Fiction Drama

                                                             

 

The USA Network is showing two of my favorite series, Mr. Robot and Colony. I already did a post on the series, Mr. Robot, but today I’m talking about Colony the series created by Carlton Cuse and Ryan J. Condal and starring Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies...yes my little walker snacks...Lori Grimes is alive and doing well in LA...but this time it’s aliens and not walkers that she’s fighting.

Plot

Colony takes place in the not so distant future where Los Angeles is under the control of an invasive species. It is a military occupation with the aliens controlling the earthlings with a well-organized army called the Colony Transitional Authority. The aliens known as Hosts or Raps have never been seen by the locals. What we do know is that the uniforms of their human army bear the logo of a Bird of Prey.

                                                              

An ingenious move on the part of the producers and writers was to keep the story focused more on the humans who are split on their choices to either work with the powerful but unseen aliens, or to fight them. I love the fact that the aliens are spoken of, but never seen as it adds to the terror the people in the story feel. 

While life seems to go on in a somewhat normal post war scenario, there are shocking symbols to remind you that nothing is normal starting with the enormous thick wall that the aliens have constructed around the central part of Los Angeles. Trump would be in his glory to have a wall like this...most tyrants would. Los Angeles is not an isolated case as these walls exist around the world.

                                                             

Total domination is the game play of the aliens who use an occupying military force made up of complying humans known as the “Red Hats.” The name comes from their cool black and red uniforms. This military force is under the watchful eyes of Homeland Security, while the people who want their world back in human hands are called the Insurgents.

People are broken up by class, where the elite (people in power and people working for the aliens) get special privileges and the poor and average Joe get screwed over like always no matter who is the ruling power.

                                                              

 

The Bowman Family

Former FBI agent, Will Bowman (Josh Holloway) and his wife Katie (Sarah Wayne Callies) live with their children in the occupied section of Los Angeles. One of their young sons had been separated from them during the invasion and may be surviving on the other side of the wall. Will, with the promise of being reunited with his son, joins forces with Proxy Snyder (Peter Jacobson) and becomes part of the police force under Homeland Security. Katie, without Will’s knowledge, is part of the resistance.

Conclusion

The aliens have a factory on the moon. We don’t know why, but if you piss off the aliens, you are sent to that factory to work until you drop. The aliens have imposed curfews and checkpoints... plus they use drones to spy on the people and kill if necessary.

                                                              

Medical conditions such as diabetes have been considered a one way ticket enabling the aliens to cull the weak from the strong. Since the series starts after the invasion, we are left to decide from the information given on each weekly episode and, from the Colony online site, if the aliens are the good or bad guys.

                                                                

No one is safe and the season ended with a cliffhanger. We see that Charlie (Jacob Buster) is alive in a part of the city that resembles the poorest section on India. Proxy Snyder has been demoted. Will knows that Katie is a rebel and has been using information he’s given to her in confidence to help the resistance. OUCH!

                                                              

Katie needs to choose between Broussard (Tory Kittlels) and her hubby. Bram Bowman (Alex Neustaedter) has been captured by the Red Hats and Madeline (Amanda Righetti) has taken Grace and her son to live with Nolan Burgess (Adrian Pasdar). We did get a peek at the aliens, but I want more!!!!! Watch the show. It is well written and the cast is outstanding.