COLONY, Season 1, A Review Without Spoilers
Josh Holloway and Sarah Wayne Callies as Will Bowman and Katie Bowman
Short Review: 5 Reasons You Need to Watch COLONY
Watch it for the…
- Superb story-telling
- Compelling characters
- Action-packed scenes
- Subtle historic allusions that drill home how humans fail and struggle during an occupation
- Gripping mystery and tension
To order the first season dvds, click here.
Longer Review
USA Network’s COLONY has been around for a couple of years. The premiere of season 1 aired in January of 2016, the finale of season 3 aired July of 2018. The show first caught my attention as I was viewing CW’s The 100 and Netflix’s algorithm as if sensing my waning interest in the dystopian teen drama, suggested other shows I might be interested in. COLONY was at the top of their list. I decided to watch episode 1 and got hooked. I have watched all of season 1 and part of season 2. Regarding a rating, there are a few steamy sex scenes in the first season, but no HBO-style nudity.
COLONY is an alien invasion story. Aliens, referred to as hosts, occupy some portion of Earth. Writers of the series, Carlton Cuse and Ryan J. Condal, reveal the alien side of the equation incrementally, tauntingly so. Much of why COLONY captivates its audience is because of the tension associated with not knowing.
Not knowing holds true for the Bowmans as well, the family in the center of the story, living in a walled-off part of LA called the Los Angeles bloc. The audience follows them as survivors trying to maintain some semblance of family life post alien invasion. They manage okay, but are tortured by the fact that their middle child, Charlie, was at a baseball game when the aliens invaded. He remains in the Santa Monica bloc, separated from them. Will and Katie Bowman hold no power in the occupation and are struggling to find out how to reach their lost son. Holloway, of Lost and Wayne Callies, of The Walking Dead, give convincing performances as two desperate parents who will do almost anything to get their child back.
Will, former Army Ranger and FBI agent, joins the collaborators. He only does so after a his attempt to illegally enter the Santa Monica bloc goes wrong. Katie, without telling Will, joins the resistance and proceeds to spy on her own husband. The scene is now set for misunderstanding, deception and conflict at every turn. Episode by episode, the audience’s knowledge about the invasion grows.
Regarding the larger themes in COLONY, I am impressed by the way the writers handle the human side of surviving an occupation. A scarcity of resources creates desperate people. Fear and desperation drive the actions that follow. Types of survivors emerge. Collaborators range from being true believers, to pure opportunists. Women will sleep their way to the top of the food chain. In one character’s defense, she does so to obtain insulin for her diabetic son. Back-stabbing at the top of the resistance and at the top of the Authority accelerate. Spying and being spied upon become common place. The enemy invader has set the community against itself…just as Will and Katie have chosen opposite sides. The family embodies the societal breakdown.
Other themes in COLONY hearken back to 20th century history. The wall that divides a city is one, think Berlin, but the allusions to the Soviet State and The Third Reich don’t end there. The occupiers use their human collaborators to confiscate great art and a long scene in episode 2 portrays a group of prisoners forced to enter a shower in which they are all gassed.
I plan to go the distance watching the remainder of COLONY. Two seasons can be seen on Netflix as the writing of this post. It’s unclear whether or not Netflix with buy the final season, but it’s available to rent or buy on Amazon.
showers as gas chambers
